DADAKOTA

I was unaware they had changed the warranty program. Receipts for the older ones? In all my returns they never asked for a receipt. I know I don't have them. Guess I better read through this and see who had a good warranty program. Thanks for the info.

Rods and reels preferences are a lot like Chevy-Ford-Dodge-Toyota. Everyone has their own preference. The thing to remember is to buy quality rods and reels. If you take care of them they will work forever. With that said, quality does not necessarily mean high dollar. Rods and reels don't find fish, but you will detect more bites and catch more fish with smotthly working sensitive equipment designed for the type of fishing you are going to do. For rods I don't think you can find more bang for your buck than the Shimano Clarus rods. They are very sensitive and have a lifetime guarantee. I have both baitcasting and spinning rods including ultralights. We have broken 4 or 5 of the ultralights. Four were our fault and one was on the manufacturer. The ones that were my fault they sent me a new rod for 50% of the retail price. The one that was their fault was replaced at no charge. My baitcasting rods are in use an average of 4-5 days per week from February through October. I have yet to break one of them. For reels I have a dozen of the old green Shimano Curados. Paid $85 to $125 for them over the years. I tear them down completely every 2 years, clean each part including bearings, replace any bearings that no longer spin freely, re-lube, and put them back together. Still work like a charm. Was cleaning up a cabinet yesterday and low and behold a brand new Curado in the box. Never had line on it. Spinning reels are quantum Pti ultralights and a couple Shimanos. None are high dollar, they run smoothly, and the drags are nice and smooth.

Seems awful early for dogwood to be blooming. Heck the redbuds haven't bloomed yet. Bout all that is blooming is the crab apples, bradford pears, etc.

I don't have a starting battery. I just start off one of the trolling batteries as I do not want the extra weight. I run the power to the 597 CI HD DI down the opposite side of the boat from the TM wires. 587 goes to one battery and TM to the other. Everything worked fine last year after HB sent me a different cable. Not sure what changed. I'll start by making sure the power wires to both aren't in close proximity where they begin their runs under the front deck. Then I'll make sure my software is up to date on the 597. Then more internet research and a call to HB.

I'm jealous. Nothing better than some eyes for the pan

If I am not mistaken Christie and Evers room together on the road and are great friends. I don't believe Evers saved his spot for day 3, but was not going to fish it until he had the right wind which blew in on Sunday. I'd love to see how they'd dissect some of the small county lakes around KC. See what their approach would be at different times of the year.

Brackets is tight.

Mine is aluminum. My electrical panel does not have a wire to the boat.

Explain how to ground batteries

Looks like a fun day

Transducer is mounted to the trolling motor. The actual image on the depth finder is quite clear. interference shows up as black lines. From the bottom up about 12 feet or so

Stayed at Robin's Resort http://www.robinsresort.net/ several times. It is located near the mouth of the Glaize. They have several some bigger cabins that sleep 6 + folks as well as smaller ones. Also have some newer condo type accommodations. You can rent a boat slip. Not a fan of their boat ramp unless they have improved it. We always ran over and put in at PB2 and kept the boat in a slip.

Got my crappie beds in place. Had to return a couple existing ones to their pre flood locations. Fishing was was fun but not too productive. Water temp ranged from 39-42 with about 10 inches of visibility. Extremely difficult to find deep structure/shad/fish when the graph starts painting vertical lines like an etch-a-sketch whenever I ran the trolling motor.Graph worked perfectly the last time I used it. Got to figure out why I am getting interference. A great weekend to be at the lake.

Definitely not what I wanted to hear. Guess there is no need to throw in my stickbaits

Heading for the lake this weekend and would love to know the water clarity and temp around the 47 mm. Time to add some crappie beds.

I'd guess someone may have stepped onto our dock without permission at some point in time, but I personally am not aware of it. Is there really a problem with folks hanging out or fishing on docks that they do not have permission? Are they talking about the guy who steps on a dock to get a lure that is snagged? Thieves are going to steal regardless of the laws.

Betting alcohol was involved

Those motors don't like props spinning in air.

Been fishing Jackson County tourneys.

Part of your decision should be based on how much use the unit will get, if you only fish shallow, etc. No need to break the bank on a unit that is only going to get used 4-5 times per year. If you only fish shallow water you don't need much of a unit other than depth and temp. If the unit will be used all the time and you fish the entire water column, fish deep brushpiles, need GPS, etc. then I'd spend the money on a really good unit.

To get the slow death rig to spin you need to be going at least .7 mph. When I run a bouncer I usually bounce it off the bottom with a drop of the rod to verify I am close to the bottom. I do not have it constantly on bottom and have reduced my hangups considerably. You can add a couple beads, clevis and spinner to your slow death rig. I also use a 1/4 oz. roadrunner with half a crawler as well. Cabelas has the best price on bouncers. I concentrate on main lake points, transitions on channel banks, and flats typically in 18-22 feet. Sometimes they are in the 14 foot range. A lot depends on wind, cloud cover, etc. Have also gone to the backs of the creeks and found them on the last channel bank. Pay attention to where the shad are located and have a great time.

My goal in hiring a guide is to learn new techniques, lures, ways to rig live bait, and gain a better understanding of the fish and the body of water. Why were we fishing a certain spot? What are the walleye and crappie doing at that time of year and the rest of the year? What structure, cover, bottom composition, and forage are they feeding on? I was hoping to observe and learn about side imaging and down imaging. What am I seeing on the screen? I hire guides to learn and increase my fishing knowledge about a particular specie of fish and/or new body of water. Catching fish is a bonus. I know there are days the fish win. If I just wanted to eat fish it would be way cheaper to go to the store. I expect the guide to be professional and have a clean, well organized boat that does not leak. I expect his equipment to be in good working order and that he know how to use his electronics and trolling motor. I'd expect him to have clean, functioning livewells. Since the guide provides the bait, I'd expect that he actually have more than 6-8 live minnows and plenty of crawlers. If fishing brushpiles, I'd expect them to be way pointed or their location known through fishing them often. I don't like to hear that its around here somewhere, or there used to be a brushpile here, or when my buddy gets out here he can locate it for us. I'd expect to fish more than 3 spots in a half day trip. I'd expect to move along when a given spot does not produce after 30 minutes or so. I have been on 2 guide trips on Stockton in 30 years. I have learned more information from this site than both of those trips combined. In reality time on the water is the best teacher of all.

JR no longer guides. After talking at length with him I wish he was still in the business as I'd love to have him guide me. I have made 2 guide trips on Stockton lake for walleye with 2 different guides. No keeper walleye were caught on either trip. Learned nothing new as both guides utilized jig and crawler and concentrated on main lake points. Trolled flats with crankbaits after the points didn't produce. Both methods and locations were things I already do. Disappointed to say the least.

Thought you left Aggressor?

Do I get to pick the lake and date to fish?