Category Archives: Fishing Product Reviews

Minn Kota Ultrex Trolling Motor Review

I bought a Minn Kota Ulterra self stow trolling motor a few years ago and hated it and all the problems I had with it. So I bought a Minn Kota Ultrex trolling motor that is manual stow and deploy. It is bad on my back but it has been reliable and I have had no problems with it until recently.

At an Oconee tournament, the steel pull cable broke when trying to deploy the motor. A grove had been worn in the cast aluminum block the cable passes through and had cut the cable

groove in my Minn Kota Ultrex that cut my pull cable

I replaced the cable but it stuck some in the groove and would get cut again so i contacted |Minn Kota. here is part of their response: Hello Ronnie,

this is normal wear from the stow/deploy cable. There is not a way to make this stronger and if it is getting bothersome to the operation of the feature, it can be changed out with part number 2992333 which can be ordered online.

So they know this is a problem, say it can’t be fixed and offered to sell me a replacement block that is the same as the one damaged.

I checked online and found this aftermarket part that seems to solve the problem for about $25. They were very prompt, i received the sleeve in two days!

It was fairly easy to install and i posted on the Minn Kota Owners web page to try to be helpful, several folk there said they had the same problem, but the keyboard warriors told me I did it wrong, even after I posted a link to the installation video on the designer manufacturer’s website showing I did it like they instructed.

Bottom line, I am disgusted with Minn Kota. They know about a problem with their $2500 plus motors that looks like it can be solved with a $25 aftermarket part, but they will not add this to their design. They probably could buy a stainless steel sleeve and put it on when the motor is built for much less than $20.

Boat, Motor and Trolling Motor Equipment I Use – T-H Marine G-Force Trolling Motor Replacement Handle and Cable

Here is the response i got from T-H Marine and my response.

Andrew Shelton (T-H Marine Supplies, LLC)Mar 8, 2023, 7:18 AM CSTCompared to the amount sold it’s not a big issue we see.  We can send you a new retainer and set screws, the G-Force Handle has a lifetime warranty.  When you get the new retainer and set screws what I recommend and what a lot of people do not do is when holding one set screw down on one side with the wrench tighten the other side all the way down until you hear/feel a snap then do the same with the other side.  This ensures the cable sets well in to the cable and will not pull out.

i would follow your advice if the set screw didn’t strip out with almost no pressure. I have installed these before with no problem until this one.

I like and use the following boat, motor, trolling motor and other related equipment

Steel Cable Trolling Motor Pull Cord

I used this cable in the past and was very satisfied with it, but the one I just ordered –  March, 2023 –  had a problem. I could not tighten the set screws. At first I thought the enclosed Allen wrenches were bad but my good Allen Wrenches slipped in the set screws – it seems the set screw itself is too soft to tighten enough to hold the handle on the cable.

I will update this again after working on it and trying it in a  tournament.  I WILL NOT be happy if I have to tie a knot in the cable on the handle end.

From the company when I bought my first one in 2015:

 

T-H Marine G-Force Trolling Motor Replacement Handle and Cable

Endorsed by B.A.S.S. Elite Pro Gerald “G-Man” Swindle – Rugged nylon jacketed stainless steel table. Large comfortable cushioned grip handle.  The G-Force Trolling Motor Replacement Handle and Cable from T-H Marine is a giant step forward in trolling motor replacement release and lift systems. Endorsed by B.A.S.S. Elite Pro Gerald Swindle, the G-Force Handle is a rugged, nylon jacketed stainless steel cable with a large comfortable cushioned grip handle. The last thing a tournament angler or any angler needs is a broken rope and handle. And as trolling motors become more powerful, complex and heavy, this is a real concern. The G-Force handle eliminates this potential problem. Fits most trolling motor models and makes. Comes with a hook-n-loop strap to secure to the motor shaft while underway.




KastKing Baitcasting Reel Review

KastKing Reel Review

Model MegaJaws Elite Dark Galaxy 7.2 Right Handed

$129.99 plus tax

I heard about KastKing rods and reels through James “LJ” Harmon and his comments about it convinced me to try one.  I had ordered two of my favorite rods, St. Croix Avid series, when they closed out that series and put them on sale.  I wanted a reel that would cast fairly light baits and skip them, at a reasonable price.

I rigged the reel on a medium heavy fast seven-foot St Croix, spooled up with 15-pound Sunline Sniper fluorocarbon and tied on a 3/16 ounce Strike King Bitsy Flip with a Zoom Creepy Crawler trailer.

My first cast, with no reel adjustments, produced a backlash. But as soon as I adjusted the anti-backlash a little the next cast was long and smooth.  I could cast that bait farther than a quarter-ounce jig and the same trailer, same rod and same line, but with a Johnny Morris Signature series Reel that costs $169.00 when I bought it five years ago, so that reel has seen a lot of action.

I landed a three-pound Lanier spot and a 2.14-pound Lanier Spot on my first trip with the reel, and it performed well. No problems at all.

Although I did not catch a fish big enough to strip drag, it felt smooth and even when setting it.

No problems so far but no idea how this reel will hold up to heavy use.  I will update it after using it for a while.

For its price, it is a very good deal and I will buy another when I need a new reel.

KastKing has a wide variety of reels at different prices.  One should fit your needs but remember you usually get what you pay for, so do not expect a $50 reel to perform and last like a $150 reel and that one won’t be like a $300 reel.

They also have a line of rods, line, tackle and clothes.

Use LJs code LJTENDISC for a 10% discount

Disclaimer: I got LJ’s discount when buying this reel.

UPDATE – Eco-worthy Lithium Battery Review – UPDATE!!

I wrote the review below about a month ago – tried to work with them but I am done with this battery now. Don’t waste your money!

Last weekend the LiFePO4 12V 30Ah Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery was fully charged Saturday morning. Due to tire problems I never got to launch my boat.

Sunday morning in my club tournament the Garmin went dead in less than one hour!!

Fortunately, the wires to my cranking battery were not hooked up but still there. I took about 15 minutes of tournament time hooking the Garmin to those wires then hooking to the cranking battery.

Eight hours later I still had 12.4 volts on my AGM cranking battery.

I am done with this battery messing my fishing up!

Fast service, works well most every trip

I ordered a 5A 12V Automatic Smart Battery Charger and Maintainer with LCD Display for Lead Acid and Lithium (LiFePO4) Batteries and a LiFePO4 12V 30Ah Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery on Friday, June 25, 2021 at 10:09 AM – Order #7467 confirmed

I received the battery and charger quickly and hooked up my Garmin Panoptix system to it. The Garmin system, head unit and black box, is the only thing on the battery. That system had been pulling down my battery for other electronics too fast to last an eight-hour tournament day.

The first time I used the system with the Ecoworthy batter it was still running after nine hours, and all my other electronics were still running. It did exactly what I wanted it to do.

I hooked up the charger with the included battery clamps and it did fine for several months. Then it seemed the battery would not take a full charge, running down below 11.3 volts needed to run the Garmin system within a few hours. One time the Garmin went out after only 30 minutes, even though it had been on the charger for a week.

Several times I noticed the charger would not reach a full charge, showing 12.3 volts maximum. And the charger jumped from 1.3 to 3.8 amps and many numbers in between, with no consistency, even after being plugged in for 24 hours.

|I switched the battery charger to the screw on clips and it seemed to help, but sometimes my Garmin stills goes out in less than eight hours at times.

I contacted support and they quickly responded, trying to help me isolate the problem. They have responded quickly to all my emails and were very supportive.

I am mostly happy with the battery and charger and if I can make it consistent on every trip will be extremely satisfied.

Ronnie Garrison

Review of Bass Pro Shops World Wide Sportsman Fishing Shirt

Jack caught fishing in Baja Mexico

Jack caught fishing in Baja Mexico

I like my Bass Pro Shops World Wide Sportsman fishing shirts like the one I wore in Baja while catching this jack.

I have about 20 fishing shirts and jerseys from a lot of different brands and manufacturers. Some of my favorites are the World Wide Sportsman short sleeve shirts from Bass Pro Shops. The are comfortable, come in a variety of colors and sizes. And they are reasonably priced. (disclaimer – I do get a discount on these shirts)

These button up shirts have big pockets, one on each side. The pockets have Velcro tabs to hold the flap closed. Sometimes the pockets are almost too big. A ball point pen can get lost in them, sideways down on the bottom. To solve this one pocket has a small opening in the flap for a pen – an important fact for an outdoor writer or tournament director!

The collars are button down, too. That is extremely important when running 70 mph in a bass boat. Collars that don’t button down can beat your cheeks and jaw uncomfortably.

The back of the shirts is ventilated with a mesh net the top half, covered by a flap to allow air in and heat to escape. The flap also has a Velcro patch to keep it down over the mesh, or you can loosen it to allow more air flow.

The shirts are 100 percent cotton except for the mesh, which is much more comfortable to me. It seems to wick the sweat away better than most materials. The only problem is they wrinkle, so they do need to be ironed to look their best, but for most fishing I just wash and tumble damp dry and hang them up to finish drying. That reduces the wrinkles.

At a price between $23 and $26, even less on sale, they are a good value.

https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/world-wide-sportsman-ultimate-angler-short-sleeve-shirt-for-men

World Wide Sportsman Nylon Angler Shirts for Men – Short Sleeve

AFTCO Solpro Fishing Gloves Review

AFTCO gloves
Cutouts allow good contact with rod for feel

For years I searched for gloves I could wear while fishing.  I have dozens of pairs on which I spent way too much money and wore once.  None allowed me to feel the bites, cast both bait caster and spinning reel, protect me from sun in summer and stay warm in winter.

    At the Georgia Outdoor Writers Association meeting this past spring our “goody” bag included a pair of AFTCO Solpro fishing gloves. I thought the size was marked wrong, the XXL looked way too small for my hands.  But I struggled and got them on, and they “fit like a glove!”

    They are snug on my hands, but that helps feel the rod and reel while fishing.  The fingertips are cut out as are the palms, giving me good skin contact with line, rod and reel.  And they have protected my hands from sunburn this spring and my hands have not gotten hot while wearing them, either.

    I did not think they would be very warm in the winter and I am not sure they will be. But when I pick up a cold can of Diet Rite Cola I feel the cold on my palm and fingertips but not where the glove material is between my hand and the can.  I hope that means they will be warm.

    The tight gloves are hard to get on and I have to be careful to get my fingers headed in the right direction, but it gets easier each time I put them on.  I put them on each morning when the sun starts to get warm. 

With them and a gaiter, a simple tube of sun block stretchable cloth that goes over my head and covers my ears, neck and most of my face, I am well protected without putting on sunscreen except on the tip of my nose.  The gaiter was given to me when I attended a Bassmasters Classic as a media observer a few years ago.

Just my luck, when I went to the company site apparently the Solpro gloves are no longer available. That is probably why they were given to us, they are discontinued. It looks like they have been replaced with a “Solago” named glove.  It looks the same in pictures.

The Solago sun gloves sell for $29.00.  I am ordering a spare pair, but was disappointed when shipping cost $9.99, over a third of the cost of the gloves!  They did offer a free gaiter with my first order, though. 

And after I got home from my trip, Linda asked if I thought to check Amazon. I had not, they were the same price but shipping was free if you are a Prime member. I could have saved $10 if I had not been in such a hurry!

Frog Tog Rainsuits Have Failed Me Three Times

  If rainy days and Mondays always get you down like they do “The Carpenters,” last weekend and the first of this week was definitely a low time.  Some folks let rain stop their outdoor activities, which means fewer people on the lakes while I am fishing!

    I am not crazy about camping in the rain, even though I have a nice slide-in pickup camper now.  But it is small and not really comfortable for sitting around inside. I carry a screen room with me to sit in outside and it is good until it really pours.

    Grilling is a challenge in the rain but it’s possible, especially if you are fast and have a covered grill. The key is keeping your charcoal dry in the bag and keep the rain off it until you light it.

    There are lots of little tricks to make camping in the rain better. From something as simple as keeping some rice in your saltshaker so it won’t clog to having a good rainsuit make a big difference.

    Rainsuits come in a wide variety of costs and quality, from those that keep you nice and dry to those that are about as effective as a screen door. 

Years ago, when they first came out, I got a set of “Frog Togs,” a new brand of rainsuit.   I loved it – for about a year. 

It was lightweight and kept me completely dry. Then on a trip to Clarks Hill I put it on, got in the boat in the rain and every bit of my clothing was soaked within minutes.

I figured the set was old so I got a new set, and got soaked the first time I wore it.  That’s when I went and bought an expensive set of Columbia light-weight rain gear. I have a set of heavy Cabellas Guide Wear that is great in the winter but too hot to wear unless it’s cold.

A couple months ago I was at Eufaula to do an article and realized I left my rainsuit at home. Since rain was predicted, I went to Walmart to get something. The only thing they had that seemed reasonable was a set of Frog Togs, so I bought them.

I didn’t need them until last Saturday at Wedowee. I put the pants on before we took off since the boat was wet. When it started raining an hour or so later, I put the jacket on.

Almost as soon as I sat down I felt rain leaking around the crotch seams on the Frog Togs. Within an hour or so of light rain, there was not a dry thread anywhere on my body.

I will get a used laundry bag for a rainsuit before I ever buy Frog Togs again.

Garmin Panoptix Review Update

 I continue to be amazed at what my Garmin Panoptix shows while I am fishing. The Panoptix Livescope has a transducer that sends out sonar pulses and receives them back from three different angles at the same time. It then combines and interprets the resulting “pings” from objects the pulse hits as lights on a screen.

    You can watch dots of lights indicating fish move on your screen. It shows how far from the boat they are, the angle they are at and how deep they are. Any stationary object shows as a solid light image that resembles the object. For example looking under a dock you can see the post, cross bars and any brush or fish under them.

    The size and shape of the image give you a good idea of the size and shape of the fish out there. There is no doubt what a long, thin  gar is when it is in the beam.  Crappie, bluegill, bass and hybrids show similar images, but their position relative to the bottom, way they move and how they are positioned to each other give you a good idea what they are.

    From what I have observed, a school of baitfish looks just like it does from above when near the surface. The small dots move and flash in sync with each other, and move around a lot without going anywhere.

Crappie usually hang in groups over or near cover like brush or pilings. You can see the individual fish as they slowly move within the school.

Hybrids stay up from the bottom, move around a lot and move fast. There are often a dozen or more fish in the school, and they are generally bigger than the crappie.

I target bass, and they can show up as different things. Often a single bright spot at the top of a brush pile or against a post under a dock is a bass. Sometimes a small school, six or so fish, move in unison, going up and down as they look for food.

We always thought bass moved in tight to cover when the water is muddy and are out from cover a little in clear water. I saw this proven the first couple of months I had my unit.

The first time I used it at Jackson, the water was clear and I saw what I was sure were bass suspended just over some brush I often fish. Another place with big rocks I could see the fish holding just above them and saw several stumps with fish on top of them, too.

A couple of weeks later a heavy rain had muddied the water. The same brush pile with fish just over it now had bright dots down in the brush. I know they were bass because I caught two by repeatedly casting a worm to the brush and slowly working it through the limbs.

The rock pile now showed bright dots right at the bottom tight to the rocks. Stumps showed the fish tight against them near the bottom.

The most worrisome thing was the fact I could see fish near the cover in clear water but they were slowly moving around like they were looking for something to eat.  But when my boat got within about 30 feet of them, they sank down into the cover and became inactive. I just knew the fish knew I was there and would not hit. Maybe they picked up sounds from my boat, a shadow from it or some other reason that spooked them.

At Martin last week I was fishing a point and saw five or six dots slowly moving just off the bottom. They would swim up a couple of feet then go back down as a group, like they were searching for food.

When I casts a shaky head worm to them, knowing the angle and how far to cast from the picture, I watched my bait start to sink toward them. As has happened dozens of times, one came up to meet my bait.

Time after time I have seen a fish do this, follow the bait to the bottom and never hit it. Usually the bait separates from the fish and the fish follows it down.

But this time was different. The bait did not continue to sink, the fish dot and bait dot stayed together. I realized the fish had hit it and tightened up my line and set the hook, landing a 13-inch keeper spot.

I like watching my crankbait run through the water. The unit lets me know exactly how deep it is running. And I can see fish follow it, but so far have not seen one eat it.

Topwater baits skim across the top of the screen. I can watch a Zara Spook twitch back and forth and see the wake produced by a Whopper Flopper.  And watch fish come up to them.

All this is very exciting but also very frustrating. I never realized how many fish are out there, they are everywhere. But getting them to hit is another story. Knowing a fish is sitting by a stump or in a brush pile will make me keep casting to it, sometimes wasting way too much time trying to make a fish eat that just will not.

But at times changing the size or color of a bait will make the fish hit. So at times it makes the difference between catching a fish and just blind casting.

Expensive electronics are not for everyone, and they definitely have good and bad points. But technology continues to improve, even if you don’t want to take advantage of it.

Garmin Striker Cast GPS Review


Frank Sargeant, Editor
from the Fishing Wire

Garmin Striker Cast GPS—Castable Sonar For the many anglers around the country who fish from shore, piers or docks, it’s always a bit of a mystery how deep the water is within casting range, what structures are on the bottom, and where the fish are in relation to that structure. Without a sonar/GPS screen to tip you off, you’re fishing blind.

Garmin’s Striker Cast GPS puts fish-finding technology into the hands of these anglers, at a very affordable price. It provides quality sonar and GPS on any smart phone.The whole system is encased in a hard plastic housing about the size of a tennis ball. The unit turns on when it’s immersed in water, and links via Bluetooth to your smart-phone once you download the Striker Cast app. You attach the device to your fishing line, cast it out to the water you want to check and presto, a sonar screen appears on the phone.

The Striker Cast is about the size of a tennis ball. It can transmit to your phone from up to 200 feet away.

The device weighs about 3 ounces, so it’s not something you’re going to throw on your light action spinning rod. And it would be easy to pop your line and lose the Striker if you got a dead-stop backlash on a hard cast. I tied it on with 65 pound test Spider Wire braid on the heavy duty snap swivel, just to be sure—that braid will hoist a couple of concrete blocks, so it’s not going anywhere.
Here, a bass hanging over tree limbs on bottom at 8 feet shows clearly. Note the water temperature and depth digital readout on the upper left.

You don’t really cast the Striker—it’s more like lobbing a tennis ball, unless you put it on a 10-foot surf rod. I used a heavy action Shimano Sienna 7-footer and a 4000 size reel that would whip a kingfish, and it was about right.

Manipulating the rod, reel handle and your smart phone all at once is a challenge unless you have three hands. The way I worked it out was to hold the rod in my right hand, the phone in my left and also lightly hold the reel handle. I then rotated rod and reel to retrieve line—it sounds more difficult than it is once you’ve made a few casts.



As with any sonar, the faster the transducer moves, the more the terrain and fish below are compacted, while the slower things move the more they are stretched out. Thus, a foot-long bass going slow under a fixed transducer can look like a 40-pound pike. However, you quickly learn to adjust. The system automatically sets range and gain, or you can adjust both manually at the tap of a virtual scale.

Bottom shows red/yellow, water blue, fish and structure also red if large, yellow if small or scattered. The screen has digital depth and water temperature readouts on the upper left.

The unit also has a very accurate GPS system which allows you to map the area you are graphing. Walk all the way around your favorite pond, casting every 50 feet or so as you go, and it draws a chart of all the water you can reach, complete with depth profiles. You can name and save this, and you can also share it publicly. (I suspect that’s a function not many serious anglers will use!)

The chart was made by repeated casts with the Striker Cast. The opening at the center was where the author walked around a creek, so there’s no graph of that area.

The transducer is not like your boat floating over a fish, which usually flushes anything shallower than 10 feet in most lakes. Fish are not aware of it, and in fact I had a catfish come up and bump it apparently to see how it tasted. So, you can graph an area with a couple casts, spot fish, tie on a lure that gets to their appropriate depth, and hopefully connect.The Striker Cast would also be very useful for ice fishers—it’s compact, easy to carry, and would give you a quick read of what’s happening at each hole you open.

After saltwater use, you’ll want to rinse the connections thoroughly before hooking it up to the included USB charging wire—corrosion is not your friend. I wished the charging LED was a bit easier to see or had an alternate color when fully charged, but that’s a minor inconvenience. The battery lasts 10 hours with a full charge.

Here’s a useful video that teases out the many functions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEew_HQ90lY.

The Garmin Striker Cast GPS goes for about $180, and it’s sized about right for a stocking stuffer.

Check it out here: https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/665274

Sunline Fluorocarbon Line Review

Product Review

Sunline Fluorocarbon Line

Good

Sunline Fluorocarbon Line comes in 17 different types for different applications. Its entry level line, Super Fluorocarbon, is a good choice for general fishing.  At the top end, Super FC Sniper, is for the tournament fisherman depending on every strike for his living.

Fluorocarbon is a very low visibility line with little stretch. It sinks, so it is not suitable for all lures, for example topwater lures do not work well with it.

A variety of the types of line are for specific situations.  Dostrike FC is designed for fishing bladed jigs. Crank FC is made for fishing crankbaits. Both lines are designed with some stretch for those baits.

The Night line is made to be visible when using a black light at night.  The Super FC Green Sniper has green color in it to help the fisherman see it above the water but is much more visible underwater to fish, too. Flipping Fluorocarbon has colors to be visible to the fisherman and is abrasion resistant.

I started using Sunline Fluorocarbon years ago after doing a Map of the Month article at Lake Lanier with Eric Aldrich.  The first stop, he lowered a drop shot bait to the tip of a blowdown in 30 feet of water. When he set the hook, he sawed the fish back and forth several times in the limbs and landed a three-pound spot.

I said he must be using heavy line for dropshot but he responded it was five pound Sunline. I thought it was a fluke to land that fish, but later in the day he did the same thing in a 35-foot-deep brush pile, sawing back and forth then landing a 3.5-pound spot.

I figured if five-pound Sunline line would do that, I could tow my boat with 12-pound line.

I fish a jig and pig on 14 pound and a shaky head on 12-pound Super FC Sniper or Super Fluorocarbon. It holds its knot as well as any fluorocarbon and I have never been disappointed in it. I think I get more strikes with fluorocarbon than I would with other line when fishing slow moving baits.

Bad

Sunline Fluorocarbon Line is more expensive than many other fluorocarbon lines.

Fluorocarbon line does not stretch like monofilament. When I switched to 12-pound fluorocarbon, I broke my line several times on the hookset until I loosened the drag enough to slip a little on the hookset.

Fluorocarbon is also notorious for knot slippage. With Sunline and any other fluorocarbon, if you do not tie a good knot suitable for fluorocarbon you will lose fish.

Cost

Sunline fluorocarbon line lists for $19.99 to $39.99 for a 165 to 200-yard spool. Bulk spools are available at slightly less per yard for some types of it.