Big Hands

I apologize if you felt attacked. That was certainly not my intention. Good luck with your project.

Agreed. And dealers will gladly spec an underpowered trolling motor (same deal with the outboard on base models) to be able to have a TM on the boat to attract buyers. And in my experience, an Endura C2 30 is underpowered to some degree on just about anything that doesn't resemble a floating bathtub.

One of the subjects that I teach is computers. Regarding keyboarding, I often use Charles Barkley's golf swing as an example that the saying "practice makes perfect" isn't really true. I am more in the "only perfect practice makes perfect" camp. I have to admit that I am envious of the form that some folks have with a very tight, compact casting technique. I hope to master that someday.

I think you should be satisfied, if not outright pleased with that for sure.

I have several Milwaukee M12 cordless tools and many batteries that go with them. I bought an adapter that has two wires that I soldered to a plug and I get 12v from it. I can use it to power fish finders, or other 12v devices. I figure I could get by for the day with the fish finders with a battery, maybe two. But, I find that although my fish finder (Garmin Striker 5) is hooked up to my trolling motor batteries, I only get a little interference when on the highest trolling motor speed, and even then, not always. I'm not generally trying to sort the fly poop from the pepper on the fish finder when my TM is on the highest speed, so I don't worry about it. ================================= Trolling motor battery requirements can vary greatly between users. If you're using it to get around, have to use it to hold your spot against current or high winds, have fish finders that have large screens, or all of those things, you might need substantially more than others. Without knowing how demanding your requirements are and what price you'll pay if they run out, it's difficult to get a good read on what will be satisfactory for you. But, if you're buzzing around with a 9" Garmin abd running your trolling motor more or less all the time on higher speeds, then a single 12v battery, even a true deep cycle, probably is going to be inadequate, especially if you fish long hours and want to maintain a margin of error (because that's a good idea). An Endura 30 is a cost conscious choice that will get you out there and fishing for a relatively price. I have owned a couple of them. But, in order to go a given speed in a given boat, it is my understanding that an Endura 30 at the highest speed setting will consume more power than a 50 lb thrust motor that only needs to run at a lower. setting to achieve the same speed. Any trolling motor that you run constantly and at higher speed settings is going to get warm inside, so the connections at the battery and inside the trolling motor need to be secure. If your cables get warm, they might be of insufficient size. Plugs are another source of potential trouble. If the cables are warm near the plug, or the plug itself gets hot, that is trouble headed in your direction. My personal recommendation (figuring that you do use your trolling motor quite a bit, and somewhat hard at least some of the time, along with a 9" FF) is that a single 12v deep cycle, even a group 31, is cutting it close to say the least. You could try it with a single battery, and then go to two if that doesn't work. Or, if you want not to worry about it and yet don't want to spend 'lithium money', I would suggest two Group 27 AGM (which are sealed and don't need to have water added) wired parallel for 12v output and try running your Garmin FF on the same setup before shelling out for a separate power source for that. Minn Kota (and others) sell a battery box they advertise for a Group 24 (but a Group 27 will fit in it) called the Power Center. It has a circuit breaker built into it along with a battery tester. My Endura C2 30 and Edge 55 both had no problems with the built in circuit breaker with a single 12v battery. If you run two batteries, you should run a separate charger on each of them (or a single two bank charger). Run the battery cables to a heavy duty terminal block and tap off of that for your various needs (FF, lights, accessory plug, etc.), using another inline fuse or circuit breaker on anything run from there. I had my Endura hooked up to this terminal block on a 14' Valco until I swapped the Endura out for an Edge (bow mount, foot controlled) that was right next to my battery location at the bow. Never had problems with that. My research suggested that if I wanted to run wet cell flooded deep cycle batteries, and was committed to maintaining them properly by keeping the cells properly topped off with distilled water, I might as well get the cheap walmart deep cycles (made by Clarios/Johnson Controls) and try to get three or maybe four good years out of them for around $100 a pop. If I wanted to get AGM sealed lead acid batteries, the Duracell AGM's from from Sam's Club are made by East Penn/Deka and come with an 18 month warranty instead of the 12 month warranty that O'Reilly's offers for the exact same battery yet charges $50 more. Most batteries are going to come from either Clarios (formerly Johnson Controls) or East Penn with different labels on them depending on what store you get them from. Even Optima was bought several years ago by Johnson Controls and they then moved production from the USA to south of the border. Some chain stores sell batteries from one manufacturer in one area, and batteries from the other in another area depending on what distribution channels are available nearby. One other option would be to get two 6v golf cart batteries from Trojan (225 AH) and wire them together in series for 12v. The 225 AH units usually last years longer than the 245 AH units. They've got a little smaller footprint than even a Group 24 and those two batteries will run you all day. I had a Ranger with a 200 hp outboard, two fish finders and a trolling motor wired like that (no separate starting battery) and had no issues. JMHO, good luck getting what works best for you.

Looks like they stole those seats from a barber shop.

I consider 'competitive fishing' to be tournament fishing. In 1991, a friend that had been doing well in some regional tournaments (he had won two boats in those tournaments) invited me to fish as a co-angler at a Pro-Am at Lake Mead. Some things happened at that tournament that are still good memories and very poignant learning experiences. For the TL/DR crowd, those lessons learned will be bullet points at the end. 1) Aaron Martens had cut his teeth on Castaic and I had seen him and his mother at many tournaments and just fishing in general, but didn't actually know him. The night before the tournament, I was out for a late night walk and he was in the motel parking lot getting his boat ready for the tournament and I got to have a nice chat with him. 2) First day of the tournament, I get paired with a pro that was someone I didn't really know of. He had little to nothing to say the night before except what time and where to meet him. This was a tournament where the amateur's and the pro's weight was combined for their five fish limit. To say our styles didn't mesh well would be a massive understatement, and in hindsight, I think he really just wanted to 'backseat' me as much as possible so I wouldn't interfere with what he wanted to do. He basically just hauled but down the bank. Unless I was willing to cast past/over him, I couldn't get a bait to the bottom fast enough before it was so far behind me that I had no time to do anything other than reel it in and cast again. If I tried to fish behind the boat, it was way to deep. I imagine that he figured he wasn't going to get any help from a co-angler and he surely didn't want to be interfered with either. Frustrating to say the least, but I figured it was his world and I was just living in it. 3) In the afternoon of the first day, we were screaming out across the basin and I looked up for a second, and whooooosh, my new Ranger cap blows off of my head. He looks over and asks me "was that your hat?" I said "Yes, it was." He grunts "Huh" and just keeps haulin' across the lake. I can laugh about it now, but not having a spare cap on Lake Mead for the rest of the day and the next day was less than wonderful. 4) The second day, I got paired with the guy that leading after day one, Dewayne "Doc" Watson. He was a well known local pro that had his own TV show and always a contender in Lake Mead tournaments. We met the night before and he asked me what gear I had with me and he told me which of my rods he wanted me to bring and we discussed what baits we would be using (mostly buzzbaits that he handmade, which he would provide). He told me exactly how he wanted me to fish. He told me that he wanted me to get up on the front deck as the boat came off the pad and begin casting until he was able to get up there himself (he said I would probably make 3 casts in before he would be able to get up there and deploy the trolling motor), and then go to the back unless he told me to stay on the front deck with him. He also wanted me to keep casting until he got ready to actually put the boat in gear so we could maximize the number of casts. It was like a well coordinated, well executed military exercise . A totally different experience from the first day to say the least. 5) We start the day right next to the marina at Hemenway harbor. Right away, I catch a 2.24 lb bass (a solid tournament fish at Lake Mead) on a buzzbait and he catches one short bass. We fished several places and he manages one more short fish. He tells me that he knows there is a keeper fish on a very specific salt cedar bush, but it will be a 60 mile boat ride to get there, way up in Grand Wash. But he really needs to get at least another keeper. We take the long ride (including a stop at Temple Bar for fuel) up into Grand Wash and he said that we would stop about 100 yards from the salt cedar bush and when we get close that he wants me to hold up so he can make sure he gets the cast he wants at this submerged bush. I cease casting when he asks ne too and when he gets in range, he fires his buzzbait right over the bush and right on cue a keeper bass nails it as he came over the top. He gets the fish next to the boat and I had the net in the water just as he had instructed me to the night before, and for some reason that is still unknown to both of us, he lowers the rod tip at the last second and the fish comes off. . . . I'm stunned that we just took a 60 mile run for this fish, it bites and he loses it at the boat. He assured me it was his fault and he doesn't know why he did it. I get another hit a ways down the wash where the bass came out of the water to hit it like Willie Mays tracking down a long fly ball. I paused a second before setting the hook, but it doesn't stick. Brutal. We didn't get another bite the rest of the day. 6) We get back to the weigh-in site at the marina, and his wife is waiting for him at the end of the first dock we come to. She has a freshly ironed shirt and a vest with all of his sponsor patches on it so he looks sharp. He tells his wife that he's upset with himself that he finally gets a co-angler that can fish and he couldn't put us on fish. He drops me off at the dock with the fish to weigh it in, and he goes to the ramp where his wife has the trailer backed in and is waiting for him when he gets there. I weigh in our lone 2.24 lb fish. He comes back to the weigh-in and they interview him he tells them we had a rough day, and that's that. He still finished in 5th overall for the tournament. 7) We go to the awards ceremony at some auditorium and they are handing out awards, etc. and they get to the prize (a new trolling motor) for amateur big fish and they call out 2.24 lbs and some guy's name that wasn't mine. Doc and the guy I came to the tournament with both look at me like I don't understand? I went up to the TD afterwards and they said that I didn't tell them that it was me that caught the fish at the weigh-in, so they assumed it was the pro that caught the fish and that's the way it was going to stay. I didn't want to make a point of it at the weigh-in because I didn't want to embarrass Doc. Oh well, dookie happens. Some pros are truly professional in every sense of the word. They prepare well, and they are meticulous in every aspect of the game. Many pros, even those at the top of the heap, are very gracious, nice people who love doing what they do. Some pros are there because they can, through other means, afford to enjoy being a part of it, but are not necessarily able or willing to do what it takes to be a top shelf professional and make a living at it. If you want to win a little money being a professional bass fisherman, you often have to start with a lot of money. Tournament Directors have a tough job. A tournament fisherman that doesn't just want to throw their entry fee to other anglers needs to take it more seriously, and be OK with much if not most of their fishing time being spent 'pre-fishing', not necessarily 'fun-fishing'. After a while, it becomes like a job. . . because it is a job. For most, it isn't a career where you get paid regardless of your results. It's speculative and what you make very much depends on where you finish, and not much else. Even being sponsored with a boat doesn't mean it's easy to make a living at it. It's not. Tournaments are fun once in a while for me, but until I win the lottery (which is probably not going to happen if I only buy a few tickets every year or two), I mostly prefer to fish for my own enjoyment and to sometimes have fun with others. If by some random chance I did win the lottery, I might want to fish a circuit as a co-angler (where my weight only counts as my own), or serve as a marshall. That sounds like fun. . . most days. I don't have to fish for maximum weight or fish count. Most days, I simply want to fish where I want to, how I want to and basically do what I want to do when I want to do it. At the end of the day, I want to already be looking forward to my next fishing adventure. I am, at my core, a 'soul fisherman'.

My own sample size of one has me wondering if leaving a spool of leader material out in the sun while I am fishing causes harm to the line, and my limited anecdotal evidence suggests that it certainly could be causing damage as I have line seemingly go bad, and I can usually point to instances of leaving the spool on deck as I am fishing. I have been trying different brands and models (?) of line, so that could be a factor. Since I have stopped doing that, I haven't had that happen. Lately, my leader line of choice has been green 7 lb Daiwa Samurai (I'm well into my second 200 yard spool) and for whatever reason, it seems to be working for me for the finesse-ish tactics I use where I fish. Again, sample size of one presenting anecdotal evidence, but I now make it a practice to keep my leader spools in a pouch on my tackle bag while I am fishing. Do you keep that 10 lb spool in the right slot or the left slot? There is a part of me that would contemplate that every time I looked at it.

Yep. And, this is why we don't need to have consensus. The water you fish The baits you fish The rods you have available The technique you use All of these things can affect our ability to make different line choices work for us. . . or not.

I was able to find a Fuego LT2000S-XH from Croatia (on the auction site) a while back and jumped on it like a pit bull on a poodle. I paid $119 with tax and shipping (ordered it on a Friday afternoon and received it the following Monday at noon). I love not having to use backing and filling it with way less than I normally would with those silly "D" spools they keep foisting on us here on the USDM models. There's one on there right now for $5 more than I paid. I don't think they believe we want the "D" spools as much as I think they love to see us buying ridiculous amounts of line ? I insist on the high speed models for the times they run straight at me in open water and I need to take up the slack muy pronto, or just for chunking weightless wacky Senkos, letting them drop and set for a few seconds and wind 'em right back in and fire them off again.

They do appear to have been caught cheating, but since they did not actually accept any winnings for this tournament, it could possibly be argued that they hadn't actually stolen anything. . . yet. I have read of speculation that this is how this one could play out in the long run. ==================== Without the weights, they were around eight pounds ahead of second place. But I have to wonder if those fish were even taken legally according to the rules of the tournament.

Choose Baccarac. . . . unless you have access to a time machine that could take you back to the late 80's - early 90's, a trip to Castaic would be akin to visiting an historic landmark. The placard on the turnout overlooking the lake should read: "Within these waters it is likely that there once swam the largemouth world record bass, and an incredible number of of similar sized giants given the size of the lake and the fishing pressure it received." It looks pretty much the same, but I would estimate the possibility of it EVER even remotely approaching the type of bass fishery it was then is close to 100% against the odds of that happening.

I use a 2/0 Roboworm Rebarb or 2/0 Owner Cover Shot hook for the 4" Keitech Swing Impact (NOT the Fat Swing Impact) and the 4" Easy Shiner baits that I fish on a Carolina rig. I use the same hooks in 1/0 for the same 3.5" baits. If I can't find those hooks in stock, I use an plain old Owner worm hook in the same sizes. I have tried several offset type hooks, but my hookup ratio seems to be lower when using those hook types. I bury the eye inside of the bait and whittle down a flat toothpick to keep the hook in place. Best method I have found to work for me. I don't use heavy hooks because I don't need to and I feel like they would stifle the action. On a TX rig, that probably isn't as much of a consideration. At any rate, I think a 3/0 hook on a 4" Keitech could be overkill on the 4" Keitech paddletail baits. Since you say it's a 4", that indicates that it isn't the Fat Impact because it doesn't come in a 4" size. The regular Swing Impact and the Easy Shiner does come in 4". Also, I have found that a firm sweeping hookset works better than really cracking them with those baits. Sometimes, I even have to let them chew for a few seconds before setting the hook. And, in spite of them supposedly having a built in 'squid' scent, I add my own scent. It's amazing and ridiculous how long they will hold onto that Swing Impact bait. One other thing. . . . **cough, cough - electric shad - cough**

No wonder it's so slow in here late at night. I go to bed sometime between midnight and 2:00 am PST and wake up between 5:00 am and 6:00 am. When you see my handle is constantly in the "Who's Online" box, now you know the reason. If I go to bed earlier, I just wake up earlier and that's not much fun. If I were to sleep six hours, that would be 'sleeping in'. After about four hours, I start flopping around trying to get comfortable for about 20 minutes at a time. For those having to pee once or more during the night, I found out that tiny bladders are just one possible cause. Another most don't consider is sleep apnea. When you get into REM sleep, your body should be shutting down the peepee train. Back in the early 2000's I did a sleep study. An AHI of >30 is considered 'severe sleep apnea'. Mine was 88. I've had it since I was a teen. My brothers used to throw their pillows at me to get me to wake up or just roll over. I was using a CPAP for a while, but had a hard time making it work for me. When it worked for me, it was a feeling when I woke up that I haven't felt since I was very young. I wouldn't describe it as being instantly alert; in fact just the opposite. But after coming out of that fog, I felt very rested. Weird. Eventually, I have learned to do some things that have greatly reduced my symptoms and snoring and I haven't used the CPAP for many years.

I think it's always meant that.

We had a garden variety white bunny growing up. Once in a while it would get left out of the hutch at night or while we were away. We learned to worry more about the cats than the rabbit. I can't tell you how many times a cat thought it was a good idea to mess with that rabbit and found out they were wrong. We would find circular areas filled with tufts of various colors of fur. . . cat fur, not bunny fur. We could tell what type of cat they were by the color of the fur balls. From my experience, judging by the amount of fur left behind, it takes a lot of convincing to change a cat's mind, LOL. Sometimes there would be two or three fur circles with different colors of fur in each one. I don't know, maybe the cats liked it ;~)

I have a regular foam roller and one that looks more like a 36" long foam roller cut in half lengthwise, which is much easier for me to use.

I have one 3700 regular box, a 3700 thick box which also holds my shakey heads, ned heads, and swimbait jig heads along with the plastics), and one side pouch on my tackle satchel that I keep plastics in, and that's it. And, to let you know how much I fish plastics, EVERY bass I caught in 2021 (and I average close to once a week fishing) was caught on plastics. I do have a one quart size ziplock bag with plastics I usually only throw at night, that I will put in the boat for the four or five nights we're allowed to fish here, but it resides in the garage the rest of the time. I have one 3700 box for crankbaits, and another 3700 box for terminal tackle and a few slabs. All of that fits in my satchel along with leader line, scissors, various pliers, a scale, license, sunglasses, and scent. The majority of the plastics I take are Senkos, Keitech Easy Shiners and Swing Impacts, various Roboworms, Jackall Flick-Shakes, C3 Shimmy's (a local product), and a few other assorted oddball offerings and it all fits in this bag. If I can't catch fish with my what's in my tackle bag, three to five rods, and a landing net, I need to go home and make better choices next time.

The angler themselves, and the way they use their equipment is another variable to consider. We all have our own unique style fishing, tying knots, casting, setting a hook reeling a fish in, etc. Also, some line/guide combinations are noisier than others and I can only imagine that at least some of that is going back into the water.

I totally get that. Horses for courses and the lakes you and I fish are as different as night and day. You can't be half-steppin and BSing your hooksets in your neck of the woods and with the hooks needed to survive that battle. I've had my feelings hurt there more than once.

I'm curious to know what it is about extra fast actions that intrigues you? Are you wanting to lock the drag down with heavy line, jack it out of heavy cover and grind the fish to the boat? I know that in some places if you give them any line, there's a good chance you'll get wrapped in a tree. Been there and lost some of those battles because the fish was allowed to turn and head in a direction more of it's choosing. But if I was going to battle a fish on lighter line and on more equal terms, I wouldn't want a MH/XF rod for that fight. JMHO. ====================== I did once water-ski a 12-4 lb largemouth to the boat and straight into the net in relatively open water. Without question my least favorite great catch. Watching a magnificent fish like that sliding across the surface still sets poorly with me many years later.

My two favorite rods are my 7'6" St. Croix Mojo ML/XF hair jig spinning rod and my 7'3" Daiwa Tatula MH/F casting rod. I fish from my boat and love the extra casting distance. I do feel like the hair jig rod is not my most sensitive spinning rod as that would be the Expride 7' L/F, but the extra casting distance using a 4" or 5" Senko trumps the difference in sensitivity for me. I'm often line watching for those strikes when possible and it does a fantastic job of keeping fish pinned once I set the hook. The 7'3" Tatula casting rod is as sensitive as any other casting rod I own. I love it for carolina rig fishing. If I'm anchored up, I will literally sit with it the 10-11 o'clock position with my eyes closed as I turn the crank as slowly as humanly possible and wait for even a small tick of a bite. It's amazing how far they will run with a bait, and even play tug-of-war when they don't suspect that they are on the end of a string. I feel like I know they are there way before have a clue. All but one of the other rods in my 'starting lineup' range from 6'10" to 7'1". All that said, I don't claim to know that longer rods are better for everyone. But I certainly do prefer them. YMMV.

Sounds like some infection may have set in. As a person that has worked in trades for decades and was basically raised around tools and materials, and therefore have had way more than my share of wounds, especially to my hands. My go to was to use a q-tip or cotton ball to put a drop or two of hydrogen peroxide onto the wound and see if it bubbles. It generally will every time. Let it sit and bubble for a bit, wipe it off and put another drop on it. Repeat several times. Do it again the next morning, and maybe once or more times that day. Getting ahead of it is better than waiting, especially for something that has a good chance of becoming infected. . . . like a wound from a hook. Even if I have to tear a wound open to bomb it with hydrogen peroxide, it will usually clear up an infected wound. If it's red around the wound, or if it hurts to press on it, it is likely infected. Sometimes it's from bruising, but more likely infected. Disclaimer: I am not a medical doctor, but I may or may not have slept at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

I have owned a 19' Ranger with a 200 Merc and it was a superb boat. I currently own a 1648 Tracker Grizzly with a 40 hp four stroke Merc. No doubt, the Ranger was a great boat, but I don't think I will ever own another fiberglass boat. Too much upkeep for what I want to do. And you'd better have a nice place to store it . They are generally heavier and have larger motors that cost more to operate and maintain. Everything about a glass boat is more expensive, and they don't seem to be holding their value as much as aluminum boats these days. I don't need a livewell and the lake I fish 99% of the time has a speed limit of 35 mph. OTOH, the ride of the Ranger was fantastic. I do miss the rod storage more than anything else. It was very stable to fish out of and 2 anglers didn't get in each other's way. But, that is me, and this boat is for you. A fiberglass boat might be what makes sense for you, even if it's mostly because you want one. Life is short, get the boat if you can and that's what you want.

Take a moment to consider how they are hooked, and what will be my best way to remove the hook(s) safely for both myself and the fish. But if one of us has to endure some damage, I do my best to make sure it isn't me. Proper tools and a plan can help prevent getting impaled. I also prefer to do the whole operation myself so I don't have another unpredictable party adding to the danger. I usually have more than one type of pliers because no one pair is perfect for all hook extractions. I also like to have a good size pair of side cutting pliers along too. If I suspect the possibility of me getting hooked is higher than normal, I'll cut 1) the line so there isn't going to be anything putting pressure against the situation 2) a hook if possible to avoid excessive damage to a fish. Once I cut the hook, I can usually push the hook point through the same direction it went in. A rag will suffice if you don't have a glove and feel you need one.