Jig Man

My favorite manufacturer is Ark Rod. They make rods for a lot of different companies, many of which are major brands.

My main concern would be the transom. Make sure it is solid.

I don’t have a Z18. I have a Z20 and wish that I didn’t.

If your unit has an amplitude scope on the right of the screen that is the real time data.

It looks like the Bass Pro double tail skirted grub in smoke with the skirt cut off.

The kind that I have requires the plug wire to be cut and the choke installed in the line. If my memory is correct it is the positive lead. Mine come from a local shop in Springfield, MO. I don’t know where they get them. I have had success with them on both motor guide and minn kota trolling motors.

Football black or brown living rubber

I have not had success with rings. I have had good success with chokes put in the trolling motor power cables, so much that I just routinely do it every time I change trolling motors.

Here is a no vote for Nitro. I have a 3 year old Z20. There is a long list of reasons, that I won’t go into here, that will keep me from ever buying another one. I will say the most visible reason is the cheap carpet. Mine looks worse than my Champion did after 10 years. Bass Cat Phoenix Charger 210 Elite ( Champion 210 under a different manufacturer) These are boats I would be looking at.

If you don’t have some pretty serious skills and fairly deep pockets you better stay away from this project. It will go into the thousands if you include trailer and motor. Now if he paid you a grand to haul it off you might have a starting point.

You can open your bail and pull the line out down the street or a park. Then within a few feet of the rod put your line in a book and close it. The pressure of the closed book should straighten out the kinks as you rewind. No cost providing you have a book.

I didn't want to comment until I got to the water and looked for myself. My homemade spinner baits run a bit above it still in the skirt. Maybe the trailer has something to do with it.

Not only will they strike a lure with red eyes, they will strike a lure with no eyes. I have both red and yellow eyes that I use on jigs and swim baits. I put the one on that I think looks the best.

I tried a bunch of the commercial offerings. I didn’t like any of them so I bought the Midwest Finesse mold to make my own. What I finally settled on is a Grammy 1/0 hook. It is a fairly light wire but very strong. I use 6# fluorocarbon line and keep my drag loose enough so it slips if I set the hook too hard. if you leave a TRD on the hook between trips it will weaken the hook with rust which can cause it to break on the hook set.

I bought a few different ones and did not much like any of them, especially at more than $1 each. So like PourMyOwn I bought the Midwest Finesse mold. I tried several hooks that I have in stock but wasn’t satisfied. I found a good sale at Shorty’s Hook Sales and bought 1000 1/0 Grammy hooks. I made up several sizes and have basically used only 3, the 1/16, 3/32, and 1/8. Normally I fish the 1/16 unless it is windy. I used the bait keeper like PourMyOwn showed but had trouble getting TRDs to hold the way I want them so I don’t use them anymore. I just put a small dab of Super Glue Gel between the bait a n jig head.

I prefer MH 7’ rods for spinner baits and chatter baits. I need a M for cranks. I am using Gloomis, B & R Outlaw, and All Pro rods for those.

Like Blue I make my own. I use a ball head with no collar. I also make baits similar to the Bobby Garland Baby Shad and a bait like a Slab Buster. I glue the baits to the heads. I use an Eagle Claw #4 hook. I have landed bass over 6# and walleye over 5# on those hooks. I use 1/16, 1/8, and 1/4 oz heads depending on how deep I am fishing.

Your question is not confusing. The numbers are suggestions. It’s not about the line size as much as it is about the weight of the bait you will be using. For my bait casters I use 50 no matter what it says on the rod.

I do a lot of Ned fishing. Enough that I carry 5 setups. I have experimented with heads and line. It is my experience that 6# fluorocarbon will get twice as many bites as 8# will.

My wife had a 19’ deck boat with a 150 Yamaha. She loved that boat. It was a great family boat. The draw back was the high sides made it extremely hard to control when fishing with any wind blowing.

If they are local test drive them all. I have owned 3 of the listed boats. Pluses and minuses on all of them. i have only seen 1 Vexus. I thought it was a glass boat. I talked to the owner he was happy and very proud of the boat. At least a 24 volt trolling motor with on board charger. Be advised that some brands of electronics and trolling motors are designed to function with each other for example motor guide/ lowrance and minn Kota/humminbird.

You should smell the odor of freshly made plastisol baits. They will knock your socks off but the fish don’t seem to mind.

I just switched to HB to work with my trolling motor. I bought the Solix units because of the touch screen. I rarely touch the console unit but I do the bow unit a lot. I keep a styles up front in case my hands aren’t clean. I also put a Graph glass screen protector on the front one to reduce glare. I have found that it cleans up much easier than the console unit.

I have 2 of them I use them with 6# fluorocarbon line for Ned rig fishing. I haven’t used anything heavier than 1/8 oz because I have other setups for heavier applications.

You can always call Humminbird support and get them to help you.