gulfcaptain

As A-Jay put it, increased line capacity mainly. Much easier to launch bigger baits on larger reels then on smaller ones as well. My ***'s have plenty of drag and honestly I could probably fish large cranks or 6" swimbaits on them without an issue, but it's much more balanced when fished on a 300 size reel or in my case a 200 EXO which is just a bit narrower then the EXO 300, but same frame and spool hieght. But still will use the 300 size when I bump up to larger baits and if I ever choose to throw say a 10XD, that would be the reel I'd do it on.

Monkey butt is a good one. But honestly any color, loon, bone, perch, trout, shad......all work.

I'd probably bump the reel to a 300 size and fish with 40lb braid and 20lb leader myself or even 50lb braid and 20lb mono or FC. Little more forgiving, but you have to remember when you cast DON'T SNAP CAST IT!! You try and whip that bait out as hard as you can it's going to go far, but you're gonna have to go retrieve it with the boat because odds are it's not going to be attached to your reel anymore. Have to lob those bigger baits and let the weight of the bait carry it instead of trying to launch it out there at mach 3.

with the alarm lock. Then at least I'll hear when someone is trying to do something that they aren't supposed to not to mention anyone else around with a 100 decible alarm going off when they move the Loc-R-Bar.

Yep, and then there's the inspections, stickers, outboard requirements. Lets just say if I'm going fishing and my partner has a truck, he pays for the gas in the truck, and I'll pay for the gas in the boat. Otherwise, it's going to be a 50/50 split on expenses (gas for both and launch fees). Fished that Snag Proof tournament in the Delta last summer with a partner, I paid the entry fee for us, some launch fees, and he covered the gas and the other launch fees. All together the 4 days of fishing each put us back about $300. But then the delta is a big place and you can burn through 20 gallons of gas pretty quick and that $20 fee to lauch the boat each day sucked too.

That's pretty good.

Nothing about them sinking or only running 12" but that would make since though considering they are supposed to float and the angle they run would only really lend itself to run about a foot deep. Bill Lewis' legendary invention, the Rat-L-Trap, is recognized as the most popular, and consequently, the most imitated lure. The Rat-L-Trap's tight wobble allows that bait to dance identically to a panicked baitfish. Dual-frequency rattle chambers imitate the vibration of a school of minnows. In fact, analysis by leading bio-acoustic research teams confirms striking similarities between the sound of actual baitfish and the Rat-L-Trap. These sounds are the 'Dinner Bell' for predator fish. Bill Lewis Length Weight Class Floating Rat-L-Trap 3" 1/3oz Floating

The hook up ratio is actually pretty good. I'd say better then 80% (at least in my experience) You're right about the bites, but then you're also fishing for a certain size class of fish. So yes you catch less, but when you do catch it's not a 1-3lb fish, it's normally over 4lbs (size of the smaller fish I've caught on the 8" baits) but the average is right around 6.5lbs. I'll take a 6.5lb fish over a couple of 1-3lb fish. Swimbait's are a quality fish bait when it comes to pond fishing. And to throw them you understand you're fishing for those 1-2 bites from that size class fish.

Look at Megabass's I Slide 185 Megabass Length Weight Class I-Slide 185 7-1/4" 2oz *See Note Below *Action is dependent upon water temperature: 50°F - Slow Sinking 55.5°F- Suspending 59°F - Slow Floating 68°F - Floating The water temp has a big influence on this bait's characteristics. Same goes with a lot of suspending and slow floating baits. Also if you changed your stock hooks out with something heavier, then that will also change the baits bouyancy.

First thing I would check is the voltage from both switches. If the pump is working on manual and not quite right on auto I'd almost bet you have a bad switch causing low voltage resulting in the pump barely running. Start there. And you should have posted this in the boat forums.....next time.

What's your water temp? They ones I have do float, but raise slowly and they have a very tight kick. Look at the width of the top of the bait, there isn't much there. The tight vibration and wiggle is the action it's supposed to have. But the water temp will make a difference on how fast it floats up.

Try Snag Proofs Ish's Poppin Phat Frog, Both styles of his frog are easy to walk, no trimming needed.

Sucks for Randy Howell and Brent Chapman, both were in the original group of anglers back in 2012. Guess they decided to bail out after the first season but now want back in after the success of the series.

Or have them make a big sticker that says "Mine not yours"

I'd put a piece of black rubber mat down first the same size as your square to keep things from leaking through. Then use a bit of silicone on some screws (ss with washers) and screw it down. Then when you don't need to worry about it bleeding through the scrap piece onto your new carpet. Velcro may no stick well and with moisture and cause it to become loose and possibly flop around when you're running which wouldn't be good. Trying to affix something to carpet to hold isn't going to work. Use snaps or screw it down....either way you're screwing something into the deck just make sure you put something on that screw to keep the moisture out.

I can, but I don't use anything over 30lb braid and nothing heavier then 17lb FC on my micro guide rods. I will say micro's aren't for everything. I have both incase I'm fishing somewhere where the surface scum is bad and can cause the micro's to get fouled then I'll fish regular or Macro (little smaller then standard guides). If you can tie a FG knot or a nice compact Albright knot it should fit thru the guides. And reference wise, my micro guided rods are all Falcon Bucoo's so you know about what size those are. And at times you may not need more then 18-24" of leader when flipping. That's nomally the length I fish 90% of the time.

Well first off, welcome to the forums and well at the moment windy and wet Southern California. Shoot me a pm sometime although most of my fishing is done in Southern LA County/North Orange County and I can help you out.

Hey Sam, fished the FLW Rayovac's last year, only off limits time is the evening after the offical meeting the evening before the tournament and anywhere stated off limits for the tournament. Other then that they let us pre-fish up until the time of the meeting.

Short answer, yes. With micro guides I wouldn't use anything more then about 3-4ft. I use a 7'3"H Falcon with micro's that I have flipped and pitched with in the past and is now one of my frog rods. Just make sure your knot is small enough to go thru the guides. I used 30lb braid with 17lb FC, and it worked fine. Not sure how heavy you plan on going.

yes, I use either 12, or 20lb mono. Depends on the reel which size mono. Deep spools get 20, shallower ones get 12. Then about 100-125yrds of braid.

I'd say somewhere around 30 or so. Most in the 3/8oz, but do have some 1/4 and 1/2 oz mixed in with a mix of double willow, wiliow/colorado, single willow, double colorado, and single colorado. A handful of buzzbaits, and about a dozen bladed jigs.

Well the next time you go in and buy a boat have a plan of what you want, what extras to add, and what platform(boat you want). Test the boat, yes tell them you want to run that boat in the water. Then you can see what works and doesn't even if it is new. If you don't like it then move to another model. Once you figure out what you want, you factor all that in and have them do the work and let them take their time (mine sat at the dealer for a month) to set it up for you. From the time I looked at mine to when I signed the papers was over a 2 week period. Left a $500 deposit (fully refundable) to hold the boat, gave me time to think about what I wanted to do as well as test run it, look over it a few more times and then sign and let them install all the extras. Some were already in the sale price,(loan) others were add ons after, but just paid prior to picking up the boat.

Look up a Ram Mount for your console which will mount off to the side and you can mount the bow unit on the bow or get a Ram Mount for that. And as mentioned.....Take them off the boat when you're not using them. Takes about a minute to unplug and unhook each unit. Remember, you are going to need some of your money for gas to put in that boat. You're like a kid in a toy store and things add up really quick into the thousands of dollars and before you know it you're going to spend another 4-5K on a boat you just purchased new. Enjoy your new toy, just don't get too carried away. Look up a Ram Mount for your console which will mount off to the side and you can mount the bow unit on the bow or get a Ram Mount for that. And as mentioned.....Take them off the boat when you're not using them. Takes about a minute to unplug and unhook each unit. Remember, you are going to need some of your money for gas to put in that boat. You're like a kid in a toy store and things add up really quick into the thousands of dollars and before you know it you're going to spend another 4-5K on a boat you just purchased new. Enjoy your new toy, just don't get too carried away.

Without knowing the pitch of your prop you're running you won't be able to see if you need more prop (which would be more pitch) or less. And then you talked about a 4 blade. That will get you out of the hole a bit faster but not give you as fast of a top end speed. Once you see what your pitch is you can see if you need more rpms (less pitch) if your motor is not winding up all the way or a little more pitch if it feels like it's cavitating and running up on the rpms. These are things you need to know about your new boat (talking about what ptich prop you're using/have) and should have asked when you purchased your new toy. But you are learning.

you still haven't stated what pitch your prop is