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Some baits i wrapped

A couple of a limited run of red gill painted Workhorses. Baitfish and Bone.

Most of the family...not all

Hardgills On Deck!

Some fish I’ve gotten recently on the wake carp

25% scaled...my hand hurts. I keep going back and forth on whether I like it better than smooth sides, but I can easily remove the scales later. Looking trouty!

Wanted to do a full review for SU on the Dakota Lithium Power Box I picked up this season to run the Lowrance fish finder in my crawdad, I wanted to run a separate power source for the battery to minimize wiring and be able to use it in both crawdads. This is my thoughts/opinions and not a push from the company, No compensation or anything from them has ever happened. I decided to grab this one after reading and reviewing a ton of reviews online and talking to a bunch of kayak/small boat guys about what they were using to run their electronics. I know I could have just gotten a battery/sealed box like the hobie or made my own, but I felt the added features, pre wired and reviews were enough to sway me to spend the extra $$ on a complete set up. This thing is legit and worth the price and wait time. I purchased it right after all the covid shutdowns happened so the wait time was longer than expected, there was some delays and miscommunications after I ordered which was annoying, was like the left hand wasn't talking to the right hand over there but they made it right, I assumed most of that was due to the covid/delays and CS trying to cover all the bases. Total price is $229 it comes packed in a black ammo style plastic water resistant case, everything is wired and ready to go, attach the wires to the battery, put the fuse in and give it a full charge. the box weighs 4lbs, has a carrying handle on the top which makes using the flashlights perfect, more on that later. This is from the website: "Whether you are camping in a tent, cruising in your kayak, or working off grid, the Dakota Lithium Powerbox helps keep all of your electronics charged up and ready to go. Built to power all your passions, the Powerbox gives you the freedom to use one battery to power many things. Designed to be a universal & mobile power station, including two USB charging ports, a 12v car plug, and binder posts. For night time use the Powerbox 10 comes equipped with a high efficiency LED flashlight. For longer expeditions solar panels can quickly be connected to the binder posts, providing you with dependable power. All built in a water/shock resistant case. 12v Dakota Lithium LiFePO4 10Ah battery and charger included." I use the binder post to connect the Lowrance Hook 7 fishfinder which at full brightness draws 1Ah, I never run the fish finder on full brightness day or night so I would get multiple trips with no charges in between and the box would sit in the garage or in the truck when not in use. It has a volt meter built in that never really drops below 13, except the one time I purposely ran it super low, but during operation it stays at 13.2. I run the fish finder every time I go out from start to finish. I spent 3 days fishing 8-10 hours a day in a row and never ran the battery down. The blue lights are crazy bright so I usually just put a piece of electrical tape over em. Luckily when you have on the post for the fish finder its only one light. All the wiring is very professional, nice connectors, everything is super clean, the box needs some more foam padding to stop the battery from shifting around but otherwise its good to go, comes with the fuse and one replacement, comes with the charger. One nice feature is all the of the components work off their own switches, so you're not draining the battery when not in use, and each one lights up when in use, so its easy to tell when its on. I liked the idea that besides running my fish finder i could also run a go pro/action camera off the USBs, I haven't yet but the option is there. another selling point was this is the perfect emergency storm power unit. we lost power at the house a few times due to high winds/storms and was able to use the flashlight to get around, and keep the phones/tablets charged. When its not in the boat or truck for fishing I leave it on top of the fridge at the house for those exact types of situations now. This past week I went fishing during the day and forgot to pack the headlamp in case I stayed out for the bite, so having a headlamp wasn't a huge deal for switching baits but this pond has sort of sketchy put in/landing and a bunch of barely visible rocks, so I was able to use the box as a super bright flashlight and get the boat safely in. It doesn't say anywhere how bright the LEDs are for the flashlight but they have to be over 300 lumens as its brighter than my headlamp (250) Overall I think this is a great addition to the boat/truck and house which really helped justify the price, runs the fish finder for days on end, can charge anything that takes a USB or 12v cig lighter, the flash light is super bright, its light enough to easily carry around/transport and its good to go once it shows up. Cons would be price at first for me it was, but quickly justified it with its other uses. Its water resistant not waterproof, but I haven't had any issues and have fished with it in some nasty weather. One issue I did have which is complete operator error is when you charge it you have to "open" the circuit to charge it, so after like 5 hours on the charger and the light not turning green I realized my error and flipped the switch, kind of a bone head on my part but something you need to pay attention too. If you're looking for a battery option to run a fish finder and want some extra features I think this is a great piece to have. Any questions/concerns please ask. Hope someone finds this helpful

Dropped at 2:00am EST.... Fr

Thats a nice bunch of fish! It doesn't get much better than tangling with river smallies.

Chris, honestly I think you will enjoy it! We know the kayak can get into tight places but the floaty can get in tighter( that includes hiking into places) If it gets to shallow I can just stand up fan cast and move on. Windy days on the kayak is a pain, and fishing off shore can be almost impossible. Other than fishing swimbaits, I have a lot of love for deep cranking and the float tube still lets me fish the off shore humps in my Deep SoCal reservoirs. I have a kayak and a ISUP. Nothing holds position better than a floattube as long as you got juice in your legs. It also keeps you from bringing too much. The most I bring is three rods and three beers lol. Here my set up and I fish this thing all year long! Dead of winter heat of summer. No electronics and as simple as it can be, so simple I can throw it in the trunk. Add swimbaits In the mix and the grind is Harder and too me much more satisfying!

awesome man, congrats on the pb. hows the float tube thing? been thinking about it for a few select out of the way places where i feel it would the only way to get in and out easier than a kayak @MartinG

I hope you can too.

they are something else man

Pretty Fish. Would love to catch a smallie.

I really don't find it heavy. The handle is long and the balance is so good IMO you don't notice weight. I had a post on TT showing the balance with a LEXA 300. (pic added) I have a Levante Leviathan 1st gen that feels heavier to me that weighs less and my SBX XH is like 10oz. I have honestly not fished many jig hooks with it, but I can't see it not working when I need to. I use 25lb CXX, but I also have a 80lb braid reel that I add leader too. I think the Kistler has more backbone so it can do both. You should ask Cal about it, he said he has fished it a lot since the review and likes it even more.

I have a megabass icbm, but no experience with the other megabass rods. The icbm is a work of art, and accurately rated. It will realistically throw a 1/2oz lure further than any other rod I have owned, and is equally as happy with the 2.5oz 8" baits I have been throwing. If the other megabass rods are this good, you will be very happy.

Hell yeah!

Anybody know how many they had at the start? Can believe I missed out been checking all week.

I don’t throw a ton of Shad glides but one that I love is my Texoma workhorse. I feel like the size, color (and there are tons of others) , stability of the bait, and action are all great.

That's a real nice smallie

Wow sounds like an amazing week!!

Baldy Baits 7” Glide SS in Midnight. Love this color! IMG_1910.MOV

Turned two of these a couple weeks back and finished the up this weekend. these are turned based off the toxic mink (which has been putting in work lately) these will crankdown super easy due to the nature of the wood/weight. I will never sell these fyi, ones going to Ceasar and im fishing the other. made from laminated stained birch (i buy the blanks from cousineau wood products) ton of color options, then turn them on the lathe. wood is heavy/dense but turns fairly easy with light passes. epoxy heat sealed (double dipped), sanded, assembled then topcoat epoxy. gold pearl eyes, zoom magnum trick tail. added some new automotive grade flake/pearls into the epoxy. ill get some pics tomorrow outside.

Thanks guys. Some outdoor pics from today’s test and tune. Bait still wakes and knocks super loud and cranks down 1’ with the kvd 2/0 on it. the flake really pops in the sunlight

I have one, only thing I regretted was not waiting a bit longer to buy one because in 2020 they got a faster gear ratio. But anyways it's a conquest as you'd expect it's built great, it's got micro gears it's so smooth its not even funny and with it being a 200 size reel it's super light and fits nice in the palm. I use mine for wakes and cranking baits so the slow a** 4.8 gear ratio is great for that!