3dees

carpel tunnel in my right wrist forced me to go to left hand reels about 15 years ago. did'nt take long to get used to it and I would never go back to right hand. why switch hands? my hook sets are so much better with my dominate hand.

man, I thought I was the only one using Excalibur. been using it for many years. I have tried all of the new lines and have always gone back to Excalibur. I often fish rocks for smallmouth and this line it really abrasion resistent. low stretch and not over priced. the problem is I have to order it online as not many stores still carry it. I have seven casting and three spinning rods on my boat. one casting with braid and one spinning with flouro. the rest all have Excalibur.

yes. they have mounting plates that go between the motor and transom. port or starboard. just make sure you get the right one.

I have a 5 on the console and a 7 up front. I'm on the bow much more than at the console and my eyes are further from the screen when standing on the bow. thinking about another 7 for the console only because it's easier to read a split screen.

I owned a 200 Ficht. bought new in 99. ran it for four years and never had one problem. it was the 150's that were trouble. that being said, I never felt comfortable with the motor and sold it in 03. I'm a Merc guy and would buy a Yamaha or E Tech for the right price but not a Ficht.

I am one of those who are dangerous with tools and I have installed many in the last 30 years. believe me, if I can do it anyone can.

I have the 75 lb on my 19' tin and rarely use the highest speed. usually 2 or 3. 24v is the way to go. not only for power but you can stay on the water for much longer, even at full speed. the digitals (tour) are better but cost twice as much. I want to replace mine with an 82lb Tour but just can't justify it.

my last two engines were opti's. I run nothing but the Merc oil for Opti's. more expensive (50.00 per gal. around here), but you can have warranty problems if you use anything else.

maybe your expecting more out of a tin than your ever going to get. I have a 2011 Crestliner VT19 and the carpet and overall finish is fine. you can't compare it to a 60,000.00 Ranger, but for the price I'm just as happy with it as I was in my two Stratos'.

Thanks ryneb. it's a 115 Opti. right now it will do 51 mph gps. thinking about a jackplate but then I'll also need a larger prop, and a wp guage. don't know if it's worth it for a few mph more. I lost my need for speed.

took this pic a few weeks ago. my second year. the gords works well. I got it off of e-bay. applied it last year and again this spring and still have more than a half bottle.

sharkhide is probably the best, but it's like 55.00 for a bottle. I use Gord's. it's a cleaner and polish. goes on like wax and I do my tin once a year. just stay away from starbrite and some others that spray on and off, unless you want white alumunum.

the economy should'nt play a part in the decision. if your worried about laying down cash or taking on payments, then you probably should wait. I had to quit fishing and sold my Stratos four years ago due to severe back problems. three years of deep depression (I'm retired). last year I bought a new tin. I have payments but have no problem with them. depression is just about gone. that said, buying a boat you can't afford can put you into depression. I know guys with 400.00 boat payments that have no problems and others who are always late with payments half as much.

I had the Elite 5 DSI last year and replaced it with an HDS 7. if you must have DSI I would go with a bird. it gives you the choice of dsi or 2d. Lowrance is dsi only. my Elite was on the bow so maybe it would be better on the console. with dsi, it reads better if your are moving, and going in a straight line. it reads the water in slices instead of the cone shape like 2d. the fish read as long lines instead of arches. they are great for reading hard structure like bridge pilings, sunken boats, etc. but over all I prefer the 2d.

probably would'nt be any different from what we have now. Japanese, Italian, and German cars are pretty much the same as American. but like most things Japanese, they would be at least twice the cost.

I use the bungy cords and they work well. 18' with dual console is a bit of a pain. I had a Stratos 295 XL Pro with dual consoles and swore it would be my last. my 19' tin has a larger deck than many 20' bass boats and the single console is just awesome.

I had a 2003 295 Pro Star w/ a 200 Opti. loved that boat. take your time learning to drive it. mine would start to chine walk at about 65mph. it took me almost a full season to adjust my driving from 1998 298 Pro Elite. 8" jp and 26p trophy plus got me to 72 gps. you'll be very happy with the boat.

the rebates are for bundles only. I ordered a gen 1 HDS7 yesterday and got the 200.00 rebate. this is for the bow and don't see the need for a gen 2.

your in school and can't get caught up in this game and there really is no need to. I'm an older guy who's been fishing for 45 years. if I had to use a different rod for each different technique I would'nt have room in my boat for anything else. I'm not saying it's ok to use a flippin rod for dropshotting with 6# line, but it seems that we are going a little overboard. I wonder how we ever caught any fish 20-30 years ago. learn to use what you have now. as you grow in the sport you will decide on what you need.

3 blades will usually help with bow lift and a little more speed. 4 blade will be better for stern lift. not always the case but usually when someone uses a whaletail, it's because the boat is'nt set up correctly. I have a 115 and run a 13x19 4 blade ss. this is on a 19' alum. bass boat. I tried a 20p 3 blade and could'nt get enough rpm's. no one can tell you what prop to get without more info. a lot of times, several props will have to be tried to get the best one for your boat.

awesome post.the thing is that it's not only the rods. is a 500.00 reel really that much better than a 100.00 reel. how about those 20.00 crankbaits. I will never believe they will catch anymore fish than my Bandit or Strike king baits. it's all about sucking every last dollar from the fishermen, and until we stop buying these overpriced toys it won't stop. 70,000.00 for a two man boat? are you kidding me. after 35 years of glass, I bought a tin last spring, and guess what? I caught just as many fish as I did before. there have been many improvments in fishing equiptment over the years, but it seems like every new manufacturer of rods, reels, tackle, etc. has to put a premium price on it so everyone will think it is so much better than anything else. many will defend thier high priced equiptment because they need to justify wasting money simply to have " the best". don't mean to offend anyone, but I have friends who admitted to me that they overpaid for equiptment that did'nt really improve thier fishing much.

I have two BPS,a Cabela's, Gander Mtn. and Dicks all within 30 minutes of me. most of my purchases are from TW. no tax or shipping. BPS only in the winter when I don't mind waiting two weeks for an order.

I fish a couple of power plants in the Chicago area. the problem is that this great state of Ilinois shuts them down to fishing between the middle of Oct. til the middle of March. awesome fishing until about July when the water temp climbs over 100. no water skiing or jet skis allowed. in March and April you can fish in 50 degree water on the cold side and 80 degree on the discharge side. you just have to use lures suited for the water temps and not the air temps. seems wierd to use fast retrieves when your in a snowsuit. the worst fishing is when the plant is'nt pushing much water. current is the key. with no wind and little current I go with soft plastics at the base of the rip rap, and fish the humps.

a Z6 may be ok. probably at the limit with a Z7. I pulled my 19' tin with a Ford Edge rated for 3500# all last year without any problems including stopping and/or launching. I still wanted a bit more so I bought a new Jeep Grand Cherokee. don't think you will have problems with any 16 - 19' tins.

I have been using nothing but Curado's for years. they feel like part of my hand.