Russ E

The diawa exceler is a nice reel for around $75.00. Very smooth and light. I have 4 in the 2500 size. I used to own a few old pfluegers, but the new ones feel Geary in my opinion.

you can usually get an update for navionics at 1/2 the price of a new card. I bought it once, but did not see much difference.

I caught a 3 and 4 on that same rip rap last year, around this time. Yours is bigger than both of mine put together. In another month the swan boats will take over that area.

You should not have to activate a used card. Buying a used card is risky. The card has to be in the fish finder at all times to work. if the card has issues, you will not have any support, because it was registered to someone else. you will also not have any updates.

Pit boss or sweet beaver.

P line flourocarbon line is not bad. P line fluoroclear is very inconsistent in my opinion. The quote button is the best way to reply if you want an answer.

Sounds more like a reel setup issue than a line issue. Invisx is pretty forgiving for flourocarbon line. I use heavier line than 17, on my pitching and flipping setups. They cast fine. If you switched to p line fluoroclear, it may cast decent, but will break at very inopportune times.

If you are using stiff mono the warm water trick helps. It forms the line to the spool. On braid it is not necessary and actually a waste of time.

It I supposed to snow in Kansas Tuesday. The temp will only be below freezing for a couple hours, so it will probably not stick.

My highest speed reels are 8.1 to 1. I have not felt the need to go any faster. It is a Diawa Tatula sv. I use it for jigs, worms , frogs, etc. It is good at picking up line fairly quick, for hooksets. I own several 7.1 to 1. They are my work horses. For most horizontal baits I use 6.3 to 1. I used to own a few kast kings. Now I own none. Kast king gets wrapped up in promoting speed and flashy names for their equipment. From my own experience quality and longetivity is not their forte. In the $120.00 price range there are much higher quality reels.

Sapphire blue is pretty popular around here. Most of our waters are stained, so I honestly don't know what color the bass can actually see. If you fish clear water, I would try a more subdued color.

I have snagged quite a few in the same outlet @Bluebasser86 is talking about. One thing I would like to add is they have to be one of the smelliest fish I have ever handled. It is easy to see why catfish love them. I try to unhook them before they get in the boat.

The magforce brake flew apart on one of my fuego's. I have had no issues with Tatula`s.

Had a few issues with every brand. Diawa has the least of all my reels.

In 6 years of living in Kansas, I have never been checked by a game warden. that does not count the Wyandotte county sheriff checking me for a boating and fishing permit. That happens about once a month.

i use both. I have caught a lot more fish with a swim jig. the chatterbait has produced more 4 pound plus fish.

I agree. I own 12 Diawa baitcasters. including 2 fuego, 3 older tatula ct, 3 tatula sv, 4 of the newer style tatula 100. All of them feel decent. I always flush the bearings and lube everything, before I use them. I have had a few that were packed with lube from the factory and a couple that were bone dry. Keep them cleaned and lubed and they work fine. they may not be butter smooth like higher end reels , but none of mine make strange noises. In the 6 years that I have used the tatula/fuego reels none have failed. I will say the sv's and new tatula 100 reels feel a lot more refined than my fuego's and ct's. if you watch amazon and walmart online the tatula 100 goes on sale for roughly the price of a fuego.

There is an old saying . A boat owners happiest days are the day he buys it and the day he sells it. I have owned a few boats in my lifetime from old beat up Jon boats to my current Ranger bass boat. They are all relatively high maintenance, If you don't have any mechanical or electrical skills, they can be expensive to own and maintain. It is not just the boat. There is also maintenance on the trailer. That does not keep me from owning a boat. It is just a part of boat ownership you have to accept In regards to the new 4 stroke motor. They are very reliable, but expensive if repairs are needed.

Besides grass carp, I don't know any wildlife division that would stock carp. And like @TnRiver46 said They are not native

I pull a fiberglass Z175 ranger with a 2016 chevy colorado. it has the towing package and puts out around 310 horsepower, with a 7000 lb towing capacity. My boat on the trailer, fully loaded, weighs 2400 lbs. (I actually took it to a truck stop scale to weigh it}. The trailer also has surge brakes. After around 50,000 miles of towing I have never had any troubles.. the only drawback is it averages 12-14 mpg when towing. If I were to get a bigger boat or planned on towing in mountains, I would move up to a Silverado. not many mountains in eastern Kansas.

Generallly, if there is creek or river access to the body of water, you probably have carp. Also if minnows are allowed for bait, chances are there are carp. I don't know of any bodies of water around here that are carp free. fortunately most lakes here still have no asian carp. With the missouri river close and loaded with asian carp, it is probably just a matter of time.

I prefer to stand. To keep from going for a swim in Kansas wind, sometimes I need to get out my seat to lean against.

My boat initially would get a failed calibration error. until I moved the puck. spotlock accuracy is independent of puck. spotlock jog uses the puck. it is basically a compass. Once in spotlock the heading sensor. controls which way the boat moves when using the spotlock jog function on the remote. The -,+ and 2 arrow buttons will jog the spotlock position approximately 5 foot depending on which button you press. with out the heading sensor the motor does not know which way to go, in spotlock jog.

Probably not much difference in readout. The best part of a built in transducer, is you don't break it when running into things. Before my built in transducer, I used to break at least one a year.

I would adjust boat scale. Down if it is overcompensating Up if it is fighting to hold position The gps receiver is built into the motors head. I am on my second Ultrex. I ran the first one without a puck for a year. Until I realized it would not calibrate, because of interference from my console. When I did finally get it calibrated, nothing changed on accuracy