TorqueConverter

Is possible that the alarm is sounding when moving at no wake speeds? I need a little bit of RPM/throttle with my Johnson 150 when traveling at no wake speeds or I'll get the over temp alarm after a while.

It's fine. I spent so much time cranking on a 6' that to this day I'm much more accurate with a 6'6'' than a 7'. I've got an old 6'6'' graphite Medium Mod paired up to braid that hooks fish deeper than any technique specific crankbait rod with mono that I've owned except glass. Everybody has a different definition for medium. That 6'6'' rod should work as long as it is not a stiff medium.

Daiwas brakes are really neat, but they do use centrifugal forces. With the exception of the Laguna, Daiwa magforce reels use centrifugal forces to push the inductor closer to the magnet. A lot of people talk crap about Daiwa because they do not understand the braking system they use. The current gen BPS Extreme reel uses a Daiwa Laguna style magforce and a 4 pin centrifugal brake. I think my Extreme is turning me into a Daiwa convert.

My favorite bait for 15 feet is the XPS Deep Diver but it's a big crank. The smallest bodied crank i have in the 15 foot range is the 2 1/4 Mann's 15+. I've also got a 2 1/4 Luhr Jensen Hot Lips that looks like it might get close to 15 feet.

Try a #30 braid or a #20 if you want to makes baits diver deeper than rated.

DT-4 through the DT-20 is a good place to start. The DT Fat 3, DT-Thug and DT Flat are also good. Start off with a couple of DTs and them fish them normally. If you start to break bills off the baits then your idea of "normally" is not the same as Rapala's and you should probably stop buying the baits or fix whatever it is you are doing wrong. Strike king, Basspro's XPS and Norman baits are good reliable performers. Durable too.

"The brake" is a board term. I will certainly agree that magnetic brakes do as KVD described. Magnetic breaking is always more pronounced at the end of the cast. Centrifugal brakes on the other hand brake most strongly when the spool is accelerating do to the centrifugal forces present. Centrifugal braking is essentially a spool RPM governor. The ability of centrifugal brakes to govern spool speed paired with the ability of a magnetic brake to slow the spool towards the end of the cast make for a great overall breaking system. Magnets rob you of some casting distance but the tradeoff is increased accuracy to present a lure to a target and the ability to filter out the wind when the wind is pushing your baits past their targets.

Sounds like its running lean. I'd remove and inspect the fuel filter. Inspect the fuel filter locking nut too. My Johnson 150 mysteriously started gushing fuel out of the fuel filter nut because the nut had failed due to a defect. Had the the nut failure not been so sudden, I'm sure I would have faced fuel delivery problems such as leaning out as the leak increased in severity. If it's not a problem with the fuel filter and lines then It's surely an issue with one or more of the carbs. Without the ability to identify which carb is having problems, I'd say that it's time for 6 carb rebuilt kits. A lot of people want to blame the VROs on these engines for every little problem. I'd strongly recommend rebuilding the carbs before taking it to a mechanic, because they're just going to throw a VRO at it.

I'm thinking about going the Terrova route but I'm unsure how the foot petal feels in comparison to my current cable operated Evinrude badged Minn Kota. When I tested out the petal in the store, it felt really stiff and would always return to center when pressure was released. I really like the idea of the GPS spot lock. I fish is strong winds on a regular basis and anchoring is a nightmare. Power poles are nice but are useless outside of anchoring in shallow water.

Backlashing in the beginning of the cast would we the result of the spool accelerating more quickly than the bait and the resulting excess line becomes the backlash. Improperly set centrifugal brakes, or an absence of centrifugal brakes (lol magnets) could be as much a culprit as too light of a spool tension. Backlashing towards the end of the cast should only happen if you fail to apply thumb pressure to the spool to bring it to a halt as the lure enters the water, such as loosing sight of the bait and it hits the water with the spool still spinning. Both overly stiff and high memory line can exaggerate a backlash problem or make a reel that wants to backlash into a backlasher. I'm guessing the high memory line is coming off the spool easier than it is going through the guides and is causing line to want to buildup at the baitcaster.

I like my KVD Tour 7'10'' crankbait stick well enough. All the pro names on the Quantum stuff gets annoying quick but I can't laugh because I regularly throw cranks one a Quantum Dance Class Medium Moderate paired up to a Quantum KVD reel (blue one). I pieced these two blue Quantums out of my junk pile and in addition to matching colors, they make for a nice tiny crank combo. Still, I own and actually fish with a KVD reel on a Bill Dance rod. I'm not laughing at anybody.

At this stage I'd be more likely to think that the problem is battery related rather than motor related. 10a charge should be fine. What you cannot expect to do is go long periods of time without charging and the expect the batteries to function properly. Batteries require a maintenance charge or a trickle charge to keep them in operation over long periods of inactivity. You could have an electrical issue with the motor but you'd need to verify that the motor suddenly stopped and did not slowly loose thrust. I'd hook the motor back up to the batteries and run the motor to see if it spins.

My 19' 2000 Javelin is more or less the same boat as the 97 Stratos. I don't think there is smoother dryer bass boat out there but they're a little slow in the hole shot and have a smallish front casting deck. One of the problems of these hulls at the 19'' range is that the consoles rob you of some rod storage room. Mine is a single console with a longer passengers side rod locker and I'm glad I don't have a dual console version. 7' rods are fine in the smaller locker size but an 8' is a no go without risking breaking it. I've also heard horror stories about the older javelin/Stratos winch mounts. It's spring loaded and causes problems loading the boat on the trailer. Based on the picture, it appears to be the dreaded spring mount. You might want to look at this as a potential replacement: http://www.championtrailers.com/telescoping-bass-boat-winch-base-kit-for-3-x-4-tongue/

1) Buckeye lures Jigs are great. Best jig trailer is going to be a mixed of different plastics depending on how you present the fig. Slow bottom hop: A Yamamoto plastic like a Flappin Hog Fast retrieves: Netbait Paca Chunk. Havoc Pit Boss Chunk Intermediate speeds: Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver 2) Strike King Jigs are a good value and readily available.. The best priced trailer is going to be a house brand Beaver knock off or Paca chunk knock off. For the bigbox stores that don't have a house brand, the Yum Craw Papi and Berkley Havoc baits are really good.

You can have a snap without a swivel and a swivel without a snap. A swivel does not make it any easier to change your baits but a snap sure can.

7' H Extreme paired to a 6.X:1 Extreme reel. I used to use it for everything 3/8oz and up but it is now a frog rod. I'll also throw some of my heavier spinner baits and swimjigs on it too.

I've experienced this exact same problem. What I found was that the bait was sitting vertical (up and down, nose up) in the water and the fish were chomping down on the bait folding it in half, completely missing the hooks. I'd feel the fish and then feel the bait pop out of the fishes closed mouth on the hook set. It's a sickening feeling when It's big fish too. I'd say it's time to change bait as your bait is most likely taking on water and then sitting vertical in the water. I switched away from the Matzuo frog that was having problems back to the popping Pad Crasher and it was problem solved.

The 1st spook I picked up was a Bone Saltwater Super Spook. I still have the bait and it swims like any of my other Super Spooks.

I want your Waddle Bat. Those things are becoming increasingly difficult to get a hold of.

I say pay no attention to the roundness of squareness of the bills. Throw cranks that you have confidence in and catch fish in both open water and in cover. While deflection off a piece of cover can be a great trigger you don't need a specialized bait just for that purpose. If anything you'd want the proven quantity of the bait that has been able to get bit in open water. Go throw that bait in cover be damned what it's bill shape is. I question the importance of a square bill in working through cover. I believe it's the line tie location, bill length, width and angle that allow the bait to come through cover well. Even "squarebill crank" is basically saying "shallow crank". "squarebill" is a cute and convenient name for broad billed, shallow diving cranks that run between 3 to 4 feet.

Most of my fish come on cranks.

Bait, line, rod and reel in that order of descending importance. A really nice reel is not going to put fish in the boat. Bait, line and a rod can.

#30 or #20 8 carrier braid. I like Suffix 832.

Rapala. I can slow roll a wooden Rapala by fish and get hammered while other guys are struggling to get bit burning, grinding and banging their generic plastic cranks.

104 count stick-Os for $13? Yes.