Woody B

Most (or maybe all) sonar units have voltage regulators. All 16 volts is going to accomplish is generating excess heat due to the voltage regulator bleed off the excess voltage. IF (big if) you have an adequate cranking battery I don't think there's any advantage to a dedicated electronics battery. It's my belief that the people who get better results with a dedicated electronics do so because installed dedicated electronics wiring when they installed the dedicated battery. I had my electronics powered by the wiring that came from the factory on my boat. I installed a dedicated fuse block and wiring for my electronics and got clearer images. You don't want anything powered by the same batteries as the trolling motor. Again, my somewhat educated/experienced opinion. 16 volts works good on racecars. I don't believe it's a good idea for boats. I also believe dedicated wiring will help, but a dedicated battery isn't necessary. The only reason I see for a dedicated electronics battery is if you're going to be running your cranking battery down. I've never heard of a dedicated battery just for the active target/live scope unit. I turn my active target on and off via the yellow wake up wire from a graph. This wouldn't work if the a/t was on a separate battery. You do need good clean wiring with good solid connections.

On the bottom, below the ball of shad?

There will always be a BUNCH of DD's that aren't even if the person that caught it tells the truth. My youngest Grandson caught a 6 pound bass in a farm pond. My oldest Grandson was the only person with him. Within a few weeks another teenager was saying it was 10 pounds, and he was with my Grandson.

I was busy yesterday and this morning, but I made it out for 2 1/2 hours this afternoon. I caught 4, all spots all between 14 and 16 inches. Water temp was 49. Last Saturday is was 49 in the morning, but warmer later. I saw something that really surprised me considering water temp. I saw 2 people water skiing. So, what are the fish in the sonar screen pictures? I wanted them to be bass. I thought perhaps Striped bass, or Crappie. They weren't interested in anything I had. A-rig, spinner bait, lipless crank, DT16, Money minnow, jigging spoon, shakey head, or a crappie jig. They didn't follow, or respond in any way beyond moving out of the way. Crappie will sometimes hit a money minnow, but they usually follow anything. I would think I would have gotten a reaction strike if they were cats. I spent an hour pestering them. I went further up the river to catch the 4 I caught.

All of mine.

I had my .50 cal out, but it didn't go over my house. However, it did go directly over the Catawba Nuclear plant.

Sometime for me a DD is 10 ounces.

What brand are you using. I had dig in problems with every brand I tried until a friend suggested Sufix 832. I still hate braid....only use it for Alabama Rigs. This is with casting reels.

You lightened the stern by replacing the lead batteries. I'm sure people have put them in the front. I've got the opposite problem. I lost most of my bow lift by going lithium. It's not a big deal, I've got a 17 foot aluminum boat with a 50hp motor. I believe it's on the edge of being too light in the stern, or too heavy on the bow. I normally cruise at 4500 rpm.... I don't run around wide open. Wide open trimmed yada yada yada it's 1 1/2 mph faster (39mph) with a fuel tank of fuel, compared to a couple gallons. I don't have enough power to lift the bow weight with the lighter stern.

I am a member and have been a member of various online forums. The people here are nicer than any forum I've participated it. Many times "nice" gets lost on the internet. Most people are nice if they're talking to someone face to face. Many tend to not be so nice when it's electronic. I haven't seen that here. Kudos to the forum leadership, and members here.

I usually ignore them. The couple times I've offered food I got cussed. One guy came up to me in the parking lot at a Wendy's. He asked for a specific amount of money for some "chili beans". I reached in my bag and offered him some. He told me to "f" off, he wanted money. This was decades ago. A month or so ago I was picking up a called in order at a local restaurant. A guy came up to me in the parking lot asking for money for a burger. I said, "come on it, I'll buy you a burger". I got the same response from him. My sister lives in a fairly large city with a bunch of pan handlers. She used to keep various job applications in her car to hand them. I guess I'm a cold heartless son of a gun.....but I'm proud of myself for not being mean to them. I pat myself on the back for simply ignoring them.

I don't like the way any of the gloves feel. I use sunscreen. Sun gloves are probably better, but sunscreen is better than nothing.

Always remember, dogs don't die, they just run ahead to heaven and wait.

I don't use any kind of "special" grease. I jack my trailer up once a month and "feel" of the bearings. I remove the hubs, clean and pack the bearings once a year. This "might" be overkill for a boat, this habit comes from my racing days when I was traveling as much as 50K miles a year with a trailer. Car hauling trailers don't get backed into the water though. WAY too many people over grease the bearings with the zerk fittings. This damages the seals and allows water to contaminate the grease. So, the first time I jacked my trailer up and "felt" the bearings one hub was loose. I checked, cleaned and packed the bearings on both sides. A couple months later I got a recall letter about loose wheel bearings from the factory.

There's bass on both sides of the tree. They were swimming around, not just sitting there. IIRC I caught 4 at that tree. I took the picture after catching a couple. I need to make a video of fish swimming around.

Some Bass around a submerged tree. The second picture is one of them.

32 years for my PB 10 1/4 largemouth. 41 years for my PB 6 even smallmouth. I doubt I'll ever eclipse either. I rarely fish where smallmouth are. I did catch a 19 incher last year in my only trip to a smallmouth lake. I bet you could count on 1 hand the number of DD largemouth in the lakes I fish. Maybe I'll get surprised someday. When I fished before there weren't any spots around here. (that I knew of anyway) I caught a 4 pound 4 ounce spot the day I bought my boat. (Dec 18 2021) I just thought it was a largemouth with a smallish mouth. I didn't take a picture but I'm sure it was a spot. That was my PB until exactly a year later. I caught my current 4 pound 15 ounce spot on Dec 18 2022. I should have used my mechanical scale.....it would have been 5 pounds. LOL

That will vary a BUNCH depending on how steep the ramp is. I recommend paying no attention to the wheels. Wet the bunks then pull out until 2/3 of the bunks are out of the water. The boat will load good like this at all but the steepest ramps. If the ramp is really steep leave 1/2 of the bunks in the water. With most boats, especially light aluminum ones it will help it go straight up the trailer is you lean over toward the center of the boat to balance it side to side.

Congrats. What are you getting? If it's a secret I'm cool to wait for pics.

Disclaimer: I don't have a Kayak I've got a pair of $10 rubber boots that I bought at the devil (Wal Mart). I put some insoles in them. I wear them when it's too cold to get my feet wet. I've got some "water shoes" I bought at Academy I wear when it's warm. They dry/drain quickly, they keep the sun off my feet, and offer protection/comfort when walking across rocks, or on hot pavement. I don't know if either of these are what you're looking for.

I got a separate pole and used it 2 times. I went back to trolling motor mounted. The pole was a pain to deploy and stow every time I stopped to fish. TM mounted is a pain in the wind, but I'm getting better at boat positioning. I don't watch the screen non stop anyway. I look around to see what I think are bass, and start fishing. I've learned, and I'm still processing a bunch about fish behavior. I also have learned a BUNCH about how my lures act. If I'm "beating the bank" I'll turn the transducer some on my TM so it's facing the direction I'm fishing. That would work going up a river, but only for one side. I'm not one to sell stuff, but I'll probably sell my Summit pole and mount sometime. Let me figure out how to ship, then I'll take some pictures and list it in the classifieds. (this weekend at the soonest)

Looks brand new. Congratulations, and enjoy!!!

Glad to hear he's playing, and excited about playing again. Take care of his arm. My oldest grandson is playing college ball now. My youngest grandson (16) is throwing 90 mph, but his arm isn't going to last.

I called my "guru" last night. (A kid I taught to fish 40 years ago, and put on a 8 pound smallie) He's a heckuva bass fisherman. I told him I was struggling in cold, muddy water. He asked "where are the bass in the Summer when it's muddy?" I said, "shallow, very close to cover" He asked "how do you catch them". I said "put something flashy right in front of their nose, for a reaction strike". He said "Bass don't have a thermometer." It rained buckets Thursday. The lake is really muddy again, with lots of stuff floating. I caught 7 today in 4 hours. Water temp was 49 to 51. Some were right up on rocky banks, the others were at shallow stumps. The same places I catch summer time muddy water bass. I caught 3 on a Red Eyed Shad (lipless) and 4 on a black and red spinner bait. Biggest (pictured) was a 3.21 pound 18 1/2 inch Largemouth. 4 spots and 3 largemouth. I'm pleased with my last 2 outings, but I'm still ready for warmer, clearer water. I'm going tomorrow but not sure where yet.

I hate wake boats.......OH, this is a wake "bait" thread. I may be missing out. I've never used or had any wake baits. For a situation I "think" a wake bait might work I'll use something top water. Am I missing out? My daughter got me some lures for Christmas and there were a few wake baits. I'll be trying them sometime this year.