Thanks for sharing NM.

You're welcome!

Here it is with both chains. I couldn't figure out how to get the idler cable to work, so that might be an issue. Anyways, hoping to test drive it in the SC harbor tomorrow. Been down with Covid for the last couple of weeks--finally getting back close enough to normal for a little on-the-water pedaling, but not yet back to normal-enough for hours of fishing...

From CA Fish and Game [Still called that!]Code.  See subdivision (b):
12002.2.  (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a violation of Section 7145 or of a regulation requiring a license to be displayed is an infraction, punishable by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars ($100) or more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) for a first offense. If a person is convicted of a violation of Section 7145 or of a regulation requiring a license to be displayed within five years of a separate offense resulting in a conviction of a violation of Section 7145 or of a regulation requiring a license to be displayed, that person shall be punished by a fine of not less than two hundred fifty dollars ($250) or more than one thousand dollars ($1,000).
(b) If a person is convicted of a violation of Section 7145 or of a regulation requiring a license to be displayed and produces in court a license issued pursuant to Section 7145 and valid at the time of the person’s arrest, and if the taking was otherwise lawful with respect to season, limit, time, and area, the court may reduce the fine imposed for the violation of Section 7145 or of the regulation requiring a license to be displayed to twenty-five dollars ($25).
(c) If a person is charged with a violation of Section 7145 or of a regulation requiring a license to be displayed, and produces in court a lifetime sport fishing license issued in his or her name pursuant to Section 7149.2, and if the taking was otherwise lawful, in terms of season, limit, time, and area, the court may dismiss the charge.
(d) A person shall not be charged or convicted for both a violation of Section 7145 and a regulation requiring a license to be displayed for the same act.
(Amended by Stats. 2017, Ch. 26, Sec. 33. (SB 92) Effective June 27, 2017.

That looks promising. I wish I had a lifetime license...

IMO the last thing you want is to plead out and have it on your record.

That's what I was thinking too, but when I called the court, the person there was really pushing this option as the easy way out (maybe for them, not me ha ha!)

It really seems like it ought to be "correctable", as that would just entail showing my license and getting some officer to sign off on it, and paying $25. It seems to me that this is what the DFG guys who gave me the ticket were thinking of, as they mentioned that if I actually had a license, it should only be $25...

I got Covid about 2 weeks ago, and took a round of Paxlovid, which seemed borderline miraculous at first (other than the incredibly horrible taste in my mouth). But it's been up-and-down for the past several days... definitely, some rebound effect.

Anyways, I'd ordered stainless #35 chain, which is what is used on the Mirage drive. When I received it, I got the crazy idea of eliminating the cable, and this is what I came up with. I used a couple of connecting links to connect to the bolts, but for the "twist", I just pressed the broken chain links back together (not sure if that is entirely kosher...).

On the positive side of the ledger, no more broken cable to worry about, ever!

On the negative side of the ledger, it can easily slip off of the drum, but that will be trivial to prevent by simply inserting a screw/bolt between a couple of the links near the top. A potentially more serious issue is that if I use this to replace the front chain/cable, it looks like it'll rub on idler cable/bungee. I'm going to have to cogitate on that...

What about the cost? Based on current Amazon prices, the cable costs $4.125/foot and the connector links are $1.285 each. It requires about 15" of chain, so let's round up to 16". From memory, the bolt/nut pair is about $1.25 each. So, the total cost as shown is about 5.5 + 2.57 + 2.5 = $10.57. If you want to use connector links for the chain twist, that would require 4 more of them, which would add $5.14 to the cost.

I'll test it out eventually...

Nice! Can't wait to see the report...

Beach launch looks great!

Looks like fun, regardless of the uncooperative kokes.

Maybe can use it for tuna fishing?

Exactly! I'm guessing that Al was averaging about 6 knots which, I believe, is within the range of reasonable speed for bluefin trolling...