Thanks again John!

But even though it is a LOT of hard work, we all appreciate it.
And that is why we always come back!

Big J

Good post!

From what I gathered, Crystal will be the sole Crestliner dealer for the Cities.
It is a double edged sword. Larger dealerships that can get more inventory at a better price. Less compition amongs dealers. The bottom line is that they only have so much room on the pricing of the products to begin with.

Ok…I called LUND.
Rapid will have 2 locations and then there will be Nelson’s. This is where Brunswick/Lund will be focusing their efforts and support of their product in the Twin Cities at this time.
There will NEVER be only one dealership in a state for Lund boats. Sorry to disappoint you there.

I for one was NOT a huge Mercury fan to begin with. I am now. I love my Optimax and the 9.9 kicker works excellant. The Yamaha engines are also wonderful.

Yami’s boat venture has been an interesting experiment. Anytime a manufacture breaks stride with what they are known for will have the potential for issues. That doesn’t mean that the companies won’t resolve them. But I know of at least 3 Tournement anglers who where forced to withdraw due to issues with their 06 boats that made them un-sea-worthy. Rumor was that they “rushed” to put product out there in 06. I think that their 07 line will be much improved.

As with most anything, research, research, and research before spending your money.

1. Charge your battery for a few hours…3-6
2. If that doesn’t work, try replacing the battery. (Take it too Battery shop and have them test it before replacing.) How old is the battery? And if its fairly new, where did you store it?
3. Get ahold of Vexilar/Motor clinic to look at it. They are down on “Old Shakopee” in West Bloomington.

Good luck.

Great post! Love the charts and graphs! Good stuff. I’m glad to hear that other people are have the same issues with the fish hitting and gone. I thought it was the hooks/baits/line etc…

fini

another…one more after

another

one of the beauties

Ok.
I read this…then re-read. Opened the links to the articles you supplied.

Opening day:
The opening day deal, sux for all. But if I where going to go fishing, not tourney fishing, I’d call my favorite bait store/resort and find out if thre was a tourney, and how big it was…Then make adjustments, or deal with it. (I’ve had this happen when going to Pool 4 numerous times. Just means we all have to SHARE the water better. )If I where a bit more pro-active, I might even call Dean before the day I decide to drive to pool 4!

Kill tourneys:
This is a fairly normal stance that the DNR is taking.
If you look at it from the DNR’s point of view. It looks like the DNR is trying to do the best they can to protect the fisheries, and yet allow tournaments. During the HOT months. There is supposedly a larger number of fish that die after being released. Rather than having them floating around and going to waste, the would rather have them go to charities. I’m ok with this. Along with fewer tourneys in those months.

I’m for more money for DNR’s. It usually means that they are trying to make what we do better. But that is my point of view from the Current and previous MN-DNR top guys. eh.

From what I read in the articles, it actually looked pretty good.

Don’t CUT the puck out. It probably is still good. The pucks have a sort of “firmware” that can get “messed up” under certain circumstances. It could be reloadedable if it is the correct module.

I’m not saying, but I’m saying.

To kick it up another notch so to speak, take a look at the Trollmaster. You can “dial” in your speed. Comes with an Idle and Full throttle boost. What it does is puts a servo (RC cars/planes type) into the throttle linkage. This enables you to fine tune the increments it pushes the throttle linkage. I thought they go for around $200.

You are correct on a coast guard level if I recall correctly. Personally, what I tend to do is try and go outside or deeper the first time. The next time I come apon that boat I expect them to do the same, go outside so to speak. Basically taking turns on the trolling passes.
I might be expecting too much though. My 2 cents