casts_by_fly

you have the tiniest hands ever!

you don’t want cranking batteries. You need deep cycle batteries. Different lead plate geometry for different purposes.

I have done similar things. I have a small retractable trout net that is a great sized net for trout, but the handle was barely 12" long. So if you were standing in the water it was fine but not on the bank. I added a 24" piece of 3/4" copper and a rubber rod butt that I had in my old rod building supplies. It still folds up great and fits in the original waist pouch but gives enough length that you only need to bend down slightly. Your net reminds me of the net I have downstairs that I used a lot in the UK. Again, this was trout and greyling but still bank fishing. There were a couple ponds around that had nice mowed banks, but a dropoff to the water. In the UK its common to use long handled nets when you are coarse fishing for small carp and other match fish in ponds and lakes. Sometimes you're using a pole that might be 35' long having a long tip section, so a long handled net is a must. Net hoops and handles are sold separately to allow mix and match. So I picked up and used a 6' handle with an 18" hoop for a long time. Its long enough you can tuck the rear under your arm pit and still reach the water. Looks about the same as your setup.

you’re going to have to do some digging. Like I said, I’m not an expert on the lowrance units. I only know what I do because my dad runs a ti2 and (I think) and fs. He didn’t link them and instead put a transducer on the trolling motor for the bow unit.

Plan to have a couple leftovers nights before the next clean. Get rid of any old condiments or things that you've just kept around. Then let her have at it.

Once a year usually depending on how often you are using it. Even just cleaning the front glass and the racks makes a huge difference. (I used to work in the R&D lab where Easy Off was developed)

In that case, I'm going to guess no wireless, but if its an HDS you'll almost certainly be able to network them either with a hub or a cable. I don't know for these specific units. If its just a cable, then I'd do it. One cable plus a power cable to give you dual displays of mapping and side imaging together. That's pretty ideal and a pair of 12's is a lot of screen real estate.

This. Cleaning was the one thing that we ever argued about when we first started living together. We then lived separate when we first moved to the UK and it was the same, just on a smaller scale in each place. When she finally moved up north and we moved into a bigger place, that was the first thing we sorted out- a cleaner every two weeks. We've never not had one since then- 14 years now nearly. In 2016 we moved to weekly. Our cleaner now comes around 8:30 and leaves around 2:30. We have a regular list of things including laundry, master bed/bath clean/make beds, vacuum and mop the floors, scrub all horizontal surfaces, dust, inside windows, and some other stuff. We keep the clutter cleared so she's more efficient in the cleaning. If we go away for a week we have her do other things like wipe baseboards, clean the oven, etc that only need to be done every now and then. Its probably the best money we could spend and the last thing we'd stop if we had to cut corners. I still do some deep cleaning. Two weeks ago I did a deep scrub on the tile and grout flooring (scrub brush and bucket type clean). I do the outside windows and high up ledges that need a ladder.

Which head units? Some of the units from the past 3 years have wireless networking. I don't know the limits on how to set them up, but I know my dad's elite Ti2 had it as an option.

Do you plan for your waypoints to sync? Which units? As an example, if you had a pair of Helix network models, you connect them together via the ethernet cable and hook the transducer to one. You then network them together and they share information. Waypoints on one transfer to the other. If you don't need to share and just want to be able to see a map, then that's even easier. You'll only need to run power to the mapping unit and leave it in map mode. You could pick up a couple year old used model for that and get out at $250 or so for a 7" screen.

better to have a rod that's too stiff than too floppy.

I have no problems with fazlite rings. they are more than durable enough for all line types, they are durable enough to hold up against physical impacts, and they are light enough to not interfere with the rod. You'd not notice a difference fishing the same rod with alconites. the only gripe then is that they are 'too cheap' of a guide to put on a $200 rod but at the end of the day you're buying the full package and to me that means the blank first and foremost, then the grip needs to be comfortable. the rest of the rod just needs to get out of the way and let me fish. Action wise I hear you. The experts do feel a little stiffer than the caras I have, but I don't have the same blank in both to compare directly. the cara tips (top 6-8") seem just a touch softer but its close.

I don't tend to fish braid with jigs. My two main rods I throw jigs on are spooled with mono. I don't like braid around wood which here means docks and a few laydowns. Those same rods also throw vibrating jigs, spinnerbaits, topwaters, and other things. I could throw fluoro on them but haven't felt the need to swap from 17 lb mono (suffix elite). I occasionally throw jigs on my big rod with braid, but that's more for heavy vegetation and I'm usually throwing plastic instead.

excellent! Take the time when you have it. For a while in 2021/2022 I had a lot of flexibility in my schedule. Knowing it wouldn't last I took full advantage of it and managed to get out for evening sessions during the week (when the 'evening' starts at 2 PM) which during the summer could mean 6-8 hours of fishing on a Tuesday night with no other boats on the water. It was awesome. This year is looking like my afternoons are much more full (less project focus and more BAU) so not sure I'm going to see 35-40 fishing days this year.

Falcons website has them available. Free shipping. I don’t have a tatula but I fished my zillion on it. It has the metanium right now. It’s also has had an stx and maybe the chronarch. All are just fine so pick your preference. It’s not a long or heavy rod. It’s not an ultralight rod. So middle of the road weight reels and pick the profile of your choice.

Congrats! Does it come with a move to more bass friendly locales? rick

Which Walmart batteries are you using as your baseline? You said the second biggest one. That’s the group 27 banshee on the website right now. That’s a group 27 with 77 ah capacity for $280 ea. For two, that’s $560 for 24v 77 ah. in an amped outdoors lithium (my current brand) you have a couple options to get you comparable performance. If you want exact capacity, then two 80 ah for $1120 is the right comparison. However, if you run down your lead acid to 30-40% you’re about done for the day. That’s a usable capacity of (maximally) 55 ah and possibly 48 ah. In lithium you can run them down to 10% reliably. That 48-55 ah effective range in lithium calls for a 50-60ah setup. The other benefit of lithium is that it holds the charge longer into the cycle, so at 50% it outputs the same as full. It means if you’re running closer to the limits you still have the performance whereas with lead you are slowing down. It also means with lead you’ll be turning up the motor to accommodate and burning it faster. Back to lithium, a pair of 60 ah is going to be $760 and going to be a great slight upgrade option. More capacity and better overall performance. You’ll need to add a charger for $140 (genius 2 bank). If you don’t fish back to back days no don’t mind swapping batteries then a single bank is $100. Or, a 50 ah 24v is going to give you the same capacity with better performance during a charge for $800 including the charger. If you couldn’t tell with lithium, the price is proportional to the amount of total capacity. the lead alternative is the group 31. If weight isn’t a problem, the marine group 31 banshee is 105 ah and $320. For two you’re at $640. Effective capacity is about 70 ah. That’s equivalent to the pair of 80’s above. It’s about a 2x cost difference. Will you get 2x life out of lithium? If you’re cooking a lead battery in 2 years then I’m going to say yes. Lithium has a claimed life of 10 years with normal use and good charging. I don’t have that much experience with them, but even if you get 6 you’ve broken even vs the lead, lost weight, and not had to worry about it for 6 years. Any life past that is cake.

I have the expert HT and use it for those things every trip so I think you know my answer. I don’t know dobyns. I’ve also never been tempted to try one so there’s that.

this is your answer. Also if you want to run mega live and have two head units you’ll need the switch. I think you could put one transducer on each unit (if you had a tm mounted one for instance) and then just connect the units. You’d have to select which display is the primary and which is the slave each time to swap though. At that point just get the switch.

you’re going to find a lot of information out there because each thing works for someone. The internet is a big place. if what you have works, then use it. If you find it lacking in some way, then see what will fix that. If you just want to try something new, then welcome to the club.

Let me get this right. You made a couple casts and within 10 minutes caught a pair of 3 lb fish. And you're asking if the lure you were using has a place in your box. Seems the fish answered your question for you.

The gamakatsu octopus hooks in Ajay's picture are an awesome hook. While I don't have DD bass experience with them, I used them for years for DD steelhead and salmon in much smaller sizes (steelhead and salmon also have some hard mouths). A #12 hook with a single egg or egg sac was a common setup. With 4 lb line and a light 10' rod you're not going to drive them through or around heavy bone but hookups and landing fish were not a problem (at least as far as the hook holding was concerned). Keep them sharp, replace them when they aren't, and keep a tight line on the fish.

the striper phase. That should be prime time for BIG stripers coming up the bay. If you mean largemouth, I'd expect prespawn into post spawn. Water temps are low to mid 50's on the rivers feeding the bay. the ocean temps are similar right now. In a month I'd expect 60 degrees or so, maybe more.

Thanks! I hadn't come across that setup for live transducers. That's a pretty good setup. If you put a yak attack quick release track mount on the bottom of it you'd have a quick detach setup. Looks pretty sharp. The Yakattack helix mount with the 9" unit and an extra extension arm is probably too much. It was a little wobbly on the Helix 7 and it was a bit more wobbly on the helix 9. All of the play is in the quick release base. I added some teflon tape to mating joints to snug it up a little but it needs more of it. I don't think the connection to the rails is the problem. I removed an extension arm on the water Sunday and that made a difference, but there is still the same amount of play in the quick release. If I didn't already have it, I would have gone ram mount to start. I may go there in the future, but I have the Yak attack so I'm going to play with it a bit and see if I can make it work. thanks rick

glass and glass composite vs graphite in a cranking rod is a lot of personal preference. For me, if I want a slower action I don't see any need to go glass and instead will go to a straight graphite rod with a slower action. It is more sensitive and lighter while giving better responsiveness during casting. Again, that's personal preference. For other lures, any treble hooked bait in the right weight range will be a decent option. Ploppers will be a good choice. I don't know those rods specifically to say about chatterbaits, but some weidos like a really soft rod for chatterbaits (I've fished a MH Mod and it works. I can see why some like it. I will stick to other rods). Paddletails would be fine too. Again, not my preference but I've fished small paddletails on a MedMod rod before and its just fine.