Tennessee Boy

As someone that I admire greatly once said, turn the other cheek.

I like this channel better. 😆

Renewed mine last year for 3 years. $84

David Hayes was trolling a bomber behind his houseboat. This is a great interview with him.

I agree and have always been fascinated by claims that vinyl produces superior sound. I saw Neal Young on some talk show years ago claiming CDs could never sound as good as vinyl. Yes vinyl sounds different. Some may like the sound of vinyl better. I would be willing to bet that if you recorded a vinyl record with high quality digital equipment, that Neal Young or anyone else would be able to distinguish it from the original vinyl record.

As long as it's legal I'm willing to try it. There are some ways of fishing that are more fun than others but catching is always more fun than getting skunked.

This way of thinking is so foreign to me but I see it constantly on this forum with question like "I just got this new combo, what should I use if for?" I look for fish that I want to catch and then use tackle to catch them. There seems to be a new generations of anglers that look for tackle they want buy and then use fishing to enjoy their tackle.

If you order from an Amazon seller you are not ordering from amazon although it may be shipped from Amazon. Always check a product you are considering buying to see if it is sold by Amazon or an Amazon seller. If it is a seller, be sure to check their rating.

I don't troll as often as I used to but when I do, I do it without shame. 😊

Remember that your 20ah battery will become a 15ah battery in a few years depending on how much you use it. It's always good to have some extra capacity.

I'm afraid his haters might have killed him because of his gear. People have become so passionate about fishing tackle these day. 😆

I varies a lot from day to day and season to season but in general I'm not as slow as @TnRiver46 but I'm close at 0.53. If you prefer a music analogy I'm the Cowboy Junkies. 😊

There's a fine line between sharing a friendly fishing tip and sharing classified information. This thread has crossed that line in a few areas. 😆

I can’t tell you how much your time is worth. That’s important to consider. I’m retired so my time is not worth much. If it was me, I’d get in the truck and go get the boat. What’s the worst thing that could happen? Well you could have a wreck, total the truck, total the boat, and you could die. Life is risky. The chances of something major happening on a 800 mile trip are low but they are not zero. If something happens you deal with it the best you can. It would be a major pain if you lost a bearing on the way home. If it happens you get it fixed somewhere or hire a flatbed to haul it home and be glad you survived the trip. 🙂

I purchased a Battleborn 75ah a few years ago, and I think it was around $700. Battleborn was considered the premium American brand at the time. It has worked great, but if I were buying today, I would buy a cheap one off Amazon. If you look at Amazon reviews, a $200 Li Time battery has about the same review ratings as a $750 Battleborn. Some people think warranty and service are important. I say a warranty is only as good as the company behind it. When I bought the Battleborn, I felt good about the warranty from a strong company. Now Battleborn is struggling to compete with the cheap batteries, and if they go out of business, my warranty goes out with them. I don't think you can be sure any of these companies will be around in 5 years. Personally, I would buy cheap and take my chances. The biggest risk you take is if you get a bad battery, it can be very expensive to send it back. Some buy local for that reason so you don't have to ship it back. This topic generates a lot of discussion on this forum. These batteries are actually pretty simple. They consist of LiFePo4 cells, a BMS, a case, and wires. The cells are all made in China by large companies, and their primary use is in electric vehicles. A trolling motor is a very low-intensity use compared to a Tesla. To answer your questions: Is leakage a common problem? I've never heard of a LiFePo4 leaking. I've heard of the cells expanding from heat but not leaking. Bluetooth? Bluetooth allows you to monitor the charge level from your phone. You can decide if this is worth the extra cost. I'll also mention that you will probably want to get a charger designed for LiPo4 batteries if you don't already have one.

This would be especially effective if the Northern Illinois coach is allergic to nuts. 😆 I'm sure that Notre Dame has fixed whatever they were doing. I remember many years ago a team figured out that the other team's quarterback would not put his mouth piece in on running plays. I don't remember the team. Stuff like that will get beat in a hurry.

There was an interesting piece on the news after Notre Dame lost to Northern Illinois. The Northern Illinois coach called the Notre Dame coach to tell him how they beat them. The details were not revealed obviously but basically the North Illinois coaching staff found something on film that gave them a huge edge.

I'm planning to spend more time on smallmouth waters this year so I'll be fishing more smallmouth lures. Which smallmouth lures will be determined by the fish.

We're expecting 4 inches in the morning. This could be the end.

Before I answer the question let me tell you why I don't like the question. For me fishing is not a search for the right lure. Lures are tools. @Craig P wrote, "Find a technique or two you like and roll with it, the fish will come." Finding a technique is very different from finding a lure. I have no use for a hollow body frog unless I'm fishing froggy water. It's a tool for very specific situations. Now that I've got that rant off my chest I'll answer the question. In 2024, I caught 80% of my fish on 7 lures if I don't differentiate between different colors and different weights. 4 of those 7 were soft plastics.

People will judge you by the tackle you use. Some will hate you because they're jealous of your high end rod. Others will look down on you if you use a spin casting reel. Women will follow you around screaming like you're a rock start if you use a JDM reel. It just part of fishing. 😊

How do you prove that a bait is a gimmick? How many hours on how many different days on how many different bodies of water does it take?

I've told this story several times. Back when there were mom and pop tackle stores everywhere I would stop by one several times a week after lunch. I would see if they had anything that looked interesting but before I would leave I would check out the rods. I would take one of the high end rods and drag the tip across the floor to feel the vibration. I was always amazed at how much more sensitive the expensive rods were. One day a coworker was with me and ask what I was doing. I explained that I was testing the sensitivity of the rods. He laughed at me and said I was crazy. After some discussion we devised a blind test so that I could show him that I could identify the expensive rods with my eyes closed just by feel. I closed my eyes and he handed me various rods. I failed the test miserably. That experienced changed me. I realized the power of the placebo effect. I stopped being a tackle fan boy and became a tackle skeptic.

Humminbird usually has a major update every year and sometimes minor updates in between. I'm sure there are many people that never update theirs.

My oldest is 7 years old. They usually become obsolete before they stop working. In 35 years of using them I've only had two fail. Today's units are more complicated so I could see them being a little more fragile.