Master Bait'r

I feel you Hootie. I keep trying but for some reason they just don't work for me like a pot boss, structure bug, minnow or even worm does. The only thing I even keep the few around that I do have for anymore is up-sized Ned rigs and wacky.

Can't say I'm set up for that but I have always wanted an orochi secret service rod set.

I've been told it does nothing for braid. Just getting it wet with water does the same thing fwiw. It works with clear lines, but I don't really use it much anymore. I used to put it on everything every one but somehow have not gotten back into that habit this year. No issues from not using it either.

I could not disagree more, but to each his own! That's why they make more than one flavor of ice cream too

One thing that's driving me crazy when I look at the boat though is the lack of care used in assembling it. I realize things are still totally fine and well within factory spec but if you look you can see that the foremost lower support beam is visibly crooked, as are the rest of the bands in varying degrees. I even had to offset the bow mount to compensate for this after the platform was made straight. This is because of the hull bands, which were installed off-kilter in the factory. When I'm making a structure off of it I'm measuring to exact numbers, having two sets of angles sucks. Have eight really makes it very hard to make straight. I cannot wait until there is something covering it. There's nothing I can do and I've fully compensated for it but it's making me itch every time I see it... Things off by small degrees, ugh. Even though it's all been accounted for and the end result is muy bueno I can't take structural things like that not being all straight and aligned.

^ That is definitely the truth. I've looked into it and the wood gets heavy really fast. I'm not even putting any of the plank seats back in because they're just too heavy for what they are. You could make a boxed aluminum plank seat frame with a sweet padded seat and still be lighter. It is a tough metal to work with though, very finicky under the torch. The only wood in this project will be the one sheet of plywood for the floor and if I had the sheet stock it would be coarse rhino lined diamond plate. It's kind of funny how many people all of a sudden want this thing IRL though, everyone from my UPS guy to one of the metal salesmen to my mobile electronics/wood/carpeting guy who doesn't even fish haha... Maybe I should start Craigslist rehabbing boats on the side one of these days! My Uncle who is a disabled veteran even saw it and wants me to make him a 14'er with a low Barca lounger in the middle so he can actually stay out on the water (he is a photographer and loves to fish) without being sent into excruciating pain within an hour- I told him "Pick up a 1448 and your seating of choice and it's DONE." So we will see I guess haha. Little tin boats! Who knew everyone in the world wants one?!

If you find a place there's never danger of being skunked let me know so I can move there forever.

I do. Oh, and Zinkerz > Yums

I will definitely look into that. I was planning on gluing down regular styrofoam-type stuff once the wiring is run but that sounds much better. Completely finished and installed the front platform, so that means pretty much all the welding is done except for putting the hatch piano hinges in and doing some rear seat bracing along with the battery trays. Easy stuff The largest opening in the platform with the extra bracing is where the seat is going, and that section will act as a hinged top to access storage underneath. Might do another for the far-forward section but we will see. In any case it's on to wood and carpet. Once the floor is perfect the rest of the boat will get paint while the floor is being carpeted. Once that's all finished, wham bam thank you Ma'am- Put it all together and get out on the water! As it looks more and more like a boat my excitement grows. She gets closer every day! I might take tomorrow off to go fishing though

From your casting issues is say the tip is too stiff for your baits. That will always happen if there isn't enough weight to load the rod on the cast which gets the spool really moving. I did the same thing with a MHXF Crucial. It just would not cast under 1/2oz.

Only the true wart lover will be able to tell for sure. Once you've earned your 5th level wart black belt, your powers are so strong you can close your eyes in a flea market and they will lead you to them like a Ouija board. Once you can focus the power of the wart, you even start to "hunt" when you walk. I can spot a master a mile away when I see the wiggle walk.

Came in here to say 852. I love my casting 852 so much, but I do feel it might be better served as a spinning rod. The 852 spin is the perfect light plastics and finesse jig rod.

OP just get some Decoy Hydra Tails. Best 1oz top hook swimbait at a reasonable price IMO. I like top hooks because they are decently weedless but you can still just rip for the hills when you feel the thump. Those and the Biwaa S'Trouts- but you've got to be more careful w open trebles. Then you've got the small slide swimmers and S-Songs but that's $$.

I like them but the cold water has me about to put them on a scrounger head for slower retrieve and more wiggle.

It's stretchy and clear so yes. Save the money and go YZH.

How she sat when I stopped for lunch today. Getting really close. Finalizing the alignment now and adding a few more cross beams. Once it's really clamped I'll tack everything up, take out the platform and weld it all up. When it's all solid I can reinstall and weld it in, connect the front mount and finish the gussets for around the seating area.

I fear the day I cave and get a big swimbait rig.

Buy an Opinel. Not only are they silly sharp, they're about as no-nonsense cheap as you can get. The perfect #8 pocket jobbers are like $12. I like the lightweight shaped wood handles and although the blades are prone to corrosion, they are perfect if you know your way around a whetstone. I always bring it fishing. Best old man cheese knife ever too- just make sure you get the carbon blade, as it is the sharpest of the sharp.

Thanks! I had to scrap the idea of a diamond plate front platform, as I just don't have enough. Somebody must have commandeered my sheet for a project and not returned it or told me. Oh well. The good news is that it lined up perfectly so that I can use an unbroken 8' sheet of plywood for the whole floor section and another full piece for the platform. The foremost visible support in the pics will be used for a cross brace below the front seat, and the front platform area will be of pretty good size. Considering there is no middle seat, it should be. The weight savings by using the aluminum square tubing is crazy, it weighs next to nothing but is very strong. It also sucks to weld it in a strange position like that but hey it doesn't have to be sexy, just hold a floor up nice and solid. I should say that the only option I'm leaving for the middle seat will be a cross-braced receiver hole for an adjustable stool- which will be able to be removed from its normal place in the rear bench in case of a dead battery if someone needs to row. Getting really excited as it begins to take real shape. She's gonna be a beaut.

All floor joists are now welded in. I just need the next aluminum shipment to come in so I can finish framing my front platform and then I'm good for wood.

Been working on it a bit. I'm using 1x1 aluminum square tubing that's hand notched to fit right into the hull rib supports and welded in for the floor joists. The original seats were all corroded and rusted in place so I cut off the bolt heads and tapped the bodies out with a thin rod. I'm re-using the rear brackets but that's it. The rest of them are coming out. Still in the mock-up phase as you can see. The long angle is simply to provide a straight baseline for joist alignment. It's still a bit out from being done but it's coming along very nicely. I think the hardest part is going to be notching the wood floor board and making the rounded taper fit perfect.

Nope you scored man! Holding off would only have handed that smokin' deal to someone else.

d**n I need two of those 3601s!

Every time I hear Serrano I think of ham. Mmmmmmmmm... Ham.

I know a guy who simply cut a path through several acres of very heavy weed sections of a particular private lake with his jon boat, trolling motor and a weed cutter rake much like you'd shovel a path for your dog to poop in the yard during the really snowy months... Can't even tell you how much of a difference it made. The amount of lunker traffic that happened in those 2-4' deep winding weed lanes was insane. It gave the big fish a way to cruise the forage forest easier and created about a billion ambush points for them to hide in. They directly connected the open water sections, provided access to the long flats and pretty much circumvented the whole weed ring around the lake. Big groups of crappies, perch, baitfish and the like would all convene in the open lanes that cut through the deepest cover areas and made for some really awesome slop fishing and forget about working a small swimbait up the lane- slamsville. The Heron that hunts the area loved it too, it just strolled the lanes and speared sunfish all day as effortlessly as if it was taking things out of the fridge. I'm amazed it could fly away some days! There's plenty of options to fish the weeds, but after seeing what happened with some light grooming I'm kind of obsessed with thinking about that.