MrGiggles

I think you guys have convinced me to try one. I sure catch a boat load of them. Sounds like they would be pretty good with a little lemon pepper on the pellet grill.

Snake with one head too many.

Never had one in light action, but have a few in medium. They're probably my favorite all around, tough, cheap, avaialble anywhere, and sensitive. The medium's have a really fast tip, but still have good backbone so they're not whippy. I use them for crappie, I hate how wimpy most crappie poles are. I did break one, but don't consider them easy to break. I'm a little bit of a meathead, if a rod is easy to break, I'll break it.

Like a lot of things I think most of the failures were operator error, since most people react to wheel spin by mashing the gas. They were a lot stouter in the 14 bolt rears that 2500+ trucks got. My truck had one, it was replaced with an open diff at some point. It's got 315k now so theres not much on it that hasn't been dicked with.

A crap load of 99-06 GMs came with the G80 locking diff, which work quite well, but have a bad reputation for grenading, since the things shock load every time they engage. Ford had a Traction-Lok LSD in the 8.8, that works pretty good when new, but once they get some mileage on them, might as well be an open diff. Not sure what the newer trucks come with. If you ever wanna get under the skin of a die hard Chevy drag racer, ask them what rear diff they run. 90% chance of it being a Ford 9", even if they don't admit it.

Didn't even know that existed here. I see it mentioned quite a bit on the Canadian Youtube channels. Pretty cool, thanks for sharing. Crappie, just a little short. PB is 14 3/4" from Stockton. Walleye, still got a ways. PB is 24". LMB, not sure, probably close though. Have caught a couple out of cow ponds that were over 5lbs, never measured them. White bass, caught one on Stockton in 2017 that was around 18".

Just in case you wanted more ideas, this is what I did early on with my last boat. Started with a trolling motor plate like you, which snowballed into a small front deck, and then into a much larger front deck with a livewell. This is what I looked like before I sold it. Ended up being a pretty slick little mini-bass boat for fishing solo or with a buddy. I could flip the middle hatch open, and someone could sit in there with a seat in the front base facing backwards. Pics of the deck before the addition are in here. I sold that boat to a guy in Eudora, I suspect it's still running around Aldrich somewhere. https://forum.tinboats.net/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=44454&p=447338#p447338

The only issue with mounting a transom mount up front, is that they will stick up at an odd angle when stowed. I had one rigged that way on a 14' Alumacraft a couple years ago. I lean toward option 1. Makes a nice even platform for mounting the troller, and you can fasten it down to the gunnels instead of fooling with angle brackets. You'll want to add a rib that runs lengthwise along the back like a floor joist, unsupported plywood is pretty flimsy. You might want to stand up there to take a whiz or grab a lure out of a tree sometime, plus all of the stress a trolling motor puts on it. To elaborate on Wrench's comment, the trolling motor shaft needs to be perpendicular to the water. You will likely have to shim it some to get it sitting right. If you do get a bow mount, you'll want either a hand control or something like a Powerdrive with the portable foot pedal or remote control. I was never able to get a cable steer motor to work well on the floor in mine, had to build a front deck.

Tow ratings vary quite a bit between different configurations of a given vehicle. You'll need the spec for the engine/drivetrain package that your Highlander has. The 4 cyl base model is probably not rated to tow anything, while the V6 AWD version will pull quite a bit. FWD is not very good on boat ramps, gravity is working against you, but a lot of people do it.

When I say up, I meant towards the dam. The whole up on a map vs upstream and downstream is confusing to me. I did go to the 245 bridge, it was dirty but not bad.

Went tonight. Crappie bite is still excellent. Walleyes, not so much, one short was all. Water temps still sitting at 62 or so, pretty clear from Masters on up.

Had 7 tonight, one just under 10" and one just over. Also caught a bunch of dink 8" whites, never caught any of those in that quantity before. Just couldn't leave those firetiger flickers alone. Crapped all over my boat too. This was on the little sac near Masters.

I am convinced that pretty much any fish can be tasty, but the preparation and skill required to do so is often not worth it. I have never tried it, heard and read pretty much what has already been said above.

I seldom use a casting reel, but the one I have is a lefty. The whole cast and switch hands thing just seemed clumsy to me. Cast with the right, reel with the left. It takes a lot of practice to get right. You can't whip it like a spinning rod, takes more of a quick consistent sweep. I had the most trouble with mid-air backlashes from trying to whip it. Before you hit the water, try tossing a 1/4-1/2 oz weight around the yard. Watch the power lines.

That may be true for some degrees, but nothing in the STEM fields. Source, took Trig twice, failed Calculus last year, hopefully gonna try again this year. it ain't easy, especially for a simpleton like me. My Calculus instructor at MSU was old school and Chinese, no online homework or gradebook, no retakes. I have taken some online classes, they are easy to BS your way through like you said, but that is only for the filler classes like Econ, History, etc. And you still have to show up at least once to take a proctored exam.

I've only ever sold one, but consider it common courtesy to meet a buyer at the lake. First, they get to see a boat doing what it's supposed to, float and run down the lake, and second, I live in BFE and most people can't follow directions, so I prefer to meet somewhere anyways. Plus, if they don't buy it, I'll just go fishing. It's a win-win.

Craigslist has been slim pickins' since they started charging for ads. Facebook is where it's at right now, there's a lot of morons and garbage to sift through, but that's to be expected with any free, popular service.

With the camper I'm guessing that your primary weight consideration will be tongue weight, at most you're looking at ~200lbs, shouldn't be a big deal. Generally tin boats are rear heavy, with the outboard being nearly half of the total weight. You can save a bundle by going used. Let someone else take that depreciation hit. Given the opportunity, I'd take just about anything over a Tracker. They're a fine boat, but the low price comes at a cost. Others are built better. I wouldn't pass up a real good deal on one, but probably wouldn't buy another at market price. I have a 17' Tracker Deep V, has two group 29 batteries up front and a 24v Terrova, tongue weight is probably about 150.

My brother is in the Air Force, works on A10s. They had a little meet and greet sort of deal a couple years ago at Whiteman. Got to watch a trio of B2s do touch and gos for a half hour. Pretty neat watching them. They're gigantic up close, a lot bigger than I imagined. I see A10s flying over pretty regularly. Sometimes really low, heading to Whiteman I assume. Got one on camera a few months ago.

I've only ever caught one there on a crappie jig, despite my efforts. I've trolled Martin flats for hours, caught gar, crappie, drum, bass, about everything but a walleye.

Not sure if he was at Crowes Crossing or at the park in town. There's also Brush Creek off the highway a little ways.

A coworker put a hurtin' on blue cats on the bank in Osceola. Biggest was 40lbs and had a few more from 5-20lbs. Was using cut shad for bait. Truman is pretty much the gold standard for cats, but I'm not the one to provide the what, when, and where. Montrose lake is supposed to be pretty good for big flatheads and channel cat.

You'll have to get a test light and figure out what is what up there before going any further. Those wire nuts are for solid wire, and shouldn't really be on a boat. If you want a project, get a proper distribution block setup. If both the positive and negative were in the same nut, you'd have a blown fuse at best, a fire at worst. They will be separate wires.

Interesting that they say the lake is dominated with large black crappie. Almost all of what I catch is large whites, even when fishing heavy cover, where you would expect the blacks to be. I have caught way more blacks in Pomme than in Stockton.

Not many so far. Probably 1-2 in 10. Facebook is plastered with limit stories right now. Lotta fish getting hauled out.