Functional

@bishoptf not sure if you plan on financing any of this purchase but keep in mind youll likely pay a higher interest rate if you bought used. For me factoring that in with any financing it would have to be a good bit cheaper than a new boat.

Same, until I came to this site I always fished Rapalas kind of like crank baits. Always had great success that way.

Most of my fondest memories are times I suffered through something. Some "educated" person might suggest I be medicated because of this though..... I bring a big empty Gatorade bottle now. It wasn't the wind that got me it was the rogue wave that had me doing a dance over my back deck mid stream.

Not sure if you have the space for it but be on the lookout for leftover 20s you might be able to snag for a 19s price if they are so plentiful. Either way buy what you really want the first time around. You may think you are saving money but in the end youll end up paying more when a few years down the road the nagging in your head wins and you buy the 19. A common phrase is "buy once, cry once". @J Francho I looked at new props and motor height changes but I'd be giving up too much on the top. Supposedly the 60 on my tracker comes setup all around optimally as is. Also the amount of times I have someone else in the boat are slim...if it happens more often/consistently I'll likely just end up selling the boat and getting something bigger. With the price of used boats I can actually get as much if not more than what I bought it for in 2013.

not apples to apples given the boat I have but I'd prefer a bigger motor to get on plane faster with a full load and potentially a passenger or 2. My boat runs fast enough for me but my biggest issues is getting out of the hole if I have more than myself in the boat or decently choppy water. Youd have to look at fuel numbers but a 150hp motor running 4k rpm to hit 50mph vs a 200 at 3k to hit 50 you should be looking at less fuel consumption and less motor wear. Its common around here but with the experience I currently have I do believe in getting the biggest motor the boat can handle when you settle on a boat.

I love the feel of a boat on plane on glass like water. Its SO smooth and peaceful. Glad you were able to get ou!

Saw a few antlered here in eastern NC March 13th. Was on the road at 4am and deer were everywhere. I was a little delirious but was wondering if they grew horns multiple times a year. Then later that day I was making fun of myself after I had a little sleep.

Only 1 brand I avoid so far with fishing and thats Googan. I was gifted a rattling ned rig pack and that was the only ned that worked on my lake so I was "forced" to buy some. They are crap for durability by the way. I bugged Z-man nearly weekly to make a rattling ned and now that they have that injector thing I can get rid of the Googan crap. I will however avoid brands for who they support. If they person they support is an AH or known cheater and they made the only bait left on earth I'd go fishless for life. Perfect example is a guy in the precision rifle world. Caught changing scores on the score sheets for major events and I have a list of his current sponsers I refuse to give a cent to.

I had a small aluminum row boat we spray painted " S.S. Minnow" on the bow. 😂

I was about to come in here and say I'd be so ticked at my son for skipping school to go fishing..... .... and not invite me.

Agreed, been using the regular SDJ since WRB talked some sense into me for everything but braid. Havent had a breakoff at a knot yet after about 2 years now. Your issue may be knot choice (id change it to an SDJ personally) but its definitely from trying to wing a 1oz lure at mach jesus.

Really trying to find a more durable replacement for these but so far none give the same action. Will be picking one of these bulk packs up next as soon as I chew through the packs I have....so in about 2 trips.

I give all the warnings before someone comes out. If I'm inviting you I was planning on going anyway so I dont expect anyone to pay anything as long as they abide by @ol'crickety's #1 rule NO COMPLAINING. If they pitch in lunch or anything else its a bonus and I'm more likely to invite them back out. I let em know it will be early, I let em know the conditions, I let them know the potential for the day (for better or worse) and I let them know approximately how long it will take to cover the spots I'd like to hit before either extending the stay or calling it quits. After that its up to them to meet me or not. I expect AIB by the time I/we plan to launch and if I dont even get a text you hit traffic or a deer I'm out. A friend of mine I met through shooting competition has a son who's showing a lot of interest in fishing. They will be the next I take out so well see how well this holds up. Been ages since I took anyone but my father and brother in law out.

Whats crazy is with the dwindling trades those businesses have never been in higher demand. Because of it timelines and costs have SKYROCKETED for those hiring for the contractors. You would think with the substantially higher costs I get charged to hire them the actual laborers would have higher salaries than you see above. Although you rates may not have gone up I've at least seen the benefits package laborers get has been substantially beefed up. The company I work for has city/state benefits and that used to be part of our selling point for hiring at a lower rate (all my budget allows) but I dont get to hold that card anymore. Either way, pay in this country doesnt reflect what it should compared to what the cost of every day items are. Had to explain to the head of my company why I could build an 80 acre 3 building operations complex for $52 million back in 2019 but a quote we got 6 months ago for 1 new similar building was 32 million. Or why HVAC replacement for a building went from 700k in 2019 to over 1.5million in 2024. It's absolutely insane.

My issues I've seen with young guys in the trades is the travel requirements and time away from their families. I'm not sure how it was years back but currently most decently paying trades jobs you could be halfway across your state for a job and if you get bigger jobs up to 3-4 hours away days at a time. Lot of young guys arent willing to give that time up with their families. Just $0.02 from someone who employs general trades people and works enough construction jobs to hear first hand. Pretty awesome to see the career paths a lot of you have had. @casts_by_fly If you have the right engineering school the whole point of an engineering degree is to train your mind how to solve problems and how to think critically (like you said). The specific disciplines just focuses the area of study to a specific area but the basics are all the same...if that makes sense. I've interviewed quite a few new engineers however and that seems like that's not what's being taught now. Its more how to pencil whip something which is pretty disheartening.

I used all of 4 lures consistently growing up and 1 sporadically. Purple worm w. split shot jitterbug (black, always) hula popper torpedo honorable mention to the crazy crawler.

You look really good for your age @Catt. That's a nice fish you're holding. 😂

Going to second the Lews Speed Spool LFS. $99 or less and has become my favorite general purpose reel. I have an SLX MGL and unless I'm throwing very very light baits I prefer the LFS over it easily. Brakes seem to control itself better where as the SLX for me has had more of a learning curve and is more sensitive to bait changes.

I think we are all aware that all walks of life are part of these forums. I might be the only one really interested to know but what's your career paths looked like? I'm sure we have some pretty interesting members here. As a mechanical engineer I started my life in project management running jobs for natural gas power generation sites. While a bit demanding it was pretty awesome getting see the process of ripping apart large turbines (jet engines really) and walking through the stacks of other systems during outages. Did some work on hydro dams (some of the more notable ones are the two that control the Niagara falls). Was put on a underwater cable strike project and repair, etc. After about 7 years of that I left to help my parents out ( mom needed a fairly complicated kidney transplant and my dad donated) for a bit and move states. Ended up with a construction company down south as a project engineer and whatever else was needed. Absolutely hated the life and only lasted 6 months before I found myself a new job. Managing a facilities and capital projects department at another utility company that I've been with for 7 years now. While not as exciting as my first job this is less stressful, more flexible and I've still been able to have a huge impact building their entire new operations center and planning 2 other buildings for future construction.

I'd really make a nighttime trip. If there is a big one and being so small if its pressured I'd just about bet you will get more big bites at night. Agreed on not holding my breath on a 1.5acre pond though, especially if you are getting a lot of smaller ones. Likely not enough food to support a big one.

I have an izula myself. Cousin gave it to me as a gift one year. Nifty little knife and seems fairly tough so far. A little update, I know I bragged on the green dot I put on my Shiled in a previous post but having used it much more now I still prefer the red. The green definitely is sharper for an astigmatism but its also a lot more tricky to setup correctly for different light conditions. It nearly vanishes during the day when I have it set to indoor settings and blows out indoors when its set to outdoor brightness. Red I've always been able to find a happy medium, however, the real answer is the trijicon RMR and its auto brightness adjust. Nothing beats that, hands down.

I did for years and could survive if I fell on rough times. Ideally a "light" kit would be 2-3 rods. 2 casting and 1 spinning.

Not with the tik tocks and instagrams and face snaps still working....I assume at least

my 2 biggest issues were looking up rods and when you tried to select by manufacturer. Manufacturers were not in any type of order, they now have an order but their format is still not as easy as it could/should be. Better but still room for improvement. Rods is a big miss like everyone is saying. You go to the bottom description and it doesnt have power or length (aside from in the model number) but to select the rod you want to buy you have to select the length and power. Now most brand's model numbers have that info in it but I was browsing through rods and I remember one or 2 did not follow the typical model number scheme. I cant recall the brand(s) but it was very frustrating. I've had better luck selecting the length/power up top and then hitting "view specifications" but that takes the ease of browsing out of it and I don't see myself "accidently" stumbling across a rod I don't necessarily need but would pick up.

I really hope for her sake the smoke and heat got her first. That has to be one of the worst ways I can think of leaving this world. Thinkin about you all out there.