Goose52

I love the smell of fish slime in the morning... ... smells like....victory !

They do call it a "trolling motor" ... To the OP - I don't have any suggestions as that is not something that most paddlers try to do (I don't think - maybe the kayak guys). Seems like too much to do - paddle, keep the speed up, keep the boat strait, watch the rod tip, etc. Instead of trying to troll to work a lot of water, you might consider long casts with something like a lipless crank, counted down to the depth you want. Give it a cast or two and move the boat up to the next position and repeat. Otherwise, there's always that "trolling motor" !

For me: Boat: 45 pounds TM: 30 pounds Battery: 50 pounds Electronics: 15 pounds Misc. Rigging & Other Gear: 25 pounds Rod/Reels/Tackle: 15 pounds Angler: 170 pounds Total: 350 pounds 350/100 x 2 = 7 pounds of thrust I think I'll stick with my 45lb TM (for smaller, calm waters) or my 55lb TM (bigger/windier water)... (Of course, my TM is my primary propulsion power as well... )

Yeah baby - THAT's how to break in new equipment...

It depends on whether you plan to paddle the boat, or motor it. If you plan on paddling, then outrigger position has to be carefully considered as to not limit the paddling stroke. Also with paddling, the normal lateral rocking of the boat while paddling can cause the floats to add drag, even if you rig the floats to be above the water when the boat is trimmed. After giving it some thought, and you determine that outriggers would be a PITA, then the only way to "stablize" a canoe is by hull selection. Generally, the longer, wider, and or heavier the boat - the more stable its likely to be. If motoring, then outriggers are a great way to go. I run my outrigger floats above the water when the boat is trimmed laterally so they add no drag (see photo). If you go with outriggers, there are a number of "store-bought" models or DIY designs.

Interesting. Well, I'm a big believer in using a battery box so I'd still recommend that. As far as securing the box, not knowing what type of canoe you have, and where you want to keep the battery (aft, midships, forward), it's hard to come up with a recommendation. The aforementioned bungee cords might be an option if Wisconsin considers that "secured properly." You could attach brackets to the battery box that would then attach to the seat structure, or brackets that extend laterally from the box and clamp to the thwarts, either of which would fairly well secure the battery. Or... Whatever method you come up with, you have to give consideration to whether you need to remove the battery when transporting the boat or when at home charging the battery. You don't want to make it too hard to remove it from the boat.

In a MK battery box in the bow - it's not strapped down - it just sits there:

No problem sir...electronic gremlims at work looks like...

Interesting avatar you have there - it looks EXACTLY like a bass I caught back on August 14, 2014 - it weighed 7.65 pounds and was caught on a craw-colored Wiggle Wart. It looked like this: I remember that fish well - it was sorta an "anniversary" present as August 14, 2014 was my 44th anniversary of my enlistment in the Marines... Thanks - I'll try to remember to go over there and check it out when the board is back up.

Do you know what handle they used with the UL blank ?

Thanks to all that have responded... The rods fish like, well, Abu Veracity rods! I had caught a number of fish on the cranking rod before the mod and it still feels the same even though you don't have a finger on the blank. I guess the aluminum handles do a fair job of transmitting the feel from the blank to the hand. The MH-F rod I had never fished before the modification but it feels true to power and with good sensitivity. The only thing that I thought might feel different is the cant to the grip. THAT I can feel when I cast - just a different sensation, not anything bad. The cant doesn't throw off the timing of the release or anything - the first cast with the modified rod was just as good as when it was a straight grip.

Not everyone's cup of tea but I think they're pretty cool as well. I had heard there was a JDM run of uber-expensive offset handle rods like these which was mostly the inspiration for these builds. Too bad there's no source for graphite offset handles - if there had been, I might have gone for complete custom builds instead of using the Veracity blanks. Here's the rods again from this morning:

I still occasionally fish one Conolon light-power rod with a 1500C on it and it's fun...but generally, I just don't like the early fiberglass rods. The Conolon in the photo below was one I bought to strip down for the hybrid rod project - but it just looked so good I had to keep it stock.

I'd have to leave the answer to that question up to the rod-builders out there. With these old Conolon handles, you only have about 2.5 inches of blank inside the handle - not sure that would be enough to handle the stress involved in tossing big swimbaits. For what I want them for - these rods will be lots of fun. BUT, at the end of the day, they are novelty rods and this design is probably not adaptable to all current bass fishing applications.

Over 58,700 members on BR - perhaps only a few will "get it"... So - the explanation: How to get the classic offset-handle style BUT with a modern blank? AND, keep it all in the family? Easy - start with late-60s/early-70s Garcia Conolon rods, salvage the handles, add modern Abu Veracity blanks - presto - form AND function! How to do it? Buy some old Conolon rods off of eBay that look like this: cut off the fiberglass blanks, strip the original handles until they look like this: send the lock rings in the photo above over to Hawgtech for anodizing, repaint the handles like this: THEN, send the handles and a couple Veracity rods to DVT for some "hybridization" ! So, what did I end up with? Well, with the slow IPTs of the Ambassadeur reels, what is their niche? For me, that would be cranking and slow-rolling spinnerbaits and bladed swim jigs. To accomplish that, I started with a 7' Veracity Winch Med-Mod, and a 6'6" Veracity MH-F. Due to how the handles turned out and getting the Veracity blanks married up with the handles - we are left with a 6'10" Med-Mod and a 6'7" MH-F. Perfect matches for the Ambassadeurs. MY THANKS to Mike (DVT) for taking on this very weird project ! I have a whole bunch of classic Ambassadeur round reels that will be rotating on and off these Conolon/Veracity rods in the future...

The full thread of a load test on this type of scale is here: Luggage Scale Test Here's one post from the above thread: I scored a fairly good deal on some laboratory calibration weights on eBay - a set of eight 500 gram weights (~1.1 pounds each). I haven't a clue as to what tolerance "class" these weights would be in but I imagine they are accurate to something less than a gram. These weights allow for load testing my digital scales in 1.1 pound increments up to approximately 8.8 pounds (4 kilograms). I tested Unit number 1 at every increment from 500 grams to 4000 grams. The scale read dead-on at each increment. I then added my 9.804 lb test weight to the stack for a calculated weight (in pounds) of 18.618 - the scale read 18.63 pounds (0.2 ounce heavy). I then tested my other three units (at 1000 gram increments) and the biggest deviation was unit number 4 at 4000 grams where it read 4020 grams (0.7 ounces heavy) Unit 1 at 4 kilograms: Unit 1 at 18.618 pounds: Documented results: FOUR bucks each. Scary accurate. Good enough for me...

Treble hooks - any size fish = net. Small fish = no net. Bigger fish = net. REALLY BIG FISH = no net.

6lb Yo-Zuri on a somewhat hotrodded (bearings, drag) original Pixy.

Finally got the new plates on the tricked out 2500C - classic red looks good !

Instead of steering the boat from the back with a tiller outboard, or steering from a center-mounted console, you are sitting in the front seat and operate the throttle and steering from that position. You have the throttle on one side of you, and on the other side you have a "stick" (lever) - push the lever forward to go one direction, pull back to go in the other direction. If you Google the boats mentioned by fishnkamp you can get to the manufacturers web sites and check out the layout. OR, just check out Catt's image above - see that "stick" on the port (left) side of the front seat...that's how you steer ! I've always been personally fascinated by stick-steer boats and think one would be pretty nifty for use on my small, protected waters.

It's called a "bearing blaster" - Google it and you'll find multiple sources. There are several configurations that will come up on that search - the only one I've personally used is the red one in the photo. You place the bearing between the two halves of the tool to hold it and then insert a spray cleaner nozzle in the port in the center of one of the halves.

Huh? The only portion of my post that had anything to do with you was to direct readers to the final report of the test series, instead of one of the interim reports. Full Stop. The remainder of my post was directed to the Board members, giving my current feelings on the matter. It did not relate to your post at all. Full Stop.

I use BC reels with IPTs from 16 to 36 - all have a place in the tool box. And yes - I have also noticed the dearth of current reels with the lower IPTs. I have even considered purchasing two or three 4.7:1 gear sets to convert some of my existing BPS PQs and 1st Gen Carbonlites that are presently 6.4 and 7.1 down to 4.7 to assure that I have enough LowPro BC reels available to handle my slow-speed needs for the foreseeable future. I ordered two 5.2:1 gear sets from BPS a couple years ago and have already converted one of my Carbonlites to that ratio and still have the other gear set available for another conversion down the road.

OR, read the final thread of the 5-Year Challenge: When I started the 5-Year Challenge in 2009, there was no doubt that the PQ was just about the best deal going in it's price range. Available in 4 gear ratios, right- and left-hand, a whopping 8 models. The competition? Shimano Citica available in 1 ratio, Revo S available in 1 ratio, and can anyone even remember if Daiwa had a legitimate contender at that time? By the time I finished the 5-Year Challenge in 2014? It was a different ballgame - a number of new reel designs had been introduced and the PQ was no longer alone in offering ratios to suit every need. One significant game-changer was the Tatula available at the on-line "deal" prices that could get close to the PQ price. TODAY? There are just TOO many good reals available in this price range - lots of models, lots of gear ratios, lots of new features. A VERY tough call to say that any one of them is "BEST"...

Addictive little buggers. I'm not into the larger Ambassadeurs but the 1500/1600/2500/2600C reels hold all the line you need for bass fishing and palm better (for me with medium-size hands) than the 4500/5000 size reels. PLUS, for those that are into it, there are lots of gadgets and gizmos for these reels. The 2500C that will be getting those red sideplates was an eBay reel with a non-original broken handle. Some minor scratches on the sideplates but it looked new inside. A nice reel. BUT, throw all the below shown gadgets in it and it becomes an even nicer little machine...