Michigander

Is there any way to salvage the old butt end? Or is that a loss and will need to be replaced?

Yes, I really like that they included the HT100 drag washers in the Fierce III, apparently it is basically a Battle II now so I will be interested to see what the Battle III is going to offer. Heck, even the Pursuit III (which is a nice little reel for the money, btw) has the HT100 washers in there now so it looks like Penn is almost totally off of felt except the new Wrath reels. Also, I polished the metal washers in my Fierce II and I noticed a distinct drag smoothness increase. Even more than just doing the carbontex upgrade. Definitely worth doing for light line applications. I have a 7' heavy action Gander rod that I really like, reminds me of an older Fenwick HMG, maybe they built that one too. Be sad when that one gets retired because there aren't any more of them.

If you cant or won't pull your batteries after each trip, you could just install an inline led that would be on if the battery power is on. This would be minimal drain and would tell you if you forgot.

Went down the rabbit hole on Amazon from your post. When I came back up for air, I had this holding my attention: https://www.amazon.com/YUEAON-Containers-Accessory-Transparent-Items-Multi/dp/B07Q4NTLKM/ref=sr_1_53?keywords=Pill+bottle+storage&qid=1581214168&sr=8-53

Good for you, 24v has a lot more options and is cheaper. How many pounds of thrust do you have now?

Testify! Are you running a 24v or 36v boat?

I'm a Garmin fanboy. Being able to make your own maps is so awesome. In my local tournaments, it's all the Garmin guys racing to certain spots on the lake because we're the only ones that have the structure mapped. That being said, Humminbird is going to have better connectivity with other accessories. So really, what features are most important to you?

That Helix is probably a great deal but I think the gains from having a GPS anchor (SpotLock or PinPoint) will far eclipse what MegaImaging is going to give you. I upgraded my sonar unit two years ago and was very pleased but I got a GPS anchor last season and it revolutionized my fishing. YMMV

That's pretty cool! Looks like I will make a few of those up.

Do you have spot lock?

The standout topwater hardbait from the last two years for me has been the Yo-Zuri 3DB Series Pencil 100. It walks the dog without moving very far at all, so it's almost like a popper in that sense.

That is awesome that it's so easy! I would assume no, but does doing this change anything about the rods power, action, or behavior north of the reel seat?

It's a split grip with a small 2" butt cap and then about 10" of some faux carbon fiber pattern which is probably just a sleeve over the actual blank.

So can you literally just cut the butt end of a rod off? Do you just wrap a piece of tape on and slice it off with a cutting wheel? Or is there a trick to it? I ask because I have a 7'11" XH that might have a bit too much handle section on it for my liking, but if I can take a couple inches off, that might make an ideal pairing with my arm.

Very interesting! I am certainly not going to be cast for 'Rotary of the Dragon', so based on your advice I wouldn't attempt it. I read in that Bass Resourxe article that the author claimed polishing the gears made the reel smoother which addresses the OP's problem. However, your knowledge eclipses mine, so I will defer to you. Thanks for explaining!

So I take it you're against supertuning? Or at least for the gears part. Too bad this guy never updated with the results of his experiment with polishing the gears: https://www.bassresource.com/fishing/supertune-baitcaster.html

Beast Mode! In much less impressive news, I switched to a standing desk at work so I am ready to stand for hours in a few months when it is boat season again...

@smalljaw67 Thanks for the quick video! This totally gives me the knowledge I need to make one of these. I was totally off base initially and can see why I wasn't happy with my end product. Thank you!

I guess I'm not sure which cables ends you have. I would suggest asking the Lowrance tech for a part number for an adapter cable. Regardless, you're probably in for at least 25% of the cost of a new transducer, but that isn't necessarily the faulty part. Ah, boat problems,

So other than weight and making sure the insert (or lack of insert) is paired appropriately with the expected line and technique, what makes a rod guide better than another?

What cable do you have?

Last time I tried, I didn't quite have the stones to actually pull the trigger on one myself. My wallet totally flinched. It's part of why I keep looking at building my own rods. And my boat was like, "Oh, you've got $300 for a rod huh? What about my aging batteries? And my broken hatch handles?"

The chronic backordering was the basis of my statement. And you don't have to justify to me. That monkey's on my back too. LoL

I think they did on Black Friday but they sell so many normally that there probably isn't a huge incentive to discount the price.

I used to fish cover pretty quickly and efficiently but that was because I didn't have shallow water anchors or a GPS anchor like SpotLock. I got an Xi5 last season and it totally changed how I fish when pitching cover. I'm finding that multiple presentations are what is triggering most of my bites now. I just couldn't do that before with the boat moving. So now its a mix of thoroughly fishing an area but still covering water. I think the reason the pros mostly go quick is because they are hitting the high percentage areas looking for highly productive areas. High percentage areas are just ones that are more likely to hold fish, they are seeking ones that actually do.