casts_by_fly

if there is cleaner to be had then sure. 1’ isn’t what I’d call muddy though. I’m talking 6” or less type muddy. I’d probably go home if that was the case. But if the water is 1’ dirty then I’m looking for cover on the sunny side of the lake. At 48 degrees I’d expect the fish to be closer to the winter end of their range than the spawning end. In that scenario I’m looking for the steeper transition zones moreso than the flats. also, I’m ignoring ffs for the sake of this post. I have it and would use it (maybe even in the 6” muddy scenario) but not everyone does. And the thought process would still be the same for finding where they are. Just easier to confirm with live imaging.

yes.

it’s a light oil with a needle applicator that I can get easily and works well. I’ll also use it to lube anything that needs a light thin oil. Door hinges are a good shout. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005KW7NA8?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_3

fish them all until you figure it out. Like a jay said, take your time- you’re not in a tournament. If it’s really cold still, find a sunny shoreline. Wind blows baitfish food around and they follow it. I hate fishing muddy water so I don’t. In the spring, warmer water is better generally speaking.

talked with the guys this week. It’s in the shop this week and should finish next week. We decided on mounting options, chargers, etc. I think I’ll pick it up on Saturday the 22nd.

If you’re thinking explode, then the zodias is a natural option. I have the 6’9” ml and like it for lighter stuff up to a 3/16 and 4” plastic.

not in any way. I was a little worried about that when I ordered it but definitely not the case.

The expert amistad might work. I used my regular expert amistad for a-rigs (among other things) to just over 2 oz. It was pushing the rod, but it managed. The XH is a bit heavier. But if you're going to do that, have a look at the Cara big bait rod. 7'9", 1-5 oz. I picked it up for the same things you're describing. With a 6" magdraft and 3/8 oz owner beast I can see I'm going to like it based on yard casting. I didn't cast the 8" magdraft yet, but I tied it on and flexed it in the house. 2-3 weeks and I'll have it on the water. I'm confident in it.

Falcon Cara heavy cover jig. 7'4", Rated 1/2-1 oz, heavy, fast. But its a 6 power falcon heavy which is on the lighter side of heavy. And the 'fast' action isn't really that fast. It's got a nice top third bend for what you're describing. And it was designed to drag football jigs.

No, it's the 'i dropped my rod over the side' device.

New or used?

The head turner is a 'heavy' but it's not. Look at the lure rating to se that its rated for 1/4-3/4 and I'd say that's pretty accurate. Other makers might label is 1/4-1. It aligns with a MH in a St Croix power wise. That's the difference between a 6 power heavy and a 7 power heavy. So a 1/8 oz weight plus a modest plastic is going to put you at 3/8 or 1/2 oz total bait weight pretty quickly. Compared to the HCJ, the head turner has about the same power in the butt, but the last 1/4 of the rod has a much faster taper and a lighter tip. That much lighter tip will let you throw a lot of things on it.

Yes, but he was asking between the two JDM versions. Handles and knobs will be the same. And I think the spool external specs are the same on both reels, just that the met 100 has a smaller arbor to allow a bit more line. Not that I find the 20 Met to be lacking in that area.

Pretty sure the 100 has a little deeper spool and that's it. the 100 is a 2023 release model while the regular met is a 2020. but the frames and everything else are the same.

The Amps specified on the chargers are for 12V. You're pulling at 120. So for easy math, take the 12V number of Amps and divide it by 10. Then add up all of the 12V banks. So your buddy has 36 A (assuming he's using it all)and you have another 10. That's 46A at 12V, or 4.6A at 120. You could do that twice over safely without worrying about blowing a breaker. Now that's the charging rate and doesn't count the losses. Looking up your buddys charger, the data sheet says the max amps of VAC 110 is 10A. So if you both plug in your onboard chargers at the same time you might overdraw the circuit. I can't find an easy spec sheet for a 36V lithium charger, but the power draw is going to be comparable to a 3x12V system. So your buddy's charger in a 24A 3 bank pulls 7.5A at the wall. It looks like if you only have one wall outlet to work from, then one of you can charge at a time. https://cxjdfr.files.cmp.optimizely.com/download/assets/ProTournamentelite+Data+Sheet.pdf/6e60d4fa71b811efa8d6d698ae9b14d8

You can if you want. There are a couple options, with this one being the best rated that I could see. $350. I was going to go terrova on my boat in progress but then would have needed this mount. For the extra $350 I just went ultrex. Its 40# heavier and cable steer (with power assist), but if I want to control from the back of the boat I can use the remote. https://www.bassfishinelectronics.com/products/cornfield-fishing-live-view-transducer-mount-terrova-ulterra-power-drive?srsltid=AfmBOora-Otm8xdDYXHe1L_wj8IP_lzSR-f0jyNT9kOTZGTWBkkOC58C

I've not felt the lowrider amistad. I had the expert, broke it, and traded up to the cara with the replacement. I've felt the Bucoo SR in the store. I'm not much of a carolina rig guy or a jig dragger so I can't say for sure, but I know lots of guys use it for that and I've done it a couple times. In the lineup of rods that I have, its probably the best one for it. When I say light texas rig stuff, I was fishing the SJ with a 1/8 plus a boarhogz which will come in around 5/16 total weight as the lightest I've thrown on it. A weightless 5" senko is about 3/8 oz and there would be no problems with that. A 4" fluke might be a little light. If you are doing that on a baitcaster a bunch then the finesse jig is probably the right rod, maybe the weightless worm (which I've not fished). I've thrown them on the 6'8" MH Cara and it works, but you're just barely loading the tip. The FJ is a lighter tip than the MH and can go down pretty low weight with light line and a good reel (with a shallower light spool).

I've not fished it, only researched it from our trips down there so that that FWIW. I think you need to get further up towards northwest river to get away from the salt. The sound up by Corolla is still pretty brackish. If you're living in Corolla, then that's going to be a bit of a trek though either by car or by paddle. Like JHoss, I'd say focus on the smaller areas and pick them over. Find some deeper water near the shallow water and then play the tides. They fish will push up shallower when the tide comes up and then pull back to the deeper slots and wait for baitfish when the tide is pulling out. There isn't a huge depth swing on the sound, but there is enough.

fairly often now. You can set an alert on their website if you create an account. And I know its a little more money, but if you're going to spend $230 for a JDM bantam you might as well throw in the extra $30 and get the Met. For what you're describing, you don't need the extra weight or brass gears from the bantam and the Met is a fantastic reel.

I've had autopilot on my kayak for the past 4 years (effectively a powerdrive riptide shortened for the kayak) and also fished my dad's boat which is a basic cable steer no frills trolling motor on a 16' tracker. I just bought a boat (it's getting rigged right now) and went ultrex (almost went terrova, details below). For me, spot lock is great if you're fishing off shore. Its also really nice when landing a fish. When you hook up, hit the lock and don't worry about being blown off your spot or being pulled into the cover (more an issue with a kayak than a big boat). Also nice when rerigging for the same reasons. If you fish 5' most of the time and have poles, then this will be less useful, but if you're deeper than that often or don't have poles then spot lock is great. Even more used for me on the kayak was navigation. Set a direction and a speed then mostly forget about it. When you're going down the bank casting, you can set the speed for 1/2 mph and the direction so you're a cast length away from the bank. No fiddling with you controlling the boat unless you want to. This is super useful in variable wind conditions. Put the nose into the wind and tell it to maintain 1/2 mph despite the wind changing from 5 mph to 20 mph gusts. I've not linked the motor in the past because the autopilot doesn't allow for it. The new ultrex will, and I can see the contour following as being useful in a couple of my lakes. I'll give it a try. Navigate to waypoint will be a good one for me. I'll mark waypoints on side imaging and then come back to them with live imaging. I would use side by side maps and live imaging to manually motor back to the waypoint and then spotlock. In this case, I can shut down the gas motor well out and have the trolling motor navigate to waypoint. Not a critical feature, but I can see myself using it.

Just depends on what you want to do and what you throw. While they might be similar in specs, the Amistad and HCJ are very different rods. First, the Amistad is a full power heavier and noticably so. The power is much higher in the rod. Both are heavy and fast, but the amistad is heavier and faster. For what you described (1/4-3/8 plus plastic) the HCJ is a great rod. I wouldn't use it to throw into heavier cover like laydowns and pads, but for fishing the edges of that or into milfoil and similar grasses its right on the money. The Amistad is what throws into those things. I would also say that the Amistad starts at 3/8 plus plastic for me, though a quarter works also depending on the plastic and the line you're using (I've found braid needs a little more weight while mono doesn't). I love the swim jig rod for swim jigs and lighter texas rigs. The head turner is a great rod for lots of things. A new to me (and the lineup generally) that I think I'm going to love this year is the big bait rod (7'9" 1-5 oz). I picked it up for 6-8" magdrafts and 5-7" hard swimbaits. It flings a 6" magdraft into tomorrow in the yard so its going to do what I want there, but I think it would be another option for throw a half ounce plus plastic into some slop (like I do with the amistad). I'll do a better review in the falcon rods thread after I've fished it a bit. If you could only buy three rods (and multiples of those rods) to outfit an entire boat, the swim jig, head turner, and amistad wouldn't be a bad set. If you wanted to hit the highlights of the falcon lineup you'd be there. If there is something you do or fish that is more specific, then there are some cool rods in the lineup like the finesse jig (finesse jigs and lighter topwaters), eye crosser (frogs and 3/4 oz bladed baits), and the deep runner (6-14' crankbaits).

a bantam. If you were planning on buying usdm for the curado then get the jdm bantam and be done with it.

we're getting all of that as wind and rain today. 15-20 MPH constant with gusts over 35. Supposed to get an inch plus of rain today in the next 8 hours. The ponds are half thawed and this should break up the ice pretty well (its 57 degrees). Then sunny wind for the next week plus and 65 degree highs coming up. I fished today for the first time since Sep/Oct of last year and it was the first day in the woods or water in nearly 8 weeks now. The cabin fever was real.