WIGuide

I can't say enough good things about the Ghost. Mine has a couple seasons on it on 2 different boats and it's been absolutely flawless. From thick grass, to stumps, and rocks it's taken it all without the slightest hitch. One of the positives is that it actually has a breakaway mount, so there's a little more give there vs the Ultrex's solid mount. The brushless motors are quieter, and way more efficient. Even running on 24 volts it still produces 97 lbs. of thrust. My longest day on the water this year was 14 hours and the wind was blowing 15-25 all day. A lot of time was spent on spot lock and despite that, at the end of the day I still had well over 50% on my batteries and I only have a 24V system. Being able to easily switch it from 24V to 36V is great too. If you only have a 24V system like me and upgrade to 36V you just change the configuration instead of buying a whole new motor. Also, if you have a 36V system and a battery craps out on you, just change the configuration and keep going, avoiding a ruined day. Since you already have Lowrance graphs, they integrate very well with those. Being able to switch transducers yourself, and upgrade them with add-on's like Ghost 360 is a huge plus. Active Target integrates well too, and once configured, it'll show you on the graph exactly where your transducer is pointed. I feel they hold in a tighter area on spot lock than the Ultrex. Even the simple things, like the head automatically turning when you pick it out of the water instead of having to use the foot pedal to turn it so you can lay it down is a nice feature. Ultrex's are nice, don't get me wrong, but I wouldn't take one over a Ghost.

Yellow 832 would be my recommendation.

It sounds like you already had a boat buckle type strap, but it sounds like you had a cheap knockoff. The full size boat buckle is the way to go, and you shouldn't have to squat down to use them or at least not as much as you would have to if there was a hook on both ends.

In your situation I'd say electronics first. Maybe you already know where this stuff is, but your electronics are your eyes under the water. They'll help you find fish as well as new places you never knew about before. Your tm will get you by for now, but fishing deeper without electronics is tough and in my opinion a recipe for disaster if you're getting into tournament fishing. Generally you'll be donating your money...that you could be putting towards upgrades into someone else's pocket.

Looks like your options would be on the right side behind the battery if there's enough room, on the sides of the bulkhead in the cutout that goes back to the transom, or on the inside of the transom itself.

How light of shakey heads are you planning on throwing? To me a ML seems a little under powered, but if you're throwing really light ones then maybe.

I'm thinking like has been mentioned before, coming off plane you might have water washing over the transom when you slow down. Second possibility is the mounting bolts for your motor could possibly be a little loose causing it to let water in. My thought is when under power at idle the back of your boat will drop down some causing the bolts to maybe drop below the water level. Another possibility for leakage would be not the drain plug itself, but the seal between the drain plug and the hull. The drain plug is held in with the 2 screws, but there is silicone that seals the outer part that may have degraded over time. The last possibility I can think of is the angle of the landing you're launching on. If either ramp is overly steep it's possible your stern/or some other opening dips below the water line (bilge pump hole, splash well drainage hole, etc etc). I know on my boat on overly steep ramps, when it's all the way up on the trailer the pass through for my cables dips below the water line and you can actually hear the water pouring in. The other thing you might want to try is letting your boat dry out, put the plug in and then start filling with water. If there's a leak somewhere you should be able to find it with that trick.

I throw 3.8's on a 1/4oz 3/0 Trokar belly weighted swimbait hook and 4.8's on the 5/0 version. I usually throw them on a 6'6" M/F St. Croix with 12 lb fluoro.

Telling the difference in HDS units is pretty simple. Turn one on and go into the settings menu -> select system -> select about. On the top left it will show the locator name so a gen2 touch would be G2T-(size) a gen 3 would be HDS3-(size) and I'm assuming the carbon would have either a c or carbon in the name. As for mapping, if you have a Navionics card in it, you will continue to be able to use it. If you're looking for other mapping option, check out Cmap Genesis social mapping first. It's free to use and you can add to it yourself.

I don't use it often, but I bought a Krazy Glue superglue pen a few years ago and it's still good. You press the tip down to get it to flow and I just used it the other day and it's still going strong.

I would go with two units. If it were me, I'd probably go with 2 Lowance Elite Ti^2's. Get one with the active imaging 3 in 1 and one with the HDI. The one with the HDI you can put on the bow and the one with the 3 in 1 can be mounted on the dash. They network to one another using WIFI so there's no cables to run. As far as mapping, Humminbird, Lowrance, and Garmin all allow you to make your own maps and with Lowrance's C-map Genesis social mapping there may already be a map of the lakes you fish available for download that don't come on the factory base map.

Doing the math isn't hard at all, but buying one of these makes it super simple. Find your mixing ratio, and fill with oil to the line that matches up with how much gas you're adding. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Seachoice-21000-Widemouth-2-Cycle-Engine-32-Ounce-Marine-Oil-to-Gas-Mixing-Container/32738925?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=282&adid=22222222227021669100&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=42967870232&wl4=pla-81459849872&wl5=9019155&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=111838817&wl11=online&wl12=32738925&veh=sem&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIx8bQ94Cn6gIVB77ACh0RIgyHEAQYAyABEgLp2vD_BwE

Skipping a bait to me isn't really about having a specific setup for it, it's just using the rod you normally would for that technique. A lot of skipping is getting your technique down to keep the bait low to the water. I skip with both baitcasters and spinning reels and once you get a little practice you don't need to change any settings on a baitcaster at all. One thing I will say though is that using a rod that isn't overly long will help up you accuracy which I feel will help your skipping game.

???

The hook depends on the technique and the plastic I'm putting it in, but I prefer the Trokar EWG hooks. For the baits you mentioned I'd probably be throwing a 4/0 and if the worm was over probably 8" I'd bump up to a 5/0.

The two most popular ways to fish a swim jig are to retrieve it much like you would a spinnerbait, fairly straight retrieve with some speed changes or jerks to make the skirt flair. The other very popular one is to fish it with short jerks by shaking the rod tip causing it to basically hop in the water. Both are great retrieves and can be used in different situations to get bit.

Never say never, but I don't think I'll revert back to spinning rods as my main setups. I throw whatever I need to to get bit and some of those techniques are better suited for spinning rods, but if I can throw the same thing effectively on a casting setup, I will. I don't hate spinning reels, I just like casting reels better. On the deck they take up less space as well as in the rod locker which allows me to have a better array of setups stored as well as out.

Get yourself a Dual Pro and call it good. I'd recommend either the pro or sportsman series.

Great unless you have the issues the others here have described...then have fun swimming!

Personally I'd go with electronics first, they are more or less your eyes under the water and without them it's similar to fishing blind. Your current trolling motor is adequate for your boat and will keep you fishing until you can upgrade the tm as well.

That's rough man, I'm sorry for your loss and what it's putting your family through.

Nope, never. You better send all your silvery colored baits to me since they will be of no use haha. In all seriousness though, "murky" is a relative term. How deep can you see into the water? In general I feel like gold or copper blades spinnerbaits work better in dingy or murky to muddy water, but if it's not too off colored, I'd give it a shot. Jerkbaits although are better suited for clearer water, I've caught plenty of fish on them in off colored water. I'd say if it's not any dirtier than normal, give it a shot, you might be surprised especially if nobody else is throwing them.

It really depends on the day for me. I'm fortunate I get to fish enough that it allows me to pick and choose based on my mood. There's days I'm on the water just to relax and I catch what I catch and there are days I'm out there focused and challenging myself trying for the biggest 5 or biggest bite. Tournament fishing it's definitely about the biggest, but there can be stretches in tournaments that catching a fish regardless of size helps to kind of regain a little confidence and momentum. That's the great part about fishing though, there's no right or wrong and you can pick your own path to enjoyment.

Jigs - Missile Jig's Ike's Mini Flip Shallow Crankbait- Bomber XCS100 Mid-depth Crankbait - Luck-E-Strike Deep Smoothy Deeper Crankbait - Lucky Craft LC DRS T-rig - Missile Baits Destroyer

I live in a part of the state blessed with a mix of water colors, but we do have some very clear lakes around here. I love the 6'10" length. It's short enough I can still be accurate if I'm target casting or trying to fish under my transducer, but long enough I chuck it out there a good ways too. I use nanobraid too which ups the casting distance a bit more.