TOXIC

I guess a better answer would be that I set my drag according to the bait I am throwing based on what I need for a good hookset.

I keep my drag set fairly light because waaay to many think that because I have 12lb test, I can catch a 12lb fish. No one that I know of has measured the “surge” pull poundage of a 4lb smallmouth as they turn away from the boat and put their shoulders into getting away.

Easy answer....no more trailer parking period. Convert your designated trailer spots back to regular spots. You are going to lose your fishing business with your current policies anyway so just make it permanent. I travel a lot with my 21 foot boat and everywhere I go, I ask ahead of time if there is designated trailer parking or if trailer parking is allowed. I also inform them that I will take up to 5 regular parking spots if there is no designated parking. That way if the hotel is at full capacity they can tell me to look elsewhere or if there is alternate parking nearby. No problem. If I am booking ahead of time I will use the satellite view on google to scope out the hotel parking lot and see if it will work. I just got back from Okeechobee and we stayed in a hotel on the way down. 5 guys 2 trucks/boats. When we were planning I poo-pooed a couple of suggested hotels because of the parking situation. There’s nothing like coming out at 6am and finding your truck and boat boxed in by people who don’t understand why you park the way you do. As for the fishing team, there’s no excuse for that. I would be calling the school. Kids will be kids and some extra noise and revelry is to be expected but destruction of property is over the line.

2 options. 1. Take it to a mechanic and find out the condition of the entire rig including the motor on your dime or 2. Price the rig as if it has no motor because as it sits, it doesn’t. It ran when is was parked is a red flag.

Must be more of a common problem than I thought. One of my side steps was replaced under warranty and when the second started doing it, the dealership replaced it under “goodwill” since it was out of warranty. Might be worth a try for you.

I tend to keep my trucks a lot longer (2004-2016 for my last run) so I look for ways to try and head off killer problems like rust. I get it that Michigan uses a lot of salt and understand why you trade off quicker. The plugs I am talking about are for the open round tube through the frame at the rear tires. Water pools in there. I coated the inside of the tube and then used the plugs. I like your solution better.?

Also remember the type of water he will be fishing will determine which he uses more. Fishing the Potomac in 4 feet of grassy water makes side imaging useless. Deeper open water is a different story.

Sorry, I have not been out for the last couple of weeks. If I were going, I would find some main lake points and work them deep to shallow. The point with the duck blind in pool 1 usually holds fish. Be careful, it comes up quick.

Looks fantastic. I’m surprised you have a problem with your chrome rusting with the coatings you put on your truck. I was a little disappointed with my 2016 High Country when the “chrome” side steps started peeling.? First the drivers side did it then right at the end of my warranty the passenger side did it. Both were replaced at no charge. The things that bothered me were 1. The side steps were chrome coated plastic and the peeling looked like it was due to applying the chrome over a surface that had some type of contaminant on it and it didn’t bond. Since being replaced both are holding up fine. My 2004 had real chrome tube factory sidesteps and they made it through Virginia winters and even beach surfishing for 2 years in Florida. Did you get the frame plugs that go behind your rear tires on the frame? Another rust spot.

I did design a few colors for Yamamoto and came up with 78 ways to rig a Senko that they released one at a time on their instagram page to followers but I don’t consider that being a pioneer. More of an innovator.

Since he will have both?, he will soon find one will fit him better. My fishing partner likes SI and I like DI so we are always looking at different perspectives. Sometimes he sees things I miss and sometimes it’s the other way around. Now throw all the new 360, active imaging and front looking sonar and you will have some discussion points.

Was a constant fear of mine when I was guiding. Sooooo many things can go wrong in a boat. I have had clients get so excited they walk off the front deck and land in the cockpit in front of the steps. I had husband/wife clients that were the lead chair violin for the Boston Symphony and the Kennedy Center respectively. They loved to Crappie fish. They were not very proficient with fishing gear and I watched them like a hawk fearing they would sink a hook into their hand and sue me into oblivion. You don’t want to know what my insurance bill was for the guide service. ?

Couple of thoughts from another 63 year old and a 15 year long guide. I was much more willing and spent more time on the water when I worked my day job. When you only have weekends, holidays and leave time, you tend to go no matter the weather. I have had the marina break ice with a tin boat and tiller to get my big boat out to the main lake. It sure taught me how to dress for the weather. Now that I’m retired I thought I would be on the water a lot more often but that’s really not the case. I can be as hard core as anybody out there and I do go out in the nasty stuff to keep my edge but now I go when I feel like it and if the weather sucks too bad, I stay home. As for the “you should have been here yesterday” comment, try planning a trip to Michigan in May to coincide with the smallmouth spawn. ? Then you can include not only you should have been here yesterday but also, they moved in the day after you left.

From Mercury: Effective October 2010, Mercury OptiMax / DFI or Quicksilver DFI 2-Cycle engine oil is the recommended oil for all OptiMax models - including Pro XS. (The previous recommendation stated the use of Mercury Premium Plus 2-Cycle Outboard Oil in ProXS models and OptiMax oil in non-ProXS models.) OptiMax / DFI oil is a superior oil when compared to the Premium Plus oil. While both products are high quality 2-cycle engine oils suitable for use in OptiMax engines, the OptiMax / DFI oil contains a higher percentage of additives that reduce carbon deposit formation. Over time, under normal operating conditions, carbon deposits accumulate in the power cylinder (piston, cylinder head, liners). In most cases the carbon deposits do not create a problem, but carbon deposits that form on the piston - particularly behind the piston rings and piston skirts - can reduce engine life and performance. OptiMax / DFI oil is specially formulated to prevent the carbon deposits from forming. It also does a better job of reducing existing carbon deposits than the Premium Plus oil. Going forward, the Operation, Maintenance and Warranty manuals for OptiMax outboards will recommend Mercury OptiMax / DFI or Quicksilver DFI 2-Cycle engine oil to help maximize engine life and performance.

Congratulations on 25 years.??

Maryland has gone to phase 2 but Virginia has not so I am still waiting. Hearing some rumblings about the Moderna causing blood clots and actually had one friend post this morning about a close family friend getting the Moderna vax and passing away from a blood clot. He is very, very upset. Said she was in good health young and a swimmer.

Good luck and I for one would like to see the rehab pics as you complete it.

Exactly, it’s the BMS internal control that made them incompatible with the Power Pole Charge charger. I knew that the Sears were rebranded Odessey but they were a little cheaper. The new gold standard AGMs are Northstar and a couple of others. I don’t see AGMs going away anytime soon until the cost of lithium’s comes down and the motor manufacturers ok them for use as a cranking battery. Most that I know that are serious about needing the power have an AGM cranking and a 5th house battery to run accessories.

Some things to remember.....technology for lithium as a cranking battery is still being developed. Some motor manufacturers don’t recommend them. For trolling batteries, there have been instances of the new trolling motors frying because they are not designed to run on the amount of power lithium puts out for the life of the charge, in other words running your trolling motor on high for extended periods. Finally with both lithium and AGM you will need a charger designed for them. AGM chargers can be stock manufacturers if beyond a certain year and some can be reprogrammed to charge AGMs and some will not. My Ranger OEM charger in my 2005 model would not charge AGMs and could not be reprogrammed to do so. Most would never notice the difference but I did a little test multiple times to verify. After all 4 lights showed green, 3 wet cells and 1 AGM, The wet cells were at 99% and the AGM was at 75-80% as measured by a Schumacher portable charger. I would always have to top off the AGM. As I said, most wouldn’t notice the difference but it contributes to the shortened life of the AGM. I now have a charger that can be programmed for all 3 types of batteries. Another problem that I know about 1st hand is that some lithium’s and new chargers like the Power Pole Charge, which is the latest and greatest in chargers, it directs your big motor to charge the batteries that need the most, is Bluetooth and programmable as well but will not function with some lithium’s because of the programmed profiles within the batteries themselves. My fishing partner had to return a set of lithium’s because they were not compatible with the Power Pole charger. He is very technically educated and was working with the engineers from both companies. I currently run 3 group 31 wet cells for my trolling motor and 1 big Sears PM1 for my cranking and accessories. I am running 8 and 9 inch graphs and don’t normally run my livewells so I have plenty of juice. Side note, Sears PM1 AGMs used to be the gold standard but they got discontinued. I had one fail and got it replaced with one of the last ones made. It was a tech for Sears that told me that the reason they were discontinued was the massive warranty returns by people not using the right chargers. That started my quest to get more educated on batteries.

I hate to say it but unskilled or low skilled employees that you are referencing will devote their time to things away from the job and advancement. Look at their pay scale and remember you get what you pay for. Having retired from the government, I was groomed to manage people from the very first year of my employment, it was made perfectly clear that those in my particular position were the future of the agency and all the while we worked different positions, we were constantly being trained as management. The biggest mistake companies make is to take those who do the job exceptionally well and make them supervisors or managers. Managing is a skill all its own and a very, very difficult one at that. When I reached different levels of management skill, my responsibilities were increased. At one time I was responsible for 700 employees but that did not even rank with some of the positions I had in the 34 years that were more difficult as a manager. It’s a tough job and it’s even tougher when the people you have to manage have no vested interest in the job or their future because they can quit and walk out tomorrow and probably find another job within the week.

Walleye fishermen have been doing it forever. Google “crawler harness”. Although mainly for trolling I would imagine you could cast and retrieve it.

Thought I would dredge this back up since I am back from Okeechobee and did a quasi wash on the truck. By quasi I mean I took it to the manual car wash and used the pressure wand to spray it off. I used no mitt or anything else to remove road grime bugs and salt spray from my round trip Virginia to Florida adventure. Bottom line I was impressed at how the road grime and pretty much everything came right off. The only thing that didn’t was some road tar from a stretch of road I had to travel 4 times when getting there and coming home as well as 1 day when we trailered back north to launch. I will hand wash here pretty soon and that will tell me how easy the tar comes off. I’m ready to give it another test and hook the boat up to head back if anybody wants to finance the trip and lodging at Rolands. ??

It’s pretty common to package them like that but those specific ones are: https://shop.northlandtackle.com/terminal-tackle/snubber-stops/?gclid=CjwKCAjw9MuCBhBUEiwAbDZ-7kFwWJ_aB3WoYfAT999CcISqyWKlXuHReeAIcGaS7pHfDy6g-y_TWxoC-XgQAvD_BwE

As far as your vision and a bobber stop, they package them so it is easy to thread the line. I use the same setup but I don’t use a bobber stop. I just tie a spare piece of line on my main line where I want my bobber to stop. You can use a longer piece of line to make it easy to tie and then trimmit down to where it will pass through your rod guides.

I moderate a Ranger forum on bookface and have had a lot of contact with the factory. Believe it or not, Ranger doesn’t advise Power Pole brackets on some of their older models because of the extra torque put on the transom. Talon brackets are even heavier.