MontanaBasser

Do you ever watch Wavy Boats on YouTube? It's all footage of boats entering and exiting Haulover Inlet in Miami Beach. What made the channel popular are all of the stuffings and mishaps, but there are also a lot of insane off shore boats and power yachts. The biggest I remember was 5x500HP Mercury Verados.

I bought these off of Ali Express a few years ago. Much nicer than they look in the photos. They were $10.80 when I purchased them though. $23.64 | The Time 100pcs Barbless Single Crankbaits Hook High Carbon Steel #4/6/8 Big Eye Lure Hooks Anzols For Bass Trout Pike Fishing

Tha k you all for your opinions. It seems we have consensus.

I wanted to switch out the hooks on some of my inline spinners and I realized almost all of them are joined directly to the body of the spinner. Has anyone here swapped hooks on a mepps agila or a Panther Martin? Did you dissemble or just cut off the original hook? Do you think adding a split ring will make them foul more often?

I'm starting to think the Gamakatsu Micro pliers I have may be fake.

That looks like it might be the ticket. As I'm sure you know, when they're small like that, the tolerances on the jaws is super important.

I now own three split ring tools that are too large for the split rings I need to open. Specifically I have a Rapala Mini split ring pliers, Gamakatsu micro split ring tool, and a Pisifun pliers. I ordered a no name tweezer style one off Amazon but it was such a POS it was laughable. I want to change stock barbed trebles to barbless. Examples of what I can't get into would be Rapala CD01, F03, Berkely Thinfisher 3/16, Panther Martin #0-2... I'm in an area that is either blue ribbon trout water or (more often) little stocked pond rainbows. Either way, trout are fragile fickle fish.

I have been reading about linking my Mercury Verado and my Solix dash unit and am confused. If you have a Solix, Verado or both linked via NEMA 2000, would you please explain your setup. Which Gateway are you using? If I have Mercury smart gauges on the dash, does that mean I already have a gateway? Do you find it useful? My chief complaint right now is that the smart gauges are hard to navigating and understand. Thanks!

I got a new used boat this winter. It has an Ultrex on the bow that is mounted with the quick release plate (MKA-62). The problem I'm having is with the set screw you're supposed to use to hold the motor in place. The set screw is supposed to be hand tightened but it's hard to turn even with pliers. Plus, even after messing with it for 10 minutes or so, we weren't able to feel the notch it is supposed engage with. We ended up putting a carabineer through the lock hasp so it wouldn't slide around. Something seems wrong. Did the previous owner cross thread it? Is it a known problem?

As someone who has only gotten into fishing in the last year or two, everything I hear about BASS makes me think they've been captured by their sponsors. Who gives a rip who talked to who when guys are running enough Sonar to find Nessie AND the Red October? To me, it seems like the no information rule and all the associated drama are a way to take the conversation off FFS. When other sports have had issues with team balance the successful solution is normally some form of homologation or salary cap. That is what BASS should pursue, but they won't because they're constrained by their high dollar sponsors. From the outside looking in, right now competitive fishing looks like an arms race and it's pretty unappealing.

Duolock has been my standard but recently purchased some Tactical Angler micro snaps. I'm interested in trying the Spro snaps that look similar to the TA ones.

Re: AliExpress I bought 2 BFS rods and some terminal off AliExpress and it's was all great. One of them is my favorite BFS rod right now. More Midway Mystery Rods: I bought 2x 90$ mystery casting rods from Midway. I received 2x Lews Carbonlite rods - both 7' and fast action. One is Med Heavy and the other one is Heavy. They are really lightweight, for sure. Haven't fished them yet.

It's line spooling season in my neck of the woods. Which means pulling out the box of partial filler spools and trying to guess if ya have enough left to fill the reel at hand. But, sometimes ya miss judge and the filler spool taps out when the reel is only 1/2-3/4 full. What do you do? Scrap it? Back spool it onto another smaller reel(braid)? Use it as is? How full does it need to be for you to let it ride?

Midway Mystery Box baitcast REELs. 40-50% below MSRP. Premium reels at 1/2 price... But you don't know what you're getting. Two price points and both RH and LH models available. If you buy, you're duty bound to report back, LoL. https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1027478351?pid=636897

A while ago another member wanted a report from someone who had bought mystery rods from Midway. Well, here you go: This past December I YOLO'd and bought a mystery rod, or four... I ordered two casting rods and two spinning rods at different price points. I put specifics below, but the conclusion is that I didn't get ripped off. First, all of the rods were St. Croix. For a Midwest boy that suits me fine. I haven't had a chance to use any of them yet. The least expense rod was advertised as a "bass crankbait casting rod minimum value $175”. Purchase price $105. I received a Mojo Bass series Carbon Cranker - 7'2" Med Heavy / Moderate. (Market Price $175-200) The second rod was advertised as a"bass casting rod minimum value $200. Purchase price $120. I received a Victory series - 7'3" Heavy / Mod-Fast. (Market Price $200-275) The third rod was advertised as a "bass spinning rod-2 piece, minimum value $200". Purchase price $130. I received an Avid series - 6'8" Medium / Extra Fast 2 piece. (Market Price $200-250) Finally the spendy one. Advertised as a "trout and panfish spinning rod minimum value $400”. Purchase price $220. I received a Legend Elite Panfish series - 7'0" Lite / Extra Fast. (Market Price $385-410) So, there you go. Four samples of the Midway mystery rods. I am overall pleased. The only disappointment is the length of the Victory rod and only because I could use a rod for carolina rigs and bigger swim baits. I paired the trout and panfish rod with a Seviin reel for a full fan boy setup. The Victory is getting an Ark7 and the Avid is TBD. Final question though: What goes on the Carbon Cranker? Options are a domestic Scorpion DC, an older JDM scorpion (IDC3), or a new JDM SLX DC XT?

I'm not a huge fan of BPS/White River Marine but the spring sale starts tomorrow. Good deals on something in most categories.