haggard

Congrats on your boat! My first was a 16 ft Starcraft deep V about 3 years ago, with a 15 hp Evinrude and plank flooring with a couple seats. The 1976 2 stroke pushed it to 14 mph (fast enough for that boat and the lake I was in). You may find that with the weight of a casting deck and floor etc the 4 hp might be a little taxed, but may be okay depending on how fast you want to run and what sort of water you're in. Enjoy the build. Looking forward to the pics.

AVS70MF (6-12 lb line, 3/16-5/8 lure) $210 PS70MF (6-12 lb line, 1/4-5/8 lure) $150

Great choice on the reel. Like @Randy Price I'm biased to SC. I use the 2500 CI4+ with an Avid AVS69MLXF and find the size, balance and weight really great. That setup is great for LM/SM bass using lighter lures and techniques such as drop shot, soft plastics on light wire jig heads, etc. That rod is light without being too noodly. If I'm not using the ML, I put the 2500 CI4+ on an Avid AVS66MF which is a little more stout and great for general purpose LM/SM applications. Again I find the size, balance and weight feel just right on it. Hope this helps.

Not the heel but about halfway up the bottom of the foot, towards the inside edge. How it was so relatively painless is beyond me but I'l take that all day I carry the cutters to quickly cut/clear hook and lure away when I gut hook a fish (gives much more working room), but after this I learned an equally important use: you're right, it allows you to cut the hook closet to the wound and pull through a minimal amount of metal. They really need to be a little stout as those hooks are tough - around 6 to 8 inches - not the light duty ones typically used for trimming leads with electronics work.

Always barbless. Easier on me, easier on the fish. This one was barbless (crushed) but still wouldn't back out easily. I could have backed it out with some tissue damage but pushed it through instead (surprisingly not painful!) and continued fishing Can't imagine how bad it would be if I had to back it out with a barb.

Also note you don't have to follow those steps absolutely in order. I mix them around a bit randomly. For excample, you might try two or three sets of "pick up and pull" before engaging the reel. It depends on what the backlash is telling you. You'll just learn to "feel" the backlash. When things loosen up a bit, that's a good time to engage the reel and pull some line out. For me the process is fast and somewhat random, not slow and deliberate. Don't ever pull too tight or you'll make things worse. Maybe I'll do a video on it this weekend (there are probably plenty out there).

- cast downwind, not upwind or sidewind - set brakes half way - put on a 1/4 to 1/2 oz weight lure - set spool tension to when you press the thumb bar (freespool) the lure just starts to drop - start with a gentle side arm cast and keep your thumb gently on the line on the spool while casting - as soon as lure hits ground/water, fully stop the spool with your thumb Backlashes are likely. To untangle them: - press thumb bar to release spool - pick a random bunch of line at top of spool and pull up - pinch line coming out of the line guide and pull it forward (while putting pressure on spool with thumb) - engage reel - pinch line coming out of the line guide and pull line out go to step 1, repeat.... It's not as bad as it sounds. Someone mentioned trying with mono for starters, not braid. I'm thinking good advice. Much cheaper, and mono is probably a little more forgiving for removing backlashes. Certainly cheaper if you have to cut the line. Baitcaster is pretty awesome; don't let the backlashes scare you. Take the time to get to know it, and enjoy.

Can you tell us more about the jon? I had a 14 ft jon mod V all welded with thick aluminum and with a 15 it felt like a slug. But a flat bottom lighter weight jon might be a rocket with a 15. Make & model?

All subjective of course but I use and can recommend a St. Croix Avid spinning 6'9 ML/XF (AVS69MLXF) with a Stradic CI4+ 2500. Quality combo without spending crazy money. Avid is nicely light and sensitive. 95% of my fishing this season has been with this combo using a paddletail worm on a light wire jig head. I think it's a great finesse combo for bass - ned rig, drop shot, etc.

Mask and snorkel might be the ticket here. I lost a rod/reel in 6 ft of yucky water last month, went back a couple times to try snagging it, no luck. Third time back I brought a mask and snorkel. Put on the PFD and floated face down on the surface looking for it (bright sunny day helps), with a 6 ft pole to prod the bottom so I didn't have to dive down much. Had the combo back in ten minutes. Spotter on the bank just in case.

https://www.wideopencountry.com/merle-haggards-beloved-boat-returns-home-to-his-son/

Just one. 4 inch worm, TX rigged with 1/4 oz bullet.

Would you settle for a battleship? Your profile location suggests the USS Bassachusetts.

^^^

Largemouth on Little (lower) Mousam Lake in southern Maine, with fellow forum member & wife and their Lund in the background. Great morning! Now if we could just do something about those inflatable pink flamingoes....

Grew up on a salt water bay in Massachusetts, as a kid, plenty swimming, sailing, windsurfing, exploring tidal pools for years, but for some reason never tried fishing (excepting one time on a rowboat with a hand line and caught a big crab). As the saying goes, wish I knew then what I know now. Better late than never. Now at 50, trying to make up for lost time.

I learned that spending time fishing with friends is more enjoyable than catching fish.

What he said. I do like catching dinky shoreline cover bass so I don't go home getting skunked, but at some point it's more rewarding to find bigger smallies out deep, even if they're far fewer. It takes a lot of effort but the reward is great. Fished 8 hours today, got only 3 fish (two bass), this one on a 5 inch worm. Worth it? Yes.

Why is it when I buy a pair of pants I keep getting only one? What a ripoff.

Okay, now I at least have to go check it out

The rod will handle either line type just fine. I'd focus more on the lures and your applications, and let that drive your choice. For example, if this rod is for fishing in thick cover (pads, laydowns) consider braid to pull the fish through it. If you're fishing it deep or jigging on the bottom where sensitivity is more important due to the amount of line out, again maybe braid. If it's a more general purpose rod, you could run say 12 to 14 lb test mono for a lot less and it would work well for many applications. I ran my MH/F with 14 lb test mono for a couple seasons and changed to 40# braid only because I tended to use that setup for deep (up to 40 ft) smallies and was getting more gut hooks than desired - wanted max sensitivity (to detect bite sooner) and min stretch (to set the hook faster). I don't have enough data yet to know if it's been effective, still learning, but in theory it sounds good. So far I haven't had an issue with line cutting into itself. I'd focus more on the merits of a line than the fears of its potential problems. If you run into issues, it seems there are ways to mitigate them.

I'm in only my third season of fishing, mostly LM/SM but with easy access to salt water had to try stripers. So like you I was pretty new at it. I'm no great fisherman especially in salt water, but I can catch stripers and I keep the gear to a minimum. Based on that, for schoolie stripers from the yak or shore: Rod: 7'0 MH/F Reel: I use a Shimano Stradic C5000 (5000 sounds big but physically seems smaller) Line: 17 lb test mono Lure: Savage Gear Sandeel 5-inch (I use the mackerel colorway). It's a pointy jig head with soft plastic paddletail body. The above is my go-to, no doubt, will catch striper setup. If I could take only one combo for schoolie striper, from the yak, shore or boat, that would be it. For the reel you have some leeway; that's just what my local shop happened to set me up with and I find it very good for this application. You can certainly find other models/mfrs that will fit. For the rod, your existing LM/SM rod may be just fine, only difference might be things like the guides are more prone to rust compared to a salt water rod. If you wash/scrub down the rod after an outing, it's probably find. If you aren't diligent about maintenance, consider buying a dedicated salt/inshore rod. As for location, conditions, tactics, etc. I'm still trying to figure it out but so far I've found (and read) that fishing the seams, current changes, disruption areas, etc. will be most productive. At low tide, observe areas where there are rock piles, changes in structure, then go back and fish them +/- 2 hours of low or high tide. Good luck; those stripers are a thrill. Feisty fighters.

Forgive me if I'm wrong but the curmudgeon in me says this sounds rather promotional for a first post In these days of paid influencers and guerrilla marketing, content isn't always what it appears.

As they say in the real estate business: Location, location, location. I'm on my third season and for the first two it was 1 or zero fish days. Always heard "fish like structure" but never really got it until this season. Don't get me wrong, I still struggle (4 fish a day is a good day). If you can get on a kayak or small boat and explore other parts of the pond, that could go a long way. Try fishing the different features, depths, different times of day, etc. Are there any overhangs on the banks that cast shadows at any time of day? Cast into them and close to shore, even just inches from the bank (snag factor will increase, but try to manage it). [bold]Number one is fish where there are changes.[/quote] That could be the edge of a weed line, a clear hole among lily pads, a transition between rocky bottom and mud, dropoffs, a fallen tree, etc. I don't mean to sound preachy or know it all; I'm still not really good at this, just feeling your pain

In my third season now I target bass, but still enjoy catching any species and often carry along a L/F spinning setup for panfish. If I have a zero fish day, I can usually count on throwing the L/F and getting a dink in the cove on the way back to the launch, which beats getting skunked.