Jig Man

I only use Shimano reels bait casting and spinning. I don't have any idea how many I have but it is close to 2 dozen.

I used to fish with a guy who had a vertical rod holder. It was in front of his console. The rod were always getting hit by him or me when casting.

Your cranking battery needs to be very good as it is soooo important. I can run aerators, power poles, and 3 sonar units all day long and still have lots of juice to start my engine. Don't skimp on the cranker.

If you go for 2 trolling motors, have you given thought as to how you would operate them at the same time?

X2

The three bank will be less hassle if you can get it to fit. Like A Jay I am running 4 optima batteries and a 4 bank.

I have 2 of them, the old SOSpender which I can't stand to wear and a Mustang which I wear and don't even know that I have it on.

Good for you blue. You can stumble of a lot of different species with Ned. I fished it solid for 2 weeks last spring on Stockton. It put 9 species of fish in the boat including the regular 3 black bass species.

Get you a tube of high temp RTV silicone. You can use it to cover up mistakes. You should see some of my molds that used to have collars and take 90° hooks that now take flat eye 28° hooks.

I have Shimano XG 70s that I use for everything from cranking to Ned rigging. I really like them. I bought 2 of them used on this site.

I'm not nearly as knowledgeable as these two guys but I have slightly bent hooks to get them into molds that they weren't made to fit, like putting a 28° in to a mold that takes 30°.

I've owned a bunch of units in the last 20 years and not one of them ever came with a card.

You will find out more if you go to a store that sells all of them and get a knowledgeable salesman to walk you through the menu items. Like stated above seeing what makes the most sense to you on the menus will shorten your learning curve after you purchase one. I have Lowrances while a couple of my friends have Bird and Garmins. I can't do anything with either one of them and they can't do anything with mine as the language and screen options are so different.

I have had all of the ones mentioned. I prefer the ones that retract back into the gunwale but you would have to do some cutting. I have them on both sides and normally carry 3 rods on each side. Enough room but have to watch where I walk.

That is why I buy white braid to begin with. I can mark a couple of feet with a sharpie if needed.

X2

No it is not. I do it all the time. I had to get a photo resizer before I could do it.

Congrats on getting a boat. Just remember that a boat is a hole in the water that you pour money into. You don't say the size of engine. Find out what CCAs (cold cranking amps) the engine requires and get something with more. For trolling motor batteries the thing to look for is RC (reserve capacity). I would not go below 180 and get larger if I could find them. Brand is not real important as there are only a few battery manufacturers who make batteries under lots of labels. If you want to try to stay away from electrical interference, hook everything except the trolling motor to the cranking battery.

CCA is what I look at for a cranking battery. I don't know what a 1590 Merc is. You can look at your motor specs and see what CCA is needed then go a little more.

I don't match the hatch unless it is an accident. I make most of my stuff and go for things no one else has in colors that the fish have never seen.

I used to make jigs for a boat dock. They only took delivery (100 dozen) once an year and could never remember my name so when I walked it invariably someone would say, "There's the jig man."

Try here http://www.cncmolds.com

Same as Bluebasser except I don't drink whiskey.

Myself I'd get #3 heavy for the baits. I have no idea for the ovals.

My Lowrances do this in shallow water. I think it is so much sound being reflected back in the shallow water. That shallow all they are good for is keeping you from running aground.