blackacre

I also have a Sams Club Group 31 Duracell AGM as my starting/house battery. Had it for a year with no complaints. Priced very reasonable compared to Odyssey or Optima. I too have a battery switch to use one of my trolling motor batteries when I select "ALL". If you are still worried about only have 1 starting/house battery, then carry a lithium ion jump starter. Cheap insurance in a light weight package. Having 5 batteries is probably over 300 Lbs. in battery weight. If you are concerned about draft that is a lot of extra weight.

My go to setup for sight casting artificials at tarpon is a Shimano Stradic 5000 on an 8' Teramar spooled with 30 lbs. braid. Casts a hogy much further than a heavier setup. I feel like it is plenty of reel if you know how to fight a fish and can quickly chase down a fish with the boat. Now if you are floating live bait then by all means go with a 6000 or 8000 reel.

My Pathfinder 2200 had a flush mounted 5" Lowrance black and white bottom machine and a bracket mounted Garmin 740. I updated with a flush mounted Garmin 840xs and a ram mounted Simrad GO7 XSE. I'm running the FMT chip in the Simrad. See picture below I took while testing the new electronics, prior to filling old holes and finalizing the install. I primarily fish shallow (2'-3') for red fish and trout while using the trolling motor to fish around oyster bars, structure or shoreline. I'm using artificial lures and fan casting or sight casting. Only thing different I would of done was go with a larger screen on the Simrad but budget was the constraining factor.

I previously asked a similar question here: I too switched from Garmin to a Simrad in order to run FMT. I decided not to use Totalscan transducer because it provided little benefit for the type of fishing that I do.

Do you have a water pressure gauge? If not, I would suggest adding one. You want to keep an eye on water pressure, especially when you have it jacked up. Also be mindful of floating grass. Grass will clog you intakes and cause a motor to overheat. Did you tilt the motor up to check you intakes?

I ordered spectrum paste kit. I'll post an update once I do the work.

Thanks for the advice. For the Spectrum paste kit, is the correct color Oyster White for my 2004 2200V? https://www.iboats.com/shop/spectrum-color-pathfinder-2011-2014-oyster-white-color-boat-gel-coat-patch-paste-repair-kit.html

If you play with fire, sooner or later you get burned. I run and fish pretty skinny with my Pathfinder. Finally had to pay the price courtesy of an oyster encrusted ghost trap. Left a small gouge about 12 inches long along a chine. Any suggestions on a repair? I would prefer to do it right, rather than using marinetex or similar band aid. I've seen several gelcoat repair kits from various places. Would one of those suffice? Any pointers for not having the gelcoat drip when applying to the bottom of the boat? Thanks!

Thanks for the advice. Sounds like there's no benefit if I'm mainly fishing shoreline, creeks, oyster beds, etc... with my trolling motor in shallow water, fan casting or sight casting artificials.

Upgraded my electronics and I am debating what transducer I will install. For those of you that have installed the Simrad/Lowrance Totalscan transducer, have you seen any benefit when flats fishing with the side scanning and structure scanning capabilities? When fishing for reds, trout or even tarpon I currently have no reliance at all on my bottom machine other than to tell me how deep I am. So if your always fishing shallow, should you go with side scan sonar or just a basic transducer?

Assuming your asking about targeting reds and trout. If I am sight casting fish I use a soft plastic. If I am working an area and not sight casting, I'll use top water, suspending twitch baits and lip plugs. My favorite hands down is top water. I never use a popping cork.

Just curious, whats the black access hatch on the floor near the stern?

I would point out that most new technical poling skiff trailers are setup to dry launch and retrieve their boats. Which means you are only back the trailer up enough to barely get the back of your bunks in the water, keeping your axle and hubs dry. Then you just push the skiff off by hand. To retrieve an electric winch can be used, since you are winching up almost the length of the trailer, instead of floating the boat on. No clue what brand winch is best. This is probably a very different application than the guys with pathfinders and larger flats boats are used to.

Seen that one on mashes sands. Good luck with the sale. Not too many Pathys in our area.

I have a Garmin 740 on my boat. I am considering switching to a Simrad or Lowrance unit so I can use Florida Marine Tracks. The 740 has been great but seriously lacks map detail in skinny water and often shows you on land when you are not. Anyone made the switch?