Functional

@SirWoogie It may be overboard but I'm a firm believe in having a lot more than needed when it comes to batteries. If you can find a way to swing it I'd put the two 125s in parallel and sell the 100.

Definitely consider Humminbird as an option especially since your TM is already that brand. I said I went Garmin above, however if I was to do it again all over right now I'd go Humminbird. I dont feel the Humminbird puts out a much better image (it is a bit crisper due to screen resolution) but some of the settings and color choices it has I feel allows ME to make out the image better. I dont regret my choice and I dont think you would regret either but I'd really spend some time in basspro or academy and play with both units for quite a while. Watch as many videos as you can and if you know people go spend some time on their units if they let you. Also consider the future and if you want Mega360 or Livescope.

Forgot my rod (yea I know can you believe it? ) when I went to my inlaws (they have a place on a lake) and was forced to suffer and stare at the water. Decided to pick up a "cheap" combo to keep there with a very modest selection of baits. Was going to get a combo at academy but they had no left handed ones and for the cost I felt I could build one better. Tacklewarehouse just so happened to have the SpeedSpool and Ark Catalyzer rod on sale and got this setup in for 120 to my door. Put some 12# YoZuri hybrid on there and called it a day. Really excited to fish this actually.

@A-Jay oh I believe it. I was coast guard auxiliary for a few years on the Hudson River. Plenty of boaters I was shocked are alive and there are 2 flotilla boats I decided to never step foot on again. I can't imagine what you've seen lol. There were quite a few good ones to who just wanted to and appreciated being informed on the proper safety equipment to have on board. I did a lot of vessel safety inspections after finding out the majority of the approved "captains" were more of a danger than the public. Had one bring out her own light and blow horn pulling people over on the water.... something we have NO authority to do. She was certifiable....

It wasnt even a short stubby one. It was one of those tall ones saying "slow" or "no skiing" something like that. I couldnt tell you because they had JUST replaced it and this guy clears it out. Neighbor is responsible for those buoys and he said his boss just gave up and said leave nothing out.

Agreed with @LrgmouthShad and set the boundry. Set aside a day or so if you need it. Back when I bank fished I'd pack a small lunch and would go out all day. Id say 70% was fishing but the other 30% was just breaks and hanging out in nature and enjoying all the things going on around me. Almost as peaceful as sitting in the middle of the woods during snow fall just listening.

If I see anyone on my home lake wearing a PFD at any point in time its a rare event. I think its myself and 1 older gentleman I see every so often. Narrow lake, blind corners, random shallow spots and the buoys dont stay put I'm shocked there havent been more accidents. On another note the marker buoys dont even matter. I was following a pontoon boat and it ran STRAIGHT over the buoy, dead smack in the center of the bow. Driver kept going as if nothing happened. No idea where the buoy went, it never surfaced again.

when I was looking at units the main reason I went Garmin was for the interface and how easy it was to navigate through the settings/pages. It might be me but I really struggled to undertand the Lowrance. Humminbird was next on my list but I tossed a coin and landed on Garmin.

Congrats! Although I feel like I just opened a playboy with only articles.....

thats how it was when I lived in NY. If you werent hauling in the left lane you risked death. However after moving south where @Choporoz is I've learned their safe driving classes teach the left lane is the safest lane to be in when driving. Its obnoxious how many people ride the left lane just having a sunday drive. I sometimes miss the aggressive driving in NY....they at least knew how to drive aggressively correctly.

My absolute minimum is what I'll grab to walk to the dock and fish. Hat or sunglasses pliers knife I just need to be able to retie and get a fish off, everything else is luxury.

when I used split shot with braid I always wrapped the braid around the shot before crimping. Lay the line through the jaws and take one end and loop it around the back and through the jaws again then crimp. Never lost a weight.

Mono, hybrid, floro People will argue stretch and whatnot between the three, however pending the brand you can find all types of "tests" that show some or most floro is just as stretchy as Mono. Mono, when stretched recovers most of its strength after stretched though unlike Floro where now that is a weak spot. Really what the difference comes down to is the density of each line from least to most dense in that order above. Mono does great for topwater because it floats and doesnt mess with the topwater baits action or resting position. Its also great for moving baits because it will recover after its shock/stretch of aggressive bites. Floro, being the most dense has less "belly" floating in the water when using bottom contact baits since it sinks. Floro should be more sensitive because of that with contact bottom baits. Besides all of that you need to consider each users position on how much weight they put in how easy their line is to manage. Floro being stiffer/denser tends to coil and need conditioners more than mono. Mono is general is easier to tame on a spool and deal with. Some may pick mono purely for this reason. Personally, after using all 3 above Ive settled on mono and hybrid. Hybrid is a nice happy medium on how easily is manages on the spool and to me is more sensitive than mono. Floro so far for me has not be more sensitive enough than hybrid to be worth the trouble of line management even with conditioner. I have a spool of Tatsu to try so my opinions may change but I've had very little luck. I have more rods spooled with mono than I do anything else. If it serves a general role or moving/topwater it gets mono. Anything I know I am dedicating to bottom contact or jerk baits get hybrid. Braid is reserved for frogs and swim jigs.

Just flexin on us poors 😂 I dont know much but if it has good peacock fishing like stated above that would be my personal goal. Its like they tried to shove a musky into a smallmouth shape with both their attitudes.

1/4oz chatterbait mini max in spot remover Zoom split tail trailer in glimmer blue 12# trilene XL Lews Speed Spool MB Dobyns Sierra Micro 7' MH/F Caught April 2nd Sunny clear sky around 9am A whisp of wind in less than 5' of water

And the pieces are in. Gotta get the slide milled and taller blackout sights. Went for a little color this time. Still have the full black shield plus with the holosun I'm going run hard side by side and see who wins. Just looking at it trough the house off the gun I have a strong hunch it will be the RMRcc. Handled a glock 43x while I was there. Still kind of want one but can't explain why... the shield trigger is just leaps and bounds better.

very nice. Personally I really like the orange. Aside from being a fan of the color I feel like it would grab boaters eye and keep you just a bit safer.

If you trust amazon there are TONS of options there as well.

@ol'crickety Oddly enough, my father and mother were night fishing when they were dating on a reservoir in NY and up the narrow arm they were on a low flying object (silent) came up the river, over them and continued on. They thought they were crazy and so did their friends until it showed up in the paper about all the sightings that matched their description. I really should see if I can find that if it made it onto the internet archives.

We have similar tastes. I'll PM you some of my favorites when I get home but if you have an opportunity to try Glenmorangie 18yr I'd recommend it. Its a bit more expensive than even Lag16 but its incredibly smooth and good. Its my special occasion/holiday scotch.

I've tried a lot of high and low dollar bourbon but the only one for me worth drinking is Elijah Craig. based on my cabinet and what gets drank I'm primarily a scotch drinker (try Lagavulin 16) so take that as you will. However, everyone I've given the EG to now has a bottle or several of it in their cabinets.

did an apprentice electrician wire these lights and switches? Changes my answer completely if he did.... Also changes my answer if its an experienced electrician who was just told he cant work OT this weekend.

I had interstates in my Tracker from 2013 I just replaced about 2 years ago so 9 years on my cranking/house battery and FF battery. I added 2 batteries for my 24v TM 3 years ago and have since converted all of my batteries to Orileys house battery. 3 years in and not a single issue.

Mustang HIT for me. As mentioned in the hot months down south here I'll be putting myself more at risk of heat exhaustion wearing a foam one than falling over and the unlikely event the HIT doesnt go off. The HIT I know I'll wear all the time so overall its safest for me.

My neighbor is a game warden. Nice guy, patrols the lakes I fish and gives me tips on what game lands will be empty for me to hunt. For the most part his family keeps to themselves but hes a good guy. Noticed him and his son shooting airsoft/bb guns and invited them to try long range real stuff with me. Well see if he takes me up on it.