Russ E

Amazon is spotty. I have received a few rods and reels that were fine. I also received multiple rods that were in flimsy boxes and broken. They were replaced, but it is a pain. I will no longer order rods through Amazon.

Mine would go off every time It got above 4500 rpm. They first thought it was a battery issue. When a new battery did not fix it they changed the voltage regulator. No more issues for last 4 years.

That is a bummer. I can't recall ever paying shipping with Tackle warehouse.

I would contact them. St Croix is usually very accommodating.

They may or may not be able to tell if you broke it, but why would you try to cheat the warranty. .Here is a link to the warranty page. https://stcroixrods.com/pages/service-warranty-2020 I have sent back rods that were damaged in shipping. I have never tried to send back a rod that broke from my negligence.

Okuma EVX medium action jerkbait rod. $90.00 - 100.00. Depending on where you buy it. Diawa tatula 100 6.3. $119. 00 On a couple e bay sights. This my current jerkbait setup. Balances well and will cast light to heavy jerkbaits with ease. I prefer the tatula sv for some applications, but the 100 casts farther with jerkbaits.

I don't have any regrets from the 2020 fishing season. (it is actually still going here) This year I stepped out of my comfort zone and spent a lot of time fishing less used baits. Partially because of the extra pressure this year, but I also wanted gain confidence in new techniques. I now have more confidence baits at my disposal. next year could be a great year.

An older model is no longer worth full price. I would not pay more than $50.00 American for it. I am curious why you need an extra spool. Every extra spool I ever recieved with a reel ended up in my junk box.

I love the exceler. Very nice reel for the price. $100.00 is way too expensive. You can buy them nearly anywhere for $80.00. If you wait for sales, they can be had for around $60.00

I only throw a 1/2 ounce red eye shad and very seldom use a steady retrieve. The lift drop retrieve catches me a lot more fish. The key is to keep contact with the bait when it is falling. On a semi tight line the bait wobbles on the way down. On a slack line it tumbles to the bottom. Lately I have caught more fish on the red eye shad 2 tap. It is identical to the original except, instead of all the rattles it has 2 tungsten weights.

the elusive ditch tiger.

I fish all 12 months. My one rule is It has to be above freezing for me to launch the boat. in January here in Kansas days above freezing can get scarce. during cold spells I either fish the reservoir spillways or go hunting.

voltage regulator was bad.

I tried the baitball quite a few times. Like most live target baits it looks like a fish catcher. It now sits in my box of shame , because it has caught nothing. Unfortunately it is not the only live target bait in that box.

I have an electric butterball fryer I use every year. I had a gas fryer, but electric is much easier and safer. I have a friend that burned down his garage and part of his house using a gas fryer.

To me they are 2 different presentations. I use the shakyhead to cover water. I use a neko to fish a particular piece of structure, Like a rock wall. or a dock. With a neko you can drop it in an area and shake it in place much easier than a shakyhead.

If I am throwing jerkbaits the vision 110 gets most of the action. in dirty water or around cover I throw an H2O ultimate jerkshad. My largest bass of the year was caught on a jerkshad. It is the fish in my Avatar. whenever I am throwing jerkbaits I have a Frabil 9865 in the boat. It pays for itself pretty quick.

Not many docks where I fish but there are a lot of overhanging trees. most of my baitcaster skipping is with a weightless super fluke. from my own experience the heavier the bait the harder it is to skip. I also skip flat craw style baits with a pegged weight. usually don't use much heavier than 3/16 oz. for me the biggest advance in baitcaster skipping was buying a tatula sv reel. It is far easier to skip with than any other reel I own.

In 4 years of shallow water abuse with an Ultrex, I bottomed out the trolling motor several times, hit several trees and rocks, bounced it off of a couple docks. The only thing I ever had to replace was a prop. because it was so beat up the motor would shake when it was running. I would say they are pretty durable.

I have owned a lot of trolling motors over the years. None are perfect, but my favorite is the Ultrex. My last motor was a Fortrex . They are nice trolling motors. Very durable and simple to use. My current motor is an Ultrex. I like that it is still a cable drive and has the feedback on the pedal. Besides spotlock, my favorite feature of the ultrex is ease of steering at higher speeds. It is like a Fortrex with power steering. My least favorite are the true power drive motors like the terrova. Not being a cable drive I constantly had to glance at the motor to see which direction it was pointing. Will never own one of them again.

That is ideal jerkbait weather. Get a jerkbait that will suspend. A megabass vision 110 junior is great for ponds. Cast it out, then give it a couple jerks. Let it sit for around 5 seconds. Then repeat. Often times the fish will bite when the bait is just hanging out. It is slow fishing, but can produces big fish, when nothing else works

Not sure which ultrex you are pricing. A standard Ultrex 24 volt 80 pound thrust is$ 2300.00 ,nearly anywhere that sells them. I have used a lot of trolling motors over the years. For the price it doesn`t get much better.

The standard z man Shroomz finesse jig is what Wal-Mart usually carries. It has a size 2 hook. You will probably havecto find another brand to go smaller

Curious which jigheads you have. The z man finesse shroomz or nedlocks have tiny hooks. I would not want to go much smaller for bass. they are small enough that crappie easily get them in their mouth. Also I do not use 1/10 ounce much. 99% of the time I am using 1/15 ounce

As others have said mod v aluminum boats handle a lot different than fiberglass boats. I own a Fiberglass Ranger Z175 with a 115 mercury pro xs. It will hit right at 50 mph top speed, and still very manageable. My brother in law has a tracker 190 with the same motor. it had nearly the same problems you are having. 42 mph top speed at 5200 rpm. anything more and the boat would get real loose and hard to handle. Come to find out they put the motor too low. he had it raised up one set of holes and dropped down one pitch size on the prop. he can go around 45 mph now at 5600 rpm and it handles a little better. It still gets squirrelly if he over trims it, but much better than where he started. It is still nothing like my fiberglass boat.