Jig Man

The main thing you want to look for in a deep cycle battery to use on a trolling motor is (reserve amps or reserve capacity). Some call it one of those and some call it the other. The larger the reserve is the longer you can stay on the water with your trolling motor. I recommend that you get 180-200 reserve amps. That will be a 27-29 series in most batteries. Your battery needs to be recharged after every use for longevity. Trickle charging is not the best way to go. You should use 10-15 amps to charge the battery.

The average retail on that rig is $27,230.

Nice rig. The top of the aluminum world for sure. A word on the Opti. When you start it up let it warm to 120° before taking off. Hard take offs with cold heads are Opti nightmares. I always check my smart craft gauge and watch the temp before heading out from the launch. That has given me 10 trouble free years with my duce and a quarter Opti.

Have you tried swimming lighter jigs close to the bottom?

I have been using it for several years in the colors that they have. It works but I don't think it is the same stuff as what you would buy from places like Pro Tec. I think it is an industrial powder paint. When cadman comes along and posts we'll find out for sure because he will know.

I switched to blue top Optimas a couple of years ago. I did it to cut down on the mess of wet cells, have batteries that could set without a recharge for longer time periods and reduce the weight. So far I have been really happy with them. On the charger side of your question, I like stated above would have a 3 bank charger to keep the cranker up like the trolling motor batteries. I'd also increase the size of the banks to a minimum of 10 amp banks but prefer 15 amp banks.

When I want a liquid scent I buy crushed garlic and strain it through the wife's panty hose to get the oil. Then I add that to olive oil. For a paste scent I put garlic powder in petroleum jelly and smear it on with a stick.

Downeaster 2010 I hope my post was not misleading. I was not stating only heat until the paint barely sticks. Heat until the paint is still dull but not shiny. It only takes a few jig heads of a particular size to figure out the time element. I heat 3 ways (propane torch, heat gun, and toaster oven) depending on the size, quanity, and use of the jig being made.

I have been where you are. I left for golf, then quail and deer hunting. I've been back about 15 years and have accumulated more baits than I can use in 2 lifetimes and still making. When you get your bed made and start dipping in it, try only heating your jighead enough to get a dull finish coat of paint on them. That way when you bake them you won't have the runs when they get real hot. Also if you use pliers or hemos and hold the jig by the hook eye you won't have to worry about paint getting into it when you dip. What method are you using to heat the heads? BTW: Did you notice cadman's avatar? He is a master at multiple color heads.

Yes I have and Yes they are. Be sure to mark the area where it will fit. Take a Scotchbrite pad and scratch up the area so it sticks well. Clean the area well with acetone. It is easier to put on if you have someone's assistance and a creeper but it isn't much of a chore.

I don't like the R wire but that was all I could get the last time I made spinnerbaits so I put a nail in a vice and did a wrap to close the R.

I've changed units at least 5 times in my boat. I bought a cheap fishtape from Harbor Freight Sales and have used it a bunch.

By adding a head unit only you can hook an ethernet cable to the lss box and your bow unit and it can become a clone of the one at the helm. Everything that you see will be from the helm unit's transducer. For not many bones you can put a 2d sonar transducer on the trolling motor and have that for the bow unit and still be able to see the si and di from the helm unit's lss transducer.

X2

I have several spinning reels in sizes from 1000 to 2500. In your price range is the Symmetry. I have several of them some of them are close to 15 years old and have seen countless hours.

I don't know about your tank and how it is made, but mine is not visible and my gauge is terrible. My boat holds 55 gallons of gasoline and shows full when I top it off. After about 5 gallons are burned it shows about half a tank. It will stay that way for a long them then drop to 1/4. That is when I get antsy and fill it up. The gauge has never worked correctly and I have had this boat a long time.

I bought this at Lowe's for about 100 bones. That was 6 years ago. Now it is bulging at the seams and has the top stacked up with boxes and bags.

Since you only addressed one item and that was tougher. I say hardner will make them tougher but probably not catch as many fish as the softer ones.

You can do it like you think. The charging time will be a lot longer with one bank on 2 batteries. Either one of your ideas will work depending on how long you have to let them charge and if or not you want to invest in a charger for the cranker.

Most guys put them on the console with the ducer on a jack plate. That way you can use it to scan banks and mark wpts for fishing. It is great to find lay downs, rock piles, etc. You will also need a gps unit up front networked to the other one. I personally like them both places and mark not only while driving around but also while I am fishing.

I looked into stocking some of the ponds on one of my farms. I contacted a fisheries biologist and talked to him about the stocking and harvesting rates. He told me that to keep things balanced I would need to take out 21 bass for every acre of surface that they comprised. So my guess is the smaller lakes need to be harvested.

I have several molds and hundreds if not thousands of baits. I have way more than I'll ever be able to use in a lifetime. It is so addictive and costs a lot of money but it is my only hobby. My first injected tube cost me $300.

I don't think you would be very successful putting a boat in a shed that has a wood floor unless your boat doesn't weigh very much. If it were me and I decided to do it, I'd be looking at a gravel floor.

My wife had one on her boat. As I remember it was about 50# but I am not sure.

The BPS reels go to the lowest bidder so you never know for sure who made them. I bought some when they first came out with the PQ. They were junk so I got rid of them and have never bought another one.