padlin

I love coconut, Almond Joy’s, German Chocolate Cake, so I figured I’d go for the water, nope. Guess I’m old school, it’s Gatorade for me.

What kind of lump? I tried a bag a few years ago and didn’t care for it. Don’t remember the brand, but it had a lot of lumber, some big, and a lot of little pieces, most of which fell out the bottom of the chimney. Just to inconsistent in size for me.

Too late now but I have almost the same as A Jay shows except it has a hook groove in one face. I got the red fine grit but wish I had gotten the extra fine.

Of the Italian dishes, I eat more Pizza than the rest, if you consider Pizza Italian, I grew up on Greek style pizza. When we go out I get either veal parmigiana or sausage, peppers and onions. I always have a hard time deciding. Many of the Italian neighbors had full kitchens in their basements, the upstairs was for when they had company.

A 2 pc worked for me, it tucked under the rear seat out of sight. I used an SC Premier. Don’t bother any more, when I want to fish, I go.

If you are serious look at the Jumbo Joe, I use one while traveling (camper).They make a small chimney too.

You have to watch the wind with a kettle, a lot of ash will blow around, not that it stops me. We eat a lot of chicken wings from the kettle, they don’t mind a little ash. My wife probably wouldn’t eat them if she knew.

I have a 10’ Bass Raider, along with a canoe. I use the Raider when I’m out with one of the grandkids. My opinion…. Pros, good size for 2, very stable. No trouble standing to fish if you wish. Comfortable seats. weight not bad at 145 lbs, not including the battery and motor. Kind of a hassle to move around by myself as I near 70. Using 2 2x4 ramps I can push it up into the truck bed, which is very difficult without the ramps. I moved it around the yard on 2 wheels. Not needed with 2. quite a bit of room. 600 lb capacity. Cons… the weight and bulk when by myself, but I manage. being used to the canoe, using a trolling motor is a hassle. Need to watch for rocks and stumps, pretty easy to get hung up. Have to stop and clean off the weeds from the motor if you are fishing such. Have to register it. gets blown around in the wind, not at all streamlined, I’d hate to run out of juice and have to paddle it. A lot of folks use their Raiders as solo boats, if I were going to use it solo I’d look at the 8’, if they still make it. some use trailers, if you can fish where you want with one it’s an option. I’ve never fished from a john boat so can’t speak to which would be better, I see there are 10’ers out there so it should be similar, same price, more or less. Less capacity though if it matters. I fish from the canoe when I’m by myself, 40 lbs is much easier to deal with then 145.

Was out doing pork chops last night during the snow, any weather works for me. Of my 3 grills, the charcoal has the best flavor, gas is fast and convenient for lousy weather, and the pellet smoker lets me sleep on long cooks. Picked up a 20 year old Weber gasser for $100 2 years ago when my old one rusted out, didn’t care for the new ones, and a garage kept 22” Performer for $40 last fall when I wanted one bigger then my old 14”, both look great with a bit of TLC. Each has it’s purpose.

I use one when I have time, need to have 30 or so minutes to fire up the charcoal and heat up the grill. If you’re new to charcoal, Weber’s char baskets are worth having, especially if there are just 2 or 3 of you. Work very well for creating a searing zone. Starting chimney helps too, get the Weber brand.

I’ve noticed that I get prompted to post reviews right after I buy a product, like within a week. I haven’t come up with a valid opinion within a week, if I were to post one it’d just be initial impressions, which I’ve done on occasion. I’ve tried posting reviews after I’ve had time with a product, like 6 months, and the vendors sites won’t let me do one. have also seen reviews for multiple products from the same manufacturer mixed up. You might be looking at one specific rod, say Loomis, but find reviews for any of there rods mixed in. Another big one is when a company changes hands, quality can suffer when an equity firm buys a private company, or a small company gets eaten by a big corporation. I hate when a good restaurant changes hands and goes down the toilet, folks still see all the great reviews from the original, same goes for good products. I’ve started looking at the dates of reviews.

For plastics I have a couple of these Soft bait bag, I leave the baits in their original bags and store a number of bags in them, I use 2 but only take whichever is appropriate for the day.

Good point. If you are adept at electronics at all you can buy a battery monitor/shunt and a battery box and build your own, which is what I did. With Lithium you don’t get the gradual loss of power like flooded batteries that tell you when you are getting down there. I also don’t know if the little leds on the Minn Kota are accurate for lithium as I’ve never gotten down far enough to check it. Lithium doesn’t loose voltage till about 85% used, then it drops right off. I also don’t know if the prebuilt battery box gauges will work, maybe, maybe not.

I went with an EnjoyBot 100a for my bass raider, chose it for price after making sure it could do the 55a continuous output my motor uses on full, many max at 50a. The Enjoy Bot does the full 100a, and yes, I tested it. I don't use a lot of power on the ponds I fish, I've only used up to 10% for half days, so for me i could have gotten away with a 50a, other then you won't get the 55a from it. I didn't bother with a marine as I put it in a battery box so splashing or rain isn't an issue. If you aren't aware, you need a lithium charger for them.

There’s a good chance the people we talk to at customer support work in some other country and are customer service reps many companies.

Thanks, I tend to stop it pretty quick, as opposed to slowing it down nicely. Something to practice.

Bummer, still remember this image well.

Fairly new to baitcasting, having issues with keeping the line tightish on the spool. No problem putting it on tight, it’s during casting/reeling in that it gets loose, sometimes. I imagine it’s all due to being a rookie like not having the thumb action down when trying to flip and pitch, sometimes it’s just from bad casts. One question is how do you keep it tight when reeling in, as opposed to mini backlashes? I cast righty and reel lefty if it matters. Is there a way other then doing long casts? The other is how do you tighten up the mini backlashes? I get maybe 3 or 4 rotations that look loose, do I apply a lot of force on the spool while reeling, or do I have to stop and put out the loose line? I’ve tried the 1st with no luck, and the 2nd let’s the lure flutter down into the weeds while I screw around with it.

It was new when you got it? You have a 1 year warranty, give it a shot, WM is usually good about returns. looks like a bad/loose connection or just plain faulty.

Boomerang snips on the boat, a big pair of the Cuda scissors on the bench. Had the small Cudas before, after a year or so part of the blades wouldn’t cut braid, had to remember to use other parts.

I had a coworker that tucked a paper map under the band of his hat, kind of turning it into one of those French foreign legion hats. Looked pretty dorky but it worked except when the suns right in front. I don’t really run into the issue, the wrap around shades, squinting, and a hat work pretty well. I use a full brim hat when I need to avoid the sun.

Is there open water in March in Maine?

Add $500 for the trailer.

A guesstimate. Apr thru Oct, 1 to 2 times a week, so 30 x 1.5

Other than getting help from another person I don’t see a way of doing it using a flimsy setup like that. A 50 lb boat, maybe, but not 85+ lbs unless you do some serious weight lifting before the season. I can get my canoe up on my shoulders, rest one side on the edge of the rack and walk it onto a roof rack, can you get your kayak up on your shoulders?