DanielG

Yes, that describes it exactly. This unit handles 60 amps and my motor draws max about 40. I have a second motor that I use only on full so it's a battery switch that turns it on. Yes, two electric motors gets me around the lake. I'm putting a dpdt switch in the mix to add reverse. You can get these units with a reverse switch built in but I couldn't find one that had as good ratings as this one. I'm going to place it in a lexan box with a small dc computer fan to keep it cool and mount it inside the console with just the control knob showing. Right now I've got a remote console mounted 5 speed switch like the ones you find in the handle. But it's been acting up lately after a few years. So, instead of changing it out I'll give this a try for a change. Fingers crossed.

When I pull the boat out of the water in about a week from now I'm going to winterize it and make a few repairs/alterations. One thing I'm doing is substituting the standard Minn Kota 5 speed switch with a variable speed controller. I've already ordered the electronics and watched all the youtube vids on it. It's a 60 amp unit, the motor pulls under 40 amps. Anyone retrofitted one of these before? I've included a picture but there are many others that may look different. BTW: My boat is a homemade fishing platform made out of a sailing catamaran with two trolling motors for propulsion. So, I'm not taking apart and modifying a bow mounted unit like many have. The whole thing is a type of Jules Verne retrofitted personal hack. I'm modifying it all the time. It's a labor of love always in progress.

Just bought a pair of New Balance crossfit. This type has a wide heel for lateral movement so they're also stable for getting around. NB also had wide stuff. I do a 4e. Other brands like Nike also have a 4e but I swear they're like a regular wide, maybe 2e. Very easy to tell when trying to get them on, I can't! New balance is a very comfortable shoe. One issue they do have is that the sole will sometimes separate at the toe halfway through their life. I Goo them and they're fine after that. Fun fact: in the late 70's I used to live in Salem NH. I'd go to the NB factory in Lawrence Mass, and they'd trace and measure my foot and make up a custom pair for me. Factory pricing, so sort of wholesale I guess. Wish I could do that today.

I needed a cooler for camping. We don't often camp in one location for long but sometimes we do. i.e. a bluegrass festival here in Maine, nine days. Regular coolers aren't that good. Better coolers are expensive. After looking at Yeti's I decided to make one. 2" of dense insulation and 1/4" plywood walls with framing lumber wood for the trim. All held together with glue and silicon. Alone it weighs 4 lbs. I use six 2 liter soda bottles with frozen water in them for cooling. After 9 days of camping all 6 bottles still had about 50% ice. A digital freezer thermometer (you can see it via small round window on the side) always registers about 40-43 degrees. Cost: About $40

Always more satisfying doing it yourself. You sit back and think, "I did that". feels good.

Ziploc freezer bags, quart size. The only difference between freezer and regular is the mil thickness of the plastic. I lay them flat, overlapping each other in my deeper tackle box. I've got to thumb through them but usually the most used ones reorder themselves this way and end up on the top.

I'm not a tackle junkie. I just fish what I've got. My yellow perch looking crankbait for example. It looks like a bait fish in my lake. Lot's of them. I fish it. It catches stuff. If I lose it I reorder the same one. Sometimes, I'll be in a store and think... oooo.... look at that one. If I were a fish I'd like that one. Other times I think. On sale! Once I was in a salvage store. It's called Mardens here in Maine. They buy up going out of business, storm damage, stuff like that. A wall of KVD stuff was really cheap. I picked out a bunch. Some looked great. Some didn't look like they'd be much use for the species around here. But they were pennies on the dollar. I've got a prettier collection now. I still only use a few, but I've got a 48 slot box and have filled a lot of it with really nice stuff that may never get wet.

Looking to find an economical option for storage I ordered this. It's a case to store sewing thread. It's often used to store matchbox cars. In fact it comes with a matchbox decal for kids who might order it for this purpose. Anyway, it has 48 compartments. Most are big enough for a fairly large crankbait. There are a couple of larger slots too. It's double sided, so two hinged covers open, one on each side. I was surprised to see that it's very good quality. The hinges are real hinges not creased plastic that will break after awhile. The latches are large and snap shut so that I have no thoughts that it will open up while I'm carrying it by the handle. The dividers are fixed but fairly large. The box is 14x10 1/2x3 inches. The pockets are 3x 1 1/2 inches. The plastic is thick and a bit flexible, so It's not brittle and will not crack. It's sort of the rubbery type of plastic. So far so good. It's great to bring on my not so large boat. I have my regular tackle box for the larger loose stuff and this for my compartmentalized stuff. It's called "Creative Options 5315 Thread Organizer" It's up to about $16 now but I got it a few weeks ago for $11.

What's with the wife leaving to fish? I just say, "goin' fishing, later". She says, "wear your preserver." and that's pretty much it. Of course the lake is in my front yard. Maybe that makes a difference.

I've got a Dobyn's fury medium. I like it. Then again everyone else likes their brand too. When I bought it I too looked at all the recommendations. Then with 57 options to choose from I bought the Dobyn's. No particular reason... at $119 it was just a choice. You'll probably be in that situation too.

I've noticed that most any bait into the wind around here can be an issue. The wind on this lake is sometimes of the type where canoes are sometimes seen standing still while two people are struggling to paddle hard going against it trying to get home. Surprising there aren't more sailboats actually. Anyway, when I cast upwind I tighten the tension a notch. That works nicely. I don't expect to get a long cast fighting the wind anyway. I find myself casting downwind a lot on those days. Sometimes I nearly spool out all my line. I do wish the tension knob had less sensitivity to it. An 1/8" turn is a big difference. Sometimes just a slight tightening or loosening will make a noticeable difference in the cast.

good to know!

Well, today I went out and the fish are biting again. I've been gone for a week. My Garmin says the water temperature is 70 degrees. It was 79 when I left. What I did catch (bass, crappie) seemed to be more active on the pole too. It was a cold, cloudy and very windy/choppy morning too. Hot water causes poor fishing in my lake in Maine? Go figure.

I have a 2015 f150. It doesn't have a push button ignition but in reality I think all new vehicles are push button ignition. Meaning... On older vehicles you had to hold the key to crank the engine until it started. If you didn't let go you'd hear the starter gear screeching. I'm sure we all remember this if you ever turned the key thinking the car wasn't running and it was. If you've got a newer vehicle (all of them I think?), turn the key to the start position and quickly let it go. The car continues to start just as if you were holding it. These days I think the key is just a start switch. It's just not push button.

I told the give a man a fish saying to a kid I had in class in my life as a teacher. He came back with this response. I always remembered it. Clever kid. Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish and he smells fishy for the rest of his life.

JB... spent my labor day weekend at Thomas Point Beach in Brunswick camping at the Bluegrass festival there. Actually did 6 days. The festival runs 4 days. I can still hear the twanging in my head. Good time though, but no fishing. As I watched the tide go in and out in the bay I thought, "Shoulda brought my pole." I went up way before the tourist lemming turnpike lines, and came back just before they headed south.

I have not enough experience to answer this question but it's looking so far like all techniques will be the best single technique after a few more days of entries in this thread. It's like when I was looking, for the first time, to upgrade to a more 'professional' pole. All poles were the best depending on who owned it. In the end, I'll be you end up just making up your own mind depending on what you might have had the most luck with or what you like to throw. Sometimes I just look at a swimbait or crankbait or whatever in the water and think. Boy that movement looks cool. I think I'll use this awhile. A few weeks ago I used my first chatterbait with a trailer on it. I just loved the undulating motion of the bait and tic-tic-tic feel at the end of my pole. I fished with it for a long stretch. Didn't catch a dang thing. I guess I found it more interesting than the fish did. So, my recommendation is a chatterbait with a trailer. It may not generate any action but I'll bet you like the action of the lure. Just throw what you think looks good. Forget about what the fish thinks. After all what does he know about fishing... ?

Well, I'm 65. I didn't realize it until my kids reminded me. Sometimes they might forget when they ask for help doing things like digging post holes to put in a fence. Last year I ended up getting an inflatable life vest so they wouldn't worry about me going out in cold spring water. I think it's a good idea actually so I always put it on especially if I'm out alone. But, to them, it's like having one of those life alert buttons in case "I've fallen down and I can't get up" as in the tv commercial. In the last five years I've noticed some strength decrease even though I work out trying to compensate for it every other day. My balance is sometimes a bit off, especially in the mornings right when I get up, And the integrity of the knees, particularly on stairs is beginning to be felt. I tell my doctor, "What's going on? This getting older thing is for the birds." I am fascinated by the aging process. It's like your body begins changing slowly and all you can do is be inside it and experience it happening. Sometimes you notice it and think 'What's going on?' The change isn't like puberty but it is as noticeable. You can see the subtle changes that you have absolutely no control over and it makes you wonder... well, if that happened in the last five years, what will it be in the next five, or five after that? I'm trying to ignore it. I believe it's good to age gracefully as it's inevitable. But, I'm also resisting it by refusing to act older. Alas... it doesn't always work.

Well, all of his novels are proofread by his editors for errors like misspelling his name. But I don't have his editors so, Voila! Kinky typos. BTW.... Being from Maine he's a pretty famous fixture around here. My wife's brother went to school with him. Fun fact. Or maybe not so fun but a fact nevertheless. It was a typo.. but a pretty funny one I guess.

Great... remember the brakes are important on these things but the key is to adjust the tension knob so the lure barely falls when you release the line. it will cast good and when it hits the water, minimal if any nesting. You can loosen the tension knob and get further casts but the more you do the more you have to pay attention to the thumb.

Ahhhh! I was in the Lowe's parking lot the other day loading a couple of sheets of plywood into the back of the pickup truck. A young guy was walking by as he went into the store and said, "Want a little help there young fella?" I thought.... Is that where I am? I'm one of those people I thought was old several years ago when I was his age? In my mind I still think I'm 35... well maybe 55. I've been fortunate to be retired awhile now, 13 years; I highly recommend it BTW. I've done more lifting, building, and traveling during that time than I ever did before. The joints are feeling a little wear lately but nothing much has changed other than that. Well... off to the Y for my cardio sessions. ?

On another note.... I just put some 30 lb braided line on my spinning outfit. Super slick 8. I've been casting a bit off the dock. What a vast improvement over mono or fluoro that I've been used to. The line seems to spin off the spool much easier. No coils is the reason I think. I really love this type of line. I'm going to try some on my Casting reel and see if my results are the same. Someone mentioned on another forum topic that I posted to that upping to maybe 50 lb might be better on the casting outfit. I think it's worth trying.

We're some of the only hunters that catch and release. All others are shoot and die. (no issue with this. Just pointing out a difference). So, revel in the idea that we hunt but almost no killing is done.

I've got his unit. If I read you right, I'd think that if the battery wasn't connected good the entire unit wouldn't work. Sometimes my sonar unit plug works itself loose on the back of the unit. I'd think it's something like that. Beyond that a bad sonar transponder (the thing on the trolling motor) but they're just a specialized antenna. I don't think they go bad much. I'm interested in case this ever happens to mine. Let us know if you find a solution, and good luck

Wow, looks like someplace out of a Steven Kink novel. Creepy.