paleus

Not sure about the rods that come in a President combo, but the one that came with my Trion combo was pretty terrible. Really whippy. But, it was only $60 for the combo.

Yeah, that's why I drove 6 hours to pick it up. Came with a paddle and a couple of PFDs too.

I would definitely get the FS12T. A sit-on-top is much more functional for fishing and 10ft is gonna get real small real fast. Definitely rig up an anchor trolley and some rod holders. I almost bought an FS12T before finding my Slayer on CL.

I think one of the main benefits to more expensive reels is durability. My BlackMax and SilverMax are starting to act up.

I found a Native Watercraft Slayer 12 on CL for $600. It would be good for someone your size, it has a 400 lb capacity.

Putting batteries on a concrete floor used to be bad when battery cases were made from wood and early rubbers. Modern batteries in plastic cases can be stored on concrete with no ill effects. http://www.homepower.com/articles/solar-electricity/equipment-products/ask-experts-batteries-concrete I just keep mine in my garage with a maintainer hooked up.

This has been resolved. Lowrance replaced the unit.

+1 on this. The reel seat is my least favorite thing about the original Lightning Rod. The Shock is definitely worth the extra $10. Better guides too.

Berkley Lightning Rod is a good one. I've got an original and a Shock model, both 6'6" Mediums. They are both great, the Shock has a little better construction. It is $60 I think. I've got a President on the Shock and an Abu Orra S on the original.

Can't forget Native Watercraft. I just picked up a Slayer 12. Super comfortable high/low seat. Stable enough to stand. Tracks great.

Switch to braid.

16ft aluminum. I'm sure it would be pretty much impossible with a big fiberglass boat. The OP never said what kind of boat he has.

Just speaking from experience. Your experience may be different.

It's just physics, it's going to be easier to winch something across a level surface than up an incline. If you've got a heavy boat on carpet bunks, then it might be more difficult.

All good suggestions. I would add that it's not necessary to winch the boat all the way up on the ramp. Hook your winch up so the boat won't slide off, drive off the ramp and winch the boat up tight in the parking lot. It's a lot easier to winch the boat up tight when not on the incline of the ramp. Obviously, try to get it on as far as you can, but if you're a couple feet shy of backing the trailer in far enough, I'd rather winch it up on flat ground rather than try to back the trailer in more or winch on the ramp.

There was a private pond that I was allowed to fish when I was younger. Me and a buddy caught 51 fish in one day with about half of them being at least 3lbs.

Here's a good illustration of the Alberto (although it is titled as the Albright knot):

That NoDo Albright just looks like a regular Albright with not enough turns to me.

It will clear up slightly, but not to where it looks like it does after going into the menu and re-selecting medium on the noise rejection. I just tried a hard reset this weekend as instructed by customer support. The second video was made after doing the reset.

I find the Alberto (modified Albright) knot is easier to tie than the normal Albright. 7 twists up and 7 twists back down seems to hold just fine for me. This is a cool tip. I'll have to try it.

New video: Apparently YouTube annotations don't show up on embedded videos. I added annotations throughout the video to explain what is going on, you can see them if you watch the video on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkB6BvWyYLg

I fish for all those species with a medium/fast. I've got a couple Berkeley Lightning Rods. One is a Shock and definitely worth the extra $10.I personally don't like light/UL rods. They just aren't sensitive enough for me. A medium still has plenty of flex to keep small fish hooked, but also enough backbone to control larger fish. I also feel like I can cast more accurately with a stiffer rod.

Abu Veritas comes in a 2 piece. I've got one for travel, but I use it regularly as well. $100. Mine is a first gen. The 2.0 should be even nicer.

I frequent BassPro if I am in the area, about 30 minutes from my house. I go to the DSG in my town fairly often. I prefer to go to BPS. But, apparently neither carry Sufix 832 in a high-vis color.

I'm currently 10 days into an email conversation with Lowrance support. They don't seem to understand what the issue is. I have shown them this video and given them the exact explanation above plus much more. I was hoping a Lowrance rep on here might see this thread and be able to help out. I'm going to try to make another video this weekend that might show the issue better.