Alex from GA

Being laid up takes it out of you. It was weeks last year when I finally made it outside in my bathrobe. Glad you're back, keep pushing.

Go Dawgs.

My buddy took me fishing this morning, after haven't been out since Aug 17th, and he caught the first fish on a Whopper Plopper and the second fish on another top water something. I was throwing a chugger and didn't get a blow-up. A couple of hours later I finally caught a LM on a worm. It was the only bass bite I had, lots of bream bites though. Fished from 7:30 til 1 PM for 2 Alabama and 1 LM bass.

I fish barefoot until it gets too hot to use the trolling motor in my aluminum boat. Big deal is what do you have to pull your boat. Glass boats take more truck while most aluminum boats are considerably lighter and can be pulled with anything.

It's always great to read your reports, thanks. Maybe someday I'll get back to fishing. Having boat problems and my mechanic has covid.

I have several hundred Scampi tails that I could sell. All colors. PM

Two 50ah batteries, IMO, is the way to go. You don't have to buy another charger and the loss of weight is dramatic. I replaced a group 27 battery with a 50ah lithium. My only reason was I couldn't lift the 70lbs anymore. The lithium weighs 12lbs.

I've been using a Kast King Veritas for 3 or 4 years throwing an 1/8th oz sinker and a finesse worm with 8 lb fluorocarbon line and even caught a fish once or twice. Have no complaints.

Back in the day when I was mostly a saltwater guy I modified almost all of my Penn conventional reels with Newell parts, bases, bars, spools, better bearings faster gears, etc. They would cast a 3" anchovy if you had a good thumb.

The towing capacity of a 2019 Nissan Sentra is 2000 lbs. You'll be fine.

Terrific fish. It's always great to catch a PB. Congratulations.

If you're in a calm lake only enough not to move. 6.5'.

Mick and Hovanec are the ones to follow. I've been using FlexCoat for many many years with the syringes it comes with. I use a coffee cup full of water heated in the microwave to put the bottles of epoxy in. It flows and mixes better when warm.

Several years ago I bought 2 2000 size Symetre reels @ a garage sale and use them often. I took them apart and couldn't find much difference from a couple of Stradics I was repairing.

I used to work down the street from Smittys in Burbank and still have some of his Castaic Special finesse worms, black, brown and orange.

Fish the rivers.

Throw it when fish are boiling way out where I can't reach with a top water or a fluke. Bounce it back and hang on.

Thanks for the report. Haven't been fishing all week and enjoy reading and seeing your successes.

Keith, Can you use a speedi sleeve or two to repair the shaft? I repaired a Mercury shaft where the seal rode that lasted until I blew the engine.

BTW use fishing rod wrap epoxy not the hardware store stuff.

If it's in casting distance I'll throw a topwater something, sometimes I'll go sit on where they're boiling and, it seems, every 20 minutes the bait gets together and the bass will attack. A 3/4oz spoon throws a long way and can work if I can reach them. I'm not talking about one fish, which is usually a carp or gar.

That's not what I mean. If you'll remove the lower unit and you can turn the flywheel around several times to make sure the power head turns freely. Remove the spark plugs first.

My lights last for a few years with me launching several times a week in Florida for 4-6 months of the year. Even in salt water a few times a winter. I use the potted LED lights which last even though the lenses are broken. BTW I agree with the draining if needed.

My advice is to remove the lower unit and turn the flywheel. There are youtubes for that. Narrow it down.

What I like to do is cut each of the wires an inch longer than the next one so the crimps aren't touching. Instead of shrink tubing, which isn't fully waterproof, use RTV inside each crimp to seal it.