Tennessee Boy

If you took any NFL player and let them play college football they would dominate. If you let them play high school football it would be scary. Many Elite level anglers fish lower level tournaments and some even fish small local tournaments. You don't see the separation in skill level that you see in other sports. I'm not saying there's not a difference and I'm certainly not saying the Elite level guys aren't good but I've seen plenty of average Joe's beat Elite level anglers. It happens all the time.

In the 90s I tried to get boat insurance from GEICO. They would not insure me be I fished tournaments. I ask why and they said because of the high speed races to fishing spots. I pointed out the my boats top speed was 35 mph. That didn’t matter, no GEICO insurance.

I might be interested if it had an automatic transmission. Personally, I've never liked a stick shift. 😆

I always enjoy hearing about your tournament adventures. I'm also impressed with how organized your tackle appears to be. Good luck.

Back in the days of 4 speed reels, I never felt like I needed a faster reel when fishing a crankbait. Now fishing a Texas rig was painful when you missed a fish and wanted to reel it in fast to make another cast at the fish. I'd go with the 6 but the difference between a 6 and a 7 will hardly be noticeable.

That boat is made in Tennessee. It’s worth twice that much. 😁

I've been reading the specs and I don't see many advantages. They say life time 3000 cycles. That's less that's LifePo4. They may have a slight safety advantage. They can deliver 250 amps continuously which is impressive but my trolling motor only needs 50 amps. The specs also says it has low temperature charging protection at 32F so charging temperature is apparently an issue.

I agree. Most of them can be purchased used on Amazon and elsewhere. Some of them are expensive. If I was an author or publisher and saw my $20 book selling for $80 used I think I would print some more copies.

That would be a good one. It's interesting that very few of the classic fishing books are still in print. Take a great book with well organized content and combine it with the vast level of experience and diverse thought that exist on this forum and I think something special would come of it.

I think Glenn creates a new thread on the forum each time a new article is posted on the site. I think that would be the place to comment on the article.

I put a hand controlled TM on my first boat and loved it. I'm living firmly in the spot lock world now but I often miss the hand control. If you fish visible cover I think it's hard to beat a hand held. I would stand at the very front of the boat with the trolling motor practically between my legs and flip the cover. If I got hung up I would go in fast to get my lure, then switch quickly to reverse to get back out. It all depends on how you fish in choosing a trolling motor. Foot controlled have their place but so do hand controlled.

I’ve been thinking about a way to make the cold weather a bit more bearable, and I’ve come up with an idea that might be fun for all of us. Have any of you ever participated in a book club? I think we could do something similar right here on the forum. Here’s how it could work: we pick a book, then create a thread to discuss it one chapter at a time. It could be a great way to learn, share insights, and keep the fishing conversation going while we’re off the water. Would anyone be interested in doing this? Also, what books would you recommend for our first pick? Personally, I think Book 1 of the In-Fisherman Largemouth Bass Critical Concepts series would be a fantastic starting point, but there are so many great options out there. Buck Perry’s book also comes to mind as a classic. Let me know what you think—whether you’re in, and what books you’d suggest.

Yes. They were probably Duck Hunters.

It got down into the single digits last night and my local lake has a thin sheet of ice over it in the creeks. I just drove by a ramp and the ice was broken where someone launched this morning. Some people just want it more than others. I'm not one of them.

Sunglass Hut is also owned by Luxottica. They are part of the evil empire.

I was deeply moved by your post and want you to know that you’re not alone during this challenging time. You can lean on us for support, share your thoughts whenever you feel the need, and know that we’re all here for you. Your strength and openness are truly inspiring.

I agree 👍

I can share many nightmare data migration stories from my career in software development if you need some encouragement.😆

Glasses cost $20 - $40 to make. Anything you pay over that is due to the Luxottica monopoly and your preference for known brands.

It's a simple question but the answer is complicated. It depends on where I'm fishing and the time of year. I would say a 4 pound smallmouth and a 5 pound largemouth is a big fish. I live east of Nashville and in the waters near me these fish are rare. I would say 3 percent of the fish I catch around here are big fish. Several times a year I drive to the Tennessee River and the percentage probably doubles. In the winter the percentage goes up to around 10%. If I specifically targeted big fish on the Tennessee River in the winter, the percentage would probably be over 50%. I haven't fished the Tennessee in the winter in recent years but when I lived in North Alabama in the 90s that was the case.

A combination of cold temperatures and high charge rate can cause lithium metal plating on the anodes which damages the battery. Most of us fishermen charge at 10-15 amps so the critical damage temperature is lower than 32 degrees. The BMS in my battery shuts off at 25 degrees. At 32 you would need to be charging at 100 amps to do much damage but why chance it.

I spend a lot of time with my trolling motor on auto pilot and I've thought a lot about what happens if I fall out. I always keep my micro remote attached to me so I can hit spot lock to keep the boat from leaving me if I'm in the water. I'm not that worried about the damage the boat will do if it runs away. It could do some damage obviously but it's unlikely to kill someone. Other boats should be able to get out of the way of a boat going 3 MPH. 😆

Tariffs are based to the value of the item, not its eventual retail price so the actual increase in the price paid by the consumers will be less. I would think that the markup on lithium batteries are pretty low since they are basically commodities so any new tariffs would have a big impact on the retail price of lithium batteries.

Of course it will work well as a bladed jig rod. Now is it the perfect bladed jig rod? That depends on the weight of the bait you are throwing, how far you intend to throw it, and how you retrieve it. Personally, I throw lures with different weights, I make cast of different lengths, and I try different retrieves to try to get the fish to bit. So there is no perfect bladed jig rod for the way I fish. Everyone is different so only you can decide if a particular combo is the perfect bladed jig setup for you. Since you are pretty new to fishing, it may take you a while to know exactly how you like to fish chatterbaits or if you're like me and like to be versatile. Till then enjoy your new setup and the learning process.