PAbasser927

I would think that price has to be an error on the part of Overtons. They have their HDS-7 gen 3 with LSS transducer listed at $1300 but the newer Carbon with Totalscan at $800. I’m thinking they flipped the prices by accident. An HDS-7 Carbon for $480 after discount is an absolutely incredible deal. I almost wish I needed one!

Only had about an hour to spend on the water last night. Initially I couldn’t decide whether it would be worth the hassle of packing everything up for such a short amount of time. Since the forecast is not so great this week I decided to go for it. This chunk certainly made it worthwhile!

White curly tail grubs are a staple of mine. Most times this is the only color I will use. I will rotate between a few different color jig heads before switching to something else if they still won’t bite. Though for me it seems like if I have to switch to something else, it’s probably not going to be a great crappie day.

You’re right that the direction likely has nothing to do with the poor image. However since the Totalscan is also capable of sidescan, the direction would matter to make sure each side is reflected on your unit correctly. If it is mounted backwards, you could be trolling with the bank on your left but you scanner would show the bank on your right.

There is a setting in your unit that will flip the image if the transducer is mounted backwards. If this setting is enabled, your unit will still read correctly. @redmexican5081 is correct though, by default the front is the end that the wire comes out of.

I’ve fallen victim to that a handful of times back in my motocross days. Quad and dirt bike air boxes are a prime spot for mice to nest for the winter.

First decent smallie of the year! Couldn’t find the fish all day, this was the only fish landed. At least it was a good one!

My brother has a Fuego CT on a Mojo Bass and loves it. I have a Fuego CT on a Dobyns Champion XP and love it. I tend to gravitate towards putting money into the rod. Refinement in a reel is nice, but sensitivity in a rod is more of a priority for me.

I’d use the existing MF for shakeyheads. For a light wire single hook presentation like wacky rig, I would go ML. St. Croix’s MLXF rods are fantastic for throwing a wacky rig. That’s what I use myself, in the Avid X series.

I have 6... and the gear monkey has not been after me to acquire more. With my 6 rods, I do not feel like there are any voids left to fill for the styles I like to fish. Whether I am out on a boat or in my kayak, I have yet to take them all along on a single trip.

Funny timing of this post. I just caught this bass eating a bass yesterday. The bass I hooked was probably about 2lbs and the tail in its mouth appeared to belong to a roughly 7-8 inch bass. This made me rethink about how I tend to size down my baits on this small pond.

This is one of my more interesting catches, and certainly one of the more ambitious bass that I caught. Still hungry enough to CRUSH my jerkbait.

LOL maybe we don’t have any in the whole state then! Just the giant one up and to the left for smallies.

I don’t have any expirience with the Premiers, but I do have a ML and M spinning in the Avid X lineup. For everything on that list except the bitsy bug jigs, I would use the ML. Bitsy bigs would get the M. I agree with @Team9nine, the M is far stiffer than the ML. It almost feels like there should be a power in between the two.

I have one that I use exactly the same way. Frogs, toads, and heavy pitching. I love it. It has to be one of the best frog rods on the market.

SE PA here, Allentown area. Jealous of those of you out in Western PA! From what I understand, that’s where the best “big bass” lakes in PA are found.

Last year I was going back and forth between these two reels for my frog rod. I bought the Fuego CT because it does NOT have the T wing. I have the T wing on some of my Tatula SVs and I could take it or leave it. I’m not convinced it gives me anymore casting distance and I’m hoping it is not just something else that could malfunction down the line. You can also get the Fuego for less than $60 when eBay is doing promo codes. That is an absolute steal for a reel as good as the Fuego.

I think the “SV” is important to emphasize in the comparison between casting distances. I also own a few SVs and I can easily outcast them with the Fuego CT on my frog rod. I paid less than 1/3 of what an SV costs for my Fuego. I believe the non-SV Tatulas would be more similar to the Fuego, which I imagine would be closer to the Curado K (in casting distance, not refinement). The SVs are optimized for light baits, not so much for the casting distance.

I definitely drank the braid coolaid. I have braid on every single one of my rods for a slew of reasons. I don’t find it to be tremendously more expensive due to how OCD I was when I ran mono/fluoro lines. I would always respool at least once throughout the season and I would always make sure my line was well conditioned to avoid memory issues. With braid I no longer condition and I don’t respool until I reach my backing on long casts. Usually it takes me multiple seasons to get to this point. With no line stretch, braid adds hundreds of dollars of sensitivity to mid priced rods. It also offers more consistent hooksets. Aside from taking up extra slack, hookests at 100ft are the same as they are right next to the boat. The ability to run different leaders keeps me from having to buy multiple rods. I want to use my 7’2MHM rod for deep cranking, I tie a 10-12lb fluoro leader to the 30lb braid mainline. 30lb braid diameter is typically equivalent to 8lb mono, so I can get deeper faster. I want to use that same rod to throw a whopper plopper, I cut off the leader and tie direct, since braid floats. As far as connections knots go, I have never broken one so I haven’t had a reason to worry about it (*knocks on wood*). Even when I break off, it’s always at the terminal knot or a weak point somewhere on the leader. Never the leader knot. That being said, the choice is 100% personal preference. Every line has its strengths and it’s up to you to prioritize what is important in a line, for you. If braid was not available to me, I would use mono. While I love fluoro for leaders, it is my least favorite mainline. I could never get past the memory and manageability issues, even on high end fluoros such as Tatsu. I also didn’t notice any less stretch than mono depending on the brand. However once fluoro is stretched, it doesn’t retract fully like mono. It remains semi stretched and loses some of its strength. This would always leave me less confident in the strength of my mainline after a bad snag or break off.

I probably oversimplify in the way that I look at it. In regards to worms, for me curly tail = more action, while straight tail = less action. Creatures, craws, beavers are a little trickier. However if you look at the appendedages you can usually see that they are either flat or have a lip at the end. Flat appendedages, like those on a pit boss, will flap. To me, this = less action. Appendedages with lips, like those on a rage craw, will kick. To me, this = more action. Most of all, observing your baits in the water is the easiest way to determine action. Though this obviously requires purchasing and testing. Over time you will develop your staples and the guess work will be eliminated until you decide to go outside of your wheelhouse and try something new.

Glide bait, Swimbait, A-rig, Flukes, Tubes, Spoons, Walking hard baits, Tokyo rig, Mojo rig, Neko rig. I am only in my 3rd year of bass fishing so I am working on dialing in the techniques I am good at before investing time on the water to learning new techniques. I have a handful of techniques that I have confidence in for each part of the water column and branch out to learn more on the days I can’t buy a bite.

Agreed! It is just a 1/2in commercial cutting board I got for a few dollars on amazon. I only have about $20 in this whole setup since I had most of the materials as leftovers from prior projects.

One of my buddies just picked up a yak and I warned him, for some of us, kayaking is just as much about DIY as it is paddling. Every time I go out on the water I find something I can do to aid convenience. My wife says it is my “creative outlet” where I am not otherwise an especially creative person lol

Nice! I was looking at the Commanders when I got my Ultimate. For me, the decision was going to be made by whichever one popped up on Craigslist for a good deal first. It happened to be the Ultimate.

Thanks! It is a Native Ultimate 14.5. There is almost as much space behind the seat as there is in front. It is classified as a hybrid between kayak and canoe.