MontanaBasser

Agreed. I think it's an oversight that they aren't required by USCG/state law. A paddle is pretty useless on anything bigger than a little jon boat even if it's dead calm. And if there's wind? "Fuggetaboutit"!

What does "Mag Bass Spin" mean? Magnum?

Check your local Walmart. I just got a SLX150hg for $47. They also had basic Plano 3700 edge boxes for $12, Flambeau satchels for $6, and Flambeau basic 3700s for $3.

My HD didn't have any in stock.

Bulldog has the answer.

Bonus question: as someone who just purchased their first Daiwa 34mm reel, why would someone want a different spool? I've done BFS conversions on Lews, but it seems like there are lots of aftermarket spools that aren't just for BFS. Is there a good primer on 34mm spools somewhere?

Next you'll all tell me you don't own a drift sock.

Back in the day my old army buddy and I were shrimping off the coast of Louisiana. There was a huge storm coming in. All the other boats were headed back to safety, but my old commander seemed to have something to get off his chest. He wouldn't let us go in, even as the wind and waves picked up. I'd long since abandoned shrimping and was just focused on keeping the bow into the wind. While I'm doing my best to keep us afloat, the lieutenant had climbed up the mast and was sitting on the jib shouting at the storm! It seemed like he was up there forever. I kept expecting him to lose his grip and go flying -- he doesn't even have legs. I remember him screaming "You'll never sink this boat!" And, sure enough, he was right. Afterthe storm had passed, we headed back to port. We ran our nets to see if Hurricane Carmen had brought any shrimp with her. In that one pass, we caught more shrimp than I've ever seen. We had barely enough gas to make it home, and when we pulled into the breakwater, we saw every other shrimping boat smashed and tossed onto the shore. That was the beginning of the big times for he and me. We were the only shrimper left and had one of the biggest hauls in history. We decided to go into business and name it after our buddy who had died in the war -- The Bubba Gump Shrimp Company.

Currently my anchor lives in a bow locker but I don't like it there. It's a pain to get to and to put away so if I'm using it at all, it ends up on the deck where it is a hazard. A bow mount anchor trolly seems like it would conflict with the trolling motor and fish finder. I can imagine going over a wave and having the anchor take something out. In an ideal world I could keep it stored and use spot lock to keep me in place, but I've run into a few times where that doesn't work. I end up on a lot of high alpine and giant reservoirs. Wind is pretty much a guarantee. Some times enough wind that trying to fight it with the TM is a bad idea. Also, my boat is 50/50 fishing and family. When we are swimming off the boat, the TM isn't available. But, these are the exact times I don't want an anchor laying around on the deck. How do you manage and store your anchor? Do you never use it? Does it interfere with your Trolling motor and transducers?

Fish descenders are required for the entire Pacific coast as of a few years ago so there has been a good amount of development in that space recently. You can get a cheap one that works fine for what we are doing for $13. The fancy ones mostly add features we wouldn't need as bass anglers like the ability to release at specific depths or the ability to retrieve the releaser without reeling your line in. That might be nice if I was fishing in 300' but I can reel up 30' to grab the descender.

LoL, no.

Midway has a lot of nice stuff 30%+ off. Picasso, Strike King, Hazdong shads... There are a few G. Loomis rods 43% off.

Way to take one for the team.

I needed to run Ethernet across the ceiling of my warehouse. Everyone I talked to was quoting higher than I wanted to pay because it was only one run total and 20’ in the air. Now, the roof is supported by standard steel joists and they lined up such that I had a series of triangles about 50’ long to pass through. (Some of you already know where this is going). Well, I put the safety bucket on the fork lift, got my trusty wrist rocket, a 1/4-20 nut and a partial spool of 65lb Contra braid. I climbed in the bucket and had one of my crew lift me into the rafters. I tied the braid onto nut and made a loose pile of line on the floor and took my shot. The first shot hit the far wall and bounced back almost the whole way. Two more tries and I had my whole ceiling run done and dusted. I tied my cat6 to the fishing line (uni wrapped in e-tape) and pulled it across. I need to terminate the ends and clean up my drops, but that's it. If I look at the money saved as money earned, I made good money. Plus, I used up a partial spool and got to use a slingshot indoors and on the clock! (OSHA if your listening, I used PPE, had a spotter, and fired myself before I was lifted off the ground.)

They look interesting, but at that price, I'd like to hear from others first.

I like the Gamakatsu micro split ring pliers. : https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Gamakatsu_Micro_Split_Ring_Plier/descpage-GMSRP.html?from=basres

What size and style trebles should I use for 5-7" soft swimbaits?

Loon UV Knotsense is the bomb. Someone on here turned me onto it last spring and it's fantastic. It makes any knot stronger and smoother. You put a dab on the knot, wipe off the excess and cure it with the sun or a UV light. It's not rigid like super glue and once it's cured, your knot will not fail. Even if it's poorly tied.

Googan Squad is selling Bass Mafia Dangerous swim baits for $5 per pack. There isn't any mention of it on the site and the discount doesn't show until you put it in your cart. MSRP $13.99 https://googansquad.com/products/bass-mafia-unloaded-daingerous-swimbait

Lots of great ideas folks! Our current standards are spaghetti and meat sauce, american tacos, baked salmon and rice, grilled chicken and cilantro lime rice, pork chops, burgers and frozen kid crap.

Our normal dinner rotation is feeling kinda stale. What do to cook that is acceptable to 6&8 year old boys?

Will do.

I've been eyeing up the Mudhole All In One kits as a place to start my rod building hobby. The trouble is, I don't know enough to know if the kit is good or not. Mudhole has a pretty good reputation, so I'm assuming it's decent, but what do the more experienced out there think? I'm thinking about this one: https://mudhole.com/products/all-in-one-spinning-rod-kit

I get up that way when we go to my in-laws. How far are you from the Delaware river? Have you fished Spruce Run? I was hoping to last time we were out there, but the drought made the reservoir inaccessible.