mcipinkie

80/20 water/vinegar for wipe down. Slick Mist for shine.

Without knowing your boat setup, my opinion would be 1 - 24V. Two batteries are just 2 potential issues. These batteries, as long as you don't go in the dirt price wise, are very reliable. 50 AH should be enough either way you go.

I'm 80 years old. 2 heart attacks, 1 eye, 2 bad shoulders. Fished my first tournament in 1975. Still fishing tournaments. Fish by myself in a buddy circuit. Launch and retrieve a 20' Skeeter by myself. Generally prefish 2 days before a tournament. I can still go hard in a long days tournament. Would be lying if I said age wasn't catching me, but I ain't going to let it. I try to stay off the drugs. I fished 184 days in 2024. Lakes iced over here this year most of first quarter. Family issues took another few days away. 130 or so this year. I'd like to hit 200 in 2026, plus another tournament season. Age will bother you less if you don't let it. Physically, I'm 80. Mentally, I'm 45. I can pretty well handle the physical effort, if I can keep my mind strong.

Boat Rash = Battle Scars.

I carry over 30 rods in the Skeeter. Some dupes, but at least 20 different ones. I know what every one of them does. Color code my stick jackets, but most of the time I just grab one. To each his/her own, and it is starting to get cold, I guess. I keep a listing in Excel for insurance purposes. Not in the boat.

Without trying to be ugly, if you know this little about basic wiring, I urge you to find some one with experience, and tools, to help you. The internet is wonderful, but you need some sort of basic skills to wire a boat.

I wish you well. I'm 80. Two heart attacks. One eye. Bad shoulders. Real bad. Still able to fish, but rough. Unfortunately, we're born, we live, we die. I've enjoyed my life. Will enjoy the rest of it as best I can. Hope you do the same. God Speed!!

You could go buy you one of two or three KastKing reels for less than half the money and be pleasantly surprised. I'm a long time Lew's fan. Have a small fortune in Lew's reels of all kinds. Ordered a couple KK reels with some Amazon points I had accumulated. $50 or so reels just to see what they were. Got them free, so what the hay. Two have made it into my daily tournament rotation. Dadgum good reels. Not just good for the price, but GOOD reels. One was a Brutus. Cheap, looks like it. Fishes like a much more expensive reel. Can't remember the name of the other one, but it is now on my number one jerk bait rod. It will be on the deck of the Skeeter until May. To the OP: If your skills are weak, an expensive reel won't make up for it.

I've been bass fishing for almost 70 years. Tournament fishing for over 50. I don't rely much on temperature. I put my hand in the water. It's hot, warm, cool, cold, real cold. Anything else is just feel good stuff. Really, don't do that. Just fish the conditions as I see them. Heck, I can guess close enough. The only reason I use a temp sensor is for relative values. It's warmer (cooler) here than over there.

You could just go fishing. I would.

Seems like a solution looking for a problem. Or a problem looking for a place to happen.

I use 8 lb as a minimum. In really clear water might go to 6. 60 braid maximum for slop frogging. That should give a good starting range. Bread and butter, day in, day out. 20 FC or Mono.

It's summer, It's hot. Surprise, surprise. It was hot last summer. It will be hot next summer. 78 of them for me.

I fished a tournament last weekend. Local circuit. 59 boats. Say with tackle $100k each. 59 trucks at $50k each. Almost 9 million dollars in toys. Most of each less than 3 years old. I'm fairly well off, but I have a 5 year old boat and truck. Running 5 year old electronics. I see guys dropping $10k+ for the latest and greatest with no thought. $600 rods and $500 reels. Where does all this money come from? General stupidity and/or good credit?

I think some of the units have micro SD cards and some have the big ones. My only caveat. Waypoints could be an issue. They are stored on the unit they were created on. You can see them on other units in the network, but they reside where created.

My guess - You overspooled your reel. Might have a malfunction, but not my guess. I fish a lot of braid, both on bait casters and spinners. I just tie it on, throwthe spool in a box with hole in it and wind it on. For me, none of these spooling hacks accomplish anything. One brand, can't remember which, was a major PITA. I let it out behind the boat for a couple minutes and wound it back in. Problem solved. On spinning tackle, I will occasionally trail behind the boat for a minute or two. Seems to help the line behave. Braid only. Does apply to mono or FC.

Another company making a lot of money from people who can't put their phones down. I see a lot of pro anglers shilling for them. Of course most them will promote anything they are paid to promote. I am making the not necessarily proven assumption, that the facts are accurate. If they would take all the so called fishing tips off and just concentrate on factual information, I think more people would find it useful I don't need an app to tell me what to throw.

Hook the app up to your FFS and depth finder and outboard, and tell it to find some fish. Enough with the apps.

No. There is no more to it than that. Try one a while. If it doesn't work try the other. There are no internet shortcuts in fishing. If I'm finesse fishing, I'll have both tied on.

Cranks are a cheap, beginner addiction. Wait until you get on Jerk Baits. I took 129 out of the Skeeter when I brought tackle in for winter work. Have no idea how many more in the basement. Swimmers even worse. So far, I ain't started on this one yet. Where did you fin a Frabill pole for $35?

The reason they cost that much is simple: People buy them. I don't. I buy heads from Boss and add my own skirts.

If you fish where I fish, and back trailers in places I do, you will cut that bottom step off, or move it back. Perspective could be off in the pic, but looks like accident waiting to happen. BTW, I'll be 79 this year. Fish 90% of the time by myself. 184 days in 2024. 1 in 2025, so far. Never had steps until I bought new boat in 2020. Never be without them. Mine came on the Skeeter trailer. Different design than those.

I'd go to BPS and buy a couple Crankin' Sticks. 1 - 7'-6 or longer MH or Heavy for big cranks. I - about 7'-0 M for small stuff. If you can afford only one, or three, get a 7'-0 MH. Won't handle the little stuff well, but good all purpose rod. $80 - $100 as good of a crank bait rod as you can buy for twice a much. Pick what ever reel you can afford. I like the Lew's LFS for about $100. I like it because you can get a 5:1. Revo X is nice. Same price range. You can spend a lot more money, but this is good tournament level equipment. Think "Tools" not "Status".

Put your mouse away. Get away from the keyboard. Pick up a rod and practice. In the yard, in the basement, in the family room. Gerald Swindle gets old, but he has it right. "Years of excessive practice." It ain't the tackle. I've got expensive stuff. I've got cheap stuff. After 70 years of excessive practice, one or two casts and I'm dialed in. The last five new reels I bought are $50, on sale for $30, KastKings from Amazon. They work well. Yes, after almost 70 years, I still practice. Craig is right. Put a reel on a broomstick and an experienced caster can make it work. You got a lot of high dollar tackle on your list for a beginner. I'd spend a fourth of that at the most.

I have fished 179 days so far this year. I plan on over 200 in 2025.