MrGiggles

1. Make a mid-tier product. 2. Market it to the yuppies and middle class soccer moms as an exclusive premium brand, a status symbol if you will. 3. Profit. I think Stanley is really giving them a run for their money now, the guys in their marketing department need a raise. Never would've expected the maker of grandpa's thermos to have such an impact on the giant cup industry. I was given a Yeti tumbler, it's nice enough I guess, the finish is pretty durable, but the lid leaks if you tip it over. What's the point of having a lid if the darn thing leaks?? I also never understood the concept of a cup that will keep something hot or cold for hours on end. Is it just an accessory? Must not be very thirsty if the cup stays full all day.

I tend to do a lot of hail mary sits where the wind may or may not be right. They are so variable and swirly here in hill country that I've found trying to plan around them is almost a waste of time, and if the wind is perfect for you, the big buck is probably not gonna show if he is nose-blind. It's incredible how a buck will bed and use the prevailing/thermal winds to cover nearly all directions. Just about impossible to get the jump on one.

You won't convince me. Their nose is insane. Nothing short of sitting in a bubble with remote ventilation is going to fool it. I don't believe in Scentloks activated charcoal BS, but they make some killer wind/waterproof gear so they've got that going for them at least. 😆

I'd be most worried about the cheap batteries from Amazon/ebay. Any other no-name chinese electronic on there is pretty much guaranteed to be garbage, the BMS in those batteries is likely to be no different.

This is an important detail. The picture I posted earlier was a little misleading and no fault of the battery, the shop that installed the haybed didn't put any protection on the wiring for that third battery. It rubbed through and touched the hydraulic unit on the left side. Was quite a show. The crazier part, since the ground wires on that rig apparently weren't very conductive, it cooked the brake lines and many of the smaller ground wires in the harness during the meltdown.

I'd suspect floods have a lot to do with transplanting fish. All bodies of water are connected one way or another.

The big downside to running a single 24v is that it prevents you from running any of the common marine onboard chargers. Chargers like the Noco have a lithium setting and will charge them without an issue. Two 100ah's are more than enough. Those 31s you were running were probably close to 100ah, but you only had 50-60 available since you shouldn't run them below ~50%. Lithiums can be discharged near 100%.

https://bass-archives.com/rebel-and-cordell-boats/ Bet it didn't take too long to suck down that 12 gallon gas tank.

In addition to those Valence lithiums for the trolling motor, I have a 12ah Wieze(?) lithium for front graphs and electronics. Aside from being a touch small for longer trips, it's been in there for a couple years now and still works well. I have a Noco charger that takes care of all three. I've got two of those Valence batteries sitting on the shelf, at some point in the future I may use one of them as a house/electronics battery, but it would require some pretty extensive rewiring so it's not a priority right now.

They're not all the same. Many brands have been disassembled and tested by Youtubers, do some research before you buy. I have Valence (used batteries salvaged from medical equipment) lithiums. A buddy has Ionics and likes them. I think prices have fallen enough now that it's a pretty easy decision. Huge weight savings, way longer lifespan, more capacity (can discharge them nearly 100%,) and pretty much no drop in performance as they discharge.

The little Rude is ticking along perfectly, but I've had a dead battery twice now so it seems to have a current draw somewhere. Any thoughts @fishinwrench? I figured I would just put my meter in series and start unplugging stuff, the rectifier being the prime suspect. It does charge and everything electrical seems to work fine. I checked the gauges on the water today and they are wired correctly and not staying on. I haven't changed any accessory wiring in the boat so that shouldn't be a problem.

Thank you! I was kicked back in my tower blind, heater rolling, not really expecting to see anything. All of the sudden there he was. 😆 It's been quite the experience, went from having almost too many deer to hardly any. Landowners had some control, but unless you have a 1000+ acre parcel it only takes a few neighbors that don't care very much to put a big dent in the population, with how a good food source like that can draw in every deer from several miles around in the late season.

Got em. Not where I planned to find him, just got lucky. Bigger than I ever thought he was.

Firearms wasn't anything special here, real warm. Only had one encounter with a nice buck at 300+ yards, wasn't willing to try that shot. I didn't even attempt to plant my big food plots because of the drought, although I did make a new "kill plot" of sorts that is drawing some deer. The loggers took a few big walnuts out 5 years ago and left a 1/4 acre strip that was open, I got in there this summer, mowed it, and raked all the trash out. Waited for a chance of rain and tossed out some turnip seed with some wheat. The wheat didn't amount to much, the turnips really didn't either but there is some green there and tubers that are about as big as your thumb. I've got the muzzleloader sighted in and ready, just waiting on a wind switch to set up. They pass through there about every day, there's a few decent bucks but this is the biggest.

I hit it yesterday afternoon for the first time in a long time. In 2hrs I had 6 keepers and 1 short. Mostly 9.5-10"ers with one that might have gone 12. Good size for Pomme. Standing timber in the mouth of a cove.

Glad to see a recent report, haven't been out in quite a while. Last time I was though it was the same story, lot of just under legal fish. Looks like Stockton may be having another off year for crappie.

After much tinkering I may be able to hit the water again soon. Found this old girl on marketplace, ending up getting into the powerhead and the power trim needed a couple seals, not as good of a deal as I had hoped but it was still cheap enough. Seems to run good but I have yet to test it on the water. Lost 40hp, but I also lost about 200lbs off the transom.

And you know it's the same ones that have a "watch for motorcycles" sticker plastered on everything they own.

Wire feed only? What size material are you working with, and how often? You can pick up a great many imported 200A machine that should cover you pretty well up to 3/8 steel for $1000 or so. A name brand machine will likely give you a better duty cycle and more of an assurance that replacement parts will be available in the future, and there is a lot of stuff in a wire welder that can fail, really depends on how much you use it, and how much you want to spend.

You can fish the best spots on the lake sheltered from the elements, without the hassle of boat control. Moving from spot to spot is generally pretty easy. No bugs, no snakes, no heat, although you can get a sunburn, we took a trip to LOTW when I was in 5th grade, early March as I recall. To quote one of my teachers "he came back looking like a little indian." I will winter fish here with the best of them, but I feel like riding around in a boat right on the line of freezing is a much harsher experience with the wind and spray.

Most trailers with brakes are supposed to have a breakaway system that will apply the brakes if they ever get disconnected from the tow vehicle. The little cable that you clip onto the bumper somewhere is what trips them. I lost one once going over a whoopy section of road that's near here. That trailer has the squeeze type coupler, not the flip lever like I was used to, just forgot to close it. Chains caught it but the jack was toast, thankfully was empty so I just lifted it back on the ball and got back on the road.

I snuck out last Tuesday. Did pretty good on crappie but they were lacking in size. Every brushpile I hit was loaded with 9-9.75 fish. Only had two keepers at the end of the night.

The Merc hit the road today, I feel like I did pretty well on it. It was still running fine and had no issues, but the weight was starting to cause problems. Cracks starting on both sides of my transom brace. The game plan now is to find a cheap 50-60hp motor, slap that on the Turd and it will likely hit the road too once I strip my goodies off of it. From that point on I'm not sure what the plan is. I had considered getting something like the Starcraft Chieftain aluminum cuddies. That would be cool, but a big compromise in terms of fishing. May run up north and grab a walleye boat like I wanted to start with.

I've been feeling bored and a little burned about with fishing. Felt like I needed to take a break and refocus for a little while, I have only been out a handful of times this summer. Anyone else ever feel that way? I've also been reconsidering my boat setup. The Fourstroke is just too heavy. It doesn't tow that well anymore (especially with a full livewell), and my transom brace is starting to crack. Whether that means a repower, or swapping boats, I'm not sure yet.