Further North

Looks great - If I'm seeing that correctly, you went with 24 volt (I am assuming the black battery is your starting battery.) Should work fine.

I've done it. The range on the remotes is at least 100 feet, but I'd never push it that far. One time I did it, some Gomer pegging the self absorbed meter promptly put his trailer into the dock to launch his boat. I pulled my boat in right behind his and took my time getting ready... Haven't done it since.

This doesn't answer your question, but there's no way I'd do that. Seems like a band-aid and doesn't address the real problem, which is that you likely need to charge the starting battery because the big motor doesn't get it done (in my case, I never make long enough runs). Couple options, I've done both: Pull the two bank charger and replace it with a three bank. Sell the two bank on Craigslist, or E-Bay. Add a single bank charger for the starting battery.

You're not the only one... So anyway...back on topic... Me too...which may be what it boils down to. But SI has done that too, without a darn pole sticking up on my transom that I have to make sure I don't smack on a back-cast, or wrap a fly line around... Yeah, those fish are big enough to eat bass...

Okee Doke...swapping lines makes less of a difference than it should, if H3 wasn't improving the process. Also, putting that line on other rods...while accuracy improved never reached the level of the H3. ...removing bias can be a tough son-of-a-gun.

Thanks.

Nah. I'm not smart enough to make that claim. Someone on another site suggested I swap lines again, see if the accuracy holds up. I'll do that today, lawn cast it and see what happens.

OK...so...I failed... I started catching fish right off the boat launch tonight...and completely freakin' forgot to try the 360°. I know I let you all down, and should be forced to fish the next three days as punishment. I am deeply sorry and accept my punishment with humility and shame...

More of the same today... I was throwing an Ol' Mr. Wiggley Fly: ...and I kept dropping it in holes in between lily pads that I've not been able to hit in the past...I missed some, too...but not as many as I hit. Score: Me: 7, Bass: 5 ...I also managed one bluegill that was barely longer than the fly, one crappie, and one sunfish-to-be-determined-later.

I've been known to mess with GPS read outs. I use Photoshop as part of my job... So...yeah, you should go fish Long Lake. ? You can do that, but it adds an extra piece of gear on deck. I just added a dedicated 2D transducer for about $80, works great.

Calais DC here, at plus eight. Works just fine. It's caught a bunch a pike and a few bass this year...one yesterday on a Whopper Plopper.

Mot being much of a swim bait guy, I have a question: When you say "smaller swim baits", I think of fairly light lures, and when I read "punching" I think fairly heavy. Would one rod be good at both?

Baitcasting. Made the switch years ago, and while spinning still has a place, it's not often.

Very little talk and virtually no retailers...at least in the north...for Temple fork Outfiters. Great rods, priced well. I tripped over them years ago at Sierra Trading Post, bought three because they were crazy inexpensive ( <$50! ) and I was going to use them as back-ups and loaners...and when they got here, I said "Holy cow, these are nice rods!" and have been using them ever since.

More on how the rod fishes: Didn't catch anything on it yesterday (can I blame the rod?), but I spent a fair amount of time with a medium "double barrel" popper head. I'm continuing to use the Rio Single Handed Spey line. Cast...strip about 5 times, roll cast...it's painfully simple and I really like it. I'm still trying to poke holes in the "accuracy" hype...can't do it yet. Still can't tell if I'm compensating in some way, but jeez does this thing lay down line straight. All my other casting foibles are present and accounted for (dropping the rod tip, starting forward casts too soon, breaking my wrist...) so if I'm fooling myself on the accuracy thing, I'm doing a good job of hiding it from myself...

You know...I didn't really think about that. I run a Helix 12 CHIRP MEGA SI GPS G2N at the console...that could account for the improvement in clarity of the image. I'll have to play with it again next time out.

No kidding. It took me four tries to get this one right, and I lucked into it when I moved it to make room for a 2D transducer... But what I lucked into really works well:

I run my CMV on lakes as small as a couple hundred and as big as 1,074,560 (I did that for fun, I mean Lake of the Woods in Canada.) It handles them all just fine as long as I don't make stupid choices about what weather to go out in. Would I run it in the main basin of one of the Great Lakes? Not a chance...but I wouldn't do that in any other bass boat style hull either...it's beyond what I'm comfortable with...and that's what they make Deep V boats for.

I wasn't trying to win, I was trying to see if there was something I needed to learn. You're right about things changing, but I'm not sure they're changing as much as people think...My CMV is 13 years old and is very close to the Pro-V Bass in layout and storage, and how it rides. It's not a typical aluminum bass boat, but I think that there have been boats like it (Xpress comes to mind) around for a while and a lot of folks get distracted by the less expensive, smaller tin boats out there and tend to write off the entire segment based on incomplete info. That's why I feel the apples to apples comparison is important.

That is pretty slick. ...and part of what I'm wondering about is: What's up HB's sleeve that will be similar? I'm not switching to Garmin (just bought two new Helix units last year) and I'm not adding clutter to my deck with another unit up there... But this brings up an interesting thought: I wonder why the companies don't engineer that kind of accessory to work with other maker's units? Like the US2 transducer on Minn Kota trolling motors?

Fun to follow - keep it going!

I've had it since it first came out, the transom mounted version that has to be extended below the hull to work, and it's been great a time or two...but I just don't use it as much as I thought I would. The big housing get in the way on the back of the boat for casting...and for things as simple as getting in and out of the boat back there. I've toyed with the idea of getting rid of it completely, and I've also considered replacing it with a bow mount version hung off to the side of my Ulterra (can't mount them on the shaft of electric steer motors and the power stow/deploy and trim would really screw it up.) So last weekend we used it up north...and the image was crystal clear and helped us pick out some fish hanging on an underwater pile of rocks that we'd found with SI... ...aaaaaaand I'm back on the bubble again. You'se guys who use it, chime in, if you could...and you folks who are thinking about it as well. I'm curious what people think.

You're killin' me...?? ...I put my $1,200 360° on the transom to protect my MEGA transducer... ?

...I wasn't gonna go there... ?

Ive done that. A comparably sized and priced and outfitted Ranger has no real storage advantage over a Lund Pro-V Bass or Crestliner Bass Hawk. The reason I'm trying to understand what you're getting at...and I'm not doing a good job...is because one of the reasons I bought the boat I have is storage. A buddy has a glass boat that is almost identical is size and price to mine. It's one of the quality brands and I love the boat and it woks great...no qualifiers. My boat has more storage. Not a lot, not even enough to quibble over, but a little...so that's why I'm trying to get a handle on what you're getting at. I'm with you on the Vexus. Watching with great interest.