Further North

Copy of a copy, it sounds like.

$42? They're cool, but I'll stick with tying my own.

Great advice above. You can't have too much power in a trolling motor.

You are going to like those!

Not sure which one you are looking at, but I have used them in all my boats and I'd not set up a boat without one.

Took some rooting around, but I think I've got it figured out. More later as get details nailed down, see what I can and can't get away with. Has to be pretty secure, a rod over the side if something snaps could easily be a $1,000 problem.

With the low gear you can winch a cabin cruiser up a cliff...slowly...but you can move a crazy amount of weight. I'm exaggerating to make a point, but you get my drift.

I'm likin' it...where my head is now is to hang a hunk of that on the gunnel at the front, another at the rear, and adapt a PVC tube to attach to that...to protect the rods for their full length. Easy on, easy off and won't be in my way when I don't take the fly rods.

Boat is an '05, no gear track, might be able to add one. Good ideas! Here's the space I have to work with: It's about 7 ft. down the center over the rod locker.

Hmmmmm.... This one? https://www.amazon.com/Scotty-265-Holder-Side-Mount/dp/B001M4HT3Y ...that has posibilities. I could angle that back along the gunnels.... ...and that reminds me of one of the challenges I forgot. The line will wrap around exposed guides, and trying to lever a big musky or pike in a net over the gunnel can pinch...and break...a rod tip. You can guess how I know this... I'll add those above...but that rod holder still has possibilties...thanks!

Here's a puzzle for you'se guys: I often throw flies and gear on the same trip. It's easy to have a few gear rigs pre-rigged and on deck if want to quickly swap presentations...we all do this, I'm guessing. Fly rods present a challenge: They are 9 ft. long. They don't fit in rod lockers. They are longer than front decks. The reels on bass/pike/musky appropriate rigs are 4 1/2" in diameter, or larger, and stand about a half inch off the rod. When you are stripping fly line onto the deck, you need as little clutter down there as possible because fly line will find whatever is there and tangle up in it. Not an "if", this is a "when", guaranteed. The line will wrap around exposed guides if the rods are laying along the edge of the deck. Trying to lever a big musky or pike in a net over the gunnel can pinch...and break...a rod tip. Vertical storage is not an option. You WILL catch anything sticking up with your back cast. There is no way to avoid this. Watch video of fly casting if you have doubts. I probably missed something that I'll recall when someone suggests an idea... I'm currently toying with PVC rod tubes along the gunnels (one on each side)...but can't have them permanently mounted for a bunch of reasons.

Thanks - makes sense...I didn't think of that because I can't recall the last time I even saw a scale much less had one on the boat. I probably have one around somewhere...

I take a different approach to braid than a lot of people: if a reel is rated for X feet of 8 pound mono, I use a braid that is roughly equivalent in diameter to the mono...partly because braid is expensive, and I see no reason to wind extra braid onto a reel to fill it up and partly because I have no use for braid much under 30#. As noted above, it digs into spools, it can't take an abrasion at all, and it's going to cut my hands at some point. I'd rather have the extra strength and tie in a leader as needed. Works great.

A-Jay, you forgot: "Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies! Rivers and seas boiling! Forty years of darkness! Earthquakes, volcanoes... The dead rising from the grave! Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together... mass hysteria!"

I have what's probably a dumb question: Since most drags are not marked...how do you know how many pounds it is set at?

I replaced the stock winch on my trailer with this one a couple years agao: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007V4VMBE/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I'm very happy with it, and it'd have no problem with a Ranger.

I take a "Trust, but verify" approach to stuff like this. It's probably not a big deal, and I sure wouldn't get wrapped 'round the axle about it...but I'd sure check it out, just in case...

For $600, that's amazing...

There you go. You can relax. Spilled and dried battery acid woulda made me nervous...

probably not...but answer the questions above...at least for yourself.

@Scott Fand @slonezp could be true...we need more info...it'll be good when @jbmaineanswers the questions I posted... Need to add another: Does the white stuff float, or sink in water?

It does, but it makes no sense that would be coming out of that hole, on that boat. ...unless something really weird happened...

Does it have a smell when it is dry? Does it dissolve in water? Does it have a smell when it is damp/wet? Can you describe how it feels? Can you get us a close up, zoomed in really tight?

My current one looks just like that...'cept it says "Johnson".

I can't speak to boats, but I can speak to the truth of this with driving fast in cars. The "compression" of things coming at you goes up very fast and what we are used to at normal speeds can't compensate. At 45 MPH, we're going 66 feet per second, it takes 80 seconds to go a mile...we have about a second and a half to react to something 100 feet in front of us. At 80 MPH, we're going 117 1/3 feet per second, it takes 45 seconds to go a mile...we have about .85 seconds to react to something 100 feet in front of us. That's worth thinking about. We have to be looking way further out in front of us...