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With the terrova, I did use the Ram mount you are speaking of as like you mentioned, the shaft does bounce around more mainly because it isn't supported at all between the base and the head of the unit. I will say though, make sure to mount the base of the Ram somewhere that if you unscrew the middle portion of the ram too much, half of it doesn't fall overboard. I managed to lose the middle part that goes between the ram balls twice because of my terrible selection of where to mount the base.

I never paid for WFN. I would watch their free trials once in a while and noted that its was basically the same show over and over again for the month so never saw the appeal. Between You tube, waypoint TV and Bassmaster.com, I get pretty much all of the fishing related shows I could ever want. Living in the sticks sucks for actual internet service but there could be other options in your area. I am lucky enough to have teksavvy in my area (DSL through a Bell line but it works and is cheaper) but we also have explornet (everyone complains about them) and Storm just came into the area. It is satellite internet and the neighbours that have it, seem to like it better than the Explorenet package they had previously.

If it is a deep V, you probably will enjoy having the added length. I had a 60" terrova on a Bass Tracker 190TX. 90% of the time, the head of the TM was up about a foot but it never really got in the way. I did consider having the shaft cut, I just never got around to it and then sold the boat. The guy who bought it off of me is still running it as is too.

It ends up being personal preference and what you are comfortable with. For me, I am right handed and reel with my right on both spinning and baitcast setups. I've tried reeling with left hand and find it uncomfortable.

You are correct in that if you cut the shaft yourself, you lose the warranty. I believe the prop shop in Kingston is a certified repair center that should be able to cut it for you. I do not know of any repair centers in GTA ( I do not live there...) but if you find one, they will most likely do it.

I use straight up Power Pro. Super slick seems to cast a bit further but does not cut through vegetation like the regular stuff does. The new V2 line is supposed to be a good compromise between the original super slick and the original power pro. I have tried a couple different braids and have always come back to power pro. Jbraid does get good reviews but I have never tried it so can't comment. Suffix 832 is a little louder than other braids but does a very good job as well.

That’s awesome Freshtrax. Enjoy the new TM.

Bill, I only specified this because your first sentence clearly states you want link especially if creating tracks on the HB. Creating tracks being the key to my response as you dont really need link to create tracks. Everything else you stated, I agree with.

If you are solely recording a track of up to 2 miles, you can do this without link. If you want to follow contour lines or control the TM from the fish finder, you will need the link. The definite advantages to the LInk version is you can store more tracks and waypoints and you can follow contour lines. But... you have to have HD lakemaster maps or create your own maps to follow the contour lines. You cannot follow lines from a navionics card.

Well... don’t know any hot spots from shore. Im sure you could possibly catch some fish by the town launch but I don’t know of any other areas that’s aren’t owned.

Hey Justin, I fish tournaments on Mississippi about once a year in the summer months. It is a very fun lake to fish. I target bass so am typically fishing shallow for largemouth are a bit deeper for smallmouth. I have seen the occasional pike in there too. What type of information are you looking for?

If you’re looking for one size line 40-50lb braid will suit your needs well. Now, I’m not saying fluorocarbon won’t suit your needs sooner or later. I’m saying you do not want to learn how to use a baitcaster with it. Or like I wrote earlier, get a 1000 yard spool of mono and learn with that. Either way, it will be a cheaper way when you do get those birdsnests.

Justin, As you mentioned you are in Ottawa, I would suggest you head down to Paddletales in Winchester if you have never been there. He actually sells the reel Dave recommended and if you buy there, he will 1, spool it with whatever line you want and 2, take you into the parking lot and show you how to set it up. I actually head to Paddletales almost every Thursday night around 6:30 and leave around 9:00 He has a weekly meeting that anyone can attend. Most of us just go to talk fishing with like minded people but if there are ever any questions you want answers too, I guarantee you will get them there. If you are not casting near heavy cover, 50lb braid on your setup will work for frogs. You might run into a little issue of the cover starts getting a little thicker with a medium heavy rod but like stated, that comes down to personal preference. Why you would not want to use braid for spinnerbaits and chatterbaits is 1, personal preference and 2, lack of stretch. These are moving baits so when a fish hits them, you may want some stretch to absorb the shock before the rod completely loads. As stated, I use mono for spinnerbaits, but I use braid for chatterbaits as I fish them around grass a lot and like to be able to pop them out easily should they get hung up. hence, personal preference. Now... back to your fluorocarbon. The only reason I am recommending braid right now is that fluorocarbon is expensive and when you get a birdsnest, you are pretty much guaranteed to kink it and cause damage to the line. Heat also weakens it and tying a not improperly is enough to heat up and weaken the line. Using a bunch of spit or water before cinching down on the knot will alleviate the issue but it takes time get used to it. I am aware of Tactical Bassin and I honestly do not see any issues with what they are recommending above. I typically throw cranks on 12lb. Never used flouro with success for anything else other than drop shot leader material. Now frogs on flouro is a little different because flouro sinks where braid floats so it makes it easier to work the bait. Hope this information helps you out. Adam

If you really want cheap line to learn with, go buy a 1000 yard spool of Berkley big game at Canadian tire in like 15lb test and start there. It should cost you no more than $14.00. I use this line for crankbaits and spinnerbaits. Now, if you want braid, I will say I do still get backlashes and 9 times out of 10, I can pull them out. Some will take a bit longer than others but when you get a backlash with mono, you weaken the line with a kink. With braid, you done really get the kink and I do not find it weakens the line as much. Better question for you. What baits are you trying to throw with this rod with the black max on it? I use braid for quite a few of my rods. for bait casting, I have 40lb up to 65lb and use it for jerkbaits, spooks, frogs, jigs, chatterbiats and texas rigs quite a bit. But aside from jerkbaits and spooks, the rest of these all have dedicated rods which all act differently in order to work well with braid. Like, I wouldn't try to throw a frog on the rod I throw a jerkbait on because it just wouldn't work very well. 50lb is an all around good general purpose rod. I use 40lb for the chatterbaits and jerkbaits myself though but may just buy a bulk spool in 50lb sooner or later and just use that.

I think it depends more on how you fish and if you already have Garmin units. For me, it is cool and I went fishing out of my boat with a guy who has panoptics on his and every time I would catch a fish, he would say "this is where I would use it to pan over there and see where the rest of them are". Well... He said something a lot more sarcastic but this works lol. Persoanlly, I do not have Garmins and do not see it being cost effective to switch over to get this feature. I personally do not fish deep enough, often enough for this to be any use for me personally.

Hey Justin, Dave is right. but really, we already all know that. He is probably one of the most recognized fisherman on this page because of his tournament winnings as well as all of the seminars he does. So let us start off with your reel. You have a black max that says 30LB - 180yrds. That is a guideline to show you how much line you will have on the spool with 30lbs braid. that is it. And to say it doesn't cast 50lb braid very well is hard to believe because 50lb braid has the diameter of 12-13lb test mono which is close to the same diameter as flouro. Also, flouro needs replacing a whole lot more often then braid. I'll go usually 2 seasons without replacing my braid but I am lucky to get half a season with flouro if I am running it as a mainline. And the flouro I use costs more than braid so no matter how you look at it, it will be cheaper in the long run. I have run 30ln braid on my baitcasters before and when you set the hook, it will dig in and create issues. For this reason, I try and stay with 40lb or higher. In your case, I would run 50lb braid and not even bother with a leader if you are that worried about having multiple lines. Flouro leaders help but my experience says you will catch fish either way. Hope this helps. Adam

Didn't realize things had changed over there but November/December usually sees items slow down as people start to concentrate on other things. I notice usually in February/March things start to pick up again. I haven't even looked at what I am going to sell off this year and probably won't until February if I decide to sell anything at all.

That is pretty cool. Thank you for sharing.

I don't ice fish but also use the Uni to Uni knot to join flouro to braid mainline. It is an easy enough knot to learn. Just make sure you have a lot of lubrication, especially on the flouro side before you cinch it down. I do not see a need for a swivel at all. As for the FG knot SirCranksalot, it is best described as a woven knot kind of like a Chinese finger trap. JP DeRose has a good visio on it up on youtube. I have yet to try and tie it since the uni to uni has served me well but the from what I have seen with friends, the knot sails through guides withought making any racket. it is very streamlined.

Yeah... they definitely aren't small lol. For what it's worth, I have 20 hours on mine and so far, ove it!

only goal I have is to go fish for Barramundi in Australia. I think the plan is to go down there when the wife and I turn 40 so that will definitely be what I will be doing down there.

I am not a huge fan of them. But... I have a G2 and when they first came out I thought they were ugly also. Give me a year and I will probably think this thing looks great. I will say though from a functionality/aerodynamic view, it should cut down on wind resistance.

Everything stated here is spot on from my experience. I typically try and target good weeds and don't pay much attention to depth. But...most of my fish come from 6-15 fow. I find the key is to try and find healthy weeds in the 5-10fow range that has deep water close by. Caught my PB last week on a jerkbait using this as a guide. Then followed it up with a nice 3lb smallie in 20 FOW when the largie bite died down.

Not my type of rod but I can most definitely see the craftsmanship and the beauty of great workmanship. Great work!

Those work great if yo require a 60amp. Had one on my terrova and it was flawless for the time I had the boat.