casts_by_fly

In addition to what was already said, if you put it on wrong it will twist and coil on you. Fresh line that is overfilled and put on with twist makes for a nasty jumping ball coming off the spool.

Its because differences in the type of crankbait (lipless, squarebill, shallow, and deep) and the cover you're fishing will have considerable consequences to your choices and only you can know what your preferences are in your own situations. For me, I like braid on my lipless crankbaits. I want to feel every vibration and I want to know if I've picked up a blade of grass, nipped a rock, or had a fish inhale it on the drop. I don't fish a lipless around wood so there is no consideration there. My lipless all have reasonably stout hooks and I'm not worried about bending them out. The rod I am throwing it on has a relatively moderate action and absorbs any surges from bass (more on that in a minute). Braid is great for popping a lipless out of grass as you don't have to hit the rod as hard to get the bait to clear. Since I've rigged up that rod with braid and because that rod is also a very good shallow cranking rod (up to a DT10, but really I mean for a DT4/6) that's what I use. If I am going to a bigger crankbait from DT6 up to a DT20, then I'm using a different rod. That rod also does double duty as my prop/buzz bait rod and some other things. Its rigged up with 14 lb mono. I don't mind fishing a lipless or squarebill on it either. I don't prefer it for a DT4 or similar because they are a little light, but bigger than that is fine. These are two very real considerations. Not as much with mono and a DT10, but definitely mono and a lipless for me, especially if the rod is on the softer end of action and power. I'm not as worried about braid and bass (my rod is a MHMF technically but feels a little softer), however last year a straightened a snap when a pike at my OG6 right at the boat. I had my drag locked down and a lighter wire hook than I should have for that setup. I've fixed both of those things now and it won't happen again, but I would have liked to land that one.

For me, I would say get the basics and start fishing it. Don't make any big decisions until you've fish out of it a few times and have a better idea what you want and where. I've done that with my kayak now and I've got it pretty well tuned to me. If I were to jump into a boat, I have a pretty good idea where I like things and what I need/want. I would give it at least a couple trips, maybe a full season, and put a deck in. Part of the benefit of having the boat is that you keep your rods, tackle, and gear loaded and ready to go. That would mean a rod locker and at least 2-3 other hatches for tackle and gear. Definitely one in the back for rain gear, tools, PFDs, etc. The fishing stuff would stay at the front. If you're going to deck it eventually, you might find that you prefer an inset for the trolling motor pedal. Or you might not. Fish it and see for you. And yes, you'll want some electronics soon. How much and where will depend on how you fish. If you just fish down the bank you might just want a small piranha type unit in the back. If you actively use electronics you might want one in the back (for side imaging and navigation) and one in the front for 2D and/or livescope. If you are interested, I have a helix 7 in the classifieds right now that I just took off my kayak. Might as well jump to where you're going to end up.

I mean if a plastic piece of poop can catch fish, I guess that has a punchers chance.

This is exactly why I choose a more full grip. It forces my hand into my best casting position (thumb on top guiding the line direction) when I am tired. With a front tapered grip like a cigar or half wells I will start to bring my hand around the grip and forget about my thumb being forward. Then my hand is out of position and I start breaking my wrist. Doesn't matter if its a 2 wt or 10 wt (I have both and every weight in between except the 9). I think for a while Winston rods had a full wells or a reverse half wells with a thumb divot in the front for a similar purpose.

Depends on the battery but you should have a separate battery anyway. It’s far more likely to get interference on the fish finder if you run it on the same battery as your trolling motor. a 9” screen and live scope draws about 3 amps I think on high (bright screen, running everything). A typical 45 lb trolling motor on medium high (not full high) is going to draw 25 amps. That’s 28 total. A group 31 big deep cycle is a 100 ah battery but around the 30% mark you’ll drop below the threshold for running some electronics. So 70 ah / 28 amps is about 2.5 hours of running. If you’re going slow down the bank then the motor will go a lot longer of course. If you’re motor fast a lot less.

Much like Frydog, I’m making a couple upgrades this year. For the past two years I’ve kept my setup basically the same: It’s a 2021 autopilot 120 with a helix 7 g3 gps msi (currently in the classifieds for sale). I’ve added switched nav lights front and back, a battery monitor for the trolling motor, and the minn kota puck for spot lock jog. It’s a great fishing setup and I’ve said that many times here. It doesn’t need anything but I’ve always wanted live and/or 360 imaging. Unfortunately the helix 7 couldn’t do that so it wasn’t a simple add on. This year our bonuses came back pretty darn good so I decided to splurge on myself for once. Everything came in much faster than I planned, so I get to share most of the upgrades before I get out on the water with them. First up is the boring part. Since everything was add on one at a time, I never did things properly. I started with the helix and direct wired it to the battery (via fuse) and would use alligator clamps for the charger. That got old quickly so I wired in a charger plug end. I couldn’t just ring terminal it to the battery though because the battery is spade end. I used wire nuts to connect the fish finder, charger cord, and a third wire together and took the third wire to the battery. A little janky but it worked fine. When I added the lights I had to up the size of the wire nut to add another wire to them. At this point, it’s clearly not the right way to do it, but it worked so I left it. Now, the mega live transducer also needs power and there is no way I can leave it that way. I picked up a 6 point fuse block and have now redone things properly. from this: to this: Next was the head unit. The yak attack I had for the helix 7 also fits the helix 9. It is pushing the weight limits but since I have it I am going to start with it and see how it goes. A ram mount upgrade is $100 and not easily detachable. I’m going to try this and maybe upgrade to the HD base for $20. This bit was easy. Lastly, the transducer. The helix 7 has a tiny transducer since it’s not mega si+. It fit really well up under the nose of the boat so I wasn’t sure I could do the same. However even with the metal transducer mount you can still do the flip the mount trick to tuck it up about 3” tighter than as standard. It’s a pretty slick setup and another reason I stuck with the helix and mega live vs another brand. I ended up here: Last will be the mega live transducer. I have a fishing specialties pole on the way on recco from frydog. The adapter cord arrived today. I need to figure out my cord routing as I’m out of predrilled holes to run cords through! When the mount gets here and I pick where it’s going I’ll get the balance wired up (hopefully this week) and get it out next weekend for a first run. Will keep you posted! thanks rick

Are you in a boat or shore fishing? Are you fishing heavier cover or open water? Light lures or heavy? A 1/4-3/4 mh/mod will do anything. Go heavier if you have big cover. If you’re fishing finesse you’ll want a spinning rod. If you’re in a boat then you’re not limited as much in what you carry so having a couple more specialized rods is okay. If you’re bank fishing, you’re not going to carry more than two if you even carry a second rod so a little more versatility is needed.

I’m throwing all three this year. I like braid (no leader) on my lipless and light crank rod (7’ mh/mf). I’ll throw up to a dt10 on it, but mostly it’s a dt6 or smaller. On my smaller yet rod (6’6” m/mod) which is set up for jerkbaits and smaller cranks I’ve got 12# sunline mono. I’ve also got some red label 12# for when I want to crank bigger cranks later in the year.

I’m going to fish a Ned rig and equivalents (hula stix, trd, ticklerz, etc) more. I have carried them but since I rarely carry a spinning rod (and hate fishing one) I never use them. Since I set up a light bait caster I’m going to fish them this year. I only took them on Friday and caught a couple, so I know they work. rick

I think you can put in a blank card and have the head unit do the formatting. Before I got a zero lines card I looked into it a bit. I might be misremembering but I’m pretty sure that was the case.

the best I can describe it to most people is a steel rollercoaster that shoots you out of the gate to start. It is instant g-force that pushes you through the seat into the back seat. Mostly for me too, however it’s awesome for highway merging on short on ramps in traffic or pulling out on semi busy roads across a lane of traffic. Just put your foot down and go. Rolling from 20 to 60 mph is about a second. If you don’t press the pedal fast enough you’ll be at speed before the pedal hits the floor. this makes a lot of sense. We never need to drive two cars at the same time. My wife is in the office three days a week but flexible and I’m at home. We have my truck for long trips or hauling or fishing. A PHEV hybrid is a great option, especially if it’s an around town and light commuting car. Most have a 30-40 mile electric only range which is fine for a lot of people. The fuel bill would be negligible.

If you need to get two POUNDS out to casting distance I’d be thinking about something other than a fishing rod. That’s 32 ounces. A big surf rod will throw 8 and bait for a common big surf rig, so 12-16 ounces. I have an 8oz rated surf rod and I’ve throw. 12 plus bait for about 16-18 ounces total and wouldn’t do it again. You’re really straining the rod. If it were me I’d be looking at a 12-16 ounce rated rod and given what you’re doing I’d go with 130 lb braid.

yep. Fin perfect and really dark. Absolutely smashed a black Ned.

Nothing big (13” biggest fish) but three bass from a public pond in 40-something degree water in March isn’t the worst way to spend two hours. Especially since they were on a medium light powered bfs-like rig. On the board for 2023.

It was the fastest shipping ever. It was supposed to be a week and it took a day, but I am now the proud owner of a helix 9 and mega live. Not enough time to get it hooked up before going out today, so that will be a sunday project. Couple things for anyone else considering this upgrade: - if you're planning to hook the mega live directly to the head unit, you need an additional cable adapter. The transducer cable is a round networking cable made for the HBird network hub. Its another $30 so don't forget to order it. I didn't see that in any of the literature before ordering. - The cable cradle is included with bigger Helix units. I also did not know this and ordered one separately (which I will return) - a 9" unit is a big chunk of gear. I'm coming from a 7" helix and the difference is more than just 2" of screen. Its much thicker, taller, and wider. its a lot heavier. Plan accordingly.

it will depend on the specific head and hook, but that said I use 3.3s on most of my swim jigs and they have big hooks on them. I've not had any issues with body action.

I have a swim jig tied on most every trip. I generally only throw a keitech on the back (3.3 to 4.3 depending on the lake). I probably have a dozen colors over 3 sizes. The more I fish them the more I've decided that the specific color and trailer doesn't matter one bit. On a trip last year I forgot my tackle bag at home so I was limited to what was already tied on my 5 rods plus a couple lures cut off sitting in the bottom of the boat from the last trip. The fish wanted a swim jig and promptly chewed up the keitech I had on the back. I swapped to a craw trailer in a totally different color and profile and kept catching. It was more important that you put it where they were sitting (holes in the grass) than what the specific jig or trailer was. So for me, I prioritize the components of the jig and the head shape first and foremost as that's what means the difference between swimming cleanly through weeds and having to pick your lure after every cast.

I only carry the sexy dawg. Color thrown depends on the color of the day (light levels) but its usually either chrome or sexy shad.

Yes, I would agree with that, but then there isn't a comparable performance 'other' car in the market. The standard Model X is a 3.8s 0-60 vehicle. The GLE63S gets there at 3.7 (but that's the $125k model). The X7 M60i is 4.5s at $103k. I don't think there is another car on the market (let alone SUV) that does 0-60 in 2.5s like the plaid (the model S plaid does it of course). The Lambo Urus performance is 3.3s but that's a $250k+ car. A 911 Turbo is close at 2.6s (again $250k). Garage storage isn't so bad, heated or unheated. Even in sub zero outside temps the battery isn't constantly burning energy to keep warm. It will keep it above a minimum threshold and if it isn't in the blowing wind then it stays warm on its own fine. Driving in the frigid cold is another story. For the battery to be able to output the wattage the motors are calling for it has to keep itself warmer than just sitting parked. I normally plan for 30% reduction when the temps start dropping below freezing. When we drove home for Christmas in the sub zero blizzard we just took my truck instead.

They are comparable for comparably equipped non electric vehicles. There isn't a 'cheap' electric on the market and that will limit uptake still. The model 3 was going to be tesla's attempt. The base model 3 with rear wheel drive, no autopilot, and base battery (272 mi range) is $43k without any incentives (currently $7500 to bring it down to $36k but that is ending soon). Most states do not charge sales tax on electric vehicles. That's a mid/full sized 4 door sedan with leather. A chevy malibu with leather but no other upgrades is $32k plus tax. So with the incentives the prices are close but if the incentives are not in place its a significant difference. At the top end, a model X long range (350 miles range) with no added autopilot is $99,990. Again, no sales tax in most places. No incentives possible on these. Similar size, performance, and comparable vehicles are BMW X7 ($103k), Range rover ($106k), Mercedes GLE ($98,925) all plus tax. For some of those the refinement, performance and size might be better in the tesla or the 'other' option but they are all in the same bucket. We came out of a Mercedes in the UK (which we chose over the BMW) and considered the Range rover and Mercedes here before going to the Tesla. There is zero chance my wife chooses against the tesla in the future and we are on our second one now. I'm curious to see the Ram electric. The comparable truck for performance will be the TRX which has an $86k base. There isn't much released on the REV to know what's standard or not but if the top end REV comes with a sunroof and the various electronic features that are standard on most high end EV now, then the comparable TRX is going to be about $97k. I think the REV will be in that same ballpark, probably just a little more.

We have a model X and my ram 1500. For anything that is running around and most trips up to 400 miles or so we take the tesla. The cost is roughly 1/3 if you charge at a supercharger vs the fuel for my truck (at 18 mpg highway). Charging at home is even cheaper. We take my truck for long trips that would add a lot of charging time like NJ to outer banks or Atlanta because it has a 500+ mile range on a tank and we can pick our stops more conveniently.

I'm curious to see how this works. In principle it should work. The ponds around here have a ton of grass near shore so that's a consideration. You're also going to be carrying around a bunch of stuff. You'd probably want a float of some type. A live transducer on the end of a 12' pole is going to be too heavy to maneuver easily. maybe pool noodle or pipe insulation wrapped around the 12' pole end.

The BMS in a decent LiFePo is important. That is what protects you against cutoff voltages and also overheating due to current draw. Lots of youtube teardown videos showing the quality of wiring and BMS to help guide users into good ones. For inside a boat that is definitely the way to go. I considered it for the autopilot, but with only a single bank charger I'd have to swap it anyway. And everything in a kayak gets wet and I didn't want that.

You shouldn't need to service anything on it once built. The wood is sealed and doesn't warp. Lots of options on the market. If you want to go to what I think are the prettiest then REC nickel silver. I love birdseye maple and gunstock walnut but you pick what looks nice for you. If you like the look but want to save some cost they make aluminum instead of nickel silver. The black or pewter aluminum with ash dyed green is a neat combo (maybe I have st patricks day on my brain). https://reelseats.com/collections/nickel-silver-uplocking-reel-seats/products/nbgb My usual seats outside of REC were Pac Bay or Forecast. They are both similar and make a perfectly fine seat that was normally half the price of REC. You'd have wider tolerances, heavier threads, and laminate woods, but for a little more budget build they were fine. I usually bought a couple at a time because they were mix and match on the wood and I'd have a couple on hand for quick builds. I think I still have a few downstairs.