Scott F

Your battery voltage dropped to a point where the depth finders would not work. Motors like your aerator will work when the battery charge is low but the depthfinders won't. Once you ran the boat, the battery got charged up enough that everything worked OK.

It has the St. Croix name on it. It's a good rod.

They put too much line on the reel.

My guess is that you might have a tough day. There is a lot of water there and fishing blind, not knowing how deep the water is, or if you are even fishing where there are any fish, is going to rely on luck. I would try to set up a drift parallel to a shore line toward a point. First pass close in and the next pass a little farther out. Try and figure out how deep by dropping a sinker under the boat and see how much line it took to get to the bottom. I probably would stay out of water more than 25 or 30 feet deep. Watch other anglers and make note of where they are fishing especially if they are fishing for and catching bass. Good luck.

Will you have a depthfinder? I'd be looking at water 10 to 30 feet deep near points, or submerged humps using a drop shot rig.

As you can see from the post I quoted, there are a lot of baits that will work. There is no one "best" bait. I choose what to throw based on what the river looks like where I'm at. In shallow, fast, rocky, riffles, I would not choose anything weighted that would sink to the bottom and get snagged on every cast. I would take an inline spinner that I can reel quickly and stay out of the rocks or a Texas rigged, unweighted senko that will move with the current, or any kind of top water like a popper or a buzz bait. Actually, I throw one those 3 baits most of the time. During warm water seasons, I skip over any water that doesn't have some kind of current.

When I ordered my Curado, I got the 201 instead of the 200. Which means I accidentally ordered the left hand model instead of the right. The good news was I kept it and really liked the left hand version. I found I can switch back and forth with no problem. I also ordered a bulk pack of 3 inch Senkos. What I got was a bad Senko nock off.

On my spinning reels, there is a big difference. I was using 8lb Fireline. The line was so thin, that it would slip out of the gap in the eye of my worm hooks. I stepped up to 15lb line and my casts were so much shorter, I went back to 10lb, and got most of my casting distance back. I did close the gap on my hooks with pliers.

As I said, don't use the phono input. There is an extra pre-amplifier on that input meant for phono cartridges that also changes the equalization. It won't sound right. If you use a tape input, you might have to push a tape monitor button on the receiver to hear your MP3 player.

Get a cord that has the red and white RCA connectors on one end and a 1/4 inch stereo plug ( like a headphone jack) on the other. Plug the RCA plugs into an unused INPUT on the receiver. Don't use one marked Phono. Plug the jack into the headphone connector on the MP3 player. That's it.

It sound like you are getting what some call wind knots. Over filling the spool with line can give problems when the line spills off the spool when you make a cast. After you cast, a small loop of line is left at the reel. You should get in the habit of pulling the line tight right after you close the bail. Many guys will close the bail by hand, and give a tug on the line to be sure no slack exists before cranking.

I believe the reason many fish at the ramp is because of the easy access. It requires almost no effort. There is a road that goes right to the spot. Plus there is a dock to fish from.

Make sure your battery connections are tight. a loose connection can get very hot and melt the wiring and or battery connector.

I believe, the down imaging will not read when going more than a few miles per hour. Does the unit also offer 2D imaging? How does that work?

Several years ago I was on a fly-in trip in Northern Manitoba. While we were a few miles from the cabin, it got extremely windy. It was so rough on the water, we had to pull the 14 foot boat up on the shore to try and wait till the wind died down and we could get back to the cabin safely. The island we took shelter on was damaged by a forest fire a few years before. The pine trees that were still standing were just tall, dead, sticks. The wind that drove us off the water, was knocking down trees all around us. We didn't know if it was safer facing the 5 foot waves that might sink our boat, or risk having a dead tree fall on us. Luckily, the wind died before anything fell on us and we got back to camp in one piece. I remember all too well what falling trees sound like.

I've never had one that didn't last at least 4 years. Usually, they have a warranty.

Are you sure there is not another switch just for the lights? Maybe it's located in or near one of the storage areas or around the dash?

I've been laid up having had a ruptured disc in my back and then surgery a little more than two weeks ago. After barely leaving the house for the last 6 weeks, today I went out for a boat ride with a friend of mine. I was pleasantly surprised when this 39 inch musky went looking for a meal. I seldom fish for muskies because I come home skunked more often than not. But today I thought I'd give it a try and for a change, I got one. My personal best.

I guess it must depend on where you are fishing. Catching a clam happens quite often to me.

I'll try and give you another reason to worry. I started planning a trip a year ago. I had booked a cabin for 2 weeks for me and several of my friends. Two weeks before I was set to go, I had surgery for a ruptured a disc in my back. Instead of being on the trip now, I'm reading posts on another forum about what a good time everybody else is having and how many fish they are catching. Over the years I've planned dozens of fishing trips. Most of them a year in advance. I like planning the trips and enjoy thinking about them during the year waiting for the time to go. Sometimes, thankfully not often, thinking about the upcoming trip was more fun than the trip itself. Instead of worrying, think about how much fun it will be. While you are supposed to be working, think about how great it's going to be. Your boss will think that smile on your face is because you love your job so much. For me, I'm like a kid waiting for Christmas. That's why my back surgery was such a let down. But for the last year, I've always had something to look forward to. Now, I'm looking forward to next years trip...I just made the deposit on the cabin for next August

When buying a new boat, isn't the recessed area for a trolling motor pedal an option?

I have owned nothing but Quantums for many years, Right now, the Smoke models are in heavy rotation along with a few Energy models. Very happy with all of them.

Is this what you are talking about? An anchor pulley? Found this on Cabela's web site

Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, New York, Indiana, Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennesee, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, plus 5 Canadian provinces.

No gulls, but I did hook a mallard once with a senko.