casts_by_fly

shame she didn't have a scale to get an actual weight. she estimated it was 8lb and the picture supports that. I wouldn't be surprised if it was even bigger.

Yeah, but at $1k for a 90 Ah 12V that's a pretty hard sell when many people are still stuck on lead acid. For a few special applications I can see it appealing if someone had the money to burn. Reservoir boats that are electric only but big. You need the energy density to push a 16-18' boat all day but need to keep it light. if someone were to go with a 'big' electric outboard like the 150HP sized merc that launched last year (maybe year before) then the space savings for a solid state would be necessary. if you were doing a bigwater kayak and trolling all day with a newport or similar rear motor then solid state would be nice to get you 300 Ah in the space of a group 31. All of those are going to be really expensive though. $800-1000 per 100 ah/12V. Similar equivalent on the 48V systems.

they are not thick around here. Last year there was a picture of one on the archery forum I'm on that was about 10 miles from here. I thought that was close. I'm right on the edge of farm country, mountains, and suburbia. Plenty of wildlife corridors for bobcats, bears, or other things to roam, but go in the wrong direction and said animal now has animal control called. Fringe habitat you could say for something like a bobcat. I suspect it was a younger male that is roaming and expanding his territory looking for a mate.

completely agree. I went LiTime. They have been around for at least five years continuously and guys have gotten good results from them. I had amped in the kayak for four years and they were good. LiTime is 1/3 the price and I can have a new one in three days in the worst case.

if braid is working for you I’d just stick with it. You know how it works for your style of fishing and the rods you have. Maybe try different braid if you want something different. If you’re fishing 4 carrier like original power pro maybe try 832 or 131 braid. for me personally in that scenario I would fish thin mono on the baitcaster (something like sunline 14/16#) and 10# braid to fluoro leader on the spinning rod. That’s what I fish now for most things.

lighter yet (half lithium), faster charging. The price will come down in ten years, but until then it is early adopters and super special applications. lifepo lithiums have a nominal 13.6 float voltage while lead acid is 12.6. Chargers for lithium need to charge at 14.6 or even higher. a wedge between the boat and jack plate.

your first three are what I was about to type. I need your wife to talk to my wife.

depends on water clarity and color a little. Fishing pressure a little. Is straight braid working for you? If so then stick with it.

I hear you guys saying that red is a dirty water color and it can be. But keep in mind that there are lots of variations on red/orange and combos thereof. Here are a couple of things across the spectrum. For me, I never have muddy or even dirty water (<1' visibility) and rarely have < 2' of visibility. I'm more likely to have 3-5' than < 2'.

If I only have an hour, that means I'm hitting one of the two ponds that's within 10 minutes of here, neither of which has anything over 15" in it. But, if I know I'm going to have an hour to pop into one, I'll have a rod rigged with a small soft plastic kinda like you did there (looks like a missile bomb shot). I'll carry a second plastic on a second jighead (or weighted slider) in my pocket with a pair of hemostats clipped to my shirt. If I catch so many that I ruin all of my plastics I'm happy. If I lose both before an hour is up then it isn't my day and I go home.

clean power means no motor interference and good consistent voltage. if you want to network in the future id just go straight there now. You’re most of the way there already. I’m not sure if you need a network expander/hub or not but you have everything else.

I added an extender for my ram but not to support the boat. I used it for lifting. Instead of lifting the stern while standing next to the bed and twisting my body, I stood between the bed and extender, or at least I stood next to it, lifted, and shuffled a couple steps between it. Then no twisting while holding a heavy load.

This.

I’m up north and I can’t say that it is better or worse than other colors but red shades and accent certainly do work for me.

Usgs surface water data. It depends on your area as to how many lakes will have monitors, but if you’re just looking for ice out you should have at least one nearby to check.

Or get a fleece or down vest. When you hit the shoulder season when it’s foggy and 45 in the morning and then warms up to 75 and sun at by noon it’s time for layers.

In your situation, I would get a pair of LiTime 100 ah. One for the trolling motor, one for all of the electronics. Leave the cranker for the motor, bilge, lights, etc. All of your electronics are drawing about 6 amps. That will give you 12-15 hours of run time. It also keeps you in an all 12v charger situation. i did similar on my boat setup that’s in progress. I went 24v battery to save space, but it limits charger options. And you don’t need a 24v system now, so stick to 12. Get a 3 bank noco now and if you go 24 later, just keep it for the three lithium’s and add a single noco for the lead acid later as a trickle charger. You won’t really need it though really since you won’t be running electronics and the big motor has an alternator.

I fish mostly mono, and supernatural at that mostly. I have 6-16# loaded across the bulk of my reels (big game and suffix elite also play). I like mono for most bait casting (I’m braid to leader for bass spinning) with a couple exceptions for frogs and swim jigs primarily. I’m trying heavy fluoro for swim baits this year. But otherwise it’s supernatural as my base line until I have a reason to change. I agree with you, at the same time to put a 75 yard fill of supernatural on it’s about $2.25. I’ll fish that most of a season or more sometimes. No need so turn it around, just strip it and pitch it. Same as when it starts to get low on the spool, just strip to the backing and fill it back up. to your point, a 75 yard fill of 832 is $7.50 and will go a couple seasons before you even have to turn it around. So it’s about the same price in the end. I’ll lose more braid to tying lures in a season than what wears out.

in a straight 5’ bed probably. My ram is 5’7” and a 12’ kayak was fine. The tailgate adds about 2’ on mine. It also kinda depends on the boat. The autopilot is butt heavy and I loaded butt first into the bed. It was very stable and not going anywhere even without a strap (ask me how I know…). the ss127 has a factory bow plate for motor guide motors. I’d be surprised if there wasn’t a minn kota mount available somewhere. That would allow for a powerdrive or terrova with a self rigged way to stow and deploy. Or an ulterra with auto stow and deploy. You’d probably want to cut down the shaft though. Even a 45” is going to be long. There is the auto boat add on but you still need a short shaft motor. Or you have the autopilot. a cut down

good luck! The smaller ones he throws (we also have a lot of smaller tiger muskies) are probably closer to that. With a 4.8 keitech and a musky killer I think he's coming in around 6 1/2" and around 1 1/2 oz. I bet with a big spunk shad on the back you could really burn it back. That feels very bassy for covering big flats.

One of the guys in the local musky groups does something similar. He's using a big mepps and 5-7" keitechs with a weighted swimbait hook replacement like that. The big ones are a mepps giant killer plus a 6.8 on a 3/8 10/0 hook. That will come in close to 3 oz total in the end. It's a 9-10" bait in the end.

yeah, if you want to throw lighter than 1/8 oz then you need a BFS spool. I don't know the curado, but the aldebaran is nice. JDM versions @$250 or so.

isn't a senko just a highly salted and cured hot dog?

Are you thinking about a bow mount on the current boat or a new boat? I think your choices are limted for the most part. Now that Motorguide is no more, the xi3 Kayak edition is gone. You might find new old stock or a used one, but there no more new stock being made. You could get a 45" shaft like a powerdrive and cut it down (or deal with a long shaft). You could go to an autopilot. If a bigger/heavier/more stable boat and 4 mph is fine for you, then the autopilot is a great choice. I loved my 120 which was just sold. Koz noted the many benefits. The fishing aspects of it are incredible. Stand and fish easily, lock into offshore structure, navigation down the bank at constant speed for covering water. You name it. On smaller lakes (500 acres or less) it's pretty ideal. You can make bigger ones work if you have time and/or amp hours. The 1200 acre lake around here is a 40 minute ride from the ramp to the top end at 4 mph. I would never run it straight up there (I'd fish my way up in a couple jumps) but I did run it back once to go home. But a 40 minute run at full speed is going to draw 30 Ah or so. Do it twice and that's most of an 80 AH battery gone. If you're planning to make those kinds of runs, then a 125 or 160 ah might be in the cards. A big newport on the back and in a 136 might see 6 mph or so. Then again, if you're planning for that level of running (and not in a tournament) a kayak probably isn't the right boat.

20-30 yards should be an easy lob.