guitarplaya39

Glad I'm not the only one who has constant leaf blower noise issues... Definitely jet skis when I'm on the boat.

I can't even feel my 17ft bass boat behind my V6 4Runner (2006). My buddy has a 2019(?) F150 Ecoboost and it'll still pin ya to the seat towing his 18ft deep-v.

My old outboard running smoothly.

Solid wire connections are crucial for safety and performance. Simply put, while twisted and taped stranded wire will work, it puts a lot of resistance in the circuit. As time goes on the wires will corrode, which then further increases the resistance. This resistance is converted into heat and will eventually burn whatever is around it. Same concept as using wire that is too small for the application. In that case the entire length of wire is the resistor and will get hot. This isn't as critical for lower-draw electronics like the fish finder, but it is very important for the trolling motor which draws a lot of current. You'd probably want a minimum 10-12 gauge wire for a 35-40lb trolling motor. Splices/connections should be properly soldered or crimped and insulated/sealed. Also, a fuse or breaker should be installed close to the battery and another one at the device. This way if a short happens somewhere between the battery and the device, your terminal connections won't catch on fire again

Do you have the alligator clips on both ends of the pos and neg wires? Looks like you clip to the battery, then clip to the stripped wires on the depth finder? If so, that's definitely a good way to get a direct short. The flames were probably from the insulation on the wires.

Is there a sharp, near vertical drop off in that area? If you're running parallel to an underwater cliff and it's on the very edge of the sonar beam, it will show up as a "ghost" even though you're not right over it.

I always have a cooler w/ice and more than enough water and a couple of those cooling rags. Soak 'em in the melted ice water in the cooler and use them for brief moments of instant relief. Key is to stay hydrated - if you stop sweating you'll go downhill quick. I work in public safety and we see alot of heat exhaustion. If you need to cool the body urgently, apply cold packs or ice (not direct skin contact) to groin area, armpits, and neck (without constricting bloodflow or airway of course).

Also, what line conditioners are recommended for flouro?

Thanks for all the insight! I figured I was kinda opening a can of worms with this question, but I tend to kind of overanalyze things. Already have a new spool of YoZuri 12lb flouro I'll try out first. Also have some 40lb J8 braid and copoly in the stash somewhere, so I'll probably be swapping lines around as curiosity gets the best of me.

New to the forum and fairly new to bass fishing baitcasters (only other experience is surf casting 8'n'bait on 13ft rods). I've been doing well with a couple Lew's setups running 12-14lb copolymer, but I recently splurged on a Curado DC. Going to pair it up with a 7'1 MHF Victory. I intended to put straight FC on it, but after some reading it appears that may not be the best option? I don't mind using braid since hopefully the DC will assist with my incompetence, but using a leader is what concerns me. Won't the knot hinder casting distance and/or damage the eyelets eventually? One guides on this rod are miniscule. Thanks!