WIGuide

Are you fishing the same spots or same type of water?

I've got a few go to baits for drop shotting. The Berkley Havoc Bottom Hopper Jr. is a decent bait along with a Missle Baits Fuse, Strike King Dream shot and Mag Dream Shot as well as the Strike King Baby Rodent. It's hard for me to pic a favorite since they each produce well in different situations.

This already happened a few years ago....

It really helps out in heavy cover as you can put all the pressure you want on them to get them out. The heavier lb tests don't dig into the spool either. In the veggies, it seems to cut through better than other lines as well.

6'6" or 7' MH/F St. Croix Mojo's work great for spinnerbaits.

Interesting, never thought of that. I haven't had that issue when it's cold though.

If the Nitro has a motor that looks like that then skip it because it's a Force. It'll make you wish you never bought it haha. If it's a Mercury it'll usually be labeled as a "Pro Series" where if it's a Force it'll be the "Power Series"

Too cold to drain oil?

Nice one man!

It looks like a leaking water jacket cover. I've heard of this happening when the engine gets a little too warm usually caused by an impeller that no longer provides sufficient volume of water. You'll have to remove the water jacket, replace seal, and install a new impeller. Shouldn't be too much of an issue.

You will most likely have to build a bit of a platform as a mounting plate for the tm. However, the front is set up for a clamp on tm right in the middle. You can buy a hand controlled one, or if you want a foot control, Motorguide makes what's called the bulldog which has foot controlled tm with the clamp on bracket.

Did the whole strip come off or just the top of the seal?

^^ This

Welcome to the forums man!

Nope not saying that at all, because that was one of the few I've seen (non fuel injected) that wasn't a pain in the rear end to get started. I've got a friend who's got a 25 Merc from the late 90's they bought new and from day one they have to choke and fast idle it and crank like crazy at EVERY start warm or not. Another friend of mine has a 2005 50 hp Mercury that is a pain to get started the first time every trip and can be fussy when warm as well. A guy in our bass club has a 150 that's in the early 2000's that he has to choke & fast idle and crank for a least a minute of actual cranking time if not more to get it going every morning. I'm sure there are plenty of people who have no problems with them, or their starting, but I'm not a fan. Coincidentally, the Mercury of mine that started so well was tearing itself apart from the inside out. Every so often metal shavings would melt on one of the spark plugs killing once cylinder completely.

I keep it simple and use 12 lb Berkley 100% FC for all 3.

I used to use a 6'6" MH/F and didn't have any issues with it.Only reason I went longer is because the MH/F didn't have quite enough backbone for a lot of the stuff I fish so I went to a 7'1" H/F. For light cover MH/F will do great!

I uses a 7.1:1 with my square bills. I can slow them down if I want, but in my experience anyway, a faster retrieve equals more bites. The only time I've experienced different is when the water is very cold.

It seems like the older carbureted 2 strokes have their own signature unique to that specific motor. For example from the motors I've had 88 Johnson 8 Horse - half choke & fast idle 83 Mercury 70 - turn key 96 Johnson 88spl - fast idle & tap choke 97 Evinrude 130 - tap choke only dislikes fast idle with a passion For all of those listed, this is for the first start of the day. Once they've been ran, they all started with just a turn of the key.

Congrats on your new rig. A 55 should be fine. If you can swing it, get the one with variable speed vs just 5. It'll help save some battery life. In the end get what you can afford.

That might be struggling with a 50 on it. Make sure you try it out first before you buy and bring a friend with for your test drive. That way you'll see how it performs with 2/3's of what you're putting in it. If I remember right those can also be one of the funny hulls made by Nitro that will lean like crazy unless you trim right away.

Welcome to the forums!

Congrats on the new ride!! Take your time learning how to drive it the right way without killing yourself or anyone else.

When it comes to length, it's a personal thing. Get whatever feels good and that you think won't feel cumbersome in hand.

You're going to want either a m/f or a m/xf. The extra fast action is great for finesse fishing, but the fast will give you a bit more versatile of a rod so it kind of depends on what else you have as well as how dedicated you're going to be to those techniques listed. As far as sensitivity difference, they'll be pretty close. The Avid and Avid X are built on the same blanks, the Avid X is just a modernized version of their proven performer. The Avid X will be a little lighter due to the micro guides as well as the split grip and may balance a little better as well depending on your reel.