Tennessee Boy

Sun screen. Either spray on or clothing depending on the temperature.

They are obscure techniques that few people have ever heard of. 😆 1 - Texas Rig and countless variations that these days would have their own name. 2 - Jig 3 - Carolina Rig I also caught a lot of fish on a frog but any time the frog bite was on, one of the frog masters in the club always won the tournament.

I fished tournaments at the club level in the 90s. I had a lot of tricks up my sleeve but I had three that I was good at. Every tournament I won or did well in was utilizing one of those three techniques and half of the tournaments was with my best technique. Today I'm driven more by curiosity than a desire to catch the biggest 5 fish possible. I'm more versatile now but I don't think I would do as well on a tournament trail. I've always said you're better off being a master of a few techniques. The more techniques you can master the better but you need to realize that it takes a lot of time to master them.

North and South Carolina are on the Mid Atlantic card.

The cables you are referring to are Ethernet cables. You will connect the Ultrex, MEGA Live, and the two Helix to the Ethernet switch. I would connect the transducer in the Ultrex to the bow Helix. You will probably also want to add a LakeMaster map chip.

You can use a compass to test for magnetic interference around the heading sensor. If you don’t have an old fashioned compass you can probably get a compass app for your phone.

The GPS is built into the trolling motor. The puck is a heading sensor only.

Everything in the photos you posted concerns me. You need to make sure that your new trolling motor does not pull more current than your wiring can handle. The wires in the photos look small to me. Doesn’t mean it won’t work but there’s a lot that can fail in those photos. If it was me I would remove the plug and switch and wire the trolling motor straight to the battery. Make sure you have a breaker at the battery. Find out what gauge the existing wiring is and make sure it’s meets the requirements for your new trolling motor.

I stop at a convenience store that makes freshly baked biscuits. Pre-spawn and spawn I’ll usually go with fried pork loin on a biscuit. Later in the year it’s fried chicken. Post cold front I might go with country fried steak. I’ll usually add a second sausage egg and cheese or bacon egg and cheese biscuit depending on the weather. Honestly, I thought every fisherman did this.

My best spots were found with dumb luck. I have found some good spots using a map but those spots tend to be very popular.

If you add MEGA 360 to your Solix make sure it is a G2 or G3 model.

It’s not my most productive lure, I don’t use it very often but it is my most beloved lure. So many memories of wading creeks as a kid and slaying them with the Rebel Wee Craw.

Here's a very old joke that will help answer your question. There was an owner of an old-fashioned country store in a small town who was fond of quoting a passage of Scripture after each sale. He had three old friends that would sit around a pot-bellied stove, playing checkers on a faded board. His ability to produce a Scripture for all occasions never ceased to amuse the old timers, and they would listen to see what verse he would come up with that was relevant to the sale made. A lady purchased some material and he said, “She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.” A man bought a bag of flour and he said, “Man does not live by bread alone, but every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” A little boy bought some lollies and as he rung it up he quoted, “Suffer the little children to come unto me.” It was nearly closing time when the chimes over the door jangled loudly. A well dressed young man who was driving a fine truck that was pulling a $100,000 horse trailer walked in. “Can I help you?” offered the proprietor. “I need a blanket for my horse,” said the man. “He’s out in his trailer and it’s too cold for just one. Bring me the nicest one you’ve got!” The store owner went in the back store room and came back with a brown blanket. “That’ll be five dollars.” “Five dollars? You’ve got to be kidding!”, said the man. “This horse is a thoroughbred. He gets only the best! He wouldn’t stand still for an old five-dollar blanket.” Without comment, the store owner took back the blanket, then merely selected a different color and brought it out. “This one’s $25 dollars.” “Now, look,” said the young man, “Perhaps I didn’t make myself clear. This isn’t just any old horse! He’s worth thousands! Now I want the best, most expensive blanket you’ve got! Understand?” The owner once more went into the store room, pulled out another color from the same pile of blankets and brought it back. “This one's $100 dollars.” “Now that’s more like it!” enthused the young man as he paid. Then, throwing the five dollar blanket over his shoulder, he left. The old timers stared silently at the shopkeeper as they waited to see what possible Scripture he could come up with for that sale! Going behind the register, he rung up the hundred dollars and said, “He was a stranger, and I took him in.” Now take the story and substitute tackle store for country store, bass boat for horse trailer, and fishing rod for horse blanket and I think you'll understand.

Lot’s of stories in this thread about human failures. None so far about auto oiler failures. I’ve never heard of an auto oiler failing. I’m sure it can happen and I’m sure it has happened but the human is usually the most unreliable link in the chain.

Every BMS is also made in China. Some are better than others but without a review where they open up the battery and test the BMS you will probably never know. Dakota Lithium is a premium American brand. I have yet to see a good review of a Dakota Lithium battery and they get poor reviews for service. Still, most people are happy with them because most lithium batteries just work. The extra you pay for DL apparently goes into all of the advertising they do on the tournament trails. Some of the cheap batteries get great reviews on YouTube.

I bought one of them fancy remote control thingies and now I don’t have to watch nuthin I don’t like. 😉

I wish I could walk a dog as well as Hackney. It’s amazing to watch.

I use brass screws for weights. They stay in the bait much better than nails. You can get a box of 500 in a variety of sizes at Harbor Freight for $4.99. If using something that cheap hurts your confidence, you can tell them at the register that it’s for fishing and they will charge you 25 cents per screw and $7 for the Plano style box they come in. 😆

Thanks for answering my question. I hope the question did not come across as judgmental. I was fishing down a bank last year and made several cast around a kayak that was in some bushes before I saw it. The guy was dressed like he was on a special opps mission. The vast majority of kayaks I see are in water that I wouldn’t go more than 10 mph in so visibility is not important. There are of course some guys that will run 60 mph in that same water.

It’s not about feeling, it is about interpreting. If you don’t know what a bite feels like then it doesn’t matter how well you feel it. If he can feel the bottom composition then his rod is good enough to feel the bite. He just needs to learn to associate the sensation with a bite. That takes time not a new expensive rod.

I’ve had many encounters with them over the years. They’ve always been positive. What’s interesting is I’ve only been stopped a couple of times on a major reservoir. The others were in remote places.

Like I said earlier the kayaker in the video did everything right. I encounter so many that seem like that are trying to hide. It seems that the most popular color kayak is olive green. That’s the same color as most of the water I fish. Look at the OP’s photo as an example. Olive green kayak and life jacket, camo clothes and hat. Why?

I use Autopilot a lot. I always make sure I have the remote on me. I bought the smaller Bluetooth remote for this purpose. It is waterproof.

Why do so many kayakers try to be invisible? Are they trying to keep the fish from seeing them?

The passenger was blocking his view and he probably wasn’t expecting a kayak to be where it was. The kayaker was doing everything right. He was wearing bright colors, and had a flag. Yelling hey doesn’t help much. Adding an air horn is a great idea. Bass boat are required to have a horn here. Kayak should also be required to have them. I worry about hitting kayaks. The lakes I fish are big. Kayaks are small. There are a lot of things competing for your attention out there. I strapped an extra cushion on my seat so I can sit a little higher to see over the trolling motor. I had a close call once with a kayaker who was trying hard to keep me from seeing him.