casts_by_fly

whereabouts north Jersey are you? I’m in Morris county.

I hadn't seen this video, but that ties up to what I'd read and heard. The explore looks like a better product than the Helix and Solix but its 40-50% higher price than the equivalent Helix. That's a tough road if you were planning for a Helix. if you were going to buy a solix then I think you're about the same price. The live imaging looks like they caught up to Livescope. One.

very nice! I think I've missed my window up here. I hunted the end of Oct to the middle of November (and not disappointed about that). Then family in town the entire past week (plus prepping for them last weekend) meant today was my first day without any plans. As I drove into work yesterday morning I could see a couple of the lakes skimmed over in ice and daytime highs for the next could days are only 32-34 (lows in the teens at night). There is a little warming trend coming, but I'm pretty sure the lakes are going to be iced up by then. Here's to hoping for an early spring.

For me, 50 is the number. Below that I temper expectations a lot. Once it hits 50 (in the spring) I know things are moving in the right direction and any trip could be the one where the fishing takes off. That said, I don't hate that late march 48 degree water type of trip. The weather is usually gross and keeping other guys off the water. And my PB smallie was in 43 degree water. Plus a couple months of pent up non-fishing combined with a bunch of new tackle/rods/upgrades that you're itching to try...

Ah. When you said spot lock above, I just assumed you were on a minn kota. I don't know what generation is on my autopilot. It's essentially a 2021 powerdrive with a short shaft and custom mount. I'm guessing maybe the second? Either way it's pretty good. It struggles a little if there is no wind/current to be stead against but then again I don't use it much in that scenario. Jog is awesome for working down the bank. When you have cover coming from all angles and want to hit it all, start at the start and fish what you can (outside edge, front edge, a couple casts back in). Jog over 10' with 2 button pushes and work the next set of angles as the boat puts itself into the spot. And of course every kayak anglers favorite spotlock feature- landing a fish. No getting pulled into the cover as you reel one in.

I’ve heard that it is mega live 2 and a new helix replacement called the explorer (I think?). Mega live 2 is not backwards compatible with previous helixes. And the solix is going away.

do you have a minn kota puck installed? Spotlock jog is great for what you’re describing.

Litime on Amazon are selling for $92 right now on a Black Friday sale. 12v, 50 ah. That’s a hard deal to pass up.

I’d not seen one that cheap ever but the li time batteries on Amazon are listed at that. In that case, I’d probably do that and then add a 36 transom mount to go with it! then again, if you’re going with litime batteries they have the 12v 50’s for $92 right now. I’d just get 4 of those (one for electronics) and you have a set. I’m tempted to buy four for myself right now.

Having now used spot lock for four years, I’d be lost without it. I’ve fished the front of my dad’s boat and spot lock/cruise control is just so nice for going down the bank. I’ll never have a boat without it. if you really want more speed then put another electric in the back. EPropulsion spirit 1.0.

with lead acid that’s definitely the case. With lithiums that have bms less so. a spare 36v battery is $1200 to have a spare. If you have a spare $1200 handy then great. That’s the easy button. But if you go with a set of 12v and have an issue on the water, you can drop your electronics battery in place of the bad one and get home. If you have an outboard this level of redundancy is less important. But here, the trolling motor is the only propulsion on a boat you’re not going to paddle well. So either a full spare battery or some way to get you powered again is needed. if it were me, I wouldn’t go 36v on the front. Keep the front motor simple for just fishing purposes. Get a 24v for the front, save a little cash there. Then put a 24v on the transom. That will keep the load lighter on the front motor. It means both motors are on the same voltage. It means two separate propulsion options. Yes it’s an extra 12v worth of battery and another motor, but deleting the outboard will save more than that cost.

You’ll want a house battery for the fish finder. The helix draws about 2 amps. Unless you’re running pumps all day, that’s your biggest draw. For a 10 hour day that’s 20 amp hours needed. A 30 ah lithium should be enough for you. If you want to be safe, a 50 should be plenty. That said, amped has a good sale on an 80 right now that is as cheap as a 50. The benefit of a 30 would be size. It’s a tiny battery. https://ampedoutdoors.com/products/copy-of-80ah-lithium-battery-lifepo4-none-bluetooth I would reconsider going with a single 36v battery. That will require a 36v charger which ramps up the price. And they are expensive as anything. Three 60 ah 12v would be the same price at retail but you’ll find them on sale which you won’t find for a 36. And if you have a cell go bad you can replace one battery for a third of the price instead of a full 36v battery replacement. Something like an amped 60 is about 7” cubed and takes up no space. Heck, at that rate just get 4 of them and call it a day. Then you have swapability if you need. for chargers, noco genius is great. If you get 4x 12v then I’d get two 10ah two-bank chargers.

I have megalive on an autopilot. I have the fishing specialties mount. I’ve been running the same setup for two years now with a helix 9. To answer your questions: No, it doesn’t get in the way while fishing. I stand to fish and the pole is about even with my leg/hip. That’s also the side I land fish on and still not a problem. The only time it’s ’in the way’ is if I’m going through thick grass/pads or if I am around a bunch of timber just under the surface. I rigged mine such that it’s only two screw connections for the wires and pull the whole pole out from the base plate. Super easy to put in and remove as needed. When I’m making a run between spots I pull the pole out of the water and lay it along the trolling motor. That said, it’s another step. Pull boat out of truck and get it into the water. Add motor. Add helix. Add tackle and rods. Add ffs. Even with quick connections, cable tray, etc it’s still an added step for each thing. Last season I fished one lake that I know a lot and I left all of the electronics in the truck a bunch. It was nice just grabbing rods, tackle, motor. Others here can talk about tournament use since I don’t fish them. But I’m pretty sure if I were to fish tournaments I’d have it every day. Certain circumstances it gives you a big advantage over not having it. Fishing Florida grass mats? Maybe not. Anywhere else? Yeah it can help.

I have a 30 ah lithuum from amped. Helix 9 plus mega live. It will do all day. charger is a noco genius 5.

that’s my plan. I think I’ll have to add a 6hp or so for the 9.9 lakes but I think that’s my best bet. A 16’ v bottom with a 9.9 is the other option. It limits the river but is fine elsewhere and a lot cheaper.

New boat is the plan per my other thread. Couple contenders so far but need to see what my bonus looks like closer to time of purchase. Time will be the biggest question mark. I think it will be about like this year which is to say a once a week affair (compared to 2023 which was 2-3). On that basis this year I fished one lake almost exclusively and learned it well. Assuming I get the boat, I’ll probably fish a couple different lakes and the river a bit more since they were tough to fish in an evening in the kayak. Tried some new techniques this year (smaller ‘big’ swimbait, neds, etc) to learn them. Next year will be an expansion on fishing those baits. I don’t have a ton of gear that I want or need, just a restock of my usual plastics that I went through.

The guys above already filled you in on lures. Now let me fill you in on places. We went to obx most summers from 2018 to 2023. I fished some way or another every trip except the last (short trip and I couldn’t be bothered to carry the gear). I looked at bass fishing as there is a good bit in the area. Not spectacular, but pretty decent. I fished the sound with bass lures looking for trout and reds the first trip, just wading the shore. Never did get into any, but caught some other junk fish. Knowing the area better now, I wasn’t in a great spot and it wasn’t a great time of year. I was in the southern sound below avon in august. The surf on the frontside varies by time of year. I never got into anything big, but plenty of croaker, spots, a puppy drum, some flounder, all on bait. Again, this was august time. Early spring the big drum run and there are a bunch of big ones around. I imagine after most of the people leave in September and the baitfish are staying close to the shore you’d be in good shape throwing spoons. My uncle used to do that further south in NC. That said, to the north you have the northwest river with a lot of boat access. Then there is the Chowan where mlf just had a pretty good tournament. Most guys fished one of the other rivers but there are bass all through them. Alligator river also. Not sure where in obx you will be, but from nags head those would all be less than an hour drive.

generically it’s the model designation from shimano. Curado 200. Bantam 150. Aldebaran 30. Smaller number is smaller size. The same number across different models will be the same sized spool usually, and often a pretty similar sized reel. A met 150 and a chronarch 150 are pretty similar in size and feel. It is NOT a hard measurement of anything. If you really want to compare across manufacturers then look at the spool size specs. That will get you close. Line capacity will too just be mindful of shallow spools and deep spools.

A 150 is a pretty standard size in a Shimano. It will do basically everything well. I prefer the mgl spools. the 70/100 size is smaller in the hand so if you have small hands you might prefer it. Less line capacity so you’re looking at thinner mono or braid most likely, but consider what your intended use and needs are. The 200 size is a bigger reel and intended for heavier line and lures. If you’re throwing swimbaits, a-rigs, etc then you might want/need it. But there is a significant difference in casting feel on a 200 size and I wouldn’t want it for under a half ounce.

You know, I go back and forth on white. it sticks out like a sore thumb in crystal clear water and I think that it's just too much. And then it just catches fish so you put that thought out of mind. Then I remember back growing up before I "knew better" and a whole lot of fish were caught on white 3" twisters on an 1/8oz head. And white spinnerbaits too. And white topwaters.

have you seen the tiny toon on TBN's youtube? They converted a smaller pontoon to a tiny boat bassboat with family friendly features. Pretty cool build. I don't know what storage you have, but for me that's a biggie. Enough space to store a couple rods, your tackle boxes, some ancillary gear and tools, etc. if you're leaving it on the water, you probably don't want to carry your gear to the dock every time you go.

My water is similar to your water. Mostly clear to very clear. Some tannin stains depending on the lake. Bluegill are the usual forage for me. Some lakes have shad/alewifes/crappie/perch. I've found that green pumpkin (often with a chartreuse accent) will get it done most days. Are some colors better on those days? Maybe. One day I started with GP and ran out. Moved to black and blue and ran out. Swapped to something else and caught some more. I think the size/profile/fall rate was just what they wanted that day and the color wasnt a biggie. I've not found a day where they would only hit a color that WASN'T GP, but I have had a couple where they would ONLY hit GP/chartreuse. So for that reason I overindex on it across all of my softbait profiles. I'll have variations- GR blue flake, red flake, GP over chartreuse laminate, GP/B&B laminate, etc. And I still carry the other colors for those days where I just know they should be eating the soft bait I am throwing but they aren't. In that case, I have some variation on black or dark (black, black blue, dark purple), some version of 'minnow' with a dark back and light belly, and some form or brown (PB&J, pumpkinseed, etc). White for me is just for paddle tails. I am going to get a pack of beavers for next year's spawn, but otherwise white is a baitfish imitation only.

I too keep my bibs bottoms on most of the time they are in the boat. They aren't goretex, but are frogg toggs version of it- 3-4 layer, breathable membrane, etc. Since I'm in a kayak it helps with spray and splash too. Anything under 60 degrees and I'll have them on for sure.

I’m surprised by the Simms comment. I’ve loved all of the simms I’ve owned, though my stuff is older. I wear frogg toggs guide series. I’ve had the jacket for 4 seasons now. I just got new pants last season. The first pair wasn’t guide series but was a lighter build and I eventually wore through the crotch seam. I keep them for snow blowing now. The guide wear are very reinforced.

I guess you need a set of 8, 6, and five with a little lead wrap and spare split rings…