Further North

I agree here - going to a reel with a good braking system is critical to a good learning curve and to cutting down on your frustration as you learn. I'd agree with Tatula CT, and would add in the Abu Garcia SX (was $99 at Cabela's last time I looked) and the Shimano Curado. I can recommend those because I've used them, I am sure there are others from Lew's, Quantum or other brands that will work just as well...but I'd strongly recommend getting in a slightly higher price point to get a better braking system. One to the first reels I bought when I got back into fishing was the Shimano Calais DC. Don't look at the price, it's not for the faint of heart...but with that reel and its braking system I was able to to get back up to speed with little frustration pretty quickly. These days, I've got that reel dialed way back, and it gets used for bigger pike and musky baits...but it sure was a confidence builder when I jumped back in.

You're not missing anything - it's mostly personal preference. Great summary. I'm pretty decent at slowing down high speed reels...not so good at speeding up slow ones...so I tend towards higher retrieve rates. ...to the point that I had a Revo Winch 50 that I bought last year converted from 5.4:1 to 6.3:1 because I was having trouble keeping big spoons out of the weeds.

Interesting...I appreciate the perspective, I need to ponder that a bit I like micro-guides, and use a leader...but I've been using the FG knot for two seasons now and have not had any problem with the know going through the guides. ...but I don't use 25# fluro for bass applications, I'm down around 8# - 12#. For pike and musky, I'll go to 65# - 80# braid and 50# - 80# fluoro (if I'm not using tieable wire), but none of th0se rods have micro-guides.

Yes, but you're going to have to hunt for it. Last time I ordered it direct from the maker, took forever. To me, the Tyger Wire is more supple...but I'm not sure it makes any real difference. ...and apparently I'm spelling it wrong. TyGer Leader. https://www.tygerleader.com/search.php You can buy 1000 foot spools. I'm afraid to even look at the price....

Do you use the Surflon, Tyger-wire, or something else I haven't discovered yet? I use both, but prefer the Tyger wire for most applications.

Agree - about half the rigs I set up Texas rigged with an EWG are tied to about a foot and a half of tieable wire (we have a lot of pike and muskie here). I found that the weight (I use steel or tungsten most often) beats the snot out of the knot...so I started using a pink or orange plastic bead between the weight and the hook. ...seems to trigger more strikes too, though I have no objective evidence of that. Some of my rigs tied like that will go weeks and weeks and dozens of fish (including plenty of the previously mentioned toothy kind) without a re-tie.

About the same here - except I don't want the leader-to-braid knot on the spool. Hurts my thumb when I cast.

You are - IMO - exactly right. Those words have been adopted, then twisted to be used for personal and political gain for individuals...which puts those of us trying support real habitat maintenance and improvement at a real disadvantage. The abuse of the terminology by that bunch of extremist goons makes it much, much harder to be taken seriously by about half the population.

Short answer: Yeah, the outside of your kayak might get a little beat up. It'll all be cosmetic unless you're careless or have no idea what you're doing and do reckless, unsafe things with it. But who cares? That's what it's for. You didn't buy it to provide a showroom quality collector item to some kid 25 years from now, you bought it to fish out out of.

I'd be surprised if you can't get into water half that deep. I can with my CMV, and your hull has 10+ years of improvements built into it.

Yup...or Mepps...or any of the other brands. Stream smallies ain't that fussy, or pressured enough for it to make any real difference. Keep 'em outta the rocks, if you can. If you can't, have enough along so you can break 'em off...or be prepared to wade over and pull them lose.

Keep your line tight...and watch it. If it moves in any direction that doesn't make sense for a falling rig...set the hook. Hooksets are free. Never forget that...

I'm trying to skirt around this, because I do not believe for one moment that a person's political orientation has even the tiniest influence over whether you are a real environmentalist or not....and because I believe firmly that BassResource is not the place for political discussion...I come here, in large part because I don't have have to deal with that crap...love it, support it, will fight any intrusion of politics here as hard as I can. ...but you're right. We've polluted the term "environmentalist" by aligning it with a certain political alignment...and that's silly...and wrong....and hurts our real cause. Here's the deal, from one guy's perspective: We need mining. Fact of life. Ignoring that is stupid. But...we can mine cleaner than we do...it just costs more. So...what we do currently, is hide those costs in government subsidies...or we just ignore them until they become a problem years from now, after the mining company has closed it's doors and there's no one to go after for the costs of a clean up...so the we, the taxpayers, foot the bill. That's wrong, IMO. Get the costs out there, up front, and pay the piper now rather than shuffling the BS down the line to our kids. I'll shut up now, and will not be offended in the least if this gets deleted by the mods...even though I think I've done a good job of avoiding politics, I am well aware my bias towards clean water and wildlife habitat colors my vision. If anyone would like to argue any of the above...do it off-line via PM or e-mail. Not going to engage here, ever.

Both units are running the most recent software...unless they've release a new update since my original post on this topic. I'm sort anal about keeping things updated; I check about once a month. The "requirement" to re-set to default before updating is an old one. The updates now do it for you...Not having 100% faith in programmers...I still do the manual reset though. Belt and suspenders...

If you go there, I'd find a way to spend a day on the Menominee River. Pay a guide if you have to. Consider Green bay as well, for smallies and musky. ...again, don't be afraid to pay a guide.

Is this the same issue of Bassmaster that says I can rum my 18 ft. boat with a 55 lb trolling motor? ...I'd guess Mille Lacs rating comes from its smallie population, not a potential record largemouth.

Man...this is a bummer...posted here, Walleye Message Central, the Humminbird Facebook forum...nothing. HB is usually pretty good about responding to this stuff, weird that they are not on this.

Yup. I can think one one instance in my life where I thought, "Hmmmm...too much power!". That was a Triumph TR6 with a Chevy 327 stuffed in it by a home builder.

Yup...but God help me if I start fishing for walleyes. Here's the real scoop: A few years ago, I was out on Lake of the Woods chasing pike, muskies and smallies. We were working our way out spot to spot and were about 3 miles from camp (on an island in Whitefish Bay) Went to start the big motor...dead as a doornail. Made it back to camp on the trolling motor (caught a bunch of fish on the way). Determined the culprit was a short in the charging cable for my Terrova, swapped out the battery and headed back out. Expensive battery, BTW. Extra battery and charger went in when I got home. ...my trolling motor batteries are not anywhere near accessible (center bottom of the boat, under the rod locker, which is full of...rods. I'm not taking $3,000 dollars worth of gear out, laying on the deck while I take 20 minutes to work pretty much upside down in the battery compartment to pull a battery to start the motor. Jumper cables don't work well for the same reason - all the rods have to come out to even get to the batteries. Way easier to add the 5th battery and charger...and it's got added benefits because the electrical system for my electronics is now 100% separate from everything else. Zero interference, ever. Cleaner images.

Yep. I'm not a fan of "cut it off twice and it's still too short" thinking. It's a secret, I can't tell you... Just kidding: 3 for the 36 volt trolling motor 1 Starting battery 1 for the electronics (separate, isolated system has lots of benefits, and provided emergency back-up for starting battery). Someone will be along shortly to tell us I don't need that extra battery, they may be right for their rig, they are wrong for how I fish. Endurance is exactly the issue. Been there, done that on having two batteries for the twelve volt TM...it works, increases the amount of time you can run...but it's nothing like an 24 volt TM...which is nothing like the 36 volt system...

As usual...we think alike...

From a non-specified national magazine devoted to bass tournament fishing, a quote from David Walsh, Marketing Manager at Motorguide: OK...let's run the math: Boat: 1200 lbs. Motor: 400 lbs. Gas: 240 lbs 5 batteries: 350 lbs Trolling motor: 55 lbs. Two battery chargers: 60 lbs. Rods, Reels, lures, baits, etc.: 250 lbs Electronics: 40 lbs. Angler: 220 lbs. Total: 2,815 2,815/100*2: 56.3 lbs of thrust. That's a 12 volt trolling motor, not a chance that'd work on an 18 ft. boat fishing all day...even in calm water. Let's be generous and add in the 10 lbs of thrust for wind and current: 66.3 lbs thrust. We'll round that up to the 70 lb., 24 volt motor. Again, not a chance that'd work all day in wind and/or current. I'd say 80 lb, absolute minimum...and I run almost exactly twice the calculated recommendation. ...can't figure this out. Are they trying to sell more motors by guaranteeing that everyone will be ticked that their first trolling motor doesn't have the snot to get the job done, so they'll sell it and buy a new one? Or did the magazine just misquote Mr. Walsh? Or is Mr. Walsh, like most marketing guys, just making things up on the fly?

More info: I can see DI from the MEGA transducer on the bow unit all the time. I often run the 2D/DI split screen, just for fun...it's kind of interesting seeing what the 2D is showing me on an 18 ft. delay.

You nailed that...all of it... I've fished with the Tight Lines guys a couple times, knowledgeable, fun...and they got us on fish. Lots of fish. Wisconsinites are frustrated because the proposed mine is on the MI side, and we apparently don't get a lot of input.

http://tightlinesflyshop.com/product/one-fish-two-fish-save-the-menominee-river-t-shirt/