FishingFool34

That's a solid list right there! I had pretty much the same list when I was considering going aluminum (Lund Tyee and Sport Angler were on my list also). Those are all hard to find models but goodluck!

I do something similar but clip my dipsey onto the braid and then remove it as I'm reeling the fish in just like you would do with an in-line planer board. Seems to work well, tried slide divers but the lack of an accurate depth chart and the issues I had with the divers not sliding down the braid led me to my current setup. Also makes rod storage a lot easier.

Find a nearby boat that you can pace, that's what I did on my old boat a lot of the time before I got my fishawk. Another option is to do S turns, if you get hits on the inside of the turn then you need to slow down and speed up if you get hits on the outside of the turn.

I thought it was pretty straightforward when I did it on my old Magda reels. Just get yourself a good size area to work and layout everything in the order that you take it off. I took a bunch of pictures along the way just in case I needed something to refer back to. There's a couple helpful videos on YouTube showing the process and having a parts diagram on hand (easy to find online) can't hurt. I remember reading a big write up on facebook from Rochester Reel Repair about changing the orientation of 3 curved washers, that supposedly solved the problem ppl had with needing to fully disengage the drag and then re-tighten to make adjustments. I think someone even posted the write up on here as well. Its maybe 1-2 years old now and depending on how old your reels are they may or may not have that issue. But you will be removing those washers during the swap so its something to check while your right there.

We had good looking screens all morning in 160-180. Getting them to do something more than streak thru the gear was the hard part. Went 3/5 Twinkie rig with Socco bait strip (we forgot the real stuff in the fridge) took 2 fish down 80, other came on a 10 color with NBK stingray. Bugs were annoying but not terrible, thermacell in the cockpit helped a little I think.

I have 1 color of lead with flouro leader on my leader spool with a micro swivel on one end and a snap swivel on the other. I'll usually run it on one of my full mono BT setups. I'll tie the mono directly to the swivel, reel it on top of the mono and attach my lure to the snap. Simple and I don't have to have a reel dedicated to it, anything 3 colors or more I have dedicated reels for.

Depends on the reel you're using... easy way to check. Measure off 100ft in your lawn and walk it off and see what your line counter says at the 100ft mark. If it reads higher than 100 it means you need backing.

8' ML Shimano TDR

If by combo you mean sonar/gps then yes it is.

$250 + Shipping

sorry I mis-read it.

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Lowrance elite 7 hdi, comes with headunit, mount, transducer, power cable... it is missing 1 knob to attach the headunit to the mount (you can get replacement knobs for $15 on Amazon). This comes with the standard 2d transom mount transducer but has capability for down imaging if you purchase the proper transducer. It does have GPS built in, everything worked fine when I removed it. Can get pics for anyone interested, pick up in Utica/Rome area or Mexico. $300 + shipping

I have an extra Yamaha bracket kit if you're interested. I bought the wrong one initially for my kicker and couldn't return it because I opened it. Its the 120-1080-00 kit and it was never used, could be a good starting point to build your own from. Shoot me a PM if you're interested.

I ran 8hp Tohatsu for 5yrs no issues. Tohatsu makes all Nissan and merc motors 15hp and under I believe.

I use blacks and like to replace them every year. With a $300 probe hanging off a $10 release, seemed like a small price to pay for a little extra confidence of it being a new release.