Further North

I have 26 fly rods...most are 4 piece, some are two piece. There might even be a 3 piece left out there...sometimes it's harder to keep track... My fly rods run the gamut from tiny, 7 ft. 3 wt. to 9 ft. 10 wt. rods used to catch pike and musky that eat bass... With a fly rod, sensitivity is paramount, not just when you're fishing, but when you are casting as well... I've never broken a fly rod at the ferrules...but I've blown two up in-between them. One when a back cast stuck in a bush (good news: my follow through is exceptional!), another trying to muscle a fish that was too big for the rod... Both user errors. Lots of my rods are used to land large, angry fish pushing 50" and weighing in excess of 35 lbs...I'm pretty sure if being multi piece was an issue, it'd show up regularly in pike and musky fly rods...not to mention the couple hundred bass I catch on lighter weight fly rods every year. Talking to the rod makers, multi piece rods allow them to build each section with distinctly different properties...the same can be done with one piece...but it's more complicated. I also own an 8'6" spinning rod for tossing big spoons at Canadian pike, an 8'9" casting rod for the same purpose, and a 9 ft. musky rod that can do double duty as a winch/crane in case the car gets stuck on the way to a remote Canadian landing. All are two piece, all have landed dozens of of big fish and endured thousands of casts with seriously heavy lures. I did break the 8'9" casting rod's predecessor trying to free a Doctor Spoon from a submerged bush...another user error, and another break between the ferrules... I am a non-believer in lack of sensitivity or strength in decent multi-piece fishing rods.

The 9" Helix in the link can be networked... It can't do everything an networked G2N does, but it does enough to be very useful.

That'd make sense - I'd agree on the 7" not being big enough. In my case, I'd sell it and just go bigger up there, but I can't stand clutter on my decks and an extra Helix would drive me batty...about the third time a fly line wrapped itself about the extra unit, something would have to go. I've been intrigued by Panopitx for a while, I think it's exceptionally interesting tech...but I really like the integration of Humminbird and Minn Kota (there are days when half the day the Ulterra is running from the Helix and I don't touch the remote other than to start, stop or change speeds)...and, as above, don't want more clutter aboard.

GO with the bigger screen...

MEGA.

Go play with them all at the store, pick the one that has menus that make the most sense to you... All the top brands are great, they all have some feature the rest don't...that makes no real difference. Far better to understand, and like the menu system you'll be using every time you're on the water than to be distracted by bright flashy features...

Not by enough to matter, if you focus 360° in one area... I'm puzzled as to why you would add a third Helix to show 360°? I run a 10" at the bow, a 12" at the console, networked, and it shows up just fine on both.

If it helps any, you're welcome here any time... Cool! I've never seen a Sea Ark that could be considered fragile.

THere's entire days when I don't see as many boat as in that few minutes of video...

Looking good!

I'm pretty sure that if I had to deal with that kind of traffic again...I wouldn't fish. I grew up just over the border in Wisconsin's "Southern Lakes" area...Lake Geneva, Delavan, Lauderdale Lakes...In the latter part of my teens and early 20s, we lived on Lauderdale Lakes...it's part of why I quit fishing back then... Having to get up at zero-dark-thirty to get even a sliver of something resembling peace and quiet...and you hadd be off the lake by 9:00 if you didn't want to risk getting run over by some knuckle dragging cretin enjoying his third post-breakfast beer while driving his Water Camaro way-the-heck-too-close to fishermen. I chipped more than one shiny fiberglass hull with a 1 oz. Daredevel...Not worth it.

For $32K...the Vexus seems like it's well more than "affordable". I like it.

Nailed it...

I own one DC - a Calais DC...I've found that it doesn't like a soft lob (or I've not figured out how to set it for that). Other than that, if you wind up and fling it, I don't need my thumb...I still use it, because it's habit from all my other reels.

Yup. ...just one more reason why "broad brush" application of what some folks think they know about aluminum boats is wrong...

The problem with the "typical", broad brush perception of aluminum boats...is that it ignores the non-typical aluminum boat. My boat is somewhere between a deep-V and a mod-v...and it does not get pushed aorund in the wind, nor does it beat me up in the chop. Not even close. The Pro-V Bass, the new Bass Hawks, the old CMVs, Xpress boats (I think) and it sure looks like the new Vexus, along with some other aluminum hulls out there, don't deserve to get painted with the Mod-V brush... One size doesn't fit all, and it sure seems like that's where most folks go, without pausing to think... Just a perception...could be wrong...

It's tail heavy in that configuration...and might be OK...what about other motors? ...not there's anything wrong with a 150 G2...I think I'd enjoy that set-up a bunch...but how does it work when it's not butt-heavy? I run an '05 aluminum hulled "bass boat" that certainly doesn't beat me silly going across the water. Even on big water like Lake of the Woods, in a storm...with the throttle all the way to the stop... No, it's not a typical aluminum bass boat, it's much more like the Lund Pro-V and is a virtual twin to the new Bass Hawk models from Crestliner...and, as above, I'd point folks at the Xpress boat line...Aluminum hulls seem to have gained an undeserved reputation based on a popular, not hardly all-encompassing hull type that seems to drive the lower end of the market... Blinders work well for horses...not so much for people. probably worth a step back from the edge, and re-evaluation. It's kinda like making a decision on a modern car based on having one from the same company in the 70s or the 80s...the same criteria doesn't apply any more...

Yep. Stuff happens. That's how we learn. PDCA.

I absolutely cannot back up with mirrors. Not possible. Gotta turn around and look. Back up camera...no problem...hooked up and gone in about a minute...

Looks interesting...colors are a little weird...but that's OK. One thing I see that I have a question about: It looks like the gunnels dip a bit as they head towards the bow...Am I seeing that accurately? I had a Crestliner like that and it was an absolute PITA to mount a Terrova up there. The motor shaft was tilted back towards the hull and to prop was pulling down at a slight angle...did not work well at all. Wound up having a wedge shapped spacer made to level out the base of the trolling motor.

I don't do it because it's a PITA to cast baits that are too heavy for the rod...but that's me...

Pretty cool tech. It'll be interesting if there's a way to tie up a patent.

I went down this path last summer...had been circling the Smart Strike chip for a couple of years, wanted to upgrade my hardware first... My thought was: I don't really need it in water I fish all the time...but that'd be a great way to test it...so I bought the Wisconsin Smart Strike chip to give it a shot on a lake I fish at least every other week or so. First time out, I tried it right after I caught my first fish of the day...and it showed me all of the spots I'd normally try...and two I hadn't thought of...one of those was close...so I ran over, gave it a shot...and caught fish... Ordered the Lake of the Woods chip as soon as I got home. On a lake that size, ~ a million acres, you can't possibly know all the spots, nor are the paper maps at a scale that allows you to pick spots based on structure you can see. Even the LakeMaster chips ahve to be zoomed to a point where it's impossible to see what you need to see. Smart Strike worked as advertised and helped get us on fish. It also helped me on Wisconsin lakes I hadn't fished, or was learning.

Cool...and fun to read!

I've been painting bass popper heads for fly fishing with nail polish for years... Considering moving to UV cured nail polish this season, but haven't got off the starting line on getting it done yet. This is a good reminder!