@reelChris

New graphics can make an older boat look newer again. You can sometimes find OEM graphics for sale on on the web. If not, there's plenty of decal places that produce giant vinyl stickers with generic designs for not much money - you just have to make them fit. These are 78" x 8 " for $39. These are 72" x 9" for $59.

I use this Kastking tackle bag as a tournament co-angler. It's not big enough to be obnoxious, but will hold 8 x 3700 boxes and 4 x 3600 plus tools and other stuff. If you skip the 3600's in the side compartments, you can fit tons of soft bait bags in there.

I think graphing is more about finding structure than fish. It's great if you see fish, but chances are they're gone by the time you see them. You're better off locating structure and marking it as a waypoint and then fishing it a different times in different ways to determine if it holds fish. This video should get you started.

Is it me or does no one use bumpers any more? The video above and the entire miami boat ramps channel feature people docking expensive boats with unprotected gunnels. If I had a fiberglass boat I'd have bumpers out when docking.

I think with most lures, it's fair to say that if you don't know work them, don't. Just cast, let sink and sit on the bottom. If you're in the right spot, eventually, something will come along to eat what you've offered.

I forgot to mention I looked for and found Daiwa Aird rods because of your comments about them here, but they only had bait casters. That said, they were priced at $49 but seemed a lot higher quality than a lot of the other rods in that price point.

Thanks all for the suggestions. I went to a store today and checked out the Mitchell Avocets, the Black max and some Lew's and 13 Fishing combos in person. They were all nice, but I happened upon the last 2 piece 6'6" medium Pfleuger combo with a 30 size president reel for $59. The rod is OK, but the reel seemed a lot nicer than the other combos, and the set was priced $20-25 less than most places online based on my hasty research. The same store had one piece GX2 rods for $39 and President reels for $49, but I didn't think the extra $30 improved substantially on the all-Pflueger combo, so I went with that and put the extra cash into some baits and line.

I'm looking to purchase a $50 - $60 6' medium spinning combo as a gift for a 10 year old. Is there any real difference between the following combos: Ugly stik GX2 Kastking Centron Abu Garcia black max Pflueger president/bass pro graphite series Undoubtedly the Bass pro combo is probably the highest quality, but it's also over budget ($80) and out of stock. The Abu gets OK reviews and it's still way over budget ($75). The GX2 is an indestructible rod but the reel doesn't get great reviews. So, I'm leaning towards the Kastking because Amazon has it in stock and it seems to deliver the most performance within that limited budget unless someone can point me in a better direction.

EDITED for clarity: Is there a trick to finding stainless, non-magnetic screws under bass boat carpet? They are invisible. Alternatively, where the screws are located on the throttle panel of a Tracker Pro 170? Thanks!

I'm not saying anyone should weasel out of a handshake deal. However if representations were made by the seller, such as the size of the trailer, and they turn out to be untrue, then you have legitimate grounds to decline to go through with the deal.

"Bought" as in she paid for it or just told someone she'd take it without money changing hands?

Bass 4 life, I'm sorry to tell you this, but Craig passed away last year. https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/beverly-hills-fl/craig-defronzo-9053062 That being said, your letter could use some work. Specifically, it rambles and includes a lot of unnecessary details like your favorite bait colors. Try to organize it like this: Who am I? Why am I writing to you? What I can do to help your business? What accomplishments do I have to prove I can do this? E.g., tournament results, larger number of instagram it YouTube followers, etc. Closing - thanks for reading, I'll contact you via phone in xx days to follow up

To update my earlier post - Kastking finally released their 13x and 8x braids through Amazon. They must think very highly of it as it's $29.99 for 150 yards of the 13x and $16.99 for 150 of the 8x.

To add to this - I just received an Onyx re-arm kit for the A/M 24 vest from Amazon and was dismayed to find that it only has 18 months of life left. Buyer beware I guess.

1/2" x 1" neoprene 60A hardness rubber strip adhered to the rail with 3M extreme tape and sealed on the top with Marine goop like this: Total investment is about $130.

You can, but then I'd have to run wires from the front deck all of the way to the battery. I'm currently having a really tough time finding the screws to get the front deck off for some other projects, so I'm not sure running wires is feasible.

Can you tap into the trolling motor plug in parallel to add a volt meter? Looking at the backside of the plug there doesn't seem like a whole lot of room unless you actually tapped right off the positive and negative wires but I'm not sure if that's smart. For reference:

Last summer I pulled in about 50 yards of line that terminated in a really foul smelling Texas rigged senko still hooked in the throat of a what I assume was a bass. The rest of the fish was gone but the throat was still there. It looked like a slimy tube.

So, to answer my own question, as per THIS ONYX OUTDOOR VIDEO, which I'm pretty sure makes the Bass Pro vests based on their identical appearance, product name (A/M 24) and the fact that the Bass Pro manual advises the use of Onyx rearm kits, the date printed on the bobbin is the date of manufacture. I hereby retract my earlier annoyance at Bass Pro.

After doing some more research, I'm not certain that the dates printed on the Bass Pro bobbins are expirations. Here's the bass pro bobbin: If you look at a Mustang rearm kit - the date printed on their bobbins is very similar to the Bass pro vests: Based on the info on the rear of the Mustang package, which has a separate expiration date exactly three years later than the bobbin date in the package, the bobbin date must be a date of manufacture, no?

Downsizing tackle is only half of the game. You're not really doing it right if you're not fishing out of a finesse bass boat.

Bass PROOOOOOOO!!!! Because of this thread, I just checked the bobbins in the two A/M 24's I bought during the sale a couple of weeks ago. Yup, expired in 10/2020. Back to the store they go. Thanks A-Jay, I wouldn't even have thought to look had you not said anything.

Kastking put out an email press release this week announcing its new 13 strand braid. Not a lot of specifics were provided, but Amazon already has two strengths on the site, 15 lb @ .17mm diameter and 30lb @ .28 mm. That's thinner than 832 (15 lb @ .22mm and 30lb @ .29mm) and Powerpro 15 lb @ .19mm. https://www.amazon.com/KastKing-KastPro-Finesse-Braided-Fishing/dp/B08RYJYNLF?th=1&psc=1 (For Immediate Release - March 22, 2021 - Garden City, Long Island NY) KastKing, (kastking.com) a division of Eposeidon Outdoor, Inc., introduced a new specially designed, extraordinary braided fishing line with 13 strands of Ultra-High Molecular UHMPE fiber -- KastKing KastPro 13X Finesse. Using a sophisticated hybrid fiber and weaving process, KastKing created the smoothest, most supple and longest casting braided line for finesse, and other techniques. KastKing KastPro 13X-Finesse braid line is not only extremely thin, soft, smooth, and supple, but also has remarkable knot strength and straight-line breaking strength. KastKing developed 13X Finesse for spinning reels which require a more supple line with no memory but also work great on casting presentations. KastKing has also produced a new 8-strand hybrid braided fishing line; KastKing KastPro 8X-Finesse. With almost identical characteristics of its 13-carrier twin, many anglers will opt to use KastPro 8X Finesse for its incredible value. Still soft, supple, quiet, long casting and great knot strength, 8X Finesse is a great option at a lower price. “After years of development and testing, the new KastKing KastPro 13X Finesse and 8X Finesse Braided line will be one our most important new product introductions in 2021!” says Al Noraker, KastKing VP of Business Development. “Finesse techniques with spinning gear are becoming incredibly important for anglers targeting a wide range of species from Bass to Walleye and more. They've needed a braided fishing line that delivers incredible casting distance, smooth and quiet performance through guides, industry leading sensitivity and ultra-thin diameters. KastPro X Finesse lines delivers on all these points and much more. “Most finesse techniques require the use of a thin, no-stretch braid combined with a short to medium fluorocarbon leader. X Finesse excels in knot strength and tournament anglers testing this new braid have rated it the best they've used.” On March 20, Tate Cui, Eposeidon-KastKing CEO said during a KastKing new product introduction event, ”…KastKing has launched KastPro 13X Finesse Braided Fishing Line. 13 strands of Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene, (UHMPE) fibers are crossed 36 times every inch (36 PPI) creating the smoothest, most supple and longest casting braided line for finesse techniques. 12 over 1 construction of KastPro 13X Finesse produces a perfectly round braid fishing line. It makes KastPro 13X’s surface as smooth and soft as mono line or fluorocarbon line. You can hardly see its PPI, which greatly reduces the friction through the fishing reel and the line guides of the fishing rod to deliver long, quiet casts… “…Why is the diameter of the 13-stranded line thinner than the general four-stranded or 8-stranded line? The answer is simple. Customized UHMPE fiber and a unique weaving process. The fiber of KastKing KastPro 13X Finesse Braided Fishing Line is a type of special customized UHMPE fiber. This UHMPE fiber is 1/2 to 2/3 thinner than normal fibers, and the customized fiber is stronger and softer, and ‘fuzzing’ does not easily occur when weaving. “Meanwhile, the weaving process must be very sophisticated. With 1 strand of fiber as the center core, the other 12 strands wrap tightly around the center core that creates a perfectly ‘full and round’ finished braid rather than quadrilateral like general 4-strand or 8-strand braided line.” KastKing CMO Tom Gahan says, “You could call X Finesse a ‘Boutique fishing line’, but they are not specialty lines. KastKing KastPro X Finesse lines can be used across a wide range of applications for freshwater and saltwater fishing. By offering a quality braided line at an affordable price KastKing set the fishing world on fire with KastKing SuperPower braid, which has been the best-selling braided fishing line for years on Amazon. Our price points for the new 13X and 8X lines are extremely competitive. That makes these lines attractive to professional and recreational anglers, alike.

Amazon?

The upside is price - the 190 is priced below the closest aluminum competitors. The downside is they achieve that by skimping on components. If you compare the 190 to a ranger RT188P, you'll see the extra $3k gets you three extra inches of boat length and beam width, an aluminum deck, a fiberglass console, 24v 70lb thrust trolling motor, bigger rod lockers, better fish finder, deck rod straps and various color choices. The regular 188 is $1k less that the P model and has similar features except the trolling motor and electronics are comparable with the tracker. And, ranger offers many options in terms of electronic, motor and trolling motor upgrades. Tracker offers almost no upgrade options. Trackers are great for what they are, basic boats. But if it were me, I'd spend a little more to avoid having to upgrade everything down the road.