fishnkamp

Well I do it a little different. First I am a mechanic and have been for almost 35 years so to help avoid cramping and for other reasons I use both left and right hand reels. Any lure I throw and basically just retrieve like a crankbait, ralltle trap, spinnerbait etc I use a right handed baitcaster. Any lure like a jig, carolina rig, jerkbaits,top waters, swimbaits, frogs etc. I use a left handed reel. The purpose is to keep my dominant hand (I am right handed) imparting the action and I can react immediately if the bait is hit upon entry. In these cases all the left hand is doing is slowly taking in line until the fight is on.

P Line FloroClear and CXX

The engine battery is separate and so I would run it till it drops. The trolling motor batteries work together, so replace them together with the biggest size you can fit in the boat. Also recharge them immediately upon returning from the water.

Give them a call first make sure they have one in stock. They carry several brands.

It is inconvenient I know but the best way to test them is by disconnecting the wires and using a battery load tester like this one. The batteries must be isolated so the wiring must be disconnected. It puts an electrical load on the battery which can tell you if a cell is going bad. It only cost $22.00 from Harbor Freight. Otherwise pull the batteries and go to Battery Warehouse or Auto Zone they will test it with essentially the same tester. Now for the bad news. If there is a bad cell in one they should all be replaced. These batteries should all charge to the same level and since they are hooked up to the same load they should all discharge at the same rate. If one is bad I would replace all three with the same exact batteries at the same time 100 Amp 6/12V Battery Load Tester Cen-Tech - Item#61747

A quick check in the internet concurs 304 ss. They are grade 8 so they should torque to about 80 foot pounds. https://www.boltdepot.com/fastener-information/Bolts/US-Recommended-Torque.aspx Here is a chart.

He said he got them on sale from DSG Dick's Sporting Goods store.

If you run salt or tidal water at all I would go galvanized or aluminum. Try to find one that is "C" channel rather than box frame construction, they last way better. They may cost more but last way more because the salt can not rust the metal from the inside out. The trailers with simple plastic fenders and side boards do not look as fancy as the "custom" trailers but make it easy to adjust to fit the boat better. After that, the Fulton F1 winch works well and the Fulton trailer wheel works well too. I like at least 13 inch tires so they run slower when towing at high speed. Start by looking at your old trailer for weight capacity. It is fine to go up in spec but not down. I also like the swing away tongue trailers.

I have been using P LIne FloroClear and like it.

Pflueger President. They are $60 from Dicks and almost everywhere. They are bulletproof. I have been running some for a decade. This past April my wife and I were fishing Ned Rigs on G Loomis 6 foot light action rods (721's) for smallies on Dale Hollow lake. She hooked and landed a 6.8 pound channel catfish. Now I loosened her drag a bit but she fought that fish for ten to fifteen minutes running from the front to the back of the boat, She did land it and I weighed it. I sat in the drivers seat laughing the whole time. The reels drag worked perfectly.

That is great news. As you run some new fuel through it always run StarTron to avoid fuel water issues. Also I would replace the fuel lines to the new ethanol resistant lines. I ddi not have a problem but replaced all the way from the tank to the fuel lift pump on my boat just to avoid a problem. Also I found Lowe failed to tighten a clamp at the fuel tank. Nice QC there. Glad I found it , it could have it to suck air or worse leak fuel into the bilge! Since it was behind aluminum panels I would have never seen it.

I would go for the Irod IRG693C or the IRG733C, Both are Harold" Lone Star Specials

First,all bolts a graded. Their torque capacity is determined by their thread size, grade and pitch. So for an example two 3/4 inch say fine thread bolt would have a different torque capacity if one is grade 8 and one grade 5. Also metric ( and there are multiple metric pitches) are different than its us counterparts. If they are us (inch) threaded either fine or course bolts they will most likely have 3 or 5 diagonal lines on their head. I know I just ran around your question but I really did not. Tell me what size and grade bolt and I will give you the standard torque for that bolt. I have charts in my engine manuals to cover them. If they are metric once again I have those too. If I thought they were compromised what I would do is remove one and go to the nearest commercial bolt supply place. My preference would be grade 8 over 5 always. I would replace all of hardware with new including washers and stainless would be my choice, however they are not always available. Tractor Supply as well as some hardware stores otherwise many times you will have a commercial bolt supplier nearby. Also sometimes West Marine can be a good choice to get bolts. If you give me the bolt spec I will give you the torque spec.

Both Dicks and Gander Mountain have some really nice combos for a reasonable price.

They looked at how you cared for it and remember today bad press can cost way more than the one frame.

How much is a brand new power head? As for no oil related engine failures these days? Optis did not get rid of its nickname as OPTI POPS!!!!!! and probably never will. I am not sure the oil will cause a failure, but if I owned it I would not want to find out. Not to just suggest that Merc is the only one many early SHOs failed too. I have not heard too much about the Gen2 Rudes but Gen1 was not perfect either. Go read how Merc now wants you to run its new engines. The break in period is crazy and after you are done with break in they tell you to start and idle their motors until it reaches 130 degrees. How many engines in the past did you have to run like that? None, you started them backed off the trailer and hit it almost immediately. Those old two strokes did not care because the tolerances were much looser.

Very neat if you have some pictures I would love to see them. Back when I lived in PA we had a guy who made them from scratch in order to run the Susquehanna River. He now makes fet boats instead.

I have never had the Shimano Curado I in my hands but i have had an older Curado and it was fine. I do have a Shimano Chronarch in a 7.1-1 It is a nice reel but I would rather replace it next year with another Type R

I sure do. I purchased two last year one in a 6.3-1 rh and one Type R 8-1 LH model..The Type R is on my frog rod. I liked them so much i replaced some other BPS Extreme reels that were working okay but... Anyway i now own a total of 5 Tatulas and Type Rs and since my budget got tight I picked up one Diawa Exceler. I like all of them. Smooth casting nice drags and feel solid. The Type Rs have a little better sealed bearings but you will never notice any difference for the extra money. I went to the two Rs for the 8-1 gear ratio. The Exceler is a bit cheaper ( I caught a Gander Mountain sale for $60 so it used all of my left over tackle money from this spring fishing flea market. It works fine but there is a difference. The T wing system does add to your cast for sure.

It took me longer and I do not need anything with me to tie a uni knot. I make 5 turns on the uni to uni per side and it has held up well. It even goes through the micro guides well for me. Give the other knot a try it was just not my favorite. Orvis made a neat tool to tie that knot with I have no idea if they still do. I have not had a fly rod in my hand in over 10 years. I did live next to the Susquehanna River and used a flyrod all of the time.

Powell rods are not as well known because a lot of the big stores do not carry them but they make a a couple of nice series of rods and all of them are less than $170 bucks.

I used to use it while fly fishing. i even had a great tool to make it with. It takes more time to tie and I find the double uni or uni to uni works great for me. I have relied on that knot for my backing to braid or braid to leader connections.

Check out Bass Pro there are some Bill Dance combos around that. Maybe you may want to go just a little bit higher but they have a bunch to look at. Also check Dicks Sporting goods they hsve some Lews American Hero, and some others. Not sure how good any of these are I have never looked at any of them.

There are lots of knots out there. I routinely use inexpensive mono for backing. Usually 1/2 of a reel. It takes up space meaning I get two reels spooled with one spool of braid I also use a leader if I am fishing clear water. With a leader I am only wasting leader material not expensive braid when I have to re-tie a lure. Now to connect either the backing to braid or braid to the leader I use a uni to uni knot. If I am careful tieing it, I can tie it quickly and that knot has been reliable even when fishing for big rockfish. For connecting to the lure I use either a trilene knot or a palomar knot . Consider P LIne CXX in 10 pound for a leader it is extremely abrasion resistant and actually breaks closer to 20 pounds. As for the spinning combo what are you looking for it to throw? What is your budget? Definitely consider a Pflueger President reel, they are some of the most reliable spinning reels out there and only cost $60. Otherwise Shimano has a bunch of good ones as well but most of them are higher in price.

Nice upgrade and you have a terrific wife! I am blessed to have one of those as well. She is addicted to smallmouth bass, so in our 30 plus years together we have owned 11 bass boats, canoes and jon boats. Believe it or not she made me get the boat we have now! I was going to wait a bit.