casts_by_fly

The difference in cost between 20/30/50 AH batteries right now is very small. No need to scrimp unless you have a specific space constraint and can only fit a tiny one. I'm running a 30 AH for mega live and 9" helix. That also powers my nav lights (which rarely get used) and minn kota puck (which draws two tenths of nothing for power). I went 30 because that's the biggest that fits in my center hold hatch. I can fish two solid days on it which means if I have a back to back I don't have to worry about charging (I only have one charger and I do the motor battery first). I also built a shunt to connect the FF battery to the main battery/motor in case the main battery has an issue. I've had to use it twice in two years so it was worth it.

the hook is the part that actually connects you to the fish. the last thing I'm doing is scrimping on the hooks. gamakatsu round bend megic eye for me.

Thanks. Note that there are two different sized 2500s. There is the C2500 and the regular 2500. I'm pretty sure the C2500 is actually a 2000 sized body with a little bigger spool while the 2500 is a 3k sized body with a shallow spool. If a 2500 sized stradic is 'too big' for you, then the C2500 is the next size smaller.

Care to share the link to a stradic for 150 on amazon? I can get that from digitaka but haven’t seen that on amazon.

two seasons ago that’s how I caught a bunch of my bass. Swim jigs were the thing that year and I fished them with a keitech 3.8 or 4.2. Pitch them to the holes in the grass and let them hit bottom. Give it two hops and swim it back. Or cast it out well past a hole and swim it across the top. Then when you hit the hole kill it and let it fall. I also pitched docks with it the same. I rarely tie on a non swim jig anymore. We have so much grass from may onward that any other head style just gets hung too much. So now I just tie on a swim jig and maybe swap trailers for a different action.

too big? No, but i bet it depends on the reel. A 2500 stradic is the same body as the 3k. I have the 3k on a poison adrena 6’10” ultralight/medium extra fast which is more like a ml. I’ve got a 2k shimano on my 7’ light. I’d have no problem swapping them around. A 7’2” poison adrena screams for a 3k stradic for me.

Heck, if you’re spending $110-120, why not spend an extra $30 and get a jdm stradic.

Whatever color the forage is. Influenced a little by the light level (sunny or cloudy). The first one that soft water posted above is pretty close to one of my go to colors. I also throw the below (dirty 420) a bunch if the water is a little dirty or it’s darker out.

The kids are playing ice hockey on the local park pond and have been for over a week now. The township won’t let them on unless it’s at least 4” and that was over a week ago. I bet we have 8-10” if I had to guess. With negligible forecast over 32 and lows in the teens or lower the next 10 days, my prediction isn’t going to age well.

That’s what I’ve done. Had the mighty mount there already from using yak attack rod holders there for a while. I had the spare omega holder also.

I third what they all said. not sure how heavy you want to deal with or how hard you’re going to push it, but a 100 ah LiTime on amazon with Bluetooth is $189 and about 20#.

Yes and no. I use hbird myself but I’m using mega in this context for convenience to mean 1000 mega hertz type frequencies. The hds gen 2 is 200 mhz. The gen 3 are 433/800 mhz. There is a big difference between what 200 and 800 will show you.

make sure you are using the navigation and navigating to the supercharger (or navigate to your destination and let it pick the charger). When it’s cold it will precondition the battery (warm it up) so that you get the full charge speed from the start. If you plug in dead cold (30 degrees) it will charge at like 20% speed until the battery warms which can take 20 minutes at that temp. yeah, comfort mode is slow. Even if you floor it the car only accelerates at a 6-ish second 0-60 speed. Maybe even slower. home charging is awesome. We never charge away from home unless it’s a big trip. It can be about empty and in the morning it’s filled back up again. At the current gas prices it’s about 1/3-1/2 the cost per mile compared to gas.

have you tried turning down the frequency from 1000 or 800khz down to 233 or 400 whichever the gen 2 uses? There is a noticeable difference between mega type frequencies and older lower frequencies. Mega gives you more fine detail (fine line) but the lower frequencies have more of a ‘flooded’ picture.

you’re right that rod bond is probably the best choice. However, standard 30 or 60 minute epoxy is also perfectly acceptable. And most people have it on hand. You or I might happen to have a pair of u40 tubs in the drawer but most won’t. And for $15 plus shipping that’s a chunk of money for something that’s basically got one use and that he needs two pencil erasers worth in volume. Most people will have a double syringe of 30 minute epoxy in the drawer already. if you have to buy something anyway-sure get u40. If you have 30 minute epoxy on hand already just use that.

Falcon cara eye crosser. At 6’11” the eye crosser is a great length for managing the heavier baits. If you’re going for longer distance casting and covering flats then the amistad is the answer. Those are my 3/4 oz and up spinnerbait/bladed jig/jig rods.

the rage bug is my go to beaver and general pitching bait. Separate the claws and legs for more action. Leave the connected for less. I carry 4 different sizes from the 3” to the magnum. I find the 4” as my usual go to. The 3” is a great finesse jig trailer.

do you feel less mentally tired compared to a normal drive? That’s what fsd does for me. I actually don’t use fsd as much as just the original assisted driving. I prefer the feature set in the middle assisted range (of the three in the options). I still am mostly driving it, choosing the lane changes, etc. Moreso than fsd. But because I’m not necessarily staring at the road, worrying about if I’m gaining on the car in front of me too closely, keeping it tight between the lanes, etc I find that my brain is more relaxed and less tired. I can watch the scenery a little here and there. Check the settings. It might be in comfort acceleration mode. Honestly, that difference is really negligible other than on a track. Where the ev acceleration is great is merging/pulling out. Short on-ramp ? Go for it. Traffic on a two lane main road? Just pull out and go. You can stick it into any gap in traffic ever it seems.

Waterproof? iPhone. Take pictures underwater without a housing? Olympus tg series. I don’t think you want to do diving cameras in a housing, but if you do we can talk.

we have a model x with fsd so I understand where you’re coming from. Our first x had free supercharging for life. If we didn’t have a charger installed in the house and had to use the supercharger network then I’d have never gotten rid of it. The new one doesn’t have that offer but it’s not a big deal given how much we charge at home. it’s a little clunky, but abrp has been accurate for mileage and charge times when we use it. You don’t have to factor in mountains or cold, but don’t forget about mileage running around at your destination. I plan journeys round trip as a starting point. https://abetterrouteplanner.com Plaid was the new word for insane mode. Insane was up to 2021 models or so. Then they changed the name. Either way, to buy it new that option costs $10k. We decided against it. With the extended range option (instead of plaid) you get some extra battery range, don’t spend $10k and still 0-60 in about 4 seconds.

I wouldn’t add a garmin unit up front just for livescope. If you really want a dedicated livescope head unit, then I’d go lowrance so everything was integrated. If you can live with just a single unit up front, I’d upgrade the lowrance from an elite to an hds pro. Then you don’t need the black box ($$ savings). You’ve saved a head unit ($$). You have a less cluttered bow. A garmin lvs34 bundle with a black box and 93sv is about $2700. An elite 9” is $1k. Put that together and you get an hds pro 10” for $2800 and an at2 transducer ($1k) for the same price more or less. You get a better and bigger head unit and less clutter.

good catch. Same advice about a black box and networking.

HDs and elite share the same plug type with the hexagonal shape and threads. The lower end models are a push fit. Your plugs should work fine but you'll need to check when you get them. Depending on condition and wire gauge, its probably better to just run the new cables. You're getting them with the head unit anyway. I would put in a new transducer. Technology has come a LONG way since that unit. The elites are nice units and have a great picture but not with a transducer that is that old. LVS34 needs to be hooked up to a head unit/network. Presumably you have one at the bow and one at the console now that you're swapping to new. You need a black box to run the transducer into and then another wire back out to the head unit. At that point, you'd do the same for the other head unit and transducer. Then you have a full network. All transducers, waypoints, and views will share between all head units. no

Then? No it wasn't uncommon. I have a couple berkleys in the garage from that period and one would fit what you want perfectly (6', ML, fast, stiff tip). But now its relatively uncommon. The trends have been to go longer, with exposed blank seats, and using light tips that get into power quickly. That's about the opposite of what you want. Finding 6'6" rods isn't too hard, but any shorter than that is getting tougher in a bass rod (hence the suggestions for multi species rods). good luck in your search.

you said it yourself. You adore the zillion and haven't warmed up to the bantam. the met is pretty darn close to the bantam in feel. I think the met is just a touch lighter, but they are both the same hard metal feel. Get the zillion. FWIW, my zillion is on my 'slightly bigger' rod. I throw buzzbaits and big chatterbaits/swimjigs on that rod but also pitch and cast medium sized texas rigs. I use the bantam and met for similar offerings of different sizes on different rods. All will do all of the techniquest and all are comparable smooth for all of the techniques. Since you love the feel of the zillion and they are ~$50 cheaper that's what you should do.