WIGuide

Congrats on the new ride!

Welcome to BR!

Yep definite scam. There's a lot of scammers out there. Best way to deal is in person. If they start making excuses not to, or a lot of times if they don't even have a number listed with their add just move on.

Awesome story and awesome post!

Sheesh, congrats on the rod purchase and for being loaded haha.

You can get buy with all casting reels or all spinning. I feel that having a mix of both is necessary though as one excels at things the other can do, but isn't as good at. I had a phase growing up where I went all anti-spinning and I got along just fine. After a while though, I came to appreciate those spinning rods and although I don't have a boatload of them there's at least two in my boat at all times and usually both are on my deck any given day I'm on the water. My only gripe with them now is that they take up more room in my rod locker. I've learned it's something I can deal with though.

You're a lucky man! I wanted to do that with mine too, but unfortunately I couldn't find a new or used LWX receiver. I also couldn't imagine paying $700 for the new one they have. Most lakes around me I can get ok cell reception so I can just use my phone, but there's several that I don't have coverage and it'd be great to have that.

I'd probably go to a ML. I love my ML/XF drop shot rod and think it'd be a killer rod for river smallies!

Not sure what the water temp is where you're at, but given the time of year that plays a critical role in where the bass will be located. If they're starting to move up to spawn and you're beating the bank, you're most likely catching the little males. They move up first to prepare the beds while the bigger females usually are hanging out near the first drop still feeding up. After the spawn the males stay to guard the eggs as the females slip back out to recover. Knowing the seasonal habits of the fish you're trying to catch plays a very large part in what fish you're putting in the boat.

Welcome to the forums! It's a great place to get your questions answered.

Yep you got a good deal even though it's the older model! Enjoy your new purchase!

Rod size is more of a personal preference. There are certain techniques it's advantageous to have either longer or shorter. For instance for flippin' a longer rod is nice because it allows you to get more distance and allows you to move more line when you're trying to pull the fish out of something. It doesn't mean you can't do it with a shorter one, either but there's an advantage. One thing that seems to be true though is you'll be more accurate when casting to a target with a shorter rod vs longer. Either way though if you feel 7' is comfortable go for it.

I don't know that there's one brand that's the overall worst, but rather models within a brand. My dad's second hobby aside from fishing is buying and selling boats. I've seen a lot of them and have fished out of a ton of them too. I've seen weird things from layouts that just don't work, to storages that you have to move seats to open because there's inadequate clearances, livewells with drains inches above the bottom of the livewell, wasted space, and just poor design in general.

Do you know what model the locators are and what lb thrust the tm is? There's so much variation out there 2 original locators won't add much value at all. Same with the tm, if it's a 12V and the original you can probably expect If I were in your position, I'd be asking for a boatload of pictures of it first since it's so far away. With so much of a boats value coming from condition and the motor I'd want to know as much as I could about those.

Tracker makes a decent entry level boat. Over the last 15 years or so they have made them a lot better than they used to. They still lack a few options that would make them a lot nicer, but you get what you pay for.They aren't the best that's out there, but they aren't the worst either. They're capable of being a nice boat for someone.

I've heard you can stick them in the microwave for a few minutes too.

I use the Plano 3701 for all my hooks. I buy Flambeau Zera Rust tabs (same thing their blue divider are made from) and spread them throughout the box. I'm also going to add some silica packets this year as well just for assurance.

When I was young I'd always use a snap swivel. For the past decade or so I've been tying direct on everything until last year I started using a snap swivel on my medium to deeper diving crankbaits. I think this next year I'll do the same, but tie direct on the squarebills still and it forces me to retie more often.

In the spring, I'll be using a Terminator with an Oklahoma blade, or a different brand spinnerbait with an extra Oklahoma blade or Colorado blade. It allows for a slower retrieve while throwing off a lot of vibration. The combo seems to do wonders!

Just use backing and that spool will go a lot farther. I usually respool 3 reels with one filler spool and use that for the whole year. You can use what's left as a leader material on another setup.

You should be fine as long as you don't tie some huge knot.

I haven't had issues throwing fc on a baitcaster. I have tried red lable in 6 lb test on a spinning reel and just couldn't deal with it. It seemed waaay too stiff. I didn't use any like conditioner, but i don't know if that would have tamed it enough. I'd look for a more limp fc and maybe drop down to 6# for those weightless baits. Make sure you're putting the line on right to begin with and don't overfill the spinning spool.

Vanish has been improved in the last few years, but it's still not a very good fluoro (and that's coming from a Berkley fan). I really like their 100% fluoro as it's less brittle and manages well. The differences between Vanish and a mono are their water absorption, their sensitivity, abrasion resistance, and how they act in the water. Fluoro doesn't absorb water so it's characteristics stay consistent throughout the day. Mono in general will absorb water and when it does it becomes a little more stretchy. Fluoro is made out of a more dense material so not only does it sink in the water column, but it also transmits vibrations better and in my opinion creates a more sensitive line. For the same reason, I feel it helps transmit bites better for semi-slack line presentations such as wacky rigging. When it comes to abrasion resistance between the two, I feel there's a trade off. In a mono, there isn't as much abrasion resistance, but to me it doesn't seem to lose as much strength if it is nicked. Fluoro is more abrasion resistant, but when it does get a nick in it, it seem to lose strength a bit quicker than a mono. As far as how they act in the water, like I mentioned mono floats in most cases, where fluoro sinks. Although the two lines have somewhat similar stretch rates, I think this is why people don't feel that fluoro stretches as much. With mono the line is almost always wanting to rise up in the water column creating somewhat of a bow in your line under water. When you set the hook you're overcoming the slack in the line and pulling it tight and then the line stretches. With fluoro I think the line keeps a more direct path to the bait so when you set the hook with that you only feel the line itself stretch. Above are my observations from using both mono and fluoro. Both are good lines and have their place in the fishing arsenal. If I were you I'd venture away from Vanish and at least step up to 100% Pro Grade. If you're worried about the cost difference, I intentionally left the same line on one of my most heavily used rods for two years just to see if it broke down over time. If it did I didn't notice any loss of performance, and still had zero issues with it. If I had to choose between vanish and XT or XL I'd choose either of those mono's before Vanish but to each his own. Figure out what you like and what works for you!

Does anything else come with it? Electronics, trolling motor, etc etc? Do you know the overall condition? Is it scratched up? Dented? Are the decks wood? If they are is it solid or does it have a few soft spots? All these answers will factor into the value.

I've never heard of that one before. I used to have a Ranger 320V that was about 7" longer but same hull weight with an 88 spl. I ran a CMC jackplate and a Raker 20 pitch it'd run in the low 40's. I had a 22P Raker as well and topped it off at just over 45 but was too slow out of the hole with 2 people for my taste.