K1500

I have had an Xi5 for over a year and it has been trouble. I have had the pinpoint GPS replaced once and the motherboard and GPS replaced as well. The foot control is so bad I don’t even try to use it. The remote works fine but the functions the motor provides don’t. Anchor mode works good, but the jog function is messed up. In addition, track lock doesn’t really work right. My dealer told me after a few tries at the warranty that I would be better off dealing with motorguide directly. I have to call them on Monday and we will see. I am at the point that a whole new motor is the only ‘solution’. I would buy a minn kota.

Diagonal on a 6.5’ bed should fit a 7.5’ rod no problem. If you have one of the teeny super short bed 1/2 tons, get a rack on the camper and U-bolt on rod tubes on the rack. You can fit a fully strung fly rod in one.

Look into a plastic welder. You can use some plastic from another (quasi expendable) part of the boat for full rod. You could also cover it with JB Weld Water Weld and some gorilla tape after you plastic weld it.

I outfitted 3 cheap(er) kayaks plus paddles, pfs’s, and milk crates for under $350 each.

It sounds like you have a 12 volt TM and are switching from one battery to another. Your batteries do not necessarily have to be the same age and strength in a parallel system like they do in a series. You should rig them in parallel to draw off both batteries at the same time. One charger will charge both of them but you will have faster charging with a two bank charger.

You should always replace batteries in series as a matching set. Pairing your old bad battery with a new one is a good way to ruin your new battery.

As stated, you want batteries in series to all be as identical as possible (age, group type, brand, capacity, etc.). Mixing is a bad idea. You should buy 3 new identical batteries. I just had a 14 month old battery die for my 24v system. I bought 2 new batteries and kept the remaining good one for use in an rv.

Funny thing, the first rod I broke was a Browning pistol grip baitcaster about 100 years ago as well on the first outing. I still have the replacement rod and it fishes fine.

Someone posted great article by a rod maker on another thread showing all ways a rod can break. 90+ percent is due to angler caused issues (damage, high sticking, etc). They said if a rod is going to break due to a manufacturing defect it will usually break during the first few outings. Damage by striking an object or an object striking the rod (lure strike) sets most rods up for failure down the road.

Ive come to the conclusion that cheap (sub $60) spinning reels don’t really stand up. I wore out three Pfluger presidents, two Shakespeare (can’t remember the model, 10 bearing looked like the president) and plenty of other older reels. I returned two Lews that got funky after a 2 week trout trip. They all felt good in the store and initially fished well, but they all went bad pretty fast. I am happy with the above mentioned Daiwa reels. My daughter fishes her 3 Sahara reels pretty hard and they hold up well. I am really leery of spinning reels that are much less than $100 msrp.

The two Fuego reels I have are 2500’s. One XH and one regular gear ratio. They are light, hold a lot of line, and have a lot of drag for their size for sure.

Fuego is polymer frame and has mag sealed bearing. BG is aluminum frame, no mag seal. The BG is marketed as saltwater capable. Not sure about the Fuego. The Fuego is lighter for its size, but it has a lot of flex. The mag sealed bearing is good in theory, but I don’t think it is user serviceable. Both my Fuego reels have more ‘drag’ than my BG when reeling in the retrieve. Not sure if this is the mag seal or less interia due to lighter parts. The biggest difference is the Fuego has a ton of flex if you load it (hookset, retrieving a snag, simply twisting the reel in your hand, etc.). The BG is rock solid. For me, the aluminum BG is worth the weight penalty for the feel of the reel. Both are great, but next time I would pay the $10 more for the BG’s.

I have two Fuego LT’s. I like them but for $10 more I like the Daiwa BG quite a bit better.

I think many who carry do so not for use on the water itself but for the drive and stops on the way and back, not to mention the possibility of sleazy characters at the ramp itself. Remote boat launches sometimes attract the lawless. Leaving a firearm in a truck at a ramp is not the smartest idea for a number of reasons. Possible theft is one. Coming back to the ramp after dark with some sketchy characters loitering about is another. If you aren’t going to bring it in the boat don’t bring it at all.

It depends. I have an HDS Live with c-maps preloaded and a Navionics hot maps plus chip. The navionics is better/more detailed, but some lakes are on c-maps that aren’t on navionics. I use the navionics 90% of the time.

I have had this happen with a batch of Trilene XL. Have used it in the past for a number of years with no problem and then a pair of spools from the same lot were just awful.

I use lots of YZH. 12 pound on baitcasters, 10 pound on heavy spinning, 6 on light spinning gear. I like it a lot and it is spring for its ‘rated’ weight and does pretty good with abrasion.

Yozuri Hybrid 10# is as heavy as I like. The hybrid is quite a bit stronger than equivalent mono 10# I have used. More like a 12 or more. I use it on 2500 series reels with no problems. I have heard good things about nano-fill and spinners but I have never used it.

I got my first bass/bay boat this spring and have been running a Lowrance HDS Live 7. I fish mostly in Arkansas and Oklahoma and the maps in the unit seem pretty basic, so I am looking to upgrade. I hear a lot about Navionics but I don't know too much about how it works. It looks like Navionics South Region covers most of what I want. I am considering two products, Navionics+ Large for $199 to HotMaps Platnium South for $199. Navionics+ Large covers all of North America, plus marine, HotMaps Platnum covers the south and no marine but adds satellite overlay/3D/Panoramic Photos. Some random questions: How valuable/useful are the satellite overlay/3D/Panoramic Photos from HotMaps Plus? I assume the basic contour mapping in 2D are the same for both choices. Do they both come preloaded with everything? That is, suppose I have Navionics+ and want to fish in California. Do I have to download and install the California mapping or is it all already on the chip? That seems like a lot of maps to fit on one chip. If I do have to select and download the mapping for the lakes I want, I assume that is done through the website prior to loading the chip, correct? When the 1 year subscription/free updates expire do I still have full functionality of all of the maps? Is a 7" screen going to be too small to take advantage of the Navionics resolution? Someday I want to fish out of Venice, LA. It looks like I lose the marine mapping if I go with the HotMaps Platinum. I assume I can add Navionics+ later simply by buying it and changing chips out. Is this correct? Thanks in advance for all the help!

I had a hula popper hook in my knuckle after missing a strike. It was headed for my face. I couldn’t push it through but just popped it out with pliers. Always wear eye protection.

If you have the scratch to buy a bass boat, a kayak is cheap enough you can add it on later if wanted. I have both and strongly prefer the bass boat. Heck, you can get a kayak for a couple hundred at academy.

I have a pair of Coleman extreme coolers that do very well. Most importantly, I can leave them in my boat or truck bed or campsite with little worry about them being stolen. They also weigh quite a bit less than a rotomolded cooler. I stand on the smaller one (45 quart I think) and I am a big guy. I like the rubber feet on the yeti, so I crazy glued four rubber feet from the hardware store on the one I keep in the boat. $8 tops and no more sliding around in the boat. Youtube is full of cooler tests. The Yeti always does well, but others are close.

I have an xi5 and use it with a lowrance. That's what my unit does when I pull the trolling motor out of the water without turning the graph off. Not sure if this info helps narrow it down but to me it acts like it is out of the water.

Ok that makes sense. Thanks.

Thanks, the link helped.