Umy wrote:

Personally, LaPanta blows. Almost rather listen to GIGI ( almost)

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I was there a week ago and the water is still really cold. The bite for us was not good. 3 days fishing, 4 walleyes, 2 northern, small mouth bass, sucker, and a perch. Bite for everyone else sounded very similar. There was another boat that was fishing with us last week that is back down there this weekend and they are still struggling. Maybe the water will warm enough for you to get the fish moving. Most areas we looked if you saw a group of four or five fish that was pretty good. Most areas that had been good in previous years, were not holding any fish or one here or there. I think they are scattered out in the deeper water getting ready to move in to do their thing. The fish we did get all were on hair. Not a sniff on anything else we tried.

I agree about the Dakota’s. I talked a friend out of even looking at them. Too many reports of the customer support being bad if you do end up having an issue. I told him about the Li Time’s and that he maybe should try them. Better him to try them than me.

I had been a hardcore Ranger fan for a long time and in my opinion the build quality and certainly the fit and finish has continued to go down hill progressively since 2018 since being acquired by White River Marine Group in around 2015. I looked at everything out there the last year and it came down between Yar-Craft and Vexus. The new boat has the new Yamaha 350 on it. I am impatiently waiting to get the Yar-craft.

Dutchboy wrote:

Is the fit & finish on the Yar-Craft that got you to switch? I’m not thinking it was less expensive than a Ranger. What motor are you going with?

The big test is in 4 or 5 years. Hopefully they work well for a long time. I am such a you get what you pay for kind of guy from trying cheap products over the last 45 years, only to find it isn’t worth a crap. I am so jaded I can’t change my view. This may be the one case where a cheap battery will perform well enough for me to say, maybe I should have bought them instead.

I started with a 18′ glass tri hull kit boat from the 70’s. In 1999 I bought a new Lund Pro-v 1775, a 2025 Pro-V, Stratos 385, Ranger 621, Ranger 621, and next month a Yar-Craft 219. The ride in the 18.5′ stratos was better than the 2025 lund. Much drier and smoother. I can’t see ever going back to a tin boat. Other than pool 4, I really only fish big water. My plan is the Yar-craft will probably be the last boat I buy before I drop dead or can’t physically fish anymore.

I turn mine parallel when moving and slide it to the center so it won’t flex much. When I bought mine I had brew city make the shaft in two pieces so I could take it apart and store it in a compartment when I wasn’t using it.

I asked about this very thing from PowerHouse and below is their response. I had asked if their batteries have an internal heater or not.

Our batteries do not have heaters, but can be charged down to 23°F internal cell temp. This is completely different than air temp. It takes a drastically lower air temp to get the internal cell temperature probe down to below 23°. We sell these batteries all over North America, including Canada and only see 1 or 2 total temp issues a year. Generally this is guys that leave their batteries in temperatures below 0° for a week at a time in ice houses. At 16°, it would take quite some time to get below the BMS temp cut off.

The battery will also naturally build heat when you are using it and charging it. To my best knowledge, I would say you shouldn’t have any issues.

Thank you

toddrun wrote:

I stayed away from Lithium because I was told you cannot charge them, cannot even trickle charge them, when temps are below freezing. They can explode actually. Unless, you pay extra for the Lithium batteries with built in heaters. I didn’t want to have to take them out of my boat every winter.

Not saying that is your problem, just stating what I was told.

The boat I just sold had two Amped Outdoor 36v 60Ah batteries that I ran for two years and they were flawless. I also switched out the lead acid batteries on a golf cart to two 48v 50Ah also from Amped and they are great as well. New boat coming has four PowerHouse lithiums. Hopefully they are good too.

Simms for me. I have both insulated and non and have been very happy with them. Best I personally have owned.

I had my reservations buying the Elliot Rod when I saw Acme was associated with them. Most things Acme are tied to have now turned to crap. I looked to see where the Elliot rods were made, and saw they are still made in MN, so I gave one a shot. Time will tell.

I had the issue with a GSPMAP unit doing the same thing. I did an software update on both the kraken and the 8612 and that fixed the issue. I don’t know which or both updates fixed the issue. One thing I will say is the update on Active Captain for the units has to be done separately. I didn’t realize that the kraken doesn’t install the update until you shut the motor off and then it will update it. I sat there for hours trying to reload it over and over until I found a video showing that once the motor is shut off then the unit will load the new software.

I just bought the 7′-6″ Elliot thinking I would use it on GB for hair jigs and maybe rippin raps. I used it for the first time on Thursday on the river pulling a dubuque rig. I do like the rod and look forward next week using it for it’s original purpose. I paired it with a shimano vanford. On a side note I went to buy a JT black reign but those rods were not in yet, so I went with the Elliot.

Hackney’s is very good. Get their french fried onions. L.Woods is always great but that is a little south in Lincolnwood. The babyback ribs at L.Woods are fantastic.

You may want to invest in a set of trim tabs to keep the front down and allow to run slower on plane. It can also be done with a jack plate, but trim tabs would do a better job. That prop also has quite a bit of bow lift making the situation worse. If you have any of the venting plugs open it would be wise to plug them as well to prevent any prop slip.

This is the picture from the summit site. I can’t get my pictures to load.

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I hope that is the case for me. My boat coming has a few Lowrance HDS pro’s on it, and I haven’t had a lowrance since 2005.

Ripjiggen wrote:

I’ll go against the grain. Look at the new lowrance elite series. Good bang for the buck. Touch screen. I run the HDS pros but the elite series are nice as well.

It looks pretty close to the Shore Station my in-laws had. The pads are a bit different, but that could have changed year to year.

maybe $100

I also would be concerned with the prop coming out of the water way too often in waves. He could go with the kraken. 65″ or 75″. I had one on my last boat and it worked well. I didn’t use a foot pedal though, but heard it was very responsive and fast to turn.

I looked the last time I was out there and the prices were really high compared to Florida, more than double. I decided against fishing since I was there with my wife and she wouldn’t enjoy fishing anyway.

Thank you, my question pertained to the length of the Seaguar STS.

B-man with your 5 color SWR setup how much line after the 5 colors do you run before a snap swivel do you have? I am thinking about trying a couple rods for this year. I only got one bite on my riggers last year on Lake Michigan. It was my biggest fish though.

B-man wrote:

Here’s a heads-up on a pretty good deal for backer/braid rods.

3,000 yards of 50lb Spiderwire Stealth for $154 on Amazon

Retails for $250. It’s good stuff and beats the crap out of buying smaller spools.

With two terrible snow years in a row, the snowmobile market has tanked. That would be one time anyway.

CaptainMusky wrote:

When have we ever seen the prices on recreational items (new) or vehicles drop? They wont drop, once they go up they keep increasing or possibly flatten off a bit, but they will not come back down.
I bought my boat in 2010 and I know I could sell it for more than I paid for it because of the electronics I have on it now. I financed it for 60 months, but paid it off in 2 years. I saw those advertisements even back then for 10 or 20 year loans and I was like that wouldnt make sense unless you did what Dutchy said and refinanced it later rolling it into money from your house or something.
As has been said I think a lot of people are in the same spot. I really have no plans of getting a new boat. I dont mind looking at them, but even if I get more than what I paid, the price to replace it would be double and that just doesnt make sense to me.

I think if you bought the right boat in the last 15 years you will do pretty well when you sell it, as long as it is still in good shape and has been well maintained. Not all boats hold their value as well as others.

buckybadger wrote:

^That won’t be the norm forever, but I do agree that anyone who has purchased a new/newer boat in the last 10 years is probably in pretty good shape on it for what it’s worth. The problem (just like the housing market), is that even if you make a little money selling a used boat – the jump to today’s prices for something new or slightly used are absurd.

I think the powersports industries are finding out the hard way that there is a ceiling for what people will pay for “new” seasonal toys. My ceiling is getting lower by the year, solely due to having less and less free time to use said toys.

I wrap the cranks with rubber bands, so I can get more cranks in a box without them tangling. It is a PITA and after a couple of years they will get brittle and break, so I need to swap them out every couple of years. Good thing I don’t ice fish so I can take a few days over the winter to make sure they are all good to go for the next year.

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I have all my crankbaits in 3700 boxes stashed in a couple different places depending on how many I am bringing on a trip.

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See if your garmin has any software updates. The mapping has had updates the last few years that are much better. I will say that overall the Lakemaster mapping on the humminbird is a little better than the Garmin maps, but not dramatic on the lakes I have fished. I do think you can buy upgraded maps now that navionics is now owned by Garmin.

We did pretty good. 15.5, 15s, 17, 16.5, 14.5, 16s, 17, 15.5, 19.5s, 18s, 15, 19, 19, 19.75, 14.5s, 16s, 18.75, 14, 16s, 15, 14s, 16, 15s, 15.5s, 16.5, 34″ slimer. Can’t find a big fish though