Bankc

Grass is the key to chatterbaits, I've found.  If there's no grass near by, they don't seem to work.  I don't know why, but I can't get bit on one on most of our lakes, since most of these lakes don't have grass.  But on the few that do, they tend to work okay. 
 
But for me, it's hard jerkbaits.  Our water is too stained.  I've tried hard jerkbaits for years now, and even with rattles, they just don't work.  Bass can't seem to locate them.  Now, soft jerkbaits can work pretty well.  But they don't have exposed treble hooks, so I can throw them in cover where the bass are.  These bass won't travel far to hit a lure in open water, but they'll hit a lure right in front of them. 
 
Fishing for bass in open water is pretty difficult around here anyway.  Your best bet are lures that get down deep and cover lots of water, like deep diving cranks, spoons, blade baits, etc.  Sometimes a worm or a jig works too.  Lures that suspend over deep water without going deep themselves don't seem to be effective for me. 

I would prefer it if they did limit the use of electronics.  Make it more about their skill than their gear.  But I also understand that would restrict the sponsorships and thus money involved, and it's a business.  Like most businesses these days, profit is the top concern. 
 
I'd liken it to baseball, where the amateurs can use lightweight aluminum or composite bats, but the pros are limited to heavy wooden ones.  To me, the professionals shouldn't need training wheels, like forward facing sonar.  They should have to do things the hard way.  That would make the sport more compelling.  Less profitable perhaps.  But we'd be forced to believe they're actually better than the rest of us, and not just better equipped. 
 
I say, limit them to a GPS map and a flasher.  That way they know where they're at, but don't know much else.  Let them prefish with all the fancy electronics to get to know the lake, but for the actual tournament, have them rely on their experience and intuition. 

Polarized lenses work by filtering polarized light.  Sunlight, by itself, is not polarized.  But as it bounces off a flat, reflective surface, it can become polarized.  So polarized lenses can help to reduce the glare that you get on the surface of the water.  And this can help you see deeper into the water.  

HOWEVER, it really only works if the sun is behind or in front of you.  If the sun is off to the side, they won't really work (well sometimes if you tilt your head at the right angle they can).  And if the water is stained or muddy, it won't help you to see through it any better, as polarized lenses do nothing to help that.  So the sun's got to be at the right angle and you've got to have somewhat clear water for it to work better than regular sunglasses.  
 
So it's not just a marketing gimmick.  It actually works.  To see a better example, look at an LCD screen through polarized lenses.  The light coming off an LCD screen is polarized.  So usually, if you look straight on, you can see clearly through the lens.  But if you spin the lens around, the screen will go dark and then lighten back up depending on the angle.  Usually, they're set up so that the screen darkens when the lens is turned 90°.  But sometimes, like on my fish finder, it's less.  My fish finder darkens at about 50° clockwise, so I sometimes have to tilt my head to the left to see it better with my polarized lenses on.  That's a design flaw Lowrance should have anticipated and corrected, but whatever.  
 
Polarized lenses don't block UV light by their nature.  They need a special coating to block UV light.  So while some polarized lenses will block UV light, not all will.  And since it's just a coating (or sometimes the material of the lens itself), it's not uncommon to find non polarized lenses that also block UV light.  They even make regular glasses that aren't sunglasses that block UV light.  You have to look for that feature separately and not just assume that they always go together.  

The only real advantage to a mirrored sunglass is that they help reduce glare within the glass itself.  But regular sunglasses can do the same thing with AR (anti reflective) coatings.  Mirrored sunglasses also tend to be darker, because the mirror coating blocks out about half the light by design.  If you've ever looked through the back of a two-way mirror, you'll notice it darkens what you see, even though the glass itself is transparent.  

Mirrored sunglasses biggest benefit is privacy.  They don't let others see your eyes.  Outside of that, and style, of course, there's nothing a mirrored sunglass does that nonmirrored sunglasses can't do just as well.  
 
Now whether or not a particular set of mirrored sunglasses are better for you depends on the actual sunglasses in question and what you prefer.  And they may or may not reduce glare better than nonmirrored sunglasses, depending on the quality or lack of AR coating on the nonmirrored sunglasses.  And they also may or may not be darker, because the company may decide to use a lighter lens color for their mirrored sunglasses to counteract the darkening from the mirrored coating and make the two varieties roughly the same darkness.  

My point being, if you're worried about only the performance aspects, and not style or privacy, it's best to try both and see what you think.  The mirror coating itself doesn't guarantee anything, performance wise.  So depending on which two sunglasses in particular we're talking about, the differences can be apparent, non-existent, or even the opposite of what you'd expect.  

The Lifetime Teton isn't really made to stand up in.  I guess some people can do it, but it's not really designed with that in mind.  So I'm not surprised you're having issues.  I have the Lifetime Yukon, which is identical to the Teton Pro, and it's not too bad.  It's one of the smallest and cheapest kayaks designed to stand up in.  
 
As for most stable, you're probably looking at something big and slow.  Which means you'll probably want a peddle kayak, or something with a motor.  The more stable a kayak is, the harder it is to push through the water, usually.  So something like a Hobie Pro Angler 14 or Jackson Big Rig or really anything around 13' long and 38"-40" wide.  Your Teton is only 10' long and 30" wide.  However, these bigger kayaks will weigh probably twice as much (and have a lot more capacity).  So be prepared for that.  My Lifetime Yukon is 11'6" long and 32" wide, and that's pretty much the borderline for what I'd consider a standup kayak, as it takes some balance and experience to get used to, but I can fish standing up from it and in four years, have never fallen out of it.  However, I wouldn't recommend it for everyone.  

Patient:  "Hey doc, my trolling motor gets stuck when I turn it too far."
 
Doctor:  "Don't turn it too far."
 
What you're experiencing is a design flaw with the V-wing attachment on the trolling motor that you have your cables connected to.  There's not really a way around that, other than replacing the V-wing with a complicated pulley system.  What's happening is you're getting close to the threshold where the force of the cable pulling forward wants to turn the trolling motor in the opposite direction.  And the amount of force needed to turn the trolling motor when you near that point is going to go up considerably, because you're losing the leverage of the V-wing.  
 
The best solution is to add some stops so you don't approach that threshold.  

So you DON'T have an outboard?  Is that right?  If so, get a pair of Group 24 AGM Deep Cycle batteries.  That's the easy way out.  Brand doesn't matter.  They're pretty much all the same these days.  Just find whatever's cheapest.  

But, as noted, make sure your charger will work with them.  Not all chargers have an AGM mode.  Though most do. 

I use mine all of the time.  But I fish out of a kayak without spot lock.  For bass fishing, the way most people do it from a power boat, it's probably not that useful, but still a good idea to have for emergencies.  I could see it being better for something like the crappie fishing I used to do with my grandfather, where we'd be anchored sometimes 6-10 hours on a day on maybe 1-3 spots.  That would really tax your trolling motor battery, and not really provide any benefit over a drop anchor.  But I don't see most bass anglers spending a whole lot of time in one spot, so it's probably rare to be worth the time to mess with it, as it is a hassle to deal with that rope.  And a spot lock or power pole is so much easier and quicker.  

The problem is there's not a good ground on a boat.  Neither the negative battery terminal nor the water make for a good ground for getting rid of interference.  
 
However, interference is rarely a problem.  And when it is a problem, it's usually not something that grounded shielding will solve.  It's usually caused by signal noise in the power supply itself (battery in this case).  The problem is usually caused by the battery getting called on to provide pulses of high power on one circuit, and not having the capacity to provide steady power on a second circuit while keeping up with the pulses.  So residuals from the pulses bleed over to the other circuit and create noise which is interference.  Shielding it from outside noise won't help, because the problem is coming from within.  Hence why most people keep their trolling motor and sonar on separate batteries.
 
Plus, transducer cables are already shielded internally.  So you're shielding an already shielded cable, which means you won't gain much, if anything, from it.  It shouldn't hurt.  But it shouldn't help either.  
 
Now, there is the rare problem that you've got runs of wires or a transducer wire running right next to something like a trolling motor and picking up stray EMI.  However, like I said, it's already shielded, so more shielding usually won't help.  You usually need a better contact with ground, which you can't really do on a boat, or to physically move the wires so they pick up less interference.  The intensity of the radiation is inversely proportional to square of the distance.  In other words, if you double the distance between the wires, you cut the noise the wire picks up by 1/4th.  So moving a wire from 1/2 inch away to 4 inches away will cut the noise it picks to 1/16th the original amount.  Which is a huge amount of noise loss for just moving a wire over 3-1/2 inches.  

Personally, I'd wait until he actually WANTS to get in a boat.  Forcing a 2 year old to do things they don't want to will ruin everyone's day within earshot.  And then, tell him he has to wear a PFD at all times, just like Daddy.  Set the example by putting yours on first.  Associate the PFD with water, not with comfort.  Don't even mess with it if he's not around a pool of water.  He's old enough to know he doesn't need it for playing with sprinklers and hoses.  Take him to the lake or a pool, so he can see how they work and what they do.  
 
A trick that works surprisingly well with 2 year olds is to give them options.  They don't have to be good options, they just have to be options.  2 year olds really like making their own decisions.  So I'd say get a second PFD, maybe one of those orange Type II's, and ask him which one he wants to wear after you've put on yours.  Don't make it about wearing or not wearing a PFD.  Make it about which PFD he gets to wear.  

Changing wheels is a easy as pulling a pin and swapping them out.  As long as your kayak isn't on the cart at the time you do it, it should be really easy and take less than a minute.  
 
But I wouldn't worry about changing wheels.  Either wheel will do fine on hard surfaces.  No real difference there.  The beach wheels will do better on loose sand.  But on compacted sand, they'll perform the same.  The airless tires won't need to be filled up, so there's one less thing to worry about there, and since they're slimmer they'll get through thick weeds and around large rocks easier.  But for 99% of the stuff you encounter, they'll likely perform the same.  Even if the beach wheels start to get low, so long as they aren't really flat, they'll still pull fine.  You're not traveling huge distances or at high speeds, so it's typically not a big deal.  And the wheels don't generate thrust or turning forces, so it doesn't really need grip.  What is a big deal is getting everything balanced and secure.  

You can catch fish pretty much any way.  But generally, it's best practice to push the hook all of the way through the plastic bait, and then bury just the point of the hook back into the bait, with just the tiniest bit of plastic over the top, so that it breaks free easily.  This is often called Texposed or skin-hooked (not to be confused with skin-hooking a bass where the hook just penetrates the skin of the mouth. 
 
However, if I'm pulling through heavy weeds, I'll usually bury it in a bit deeper.  This keeps it from popping out as easily and getting fowled up in the weeds, but it also keeps it from popping out as easily and getting hooked into a fish.  So the compromise is the harder you make it to get hung up on things, the harder you make it to hook a fish.  

Also, with me it can depend on which type of hook I'm using.  With an EWG hook or something with the point of the hook inline with the eye, I'll typically not bury the hook as deeply into the plastic, since the hook is less likely to get caught up as it's pulled through stuff anyway.  But if I'm using a standard hook, I'll typically bury it further when fishing in heavy weeds, as the point on it sticks out beyond the eye of the hook and is thus more likely to get hung up.  In some situations, I'll even not push the hook all the way through, and just bury the hook about halfway through the worm.  It's not best practice for hooking fish, but when fishing through something like reeds or water willows with a standard hook, it might be the only way to get the bait cleanly through.  

Medium light as well.  Also, St. Croix's tend to be a hair stiffer than their rating.  So their medium light should fall between some other brand's medium light and medium.  So it would be a good compromise.  

The heavier the spinnerbait the faster you can retrieve it while keeping it deeper in the water column.  The blade size will play a bigger role in that, but the weight does have some effect.  Also, casting distance, especially in the wind, will likely be greater with the heavier spinnerbait.  

Wherever you can.  A lot depends on the type of wood, how much you're looking for, how quickly you need it, and how you plan to use it.  If it's just for a single lure in balsa, I'll often get the wood at a local hobby shop, just because I can get it same day.  If it's cedar, then the local home improvement store will usually have that.  If it's going to be a bit more than just one lure, I might order online somewhere.  If I'm buying other parts at the same time, I may buy balsa from McMaster-Carr and get combined shipping.  Or I might buy from Amazon and get free shipping if it's just the wood, but need to make 30 or so lures.  If I'm buying a lot of wood (and not balsa), I'll get it from a local hardwood distributor.   Or if it is balsa, I'll shop around online to what deals are out there. 
 
It all depends on how much you need, how fast you need it, and how much you can spend.  Usually, the lower priced stores will fluctuate in their prices for wood, as wood costs are highly volatile.  So it pays to shop around and not always just rely on the same place every time.  Typically, the places that charge a consistent, flat rate tend to be a lot more expensive.  And shipping is expensive, so you'll want to find a local place is possible.  Plus, it's always better to check the wood out before you buy it, especially if you're investing a lot of money into it.  But if you're not buying a lot at once, it's probably going to be cheaper to buy one or two 2x2x4 blocks at an overpriced hobby store than to buy 10 board feet of 5/4 rough sawn lumber that you'll have to prep and store yourself.

It all has to do with the thickness of the plates.  A normal deep cycle battery has very thick plates.  They're meant to be drained pretty heavily, as doing so can wear out the plates on a battery.  The process is a bit complex, but basically lead ions jump from one plate to the other during use.  So thicker plates allow for this process to go on for a longer time before the lead plate is destroyed beyond repair.  Then, when you charge the battery, you basically reverse this chemical reaction, and the lead ions go back the other direction. 
 
The downside to deep cycle batteries is because the plates are so thick, they don't have much surface area.  So starting batteries have much thinner plates, and they're usually wrapped around each other inside the cell.  This makes the plates much longer and creates more surface area, which allows more electrons to form on the plates, which gives you the possibility to draw more amps at once.  The downside to this is, if you drain the batteries too far, you'll damage the thin plates beyond repair.  
 
So a deep cycle marine starting battery is kind of in between the two, with medium thickness plates.  It can be drained further than a regular starting battery without permanent damage, but not as far as a regular deep cycle battery.  And it can provide more total amps at once than a deep cycle battery, but not as much as a true starting battery.  So they're often used as a starting battery that also powers your fish finder, bilge pump, and other accessories, assuming you can find one with enough cold cranking amps to easily start your motor.  But you'll probably want a true deep cycle battery for the trolling motor, as it's likely to put a pretty serious drain on your battery's overall capacity.  And if your motor is too big and requires too much current to start, you'll need a true starting battery to turn it over.  

I don't have a Caius 150HD to verify this, but isn't up on the dial going to reduce the brakes and down going to apply more brakes?  That's the way all of my reels work.  You may have your brakes maxed out, when you're thinking they should be off, which is causing the problem.  Double check that, if you don't mind.  

Agreed.  And a lot of conventional wisdom about needing a low speed reel for deep divers comes from back when most deep divers pulled really hard.  A lot of the newer deep diving crankbaits don't pull as hard as a lot of the older ones, so you can get away with a higher speed reel.  Especially if your reel has longer handles, which give you more leverage.  
 
I like to reel my deep divers in pretty fast sometimes.  Just like my shallow crankbaits.  I will usually experiment with speed and the number and frequency of the pauses to see what works.  I don't really have a set pattern until something starts working for me that day.  
 
Pretty much everything you do with a square bill, I'll do with a deep diver.  The only differences for me are I'll use a heavier rod and usually switch over to braided line.  

What reel are you looking to upgrade?  You can find drag washers for most common reels just by including the make and model of your reel in the search.  For other reels, you may have to disassemble it and measure the existing drag washers with calipers.  

Rubberized tape or Plastidip/liquid electrical tape.  Maybe some silicone glue or goop.  Lots of options here.  As long as you don't get it on the cork, it ought to be non-permanent.  But, of course, non-permanent options mean you'll likely have to reapply it.  Otherwise, you're looking at sanding it smooth.  
 
On the extreme, you could take it to a rod builder and have them redo the reel seat to one you like.  They might have to redo the grips too.  

I haven't owned that one, but I've owned several of the more recent BPS rods.  Honestly, they're about as good as you can find for the money.  What I've noticed with BPS brand rods is they spend all of their money on the blanks, especially with their cheaper lines.  So you usually get a more sensitive rod than most other brands that you'll find in the same price point.  Though often times things like line guides, handles, and reel seats won't be as nice.  Years ago BPS and Cabellas had the best rods you could find for the money.  These days, there's a lot more competition for them, and they're no longer the clear cut winner in the value department.  But that doesn't mean that they're not as good as they used to be.  Just that other companies have come up to challenge them.  
 
I'd say go for it.  It should last you long enough to be done with school where you'll likely have enough money to want to upgrade whatever you get now anyway.  And the best thing about BPS rods, in my opinion, is that if it ever breaks, they'll often replace it for you, free at the store.  At least they always have for me.  And that's better than shipping it off somewhere far away and waiting on a replacement in the mail.