E-H

I made the mistake of buying a trailer that was a bit too short for my 1542 Jon boat. The bunks are 4ft. And 2x1 vertical. I was going to replace them with 6ft ones to extend it out to the end of the boat. I will never have a gas motor on the back in transit (or ever). Pretty light boat and about 40 hours a year transporting it. Any issues with extending the bunks a couple of feet to put less pressure on the back of the boat? It does sit on the trailer year round when not in use over the summer. I don’t know much about trailers. Anyone know if that will work and a good idea to do it?

My father gave me some of the Rapala original floating minnows a couple of years ago. When I say original...I mean when the first came out apparently ?. Honestly I was a little skeptical but gave it a shot last summer. Well son of a gun, the small mouth on the lake will hit those things in a heartbeat. He doesn't fish because glaucoma got the best of him unfortunately. Not only did I love all the topwater strikes, it made him grin from ear to ear when I told him that he gave me the "secret" weapon.

Thanks everyone. I may go with both types. Although I get snagged under the water I do on occasion hit the trees a few times being over zealous. Hopefully my new gear I got this year will help in that department a bit. Finally went with a better rod and reel. St. Croix Avid x and Vanford will likely give me some more accuracy. Probably should cast in the middle of the water first to check the new distance :-). Can't wait to get out on the water. The cheapest pole kind I saw was $36, so not terrible compared to the ones around $50.

I did it for my 1542. I wanted the convenience of having removable pieces. My nephew is a welder and built the deck frame with aluminum tubes and it’s removable. I carpeted a metal sheet that lays on top of the frame. Overall a little heavy but the boat rides great. He put a piece on the front too to make it even so I can use a bow mount Terrova there. The middle part I use green styrofoam pieces 3 strips to cover the ribs and put a. carpeted plywood piece on top. It looks great and I can set it up easily with just me. Comfortable too and fishing off the deck is the best being up a little. Overall cost about $350 but would probably be about $600 if my nephew wasn’t involved. Took him about 3 hours to do I think. I run 2 55 ah batteries in parallel. 1/2 the weight but the same performance as a 110 ah. Cost was about $200. Lasts several days on the water without worrying. Drives 55 lbs of thrust Terrova.

I am not putting any of that junk in my body. We have therapeutics that work. And 99.7% of people have no issues even if they get it. I am not disrespecting those that do it but there is 0 chance I am doing it.

My brother in law has a decent lure retriever where you can put the line on the end of it and it follows it down to the end where the lure is. Plastic wing looking thing on the end of the poll. Seems to work well. It extends to about 8’ I think. Is that the best kind or are there any others that work well? I am looking to get my own shortly. Thanks.

Vanford 3000 arrived today. Woah. I am not used to higher end gear but WOW. And on the avid x it seems perfectly balanced. The 3000 is like a 500 or 1000. So light and smooth. 53 today....I wish I could head up to the lake... My neighbors might look at me a little funny but I might have to do some casts in the yard later. Really pumped up. Casting and retrieving will be so much better for me than on my previous setup. Thanks again for all the great advice. And PhishLI - spot on with ignoring the "recommended" lb line. I know I made the right choice going with the 3000. I am set for almost every rod with this reel. It is amazingly light and not bulky at all.

I finally upgraded my gear, and I think it's worth $20 or so for a reel cover and rod sleeve (for a diy pvc tube) for my suv travel and winter storage. I have one for my nicer fly rod (came with it). Always nice to know that any grime or whatever is kept off it while not using it.

I researched for a while and just pulled the trigger on Vanford 3000. They are hard to come by now and sold out most places. The 3000 does come with a carbon washer and is the same weight as the 2500 (felt washer) but just has a bigger spool. I sided on a little bigger since the thing only weighs 6.3 oz. That's insane for a 3000. Lots of other great options for that price, but I decided the Vanford at that weight and size was the best for me.

Just pulled the trigger on a vanford 3000. Got a bit lucky and found one in stock (last one). Should be really great casting distance and less line twist. Plus it will be pretty versatile with the avid x. I will have to slow my turning a bit on cranks a bit but that is only part of what I will be doing on the water. The faster retrieval will allow me to cast in different spots quicker when I see the bigger smb jumping at the hatch throughout the summer on the topwater lures. I never felt like I could reach those spots due to distance or cumbersome reeling in on the 1000. I can't wait to start using my new gear. Thanks everyone for all the great advice and suggestions. Appreciate it.

I just looked up the weight of the carbonite 2.0 1000 reel I had been using on my previous gear and it’s 6.7 oz. The new Vanford 2500 and 3000 are 6.3 oz. That’s incredible. Might have to pull the trigger on the 2500 or 3000. Casting distance might be at least 20 yards more, especially with the new rod.

"going from a 5'6" cheap setup"

Excellent point I didn't consider. I wanted more distance and less line twist so that was the reason for going up a bit in the reel size (since the weight is so light on the Vanford). I will be doing some crankbaits - deep divers - 8ft or so in the early spring but mostly doing topwater or ned during the warmer summer months. Going for a 5'6" and 1000 cheap setup I think I will be loving the extra distance even if I go 2000.

Anyone else (other than 1 person - who said a 3000 should be good) have experience with a ML/F 6' 6" rod and a light weight vanford 6.3 oz or equivalent 3000 spinning reel? I just want to make sure I am doing the right thing with this setup as it will be my only higher-end gear. So ready to pull the trigger on the reel.....

So I researched the vanford 2500 and 3000. The 2 differences are the additional line capacity and carbon washer on the 3000. Same weight. 6.3 oz. If the weight is the same I guess the 3000 would cast a little further and may have a little less line twist on smaller spinners. Again this is with a ML/F 6' 6" rod - avid x. So I was sold on the 2000 but think the 2500 or 3000 could actually be a better (with comments above), even though I don't really need the extra drag for smaller smalleys. Thoughts?

Only question about going with a bigger reel - I read you can just using some cheap mono backing for about 1/2 the spool and then use my normal 6lb mono for my top line (about 120yds or so). Will that work ok or hinder the casting distance? I saw you can put electrical tape over the knot between the 2 connections etc... I typically replace the entire spool but it would be nice to save some $ by just replacing 1/2 the line each year.

Ok. Good to know. Thanks. The reels or so light these days, I guess it really doesn't matter. I just wanted to make sure I have a balanced rod/reel combo. Thanks again!

I am keeping my line to 6lb mono so it might be a little overkill for me as most of the fish or about a foot. But the 2500 could be pretty sweet with the ml/f 6' 6" avid x. I see the 2500 is rated starting at 8lb though too like the 3000.

The St. Croix Avid X just arrived today! So light and seems like a good length for me (on the shorter side of height). I am in a 15 ft modded jon boat with a casting deck so there is some room, but didn't want it to push it on the length with 2 people in the boat. Plus I am used to the 5' 6" rods, so this is a good transition. The upgraded vanford reel should help quite a bit too - with a 2000 or 2500 instead of the 1000 medium/lower quality reels I had been using.

Thanks for all the suggestions. Appreciate it. I am still leaning toward the shimano vanford but I will consider the 2500 instead of the 2000. It is still incredibly light - and would probably match well with the axid-x rod. I typically only fish this one lake and the bass avg about 9-10 inches. They have gone up in size throughout the years and the 3-4lbers are becoming more prevalent. The bass can be aggressive but I usually only have issues with 1 or 2 out of several hundred on the treble hooks. I was hitting them on the rapala original minnow late summer almost all day on the surface. I want more distance as they come up in the middle of the lake toward evening and start jumping at the hatch. If I can cast an extra 50-100 feet with my new setup, I should be able to reach where they are on on the prowl. It's so much fun as the bigger ones start scanning the surface. Is it Spring yet? C'mon better weather....50 here in PA in 2 days...

“8’ deep crank baits”

So with my st. croix avid x 6'6" ML/F I was pretty sold on the vanford 2000 but after researching many like the daiwa line too. Heard a few negatives on the vanford, but who knows if that is from the competition... I am really looking for a smooth casting combo that will be mostly good for topwater minnow, and some 8' crankbaits too and some 1/8 spinners. So reel wise I want little line twists etc...I have a few cheaper smaller rod/reel combos 5'6' and 1000, I really have to cast them hard to get the distance I want and have some issues with the line on those. The daiwa tatula lt 2000 is the reel I was referring to above.

One option could be to clip some of the treble hooks off. That helps with line issues too.

Lake has trees as cover on the edges and some small rock cliffs. It is true the bigger ones are down deep but the fun part is when they come up for the hatch at night. Lake goes to 40 ft at the deepest spot. As far as braid I don’t think I will go that direction because of the micro guides in the avid x. Plus I am a simpleton. Lol.

Yep. I use Trilene x smooth 6 lb mono.