WIGuide

I used to fish a lot more with my UL when I was in college. Even then I only bothered to change my line on my UL once a year. Still never had an issue. It's up to you if you wait that long, but 3 times a month is a pretty quick turn around.

I'm throwing in my vote for 50 lb.

They're a pretty good bait all year long! You can really tear them up in the spring though. If you have the patients, they work well out deeper if you slow roll them. It might be easier to use them on a jig head that way, but they work on the weighted hook too.

Throwing in there with a small creature style bait can be effective as well.

I don't have any experience with the graphite series, but I had a lightning rod for 5 years or so. It wasn't super sensitive, but in that price range I thought it was a pretty good rod. They've been around forever and have been proven through the years.

I used them all the time with the Big Bite Baits Cane Thumpers.

Go for at least the 24V on the 18 footer. I think you'll be disappointed with the 12V.

If you can afford to and have the space to, I'd go for the 36V. You can turn them down and not use the power when you don't need it, but you can only turn them up so high. You're never going to wish you had less.

I'd suggest you go with the 7' MH/F St. Croix Premier like bluebass suggested. As long as you're not fishing super crazy cover you'll be fine with the MH.

There's no real right or wrong answer to your question. Most people use slower gear ration/ipt for crankbaits or big baits that have a lot of resistance. They use faster ones for presentations they want to move fast or presentations where taking up slack quickly really pays off. Something where you are pitching a lot would be a good candidate for a high speed reel as it allows you to get your bait back to the boat quickly and get it into the next target. You don't have to follow those guidelines though. It's all about whatever works for you. I fish just about everything with 7.1:1 ratio reels and I don't have any problems catching fish or slowing down for that matter.

If you can't find it then make it. It shouldn't be very hard to duplicate.

Worked as a campus painter for 3 summers in college. There were days that sucked working in buildings without AC, but we had the freedom to mess around as long as the job got done and we didn't get caught. We never started on time, our half hour unpaid lunch that we were supposed to get was normally at least an hour if not more and we got paid for it. Had some great times at that job. I also worked a summer rec job that was probably the most fun job and easiest job I had. 6 weeks of 8 am to 130 pm. You get 2 meals a day out of it too. You'd come in and eat, take the kids to the gym to get them some exercise and calm them down. Take them back to the classroom for an hour and a half or so to do a little teaching/activity. Then it's back to the caf for lunch and back to the gym to play games. Left me plenty of time to fish in the afternoons and I believe I only made $300 less than I would have over the same period of time working full time at the job I had before that which sucked.

Hey whatever works! You can always just say that you want to stand out! I don't see anything wrong with it at all. I just got a chuckle from the typo that turned your fuel consumption into a speed.

Ouch on that price then! Even though it is new so I guess I should have expected that.

I think you can make it work for what you need. I don't think it'll be perfect for both, but it'll do each adequately. Depending on the plastics it might be a little tougher to throw but you'll still be able to without too much trouble. I'd say buy the second hand one as long as it's in good shape, and it'll work for now until you can afford the second setup that's better for the weightless plastics.

Here's a bit of an update giving a better detail view of what it can do.

No I think the 1 transducer does both. I could be wrong though since that was the first time I saw it.

I'm thinking I'm in the minority here, but I'm not a fan of longer rods. I've only got a few over 7' and it'll probably stay that way. I think a lot of it has to do with the way I cast. The majority of my casts are one handed and I roll cast a lot. If you factor in the length of the rod and my "go go Gadget" arms, it makes casting with them a little cumbersome. One of my short friends uses rods mostly over the 7'2" range and I can almost as far as him with a 6'6" (within feet) that he can plus I'm getting the nod on accuracy for the shorter casts so I'm happy.

Well this might get your gears turning haha

The differences are in the build quality, fit and finish, attention to detail, and construction material among other things. A lot of the price also comes from the additional options that are added onto the order. When you see a Nitro in the BPS catalog, it's a package boat. If you customize it and want additional features it's going to cost you. Even things like fiberglass fenders are an additional option on a Nitro but they come standard on a Ranger. Does that justify the price difference? To some it does to others it doesn't.

If I were you, I'd get the 1754. I'd also go with at least the 80 lb thrust especially considering that it's your only source of propulsion. You're going to get a heck of a lot longer run time out of the 24v than the 12.

I think you'll be a happy camper with that reel!

They make compounds to seal it. I can't remember the name of it off hand but you basically melt it over the leaky rivet. You could also have the rivet replaced as well if you know which one it is. Neither is a very expensive fix.

You should be able to drive it up with the tm unless you have an electric steer model. You just need to back the trailer in a little deeper than you normally would and pick up on the rope as you're driving it up enough to lift it some, but not so much that the motor comes out of the water. When you get up close just lift it the rest of the way out of the water and let it coast on the rest of the way. It should get you close enough that you can crank it the rest of the way.

I'd love to have an Abu Garcia MGXtreme on a my St. Croix Legend Xtreme that would be my dream combo.