TommyBass

I second "Fishin' in the Dark"

You would have to inspect your hub... it depends on the type. Make sure its not torn up. My turbo prop has one of the nylone style that are supposed to strip out before tearing out your lower unit. But I think some are still metal, either of which could break or strip in a large impact. If all looks well I would think you'd be OK to go. I have had a refurbished stainless done before and it was perfectly OK. Never have did any aluminum one though. How was the fishing down there at Patoka by the way? I have been looking at going down there the last few weeks but havent got the chance.

Optima blue top batters are AGM cell (sprial) style batteries. As far as your amperage goes, I am not exactly sure on the AGMs.... the others are completely fine to do 15 amps on. Your battery should say somewhere I would think, if not on their site. I really dont think it matters too much... the more amps the faster your charge. The main thing is you would want to be sure to turn it off when fully charged or make sure your charger has a "float" mode where it wont overcharge it.

Just looking for some recommendations on line that is hi-visbility at around 30 or 40 lb monofiliament. I need something that can be a good dual use for catfish and stripers on larger spinning reels. I guess the main characteristics would be shock resistant with good strength and reasonable castability. I would like a large spool as well to try to save some money.

I have one of these little guys in one of my compartments. http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_52474____SearchResults I think it used to be a law but I can't find anything about it anymore. I never use it but you never know I guess. And like they said, to paddle any sort of bass boat with any size would be crazy unless you were fairly close and there was no wind, but even then, crazy.

Ya will probably need some sort of lift. If it was alluminum that would be a different story. How much does it weigh?

Culprit Red Shad... can't really fish it wrong.

Usually the portable battery powered aerators will say how many gallons they sufficiently aerate. Make sure you have the capability for your volume of water and bring extra batteries. The frozen bottle thing works well for hot water. You will also need to bring a bucket or pitcher to replentish the water once in awhile. Things like ammonia and other wastes build up in the water and need to be taken out, aerating does not sufficiently get rid of those by itself.

How big is your livewell?

Good luck using a hook if the jigs are powder coated well. That stuff is like iron. If its absolutely not going anywhere with normal techniques... round them all up and get a candle and small diameter sewing needle. Candles are nice because they provide constant source of heat, and you dont have to keep firing up a lighter or something. Light the candle and heat the needle until its very hot (becareful, the needle will warm all the way through... I like the kind with the plastic balls on the end for this). Immediate poke the overpainted eyelet with the heated needle and it should melt right through it. Reheat the needle and repeat with every jighead. This also leaves a smooth melted finish so its not cutting your line. I do this all the time when I powder coat all of my special crappie jigs Note: Probably should do this in a well ventilated area.

Not sure what you mean by a crawbug... but if your talking about the majority of soft plastic crawdads, then yes, most people rig them through the back, so the craw swims backwards. I like to rig them texas style with a 4/0 wide gap hook and 1/8oz bullet weight. Just bounce it along the bottom like a little crawdad on a sunday stroll. You can varry your retrieve how ever, just give them what they want.

I have not used a VERY new powerdrive but I have used ones that are a few years old. They do turn a little bit slower but its not that big of a difference as everyone makes it out to be. Im not sure why you need to turn 360 degrees in 0.0078 seconds. If your about to hit something you shouldnt' let yourself get that way in the first place. I despise the pedal that comes with a powerdrive and they are known to have problems. The older powerdrives also had terrible stow and deploy. Both of which are supposed to be improved? I did use a terrova to much liking and actually bought one for my boat.. just not tried it yet on there. Terrovas have traditional rocker pedals that are digital.. like the digital MG. Remotes are nice but not practical for bass fishing, takes your hands off of the reel too much, but they are great for trolling and restricted HP / electric only lakes. I have never noticed a difference in battery life with the electric turn, although it has to use a bit more. The motor it uses to turn the motor is above the water and it just "spins" the shaft. Its no more noisy below the water than metal cables sliding around and jerking back and forth. There is just as much to go wrong with cables as power steers.... and most new cables are digital internally as well. People have trouble with cables just as much as people have issues with power steers... just check back through the last few weeks of posts... there were a couple of cable problems and even a few with plain stern mount problems.... every motor every brand can have a problem.. PERIOD. It all just comes down to preference and need really.

Agreed... I still like the slugos though. Like he said, early spring, but I'll even use them all the way through fall, especially early and late in the day or around vegetation. Heck even carolina rigging them works well.

I know for sure the blue top is a mix battery... half start half deep cycle sort of thing. It would probably be best as your starting battery (with extra trickle for electronics). I belive the yellow is deep cycle, but they should say on them. Mine is actually smaller than the standard type of battery, and weights a little less.

Thanks for taking the time to post that Big O. Nice to get a little deeper insight. Im glad you do not take offense, I was not trying to be offensive, just stating a different point of view. I realize the type of packaging is going to be higher in cost but is that necessary enough to warrant that increase in price? Will not most soft plastics go back to their original molded shape after being placed in hot water and quickly cooled (if they are bent out of the package)? I realize there is some difference in action between you baits and others obviously, but I was questioning whether that slight gain in action is enough to warrant the greater than 3x price per unit. Or look at it this way, even if you package 8 such as the competition, and 2 of 8 are duds, we the consumer would still be getting a better deal. I was just stating that cheaper products with good action and not fancy packaging catch almost as many fish for me. That is purely opinion and nothing more... what I think dosn't matter, its the individual that makes that choice. I respect your patenting point of view, but patents are highly debatable and technical. Technically you can almost manufactur an identical bait or color and simply claim that one minor difference you made in your patent / product changes everything. And since its basically impossible to prove if it matters to the fish, most likely a patent would pass whether or not that difference mattered or not. Otherwise we wouldn't have so many very similiar look alike products on the market today. I am not dissing your product or work, as stated in my original post I believe full heartedly your products work. I actually have not even had the chance to try many of them, but I have caught plenty of fish on the craws I did try. The anaconda, lizard, and shad all look good but I have just not purchased them yet. The shad and lizard are quite different from most you see on the market, the anaconda I don't feel is much different than say a 10 inch Culprit, but again... opinion. One thing I will stand firm on as of my experiences for now is that the durability of your products seems lacking in the tail department. This was obviously addressed by several others as well. Not stating its a huge deal, there are many other baits (especially soft soft plastics) I like that are not durable. Sometimes durability is a sacrafice a bait makes for its fish catching ability. It was what it was.. a statement. Thanks for being kind enough to respond to your customers comments, TommyBass

In my opinion all of the RAGE baits are wayyyy over priced. This will probably make some people mad... but I feel that alot of them are complete rip offs of a basic idea zoom and others have been doing for years (the back cut V). The rage may push a little more water in some cases, but hardly. The lobster is almost identical to the zoom craw with the same action. The chunk can be compared to the zoom trailer, and both actions are good (the rage product looks a little more realistic on that one). And their toad is nothing more than a horny toad. I have a friend that is a huge zoom fanatic and he uses those zoom trailers (swears and dies by them) and catches just as many if not more fish than with the rage. And they are half the price and you get 3 more. RAGE is nothing more than that..... yet another bait monkey craze/rage that is hardly waranted. Their lizard and space monkeys seem unique, but again, doubtfully worth the price. I have no experience with the shad. The pack of craws I did try, I also noticed the poor quality of the plastics and had pinchers bit off of 3 of them after not much use. I don't doubt the effectiveness of the product, I just feel there are equal products out there for much less money, especially for the everyday angler. Yet another great advertising and propaganda scheme from Strike King. Can't wait until they start comming out with sexy shad colored Rage products! : http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_97092____SearchResults http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_58861_100007002_100000000_100007000_100-7-2http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_57492____SearchResults

Does your current one have a plug up front? Make sure you have a plug that works and hook it to the wires that run through your boat. Be sure that the gauge of wire ran from your bow to stern is appropriate for the voltage or current or as recommended by the manufacturer of the TM. Basically you will still have two wires... a positive and negative for your trolling motor (or comming out of your plug). You will link the positive wire to the positive terminal of one battery and the negative to the negative terminal of the other battery. Your correct, you then connect the left over positive and negative posts between the batteries with a short 1-2ft lead of wire that allows the flow to jump batteries. You then have flow into one battery, through it, into the other battery, out of it back up to your trolling motor... and Voila! an in series 24V system. I would also recommend using a fuse or breaker system inline (usuallly on your positive wire) of the appropriate size recommended by your motor.

Heck man... if the 24v is less do that for sure! You will never regret the extra power and definately longer battery life. You could get that setup and buy your extra deep cycle and still break even. Its not that big of an issue to change over to 24 v, its mostly just your battery connection has to be hooked in a series. And about the shaft.... the black shaft between the head and lower unit will "flex" a few inches on impact. It is not like an axle, there is no power transfer down that shaft other than wiring, so flexing isnt likely to hurt anything unless you hit so hard it breaks (as BigBassGuy so kindly illustrated). And most should be guarenteed for life.

yea, I honestly think some people are just plain ignorant. In their eyes there was nothing wrong with what he did. However, 30 yards is just plain too close no matter who you are. I run into this on alot of my lakes that are smaller in size. Especially with with crappie fisherman etc. They will motor right on by your and pull in just a few yards down the bank your working and anchor. Would be nice to have a huge resevoir around here If only everyone could fish responisibly and respectfully :'(

These work, but be prepared to lose them when your plastic falls off or a fish shakes you good. Nice for flipping heavy heavy moss.

Ive heard good things about them, but I believe they are just the 5 speed type. Which translates into having those times when speed 2 is not enough and speed 3 is too much sort of thing. I used to have a 5 speed MG and that didn't bother me, until I got one with variable and now they do bother me. Also harder on battery life than the variable speeds style. Just my 0.02 Edit: Now that I look closer, it appear most MK are 5 speed styles Looks like the Fortrex is the only one I see off hand that is a variable cable steer bowmount, I could be wrong though.

I peg if Im pitching into something and my lure and weight seperate enough to hang up or cause my lure to not sink adequately. Basically I would conisider heavy cover anything that causes those problems for you (including thick lillies). I also will peg if real windy or strong current so my more buyouant baits like tubes wont drift away from the bullet on longer casts. Otherwise I try to leave it unpegged.

The boat should be designed to easily take off and get on plane with full livewells... no question. I would think something else has to be the problem, so the main questions to me would be one... whats your motor size and boat size? And two, have you done anything else like added extra rear end weight (more batteries) that could be the culprit?

There have been a couple discussions on the wireless vs cable trolling motors in the last month or so. I have several friends with that powerdrive and i honestly do not like it (mostly because of the pedal). You have to just tap each side of the foot pedal to change your direction, its not a traditional rocker style pedal. They also have trouble with the speed adjust (slide style) going out. The old powerdrives stow and deploy sucked.. but it may have been improved as it has been advertised. I personally like the digital steer style though, I had a MG digital steer that was very good but it got taken out by a deer. I recently switched to a Terrova and although I have not tried it on my boat, a friends was enough to convice me it was good. It does have the rocker style pedal but you still get the benefits of a digisteer such as optional remotes, autopilot, etc. plus very easy stow/deploy. To go over it kinda quickly... the digital steering styles will turn a little bit slower than a cable type. For some this seems to be a problem, but I think it is alot less noticable in new motors than the original digi steers. I believe MG even advertises theirs as a complete 360deg turn in 2 secs (dont quote me on that). Digital steers will use a little more battery, since you are actually using battery power to turn instead of translated foot power. However with the new battery saver tech you get alot more out of your batteries anyways, and from the reviews I have read people go a day or two easy on those digital steers with no recharge and that was easily the case with my MG 24v. Digital will give you more of an advantage for any trolling or remote use. And dont listen to the hype about more to go wrong with a digital steer, your case is perfect evidence that cables steers are not any more reliable... and infact, of the 15 or so digital steers I see alot, none of those guys have had problems to date (other than the pedal I mentioned). Ok that wasnt so quick.

I have one of the cheap bottom line fishing buddy portable types that works well on there. Its not nearly as detailed and good as the lowrances on my big boat but it does the job, especially for depth. I also can take it off and use it ice fishing : )