fishnkamp

Spinning or baitcasting? Check out one of a thousand earlier post about the topic!

WiGuide is probably right and in that case you should be able to run a hose into that hole, open the lid for the bilge area and see most likely a busted and seriously leaking hose leading to the livewell overflow.

If you want an Ulterra why are you not going for that first? Now I would use 5200 Marine Tex to fill in the holes. It can be lightly sanded and painted to closely match you boat's color then I would drill and mount my new trolling motor. Anything that makes it easier for you to remove it makes it easier for someone else to remove it!

Okay today's fluorocarbon and braids are expensive. Also braid can slip on the spool and its diameter is much smaller than equivalent monos. Now there are all kinds of braids out there and not all of them play the same. In the past I always used monofilament or copolymer lines( a fancier line that plays like mono) on the spinning reels my wife and I use. My wife experienced more trouble with line coils coming off and causing trouble. I would usually spend a few minutes to fix them Eventually I tried different lines and settled on Berkley FireLine original and FireLine Fused Original (both are basically the same line) Since I switched us, that problem is gone. Also always close the bail by hand never by turning the reel handle. That avoids the twist in your line which exasperates the coil problem. So we do not choose the thin diameter braid by its test strength as much as by diameter. I like the way 14 pound test FireLine plays on a spinning reel. It is the same diameter as 6 pound mono which means a 30 series reel would take way too much braid to fill economically. Keep in mind between my wife and I we own about 30 rods and reels. So I bought 1 spool of Bass Pro Excel mono in 14 pound test to use as backing. I got 1200 yards for $10.00 and it lasted for about 11 years as we built up our arsenal. You do not need to get that much. A 300 yard spool of Tourney Tough, Cajun Red or Stren Original in 14 pound test will fill several reels with backing for less than $8 and you can use the rest for making leaders. That explains the why, Now the how, Look up the Arbor Knot on youtube. Tie the mono onto the reel using a good tight arbor knot. Then wind on about 1/2 the spool. Next using a uni to uni knot (also available on youtube) wind on the FireLine. Make sure you stop about 1/8 of an inch from the end of the spool. Never over fill the spool. One of the main differences with FireLine compared to regular type braids is it acts like mono, it is a single strand like mono rather than a group of lines spun together. So it ties a strong holding knot when tied onto a lure directly. Certain types of lures I do not even use a leader, like rattle traps and even spinnerbaits. If i am in gin clear water then yes I always use a 6 to 10 pound leader. The same uni to uni knot works fine to add the leader. I like the trilene knot and the Palomar knot for tying on lures. The other benefit for setting the lines up like this is you purchased one 300 yard spool of mono for less than $8 and your FireLine will run about $14 for a 125 yard spool of 14 pound line. For about $22 you will be able to fill at least 2 or 3 reels and that is how I make my money stretch. Also if you ever have a major catastrophe you only need to change out 1/2 a spool of braid. I also like the fact this line does not deteriorate much at all. I still have some FireLine on some of my reels that is over 5 years old. It works and feel as good as ever and they get a work out each year during bass and striper seasons. We fish the tidal Chesapeake Bay here and big deep and clear Tennessee lakes on vacation. We fish all types of rivers, tidal water, and deep clear lakes. I hope i won't bore you but to give you just a little taste, my wife and I were on Dale Hollow Lake this past April fishing for bass. The first picture is one of the 5 to 7 pound bass we caught. The next picture is of a 6 and a half pound catfish my wife hooked and landed using a 6 foot G Loomis light action GL2 spin jig series spinning rod. Now this rod rates for 1/16 to 5/16 lures. We were fishing a 1/10 ounce Ned Rig mushroom head jig with a TRD Ned rig body (think of a 2.5 inch piece of a Senko worm on it). We were fishing for big smallies holding tight to a 30 foot steep rock bluff wall. While retrieving the lure back to the boat this cat ate it. It took her 15 minutes to land it with that soft rod.. The reel was a Pflueger 6930 with the exact line combo and a 3 foot long leader made of P Line Cxx 8 pound line. I know I have never laughed as hard as watching this cat run her from the front to back deck multiple times. As soon as she hooked the fish I knew what she had because I saw a school of big fish on the depth finder and they were all hanging tight to the bottom, the bass had been suspended about 15 feet down. I loosened up her drag and sat down behind the console and watched her masterfully fight the fish, while laughing my tail off. I was really proud of her, She has learned really well, over the years, how to properly fight and another site. In fact both of these two fish were caught on G Loomis 6 foot Light action spinning rods, hers a GL2 and mine a IMX with the same exact reel and line combo. One last suggestion, years ago I purchased a Berkley Line Spool Station and it makes it so easy to respool a reel. Just remember to spool off the top of the spool of line for baitcasters and off the bottom of the spool wnen spooling spinning reels.It is the best $20 you can spend.

You never said what you have now or what your budget for each is. I believe this is a good starting point anyway. My first rod would be a 6'6" to 7 foot medium action spinning rod and a quality mid priced reel. That reel would be a Pflueger President 6930 or 6935 size reel. These reels cost around $60 but can be had a little cheaper. I do not believe in getting gear just good enough and upgrading. The rod choice depends on your budget but on the lower cost end look at a Berkley Lightning Shock rod on the mid to higher end look at a Dobyns Fury or Powell Inferno, Abu Garcia Veritas etc. Rod two would be a medium action baitcasting rod with a moderate taper tip for crankbaits,rattle traps , and other baits with treble hooks. This would be a 6'8" to 7 footer with a decent reel. Maybe an Abu Garcia Silvermax or ProMax, a Diawa Exceller, even a Lews reel. For a rod consider a Falcon Buccoo 7 foot medium it is known as the Trap Master. It retails for $100 but is often available for $40. There are rods like the Veritas in a 7 foot medium that work well also.. Diawa original Tatulas are good also. If the budget allows it go for a higher end rod from Powell, Irod, G Loomis ,St Croix etc. Rods like St Croix's Mojo Bass and Avid X for example. The next combo I would save up and get my most expensive combo. This would be a rod for bottom contact baits like jigs, carolina rigs and texas rigged plastics. For a reel I would look again at the Diawa Exceller or even a Diawa Tatula reel and a good 7 foot to 7 foot 3 rod. Lews does offer some nice reels as well. For a rod I would be looking for a rod that rated 1/4 to 3/4 or 1/4 to 1 and a 1/4. Look at a Dobyns Fury 703C or 704C or a Powell Max3D 723 CEF.

I would definitely start with a 30 or 35 sized Pflueger President and I would put it on a 6 foot 6 inch Berkley Lightning Shock rod. My wife fishes 1 Irod for frogs 3 G Loomis spinning rod for bottom contact baits and for cranks and traps one Berkley Lightning Shock rod. For the money it is a great rod. We use it for big stripers as well. The other rod I would suggest would be a 6'6" medium action Abu Garcia Veritas spinning rod. Often they can be found on sale for around $75 bucks. Both of these rods would feel good enough to use yourself if you wanted a spare with you for a day.

I had never seen that rod before. It is a quality IM8 rod that is not sold separately. The rod I would get is the 6'6" model, it is a one piece rod rated as a medium with a fast tip very similar to the Lightning Shock. It is rated for 1/8 to 5/8 ounce lures and 6 to 12 pound line. I like the handle and reel seat, they should be very comfortable. It also has a hook keeper which is a nice extra . It get really good reviews so I would jump on it. To order the six foot six model just select it in the drop down box labeled size and choose 6 foot 6. That will come with a 6935 reel. If you want the lighter combo the 6 foot rod is also a medium with the same specs so it should work well also. However it will be a bit lighter due to the reel it comes with is the 6930., The choice is a personal one. Either way I would set the reel up the same way a cheap spool of mono til the spool was 1/2 full. Then add your favorite braid or fluorocarbon, and I would add a 3 to 6 foot leader. For all around fishing I really like 14 pound test Berkley FireLine (which is the diameter of about 6 pound mono) That fused line casts like mono but never creates the birds nest or coiling that other lines can do.

The standard receptacle at your house will be 110 volts. Start by chasing the wires coming out of the charger. There will be a 110 volt ac lead that will either have a 3 prong ac plug on it or it will ron over to a onboard ac receptacle ( that may be what you meant by plugging in the back of the boat). It might be someone replaced the charger and the new 110 ac wire coming out of the Dual Pro Charger may no longer go to that plug in the boat. Now there will be two sets of 12 volt wires coming out of the charger. One set will go to your trolling motor battery. The second should be going to the engine cranking battery. These wires must be hooked up to the batteries or nothing will happen. No lights will light. I suspect the 110 volt ac line no longer goes to the plug in the back of your boat. Make sure to plug something like a lamp or a radio just to test your extension cord and the house outlet have ac coming out of them. You could be on a circuit breaker that tripped. Possibly when you tried your charger.

i like P Line floroclear which is a copoly line with a fluoro coating but not if I was going to use it for buzzbaits also, so I would go with 30 pound or 40 pound P Line or 832 braid and a leader or maybe a Suffix Siege in 14 pound test. That lays on a baitcaster pretty well and is about the same diameter as say Stren mono in 14 pound test.

https://www.amazon.com/Berkley-Lightning-Casting-6-Feet-0-Inch/dp/B001RDOBQI/ref=sr_1_1?s=hunting-fishing&ie=UTF8&qid=1470275473&sr=1-1&keywords=Berkley+lightning+Shock+rod Here is the Berkley I told you about. This is one of my wife's exact setups, this rod along with a Pflueger President model 6935. That is the next size above the reel you asked about. The setup balances beautifully with a 6930x or a 6935x. We preferred it with the 35 ( By the way we own 25,30, 35 and 40 series models on different rods). Personally I like that rod in a 6'6 inch medium, the 6935 President reel, and I have it spooled with 1/2 a spool of good quality but inexpensive mono as backing, then fill the rest of the spool with Berkley FireLine original or FireLine fused original and I like it in a green ( almost hi vis yellow) 14 pound test. Its diameter is almost the same as most 6 pound test monofilament line. If I am fishing really clear water i add a 3 to 6 foot leader of copolymer or fluorocarbon line. That is exactly how Linda's rig is sitting here in our rod rack. Currently it has a plastic texas rigged worm and a 3/8 ounce worm weight.

You would be amazed how much help the extended mirrors can do to help you. I also not sure what vehicle you are towing with but a lot of today's vehicles have smaller mirrors than say the old Fords had you know the one that had a metal arm extend out turn down and reconnect to the truck door sheet metal.Towing was so much easier with that style mirror.

Lets start with the fixables. Try adding "spot" mirrors to your outside mirrors that may help. Those stupid tubes as you say do work but look dumb on a fiberglass bass boat. If the spot mirrors do not help you could go to an RV supply store and look into the add on mirrors they use to tow with Items like this https://www.zoro.com/reese-clip-on-towing-mirror-72787/i/G8137114/?utm_term=D_PB20_Auto&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=PLA_US_2&utm_content=Auto %26 Truck Maintenance&gclid=CNLn0_i7ps4CFZPo6QodpYMGEA&gclsrc=ds or https://www.realtruck.com/cipa-custom-towing-mirrors/?productid=886813&gad=CK1Eqb0CEgiAIunlUZTpsxitqKv_AyCxirIS&utm_campaign=product+ads&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_content=886813&utm_keyword=CIPA+Custom+Towing+Mirrors or add a back up camera. Now the tach I recommend you pull it out and see what brand and series it is. many of them are available on the internet at places like West Marine, Bass Pro and others. Most likely you have a blown fuse or burnt out bulb on the lights. Make sure you have your running lights switch on and check for voltage at the bulb. If your speedometer uses a pitot tube ( a hose going to a pitot tube on the back of the boat the tube or hose can get clogged. Remove it from the gauge and blow compressed air back to the back of the boat. It happens. Add your rod buckles they are easily obtained from places like Bass Pro or Cabelas. I run a 24 volt trolling motor and a 2 bank charger all the time. I also have 3 batteries. The one for the engine is not hooked up to it and does not need to be. If your trolling motor is a 24 volt one then one bank of the charger should be connected to tm battery 1 and the second bank should hook to tm battery 2. The engine battery runs the engine, lights,electronics and pumps for livewell and bilge. This engine does not need to be recharged by an onboard charger. It is recharged by your outboard engines alternator while the engine is running. A 3 bank charger is a luxury item. Here are a couple of thoughts on your trailer. Please post a picture of the tongue on the trailer. If it is a swing away a welder metal shop may be able to build you a longer bolt on swing away piece. The break away chain or cable are usually a set length but the length you need varies by your vehicle and particular hitch arrangement. When i purchased my current S10 ZR2 the hitch was recessed further back under the truck so the holes the chains clipped into was farther away from the ball. I added 2 heavy duty shackles to my hitch then I added 2 heavy duty snap links like this from Lowes. It added enough extra length and made connecting and disconnecting to the truck easy. I hope this helps.

CenCal fisher gave you some good advice. Boy my wife and I fish 7 Pflueger Presidents. Some of these are 10 years old and we still use them every time out. I would say a 30 series President will handle most of your needs. Dicks has a rebate on them so they cost $59 but will end up only costing $49 after the rebate. Now look at a Berkley Lightning Shock rod from either Walmart (sometimes you can catch the 6 foot 6 inch medium rod on sale) or from places like Tackle Warehouse for $49. Now my wife actually fishes that exact rod combo for bass and stripers. It throws and handles lots of baits but it handles crankbaits and rattle traps really well. She has hooked and landed some nice rockfish on that rod. At least you will not be buying a "cheap combo" that you will upgrade from later.

Just think how excited its new owner is! Sorry I know it is painful

Definitely the Dobyns 733C or the 703C both are really nice. Another rod most people do not think of but check out the Abu Garcia Ike series IKE 70-5. It is a 7 foot Medium action power series rod designed to fish single hook reaction bits like chatterbaits, spinnerbaits, and buzz baits. The rod sells for $129. I personally fish one of his rods and I like it a lot. It is a 6 ft 4 medium action "delay series" rod designed to fish jerkbaits. This is like a 6'8" rod but with a slightly shorter handle, it allows you to setup a cadence without hitting your arm. Each of the 15 Ike series rods were designed and optimized to do specific techniques. These rods are definitely on my radar for future purchases.

Right now manufacturers are building some of "THE BEST " rods in the $75 to $175 range they have ever made. long island basser mentioned he thought his Dobyns Champion was nice but overpriced. That is a rod costing $360 They make rods in the exact or nearly exact same action and powers in 6 different rod lines, so you could purchase a Champion Xp DX 703C for $360 or a Fury FR 703C for $109. Now the graphite is going to be a little different and some of the components are going to be a little different, but the rod is going to do the same job and react about the same. For a lot of techniques I think I like a lot of the $100 to $200 rods best. Where I really like the high end rods the most ( and I am talking the $300 plus rods like Dobyns Champion XP, G Loomis and others) is in the bottom contact techniques like deep water jigs on ledges and carolina rigging, but definitely on finesse spinning like Ned Rigs, wacky wormin, tubes, grubs,and Sencos. Even drop shotting, so I would split the field, I own 3 "expensive" spinning rods and 1 expensive casting rod and 9 moderately priced (in that $50 to $200) range. The other neat thing is often the rods that cost around $100 to $150 can be found on sale for $50 to $75 online and places like Dicks Sportind Goods or Academy and definitely on Amazon.

Lets look at the Irods first. Almost all of the Irods had some pro help design what "their perfect rod" would be for the technique they are most known for. In the case of Fred he designed a IRG744 and the IRG754. The 7'4' 4 power rod is rated as a Medium Heavy power with a fast action tip. It handles 1/4 to 3/4 oz. lures. So the rod acts well if I am casting lures that weigh in that range. The tip can handle casting jigs, lighter carolina rigs, bigger texas rigged worms, some top water and spinnerbaits and yes it will pitch lures as well. I would not use this rod if I wanted to punch 1 1/2 oz punch rigs or flip 1 ounce or larger tx rigged beaver or jigs. The 754 is only 1 inch longer but the rod is going to be much beefier in power and the tip is going to act differently. It is rated as a heavy power rod with a moderately fast tip. This means it bends a little further down the blank from the tip and then the real power of the rod kicks in. This rod rates for lures that weigh 1/2 to 2 ounces. It can handle frogs and bigger worms ( like 10 + inch texas rigs with heavy 3/4 to 2 ounce weights) and is good for flipping heavy baits like punch rigs and texas rigged beavers with 1 1/2 ounce tungsten weights. This is a meat stick to get stuff out of heavy cover. The choice has to start with what you want to throw or how you want to fish. The lures will help you decide which rod you need. The same principle applies to the other rod companies. Choose the right power and tip action then choose a length that you will feel comfortable using that meets the right specs. For St Croix you have several choices in Avid X. If I was pitching to hard cover like shoreline cover, docks rocks in limited junk I might choose the model AXC70MHF, that is a 7 foot Medium Heavy rod with a fast action tip. It rates 3/8 to 1 ounce lures. If I wanted to pitch heavy lures in heavy vegetation or flip thick bushes i would go for the AXC74HF, that is the meat stick handling lures from 3/8 to 1 1/2. I hope that makes more sense. Sometime we know why we choose a specific rod for a specific purpose but we only suggest the rod and not the why.

Boy you live in a bass fishermans heaven. I live in Baltimore MD but fish in Tennessee as often as possible. Have you fished Dale Hollow or Center Hill yet?

Welcome LuxN. Name here is Bob. I live over in Middle River. Are you on my side of Baltimore? Where do you do most of your fishing, ponds, rivers, reservoirs or tidal water.

Replace the entire fuel line from tank to engine just incase there is a restriction in the line. I think I had about $50 bucks total in bulk line, clamps, and bulb. All that equalled peace of mind.

I build engines for a living. I would never start and stop an engine like that. Much more wear and tear on the engine in my opinion, also lots more work for the starter to do and yes much harder on the battery. I doubt the battery will last as long either. The 1 minute of fuel used to idle a modern outboard is almost nothing.

I own two Irods and there is no issues with any of the Irod rods. I am a member of The Bass College and its' owner Steve used to order them directly from Irod ( he became friends with the owner of Irod). He would have anyone interested to get on a list and he would order them in a big batch. I bet over three orders there are at least 100 or more rods in members hands and I have never heard one complain. They are well made,feel light in your hand, balance well and have good components. I also own one Dobyns and am about to pick up a new Dobyns Sierra These to are well built, light balance well and have good components. Between my wife and I we own 6 G Loomis and I like these other two rods just as well as them.

First love the Genesis II rods. I have a Gabes Rip Rap Special and a 7 ft heavy finesse Spinning Rod my wife throws frogs on. That is one amazing rod. Now I would head you right to Bub Tosh's Punch rod which can handle your punch rigs and small swimbaits ( up to say 2 ounces) But it seems like you really need two rods, because you mention you would like to step up and play with some bigger swim baits. I think you should be replacing your broken rod with the Punch rod for now, I also think you need to be planning on adding a Irod Genesis II Large Swim rod which can take 4 ounce to 7 ounce (8 to 10 inch) swimbaits.Unfortunately no one rod can do it all.. Those swimbaits are their own big deal and it looks like it takes at least 4 rods to handle all of them. One thing I can tell you with confidence is Irod makes really nice rods. I belong to the Bass College and the owner Steve used to get big rod orders together from its members and order them all at once from the Irod factory directly. I never knew anyone complain about a rod the purchased. We had a bunch fishing swimbait rods, Rip Rap Specials, Fred's Magic Sticks, Bub's Punch rods, Harold Stones Lone Star Special and a few crank launchers. I even thing one guy ordered a couple of Marty Stones vibrating jig rods. Anyway each time Steve announced a chance to order guys put in their orders and got them at a slightly reduced price. I do not think you will be making any mistakes.

Here are a few good options. you did not mention a budget, but you did say you liked St Croix Avid X rods which run around $200, so check these out. I fish rods from all of these companies and really like them. First look at Irod Genesis II rods. A bunch of fellow members of The Bass College have purchased Irod Genesis II model IRG754 it is a rod designed by Fred Roumbanis and is a frog, pitching and flipping rod. The rod is 7'5" and they all seemed to love it for these uses. It retails for around $150. Look at the Dobyns Sierra series SA 735C This rod is 7'3" Mag hvy with a real nice xf tip. This rod retails for $180 but the same rod is available in the Fury series for $110. Of course you would be looking at a AXC74HF rod which is a St Croix Avid X 7'4" Heavy rod with a fast tip. That rod is going for $210. As for a reel I like all of my Diawas but my flipping rod and my frog rod both have Diawa Tatula Type R reels with a 8-1 ratio.That reel is super smooth and fast. They can be picked up for $130 sometimes. I think it is on sale at Cabelas for that right now for $119.00 I t normally retails for $199.

Here are three suggestions and I fish rods from each company. Irod Genesis II rods Look at a IRG693C “Harold’s Lone Star Special” It is a 6'9" all around workhorse or a IRG744 7'4 MH 1/4 o 3/4 all around rod. These rods sell for $159 Next look at the Dobyns Sierra series they run $170. Look at the SA 703C and 704C rods. Both of these rods are available in the Fury series for $110. I think you will like the feel of the Sierra a bit more but the Fury is well made, light and well balanced. Third look at Powell Max3D rods. Call the factory and ask for a Powell Max3D 683CEF. I own a Powell Max 683CEF but it is an original series not the 3D. It had been removed from the lineup when the 3ds came out. I had a conversation with the owner and he said they added it back in, it is not on the website yet, but are available for sale now. That rod is so versatile it is amazing. Take a look at the Tackle Tour review of the original rod, the one I own. http://www.tackletour.com/reviewpowell683cxfast.html The only thing about these rods is none of them are great at cranks. You need a specific medium action moderate taper rod to do that right. Just keep that in mind.