Lape0019

From what I've read, Noco seems to be hit and miss. BPS branded charges seem to be even worse but Guest, Dual Pro and MK all seem to have cult like following. Adam

I have a 3 bank with one bank going to each battery in my boat. Unlike many, I charge the cranking battery as well as the two deep cycles I have hooked in series for the 24volt system. I cannot rely on my big motor to fully charge my cranking battery because I do not run it for long distances very often. When you have electronics on all day and the pumps to keep fish alive going, you are going to draw more power than an outboard can replenish in a 5 minute trip down the lake. The cranking battery always charges the quickest but it's always good to have them topped all of the way up. Especially if you want to keep the batteries for any length of time. I do not think these charger are really setup to charge dual batteries off of one lead.

I've got a MK330 that has to be close to ten years old. I bought it used 5 years ago and it is still going strong. Its 10 amps per bank and will charge my batteries overnight. I think the longest it has ever taken was 5 hours. I originally has a 4 amp per bank charger and it would take a full day to charge the batteries. So my recommendation is to buy one that is at least 10 amps per bank but I will also say I will be sticking with Minn kota if it every craps out.

You've solv d your mystery. Now go connect your units to your cranking battery.

You can upload from your mobile. You just need the App. This is how I've been posting pictures to various sites for at least two years. Unfortunately, I'll probably be shifting my pics over to another hosting site because of these changes. I do not post pics for profit so I'm not paying anything for this service when there are other sites out there that I can use.

Fishntec is a great store to deal with. They also know what they are talking about with almost all of the products they carry.

I don't believe it has any affect on people deciding to fish before opener. The people who do it, already don't care about seasons so would have gone out regardless beforehand. With that out of the way, with todays technology, I wouldn't be surprised if quite a few of these guys went out and cruised the lake with side imaging on looking for good places that would hold fish.

Never used a 400 size reel or a Calcutta for that matter but I rather enjoy both of my current Calcutta Conquests. They share the same form as the D with a smaller non handle side plate. They were designed that way in order to be easily palm able. Not everyone has giant man hands and I have yet to find either the 100 or 200 awkward to palm and they are smaller than what you are speaking of. As for taking out the three screws to adjust the brakes, I read up on it quite a bit and from my research, it points to Shimano believe most USDM Anglers have a set and forget type of mentality with brakes. I have to agree with them in that I am not in there very often adjusting the brakes. I usually adjust from the outside if I need to. There is a way around this though. The JDM models have a knob in place of one of those screws that you can loosen and the side plate will open. Apparently the Japanese fishermen absolutely need to have access to their brakes...

We did alright on Saturday. The weeds were just starting to come up and I am pretty sure they haven't all spawned yet. Water temp was still in the 60's on Big Rideau. We caught a nice 3.5lber in 20 FOW and the rest of the decent ones (ounce or two away from 3lb) were caught shallow holding tight to cover.

We've got a 10 year old Broil king that I have had to change the starter on a time or two. Everything else still works and I'd buy another. My Father has a 16 year old Weber that is still kicking but could use some TLC. If I was going with Gas, these are the two companies I would look at. The neighbour has a BGE and man that thing is sweet. The food is always good when coming off of that and if I was going with charcoal, this is what I would look at.

I've never once looked at one of those calendars and decided to stay home. I will assume they are based on the lunar phases which I do believe have an impact on fishing. But as said above, I think weather conditions play a more important role. The trick here is fish eat in all conditions. You just need to change presentations for different conditions. Once you sort out what works in different scenarios, that calendar wont matter anymore. Adam

IMO, short of colour scheme, the reels are identical. I have purchased higher end reels from Japan as the price difference makes it worth while. But at the price point you are looking at, there isn't much difference. Even with the higher end models these days, the differences are minimal on most reels. The Metanium did come with a shallower spool than the USDM version though.

I didn't know about the 5 and 7 only having 1 slot as I hadn't looked into it much but what you are upset about sounds exactly like what you will have to do in order to get an accurate map of Georgian bay. Good luck!

NO experience with using the actual product but from my research and my fishing partners experience, I am pretty sure the Zero lines cards only provide you with an outline of the water body you are on. You use your sonar information via Autochart (Pro, or Live) to populate the chart information. with the new Helix units, if you have a zero lines card installed, this information will self populate when recording where as you used to have to save your sonar data and upload it to a PC to get it onto the card.

ManitouBass, Boca is a brand name that was rather large a few years ago. They make different levels of bearings with different types of shields. The Abec 7 orange seals are ceramic bearings with a orange gasket in place of the shield. They are easily popped off for cleaning and either left off or popped back on. You can check them out here: Bocabearings.com

Tried a set of Boca Abec 7 Orange seals in an older Revo S and they do make a difference. For what it is worth, you realty only need to change out the spool bearings. With the revo S, the most noticeable difference was the ease of cast to get just as far of a cast. You don't really have to whip the bait out there which is nice and isn't as hard on your body. I did notice a slight gain in distance. All in all, Although it was an upgrade, I didn't find it worth it. I got similar results with just flushing the stock bearings and adding a drop of oil. They are much louder and a drop of oil will both quiet them down as well as slow them down a bit.

GBW, Both the original Casitas and the new MGL model are made in Malaysia. They were both sold in Japan but never made there. I personally do not have any experience with them but I have watched a lot of video reviews on them that the people have absolutely nothing bad to say about it. I have to agree with Chris though. The Curado is probably the lowest I would go when it came to a baitcaster. The Citica is actually the lowest I would consider but for the difference in price, I would just grab a Curado. The Curado is on sale at my local shop for a decent price as well right now because I assume, they will be releasing a Curado MGL shortly. This is a guess but seeing as they have done it with every other reel they make, it only makes sense.

I will caveat this by saying I currently have a reel with spider wire on it because I got the line for free and figured I should at least try it. I agree with Akrisoner. Throw it out or keep it for something different. Leader material and mainline is different but I tend to use up the remainder of mainline I have as leader. all that matters IMO is that you are using quality line. I have played around with a few and have landed on Sunline Sniper FC. There may be better out there for the money, but once I find something that works, I typically stick with it. I also tried Seaguar tatsu because I got a smoking deal on it and it is nicer than the sniper. If it wasn't $60.00 for 200 yards, I would probably use it exclusively but for half the price, the Sniper works just fine.

This is truly a chevy vs ford thing but you are missing out by only using mono. I do not use a lot of flouro either though but it does have its purpose. Flouro does sink while mono floats and it does not absorb water (I don't think mono does either though). As for keeping its strength, that is dependant on what happens to it. Flouro will be more abrasion resistant to things like rocks and teeth but if you get a kink in it, you will lose close to half of the tensile strength listed. It is also more picky with how you tie your knots so make sure to lubricate them well before cinching. The friction of the line rubbing together causes enough heat to reduce the strength of the knot so this is key. Also, use a line conditioner with each use to make it more manageable. it does make a huge difference. With that out of the way, I tried using more flouro and just can't do it. It's just not as manageable even with conditioners to make it worth while in all circumstances. I use straight flouro for crank baits as it has the sinking advantage and I use a leader for wacky rigs or drop shot. Out of the 10 rods I have, 7 have braid, 2 have mono (spinnerbaits and a topwater/crankbait rod) and 1 has straight flouro (strictly cranking). I will tie on a 5-10 foot flouro leader depending on what I am doing with the braid sometimes though. The only way to determine what is right for you is to try them out.

For the price of the Panterra II, I would step up to the Caracal they have (if it is still there) for the extra $10,000 it is. Or order one the way you want it for cheaper. That Caracal has nice HDS units and the Ultrex on it already. If the Basscat promotions are still on, I think you can an 8 foot powerpole included as well. For the boats you originally recommended, I wouldn't pick either. If the bass cat hull was symmetrical, I would choose it but have the keel not run down the center would drive me nuts. Its off set to one side so that the trolling motor shaft is right in front of the keel. The Z185 reminds me more of a Stratos VLO than a true Ranger. Plus, it will not do 60mph so it isn't something I would consider. If I ended up in a Ranger, it would have to be either version of the Z518. Now, if you are considering the 920 from Pirate Cove, it is a sweet looking boat. A little too much red for me but a nice boat none the less. I'll be in your position hopefully within the next year so I have already started trying to figure out what I want. If I go glass, the frontrunners are the Bass Cat Caracal or Phoenix 819/919. I am also strongly considering the Lund Pro v bass in either size.

I agree with Terry. The only units that really got different transducers were the Helix 10 and above and that was more to do with SI than DI. As a side note for fishindevil, the new Helix 7 G2N is networkable via Ethernet.

100mph here as well. Love it. It works great. My only complain is the Velcro on my wrist strap came unglued. I can fix that though.

You really can't argue with what Old Ironmaker is saying but know that boat prices have gone up a bit in the last few years. Our dollar has increased the price of a new boat which in turn has made the used boats that much more as well.

I've had mine 3 seasons now and had to replace mine under warranty. It could have been fixed but the repair depot kept ordering the wrong parts and just gave me a new pedal instead. from using my foot to adjust the speed, the adjuster would just keep rolling past 10. and when on 10, the remote would show 7.5 as the speed setting so I got a new pedal. I have not had any problems with the replacement one.

The ergonomics of the Terrova pedal alone are worth it's weight in gold over the Powerdrive. I honestly cannot stand the Powerdrive pedal at all. Drives me nuts every time I have to use it.