MickD

And change, or at least thoroughly clean, your gas lines and tanks. If the system is contaminated, it probably is degraded too, and even cleaning may not save it. You may be right back in trouble again as the "chunks" go through your engine.

I have not used all braid brands, but I've used enough to conclude skimping on price with no-names is not a good strategy. Keep in mind that braids last a long time, years. I have some that are "many" years old and still good. So cost is not as much of an issue as you at first think. Also, for most of our fishing we can just have the top 50-75 yards of braid, backing for the rest. I also believe that some braids have higher prices because they are better lines, people recognize that, and are willing to pay for it. Best is to find the good names on sale, of course. I find Power Pro, Suffix, and American Tackle "Bushido" to be my favorites.

I don't know what financial shape you're in, but I would wait a year, saving up more $$, to get side scan if I had to other than buy now and miss it. The unit you suggested is on sale at Cabelas, $400. You will pick up on mapping pretty easily. It's most valuable features, in my opinion, are that you can enter waypoints to return to otherwise hard to find spots, and you can backtrack your earlier courses to make sure you don't find any new rocks. After that the countours are nice, but the depth numbers will be hard to read on the water. Designed by office-dwellers.

I have an RX8 Rainshadow 8 1/2 that I built into a casting rod, and it's fine for salmon. Will throw a spoon a "mile," and really nice to handle fish with it, but it's more rod than I want for bass. I just don't see. Unless I'm offering a whole bunch of new design long rods for all the guys who have already bought all my shorter rods. they have to be tip heavy. I see no practical way that they can be anything other than tip heavy.

You didn't mention what is "breaking," but that sounds unusual. The old motors generally are reliable. You aren't talking about carburetion and/or fuel problems, are you? If that's the case a carb job, new tank and hoses will most likely solve your problems. Then use Seafoam religiously and buy good quality gas.

I've yet to buy one, but my first will be loon. My son had a Chug Bug that was black and white, a lot like the loon pattern, it was an absolute killer for smallmouths.

Bait casting, the reel. Fly fishing and spinning the rod. In the latter case, exc for the drag, the reels just hold line.

I'm no expert, but as I understand it, you can select the transducer in the settings of the "other" (778c) unit if it has the ability to run off multiple transducers. But both units have to have the same capabilities. For example, if the 778c does not have side imaging capability, the you will not have side imaging on that unit even though it's set to the transducer of the Helix. I expect you will get more expert responses than I can provide. I provide questions better than I provide answers.

Different strokes. Yes, it is different, but I find it easy to adapt to. If you haven't tried a big ramp off the front, you have not yet had the full experience of different proportions of rod grips. I do not ever get my hands onto the seat threads of this rod.

Man would I love to have that shop. I turn my components on my drill press rig in the garage and my wrapping/finishing station is in my bedroom on a 4 foot resin table, Amtac manual wrapper. But I'm a hobby builder who makes only 3-5 rods a year, just for me, family, and the charity rod. One advantage of having separate turning and epoxying sites is that the dust from turning doesn't get onto my wet epoxy. I would be reluctant to do the epoxy part of carbon fiber grips in your shop as it can get a little messy. You want to plan and set up your work carefully to prevent getting epoxy where you don't want it. Carbon fiber grips are not that easy for me, with all the steps. The hardest part for me is to get the "glass-like" finish that I want. Next it is the applying the cloth, clamping the ends properly, with the right amount of epoxy.

I believe the reel is the most important for baitcasting, and the rod most important for spinning.

Most use braid of from 30-50 for baitcasters, with everyone having a favorite brand. I prefer Power Pro and Suffix Premium Braid. I know from experience that all braids are not equal, so I would avoid any that don't get endorsements from the people on this forum. I expect many more to chime in. The pound test is not for super strength, but is for casting characteristics, and you will want to experiment with your drag setting, which will be much below 30 pounds. Too high a drag setting with the fine diameter braids will cause it to dig in on the spool, and believe me, you don't want that to happen. Cutting a spool full of braid off a reel could take hours. It certainly isn't fun.

I don't pour cores; I buy from Riley. Before ordering from Riley, call to make sure they are there and still active. Another forum reports problems. What I do is to figure out how long all 3 parts will be, add 4 inches (provides an inch between each piece + an inch at each end. Then mount it on a mandrel and use coarse sandpaper to form the three pieces to the sizes and shapes I want, all in one long piece of core. Then I seal it with one coat of Riley epoxy, then do the carbon fiber tubing application. Riley has very good directions on their web site. One thing to keep in mind is that you need to really get the carbon fiber cloth wet with epoxy; you don't want it to lack epoxy. You will have to have the ability to spin the part with the axis horizontal for "drying" the epoxy, and you will need to spin it fairly fast to sand it after it dries. I cobbled a variable speed drill for the former and I have a rig that uses my drill press for the latter. If you need details on the latter I can post pics and details. Note that it is possible to make gentle, smooth, curves that are very comfortable and don't need winding checks, so the rod can have very clean, simple, lines. I really don't like those dimpled, decorative checks. When you use three on split grip designs it ends up looking like a transformer toy, or phony bolts on some truck wheels.

Simms isn't the cheapest but it is the best. The ventilation holes at the nose help to keep glasses from fogging. You can button up so that there is no sun getting to you and without fogging. They are form fitted with a tail off the back for neck protection. I've used a lot of the "plain tubular" ones and they just do not compare.

I'll try to post a pic of my reverse Aero rod. It fishes great, looks a little goofy. Would look better proportioned with a sleeve over the threads. I hope the pic shows up well, but in case not, the ramps and butt knob are carbon fiber. With a sleeve over the threads, I wouldn't put a rear ramp on. The blank is a Rainshadow Immortal WS72ML, and it works well for Ned rig in open water, where you don't have to horse fish from snags or weeds. It's my only rod with Microwave guides.

Sounds like some good experience-based advice above. The power of the rod should be determined by the lure weights you intend to cast. You want the rod to load properly. The action should ideally be (for cranks) moderate to moderate/fast, although if it is the right power, even fast will work, especially if you're going to use a lot of long casts. (better hook sets). The trend now seems to be fast action for everything, but I notice on TV that there are one heck of a lot of moderate actions being used by the pros, for all techniques. You see posts about the really aggressive hook sets by the pros. One reason is they are using a lot of moderate action rods. IMHO

One difference between higher level boats and entry level boats is the storage. I have fished with an entry level boat for 17 years, and it's tough to not have enough easy storage. I have my cooler, the clothes I take off as the day heats, bait boxes, tools, rods/reels all over the place. Hard to move through the boat, rods more likely to get broken, easy to trip over something. I'm getting a new boat, will cost much more than the last one, but I can keep all my crap from being under foot. I don't argue with the logic of the post, but am just mentioning something that should be considered as you evaluate your priorities. Top drawer fish finder, yes. Which can eliminate the need for a power pole. And I'm really going for good storage this time.

Pounds are pounds whether braid or mono or spider webs.

It's obviously well out of balance, most likely the bent shaft. You cannot expect something that rotates at speed to run smoothly on a bent shaft. When you say "violently" that indicates something pretty gross. You probably can observe visually the prop wobbling.

I have found the greens most effective generally in any water clarity, so that's my start color. I believe in hand poured "chubbier," dull-finished tubes rather than the glossy, skinny ones that many companies offer. I have yet to try Z-man. Keep in mind that at times the fish want an almost neutral bouyancy, slow fall, and will readily hit on the fall, while at other time they want it more active, moving both down and up faster. Jig weights will depend on water depth and how aggressive you want to fish. I prefer the 60 degree tube jigs, but have had success on 90's too. Try both and watch how they move in the water.

No, the docks we were fishing were on a clear lake with mostly sand bottom at the docks. And the fish I mentioned was a largemouth, not a smallie. Don't know why I said smallie-we saw no smallies around the docks.

Sounds like you're using the right stuff to me, exc no Ned rig. It works under docks, had one smallmouth take one 3 times last year. I also use Tennessee shad super flukes, but they are a lot like what you're already throwing.

The down side of accumulating guides for me is that I'll get a bunch of them, then I'll fall in love with something new that comes onto the market, and I won't want to use the others.

If you get it to grip solidly as you test it, it will last "forever." With the heavier tests FC the weave will actually deform the FC leader into a sort of "corkscrew," and it will not slip. Some time when you get what you think is a good FG, cut it apart to see what the weaves do to the FC. But sometimes it doesn't grip, especially on the lighter tests. I saw one post on it in which the poster recommended scraping the surface of the braid to remove any low friction coating. I don't know if low friction braids or FC's are part of the problem or not. But it might be worth some investigation.

I'll try to remember tomorrow when I'm on the other computer to post a pic of the carbon fiber ramps with the Aero. I didn't cover the threads, but my hands seldom get back there. I'll bet one of the new Fuji sleeves would work well there. One thing that surprises many is that a hard surface is not necessarily uncomfortable. If it's the right size and shape it will be fine for comfort. Like carbon fiber fly rod grips.