PECo

I took a look at the Lund Pro-V Bass 1875 online. You win regarding the storage on it. You have to admit, though, that’s hardly typical of an aluminum bass boat. But times are a changing, thankfully.

I’d love to, but we don’t have any Xpress dealers up here in the northeast. My previous boat was a deep-vee Xpress DVX 175 demo that ended up in New York, though. It was built like a tank. I know that your Hyper-Lift planes and goes fast, but how does it handle heavy chop at 30 to 45 mph? I never said it “creates” anything. Like I said, go to your Ranger dealer and compare the storage between its fiberglass and aluminum boats. That’s what’s in the marketplace. I’m hoping that Vexus has managed to get the storage part of an aluminum bass boat right, but haven’t seen one, yet.

You’re right. I was talking about bass boats, specifically, not about big water boats. Regarding storage in bass boats, go to your local Ranger dealer and look at the storage in the fiberglass and aluminum bass boats. There’s a big difference between the two.

No, you don’t. You want to defend your own preferences and choices when there’s no need to do so. They’re right for you and that’s terrific. Yeap! Hull material doesn’t have nothing to do with how rough or smooth a hull rides. Of course, it doesn’t have everything to do with it, either. In general, a thicker, heavier, more aggressively designed (e.g., all compound curves) fiberglass hull will cut though chop better than a thinner, lighter, less aggressive (e.g. all flat planes) aluminum hull. THIS. And choice. I wish we had more choices in aluminum bass boat designs. Vexus is a start, but I’d like to see even more aggressive aluminum hull designs that cut through chop better than those currently available.

After two aluminum boats, I went with fiberglass for the softer ride and superior storage.

Don’t get pedestals with a plastic coupler in the base. I prefer the simple metal post that screws into the metal base. It never gets stuck.

That’s similar to the Mustang PFD I have. Hodges had the kayaker version of the Elite 28K on sale for only $135 when I got it. It has Molle-type webbing on the front and came only with neon green as the accent color. My prior PFD is an older, pre-Onyx, Kent A|33 In-Sight. The Elite 28K is waaay better for me. It has a D-ring on the right side to which I can clip my kill switch, it has a manual inflation handle that’s much nicer than a dangling “Jerk” handle and it has an attached whistle. Plus, Mustang says the HIT inflator has a five-year service life, instead of three like the MIT-type inflator in the Onyx.

I have a three-bank Minn Kota Precision Charger (MK345PC). It works, but is a little finicky about the line voltage from the wall. If I use an extension cord that’s too long or is made with too high of a gauge (i.e., smaller diameter) wire, it sometimes fails to properly detect the batteries and begin the charge cycle. I’d try another brand of intelligent charger, first. Newer Dual Pro and Noco chargers have gotten good reviews. Regarding 24 volts versus 36 volts, Minn Kota says the higher the voltage, the more efficient the motor. If the longest possible runtime is important to you, go with 36 volts. However, a 24 volt system should be more than enough for a 16 foot boat. And I think that the convenience of an onboard charger is worth the expense and effort of wiring it up.

I fished Candlewood on May 28 and 31, and June 1. The water temp hung around 70 degrees and the bass were mostly post-spawn. The most consistent bite I found was in Echo Bay. Weightless, wacky-rigged, five-inch Senkos tossed at shallow, non-floating docks and shallow rock piles produced the best. The bass were gently hoovering the Senkos off of the bottom. It was a really finicky bite. On each of the three days, my partner and I got five-fish bags of 10+ pounds, 16+ pounds and 13+ pounds, mostly spawned-out male largemouth and some smallies. Our three-day lunker was only three pounds, seven ounces, though. Our 13+ pound bag would have won our club tourney on June 1, but I inadvertently left my livewell pumps off and killed the fish. Yeap, that really hurt. Here are some photos from those trips:

The Honda online parts store says the roof capacity of a 2009 Odyssey is 165 pounds.

Slow down. You’re fishing too fast. No, even slower than that. ? Seriously, early in the season, when the water is still cold and after the spawn, you often have to slow things waaaay down. The fish just aren’t feeding actively. They’ll still hoover up a lure like your Senko off of the bottom, though.

I owned a Hobie Pro Angler many years ago. It really is more of a boat than a kayak. I used to put a passenger on the back in a lawn chair. I even took my elderly mother for a spin around a small, calm lake on it, once. You have options other than a tandem for the occasional outing with the kids.

Saltwater fishing isn’t just one kind of fishing. You must be thinking of chucking bait. I LOVE throwing topwater walking lures and poppers for big bluefish in the fall, just like you’d throw them for freshwater bass, only everything is BIGGER. I’ll even pull out my freshwater bass tackle and throw a KVD Sexy Dawg. Bluefish are the closest thing we have in the northeast to tarpon.

Do you mean the Passaic?

I’ve owned eight or nine kayaks, all of which have been used for fishing. My favorite is a Hurricane Santee 116 Sport, which isn’t a “fishing kayak”, per se, but is the easiest and most fun to use:

Whenever it looks like it needs it, I rinse my carpet with a hose in sections and suck the water out with a shop vac. It works great, even on fish blood.

And I haven’t been impressed by the robustness of Johnson Outdoors products, lately. You’d expect them to engineer a charger that CAN handle line voltage irregularities well. And don’t get me started about the issues with Humminbird Helix G2 units. . . . No, but the lower the gauge, the heavier and bulkier the cord. I once bought one that was so unwieldy I returned it.

Wow! That's exactly what we saw at Candlewood Lake in Connecticut over the past week or so. The water temperature ranged from 69 to 71 degrees. My partner I managed a 16 pound, one ounce, probably all spawned-out male largemouth bag while prefishing it on Thursday, and a 13 pound, eight ounce, three spawned-out male largemouth and two smallie bag during the tourney on Friday. Everything was caught shallow with slowly fished weightless wacky Senkos in two to four feet of water. The fish were gently hoovering the lures off of the bottom near pilings and rock piles. I tried a deep diving shad crankbait while pre-fishing on Thursday to try and get to the suspending fish at 15 feet, but never saw any action from them. However, a one and three-quarter pound smallie we later boated shallow barfed up a couple of shad. Here’s a three and one quarter pound spawned-out male largemouth from Thursday that should have weighed four pounds:

From the manual https://minnkotamotors.johnsonoutdoors.com/sites/johnsonoutdoors-store/files/product/minchargers/1036048/ProductManual/MIN_productmanual_ChargerDigital.pdf?_ga=2.163682232.625704911.1528026689-627013622.1528026689 : However, I'd go with the lowest gauge (i.e., largest wire diameter) and shortest length that's practical for you. I had problems with my Minn Kota Precision Charger properly detecting my batteries. I read on a forum somewhere that they're particularly sensitive to line voltage irregularities, so I upgraded my extension cord and the problem went away.

I’ve read that Minn Kota Precision Chargers are very sensitive to the line voltage from the wall socket. I’m not sure whether this is an issue with Minn Kota chargers other than the Precision Chargers, but I had problems with mine apparently not properly detecting my batteries. The problem went away after I upgraded my extension cord to a shorter one made with larger gauge wire.

Since your batteries are flooded lead acid, try equalizing the cells within them. Minn Kota’s Precision Chargers have a mode for this.

You sound like you’re trying to justify buying a new kayak. ? I’ve owned eight or nine kayaks, all of which I’ve used for fishing. The one I’ve kept and used the most is a Hurricane Santee 116 Sport, which is a sit-inside kayak. When paddling, I put my rod in my lap with the tip forward. When fishing, I rest my paddle across my lap on the coaming. It has never been a problem for me.

When I went intracoastal fishing near Fort Myers on May 14, this was the forecast on Weather Underground: We ended up seeing only scattered, intermittent rain with no hint of electrical activity. None. Nada. Zero. Zilch. That was the good news. The bad news is that the low pressure really killed the bite.

FWIW, mine are 50 pounds.