casts_by_fly

Last summer for me. Fish that i would normally throw a buzzbait at but covering more water. Lots of subsurface grass 1’ down so crawling a wakebait over the top was great.

Technological angler is good. Also look at fish the moment and search for 2-d videos.

held up well. My large I bought new and it looks new. The xl I bought lightly used and the only thing wrong is that it’s faded a little.

a ziplock isn’t the worst choice. If you want sturdier you can get a Plano kvd speed bag. They hold about 20-30 bags depending on the plastic.

I agree wholeheartedly. In the falcon rods thread I described it more fully, but It has a weird combination of a light tip, but an insufficient mid section to support it which results in what fishes like a mod fast for the most part, but in a really weird way. For me, I use mine for 3/8 oz type crankbaits (DT6 or so) where the action/power combo isn’t as critical. I used to fish it with single hook moving baits and it is okay, but it isn’t what I’d use for a Texas rig. You don’t. In the falcon lineup I’d recommend the low rider swim jig. I love that action/power/length combo (I have the Cara) for a light Texas rig. 7’2”, fast action, medium to medium heavy power. 1/8-3/4 rating and I think in my Cara I would call it 1/8-5/8. With 1/16 to 3/8 oz of weight plus plastic you’re in a good place.

It doesn’t hurt to try. I run 30 lb 832 on mine but I’m throwing it into a good bit of cover, almost all weedy. For a modest or heavier hook swim jig I like the braid for that. You’re running thinner hooks and around rock so 12-14lb mono on that rod should be banging. Try throwing a lipless on that setup next time out also.

Yes, you’ll need to network them. I assume that’s not a Bluetooth network unit. Follow the Ethernet cable back. Probably under the console or in a starboard side storage box. It will look like the box below. You might not have one if the two units are just networked to each other. I don’t know garmin well enough to say, but if you find a box like the below then you have a network already. Then all you need is a control head only HDS and a network cable. If you don’t have a network box then for 3 FF you’ll need one. It shouldn’t. When you mark a way point on the screen the head unit calculates a GPS position for where you dropped it, not where you were sitting when you dropped it. Certainly on my HBirds I can be 100’ past a pile and still chugging along but touch the pile on my screen and it will mark that GPS point. I’m pretty sure all three of the majors current units are the same. The accuracy of where you touch on the screen might be a few feet off if you have the screen zoomed way out and one pixel represents 2’ in real time. Then fat fingering the display will make it inaccurate. But you can solve that my zooming in on the pile first and then marking the waypoint.

I have the guide series in both large and XL. I started with the large in the kayak and moved to the XL for a year or two. If you’re going to carry it around a lot, then it’s pretty big and heavy. The Large is better, but is shoulder strap only. I can say that my XL with 7 +3 boxes (none had terminal weights either, that stayed in the boat) was a solid 40lb. If you are walking in to an area on the bank and camping out for a while then that’s not bad. If you’re continually moving around the lake it will add up. You don’t have to stuff it as full as I did of course, but it’s big. the large size still fits 5+1 plus two side pockets for plastics. I’d have to check but if you already have 3600 size boxes I think you could fit 7 standing on end in the main compartment instead of 3700s. Either way, if you’re interested in a used one for cut price then PM me. Since I got the boat I emptied them and only use them to store leftover Plano boxes (with lures) in the basement.

If you have two head units and live imaging already, I am going to take a guess that there is a network hub. If so, you don’t need another transducer to share the sonar that’s already there. You just need a head unit and Ethernet cable to plug it into the hub. Then you have all of your features from all of your units available to you. If you truly just want it for maps (and not sharing waypoints) then a cheaper GPS and 2D unit without transducer will do that. You’d only need to run power to it. But if you’re going to get another head units anyway, you might as well network it if you have a hub.

I really liked my Plano guide series in the kayak. I started with the large I think which holds 5 3700s, a 3600, and had two 3400 sized pockets in the side I’d use for soft baits. I bumped to the extra large which holds 7x 3700 and 3x 3600s. Good quality bag. the rubber feet on the bottom were nice for keeping the bottom dry. I had self draining scupper plugs in the back but a good wave or heavy rain would be enough to get just a bit of water in there. The feet would hold the back up high enough to let the drains work.

The stradic for a nice reel. If you want to abuse it, drop it in the creek and mud, etc then a sierra has wider tolerances and will take grit in the gears and just keep going.

i mean, you can't go fishing so might as well do something else productive, right? Looks sharp as day 1

Do you like to burn your square bills or slow crawl them? you can make just about any ratio work for just about any technique.

That’s what I assumed. My opinion doesn’t change.

Good unit but that feels high for the level of performance it offers and the fact that it doesn’t network with anything newer. I’d want to pay half that for it at this point.

I don’t know your icon or just quite how much backbone you’re talking about but the Cara BFS has quite a bit of backbone down low up to the middle of the rod. It has a lighter tip than any medium I’ve felt aside from one which was my dad’s old all star from the 90’s (and I have downstairs). The tip will throw a true 1/8 oz with my aldebaran and I can even go down to 3/32 and still throw it 20 yards. I haven’t tested the bottom end for casting range, but it feels like 3/8-7/16 is definitely no problem. It’s rated 5/8 and that’s probably right but I haven’t tried it. It has almost as much backbone as my 7’2” MH swim jig rod but a lighter tip. I haven’t been out enough to fish it properly but I’m confident that an eighth ounce plus any plastic I want is going to fish pretty alright on it. I think an eighth plus 4” senko is going to be right.

that rod is a crankbait rod. I wouldn’t throw a Texas rigged anything on it. I handled one in store and found that it was even too light for me for small crankbaits. For what you’re describing, get the Cara bfs 7’2”. Check my review of it here (maybe another thread) but it has a lighter tip than the ml phenix but more butt and faster action. A true 1/4 total bait weight is no problem.

ah, so they are. I hadn't looked at the very light models so never noticed that. I bet the 7' ultralight bucoo would make a nice little trout rod. Shame it's 1 piece as it could be a great truck rod.

even better, before you remove a part take a picture of the whole assembly. Then you know what orientation and order everything goes in. Also, if your reel needs more than a basic external clean and lube just send it off to DVT. The first time you break a part, strip a screw, or lose a widget you've just paid more than sending it off.

it looks like the line tie is into the bait and not the bill. If that's the case I'd just glue the bill and keep fishing it. I only seem to break the bills on cranks where the line tie is in the bill itself. They make for expensive key chain floats.

where are you getting the bucoo for $59? That's a closeout price.

I grabbed a couple screen grabs tonight while things were slow. It was windy so these had a little motion in them. On top, these are iPhone pictures of the screen while in my garage which were then compressed to fit the forum. These are good but seeing it on the screen while you are panning and your brain puts the picture together- impressive. There are 3 trees in this lake (a new one fell last summer). These two have given me a few fish over the years now. This is above water: This is below water in forward mode. yes, that’s probably a bass on the bottom and some bluegills a little higher up. Here is the other tree: Forward and landscape. Then a shallow water shot in landscape of a couple chunk rocks that are about 10-12” for perspective. These are all basically full auto for sensitivity and contrast. I played with settings and you can do different things depending on your preferences. I am liking Doppler mode for down imaging. You don’t see it in these shots, but on a very hard return or turning up the sensitivity it highlights good returns in yellow/orange/red incrementally. On landscape I think I like this one best (blue craw maybe?) but i need to play a little more. I think sunlike conditions might change my mind.

I’ve considered a transom mount but i don’t really have the need. The lake today was 110 acres. Another nearby is 50. I’m not fishing bigger water and I am literally launching and starting to fish. When I do make a ‘longer’ run I just sit in the drivers seat and steer with the remote. I set a navigation heading and go sit down.

Just about dialed in. The offset seat post and millennium seat are a huge change as exactly what I was looking for. This boat doesn't have a ton of space between the seat post base and the end of the carpet. The offset post is 3-4” of setback. The millennium seat is another 2” compared to turning the factory seat around to its skinniest and lean against it. That makes around 6” of extra space for my feet while leaning against the seat which makes a ton of difference. Loaded with just the trolling motor for the first time on this boat. I’ve done it before on my dad’s various boats (I was always the driver on-er and he did the truck) but learning all of it myself on a new boat is a learning process. This was a shallower ramp in the first place (and probably the most common place I’ll launch) and I’ve been driving it on with the 9.9 so far. On this ramp you have to back WAY back in to be far enough to get the boat up. At first I left the first foot of the bunks out of the water (I’d leave 2’ out for the 9.9) but the boat hung up 6’ from the front roller. I tried getting more of a run at it but the same result. After I backed it in to submerge the bunks entirely I got it up to about 2’ short which was enough to winch it up. Of course the truck rear tires were in the water at that point but I thought ahead and dropped the tailgate and rear window so I could step onto the tire and then the running board to get in.

That’s what I just put on my 9.9. Time will tell how it lasts, but it’s hard to beat it for the price. If you just want it as the space then just do it.