Further North

Great advice. All the opinions from other folks on what works are just that - opinions. You have to go look, touch, see for yourself. Some thgns will work, some won't. I know a lot of people with boats...I can't think of two that have the same set-up.

I don't understand this... If someone has an asking price of X, they should feel lucky to get 70% of X at the time of sale? I've never sold anything that way in my life....I might take a few hundred off if it hasn't sold in a while...but I've never discounted anything 30% from my asking price. I hope I never get that desperate...or that I'm so out of touch with the market that I over price it that much.

Wait...people fish for squid? ...for sport?

Both brands are great, both are going to perform similarly. If possible, I'd try to look at both installed, see how you like the way they deploy, how the pedal layout and feel work for you. I've been beating the snot out of a Minn Kota for 4 years with zero non-operator issues (I've done a couple things that required repairs - bent the shaft, pinched a transducer wire) and I know folks who have been doing the same with Motorguide products.

I'll put a contrary opinion out there: If the manufacturer has it rated @ 3,500 lbs, it'll tow 3,500 lbs - they can't afford the liability if there's a problem. Will you like it? I don't know... For reference, I tow an '05 Crestliner CMV 1850 with a '14 Ford Escape; the Escape is rated for 3,500 lbs...my boat, as it's rigged right now, tops out (full tank, gear, batteries...etc.) at about 3,100 (most of the time it's lighter than that as it's seldom got a full tank). The Escape tows it just fine, zero problems, and some of my trips are hours long.

I have not...I've wondered how they are attached though.

Cameron is a little north of me...I know where I'll probably go, but other than staying out of the way of the crowds, who knows what I'll do. We're going to see much warmer water temps this year (heck, two years ago we still had ice!), so that'll play into what I decide. I used to live down there...I feel sorry for you guys...waaaay more people crammed onto a fraction of the number of lakes...Staying home is probably a good idea...unless you decided to go sit at a boat ramp with a video recorder.

I have that same knife...about 4 years newer.

Emphasis mine - that's exactly what I'm trying to accomplish, thanks for doing a better job of communicating it.

Not sure...but often I'd rather sacrifice distance to accuracy.

Thanks.

Any idea on a source? I'd have no idea where to even start looking.

A few reasons: I like to push myself, to learn new things to get better...I'm never going to need to make a 100 foot cast with a fly rod where I fish...but I practice it anyway because it makes me better...I'm going to make myself learn to skip with a bait caster this season as well. I'm more accurate with a bait-caster than a spinning rod, and I feel like I have more control over the situation with one as well. I like to throw small in-line spinners at times and I'd like to be able to do that with more accuracy. Putting one in a hole in some lilly pads just works sometimes... ...same with Rapala type lures. I've come up against limits in what a spinning rod can do and I feel like I can do better. ...if I think of more, I'll add 'em. Thanks. Trout are in my picture too - though it's mostly tossing flies...but there are days I know I could get under, around, inside hard hunks of cover better with a casting rod.

I'm in NW WI, so no baby tarpon...I'd probably go to a light braid rather than a low breaking strength mono or fluoro...something like a 10 lb Suffix, or if the Gliss I have spooled on one of spinning reels works out, possibly that. What I'd like to be able to throw would be light weight lures like floating Rapalas, Ned rigs, weightless plastics, maybe drop shot (if I can get passed being bored). I do all of this on a spinning rod now, and while that's OK, I'd like to do it on a casting rig to free up the spinning rod for other duties.

I snagged a good deal on a St. Croix Rage that throws light baits very well (1/8 oz - 5/16 oz.) - between the sale price and points on my card, it was less than $70. While I may replace it at some point, it will do for now...until I find another that works better. I bought an Cabela's Arachnid with it (Really a Daiwa Tatula-R with a couple extra bearings and a pretty blue spool)...and while that works, I'm guessing there's other reels that might work better...and I have a custom rod on order that the Arachnid will work great on... ...so I'm looking at reels that'll work well for light lures/baits. So far, the Abu Garcia LTX has attracted some attention, as have the Daiwa SV reels...am I missing any that are perhaps less expensive? I'm not opposed to spending money if I have to to get great results, but I'm also not going to do it if I don't have to.

I am close enough to Park Falls that I can drive over if I need a quick turn around. I had bad luck last year - I had some assistance braking the same Legend Xtreme rod three times in two months...the last time a week before I left for Canada. I drove over on a Sunday, handed them the rod, they handed me a new one and off I went. I've also broken two St. Croix fly rods - one, a Legend 10 wt. was no longer made. I received a call letting me know what I suspected - that it wasn't repairable - and was allowed to upgrade to the Legend Xtreme 10 wt. for $75. They've won a pretty pleased customer with me.

I saw this same thing on another forum somewhere, just in the past few months...and I'm sorry, but I can't remember where. I do recall that is was a short of some kind.

NADA is nearly worthless for boat prices around here. I've never seen any decent boat sell for anywhere near as low as NADA values it. It's funny how dealers will price your trade in with NADA but always have reasons why the boat they're selling is worth more than NADA. Same with car dealers. Best way I've found is to do a wide area Craigslist search (I use SearchTempest to do this, set the distance to about 1500 miles), looking at boats listed on sale boards on fishing forums, prowling dealer websites. There's some regional variation - a center console bay boat is going to be less in the upper Midwest, a Lund or Crestliner might be less way down south... Like anything worth doing well, buying a boat takes a lot of time and research.

The Ulterra will change how you fish. I've had a Terrova since they first came out and just upgraded to an Ulterra. It'll take a bit, abut as you get used to using the Ulterra, you'll find that you spend only a fraction of your time screwing around with boat control. I have a couple of sunken islands on one lake near here that I simply select a contour a ways out from the depth I want to fish, set the motor to speed I want to fish at...and I fish. On one of them, I don't touch anything other than a fishing pole (or a net) for better than 25 minutes. You can do the same in a bay, or along a productive piece of shore line...or you can plot your own course in cover you know to be productive. Spot lock is great as well. Enjoy your new "toys", I suspect you'll find your time on the water a lot more relaxing once you've mastered the new gear.

Correct - you'd have to continuously turn the trolling motor to make it useful. I've run SI off my trolling motor for years...it works fine...but I won't be putting it on my new trolling motor as I can do all I need to do with Humminbird 360°.

Put me down for a "yes" as well. Not sure I'd feel lost...but my effectiveness would drop a bunch. Side imaging in particular, on new water, lets you see exactly what's down there and tells you the places to fish...and almost more important...the places to not fish.

Easily: My gas tank is 41 gallons; @ ~ 6 pounds/gallon, that's 246 lbs right there. Trolling motor batteries (3) are 61 lbs each, total 183 lbs. Starting battery is another 46 lbs. Trolling motor weighs 76 lbs. ...that's 429 lbs. Haven't even added in all the lures and other gear... 10 years ago...maybe even 5...I'd have agreed with that...but technology has jumped a long way in that time and a lot of the old rules don't apply any more. Between improvement in engine technology, suspensions, brakes and some of the anti-sway technology it not the same world I grew up in...not by a long shot.

Jigs don't work when water temps are 212° F or warmer.

I've settled on 18' as my minimum, 20' as an absolute max...too much water I'd struggle to get into any bigger than that...and I'd really struggle with that upper end on some of those. 17' was just to small for me - short on storage, narrower than I like...the bump up to an 1850 got me tons more storage, and a bot that's about 8 ft. across.

I've owned a Lund, two Crestliners, a Tracker, a Sea Nymph, and a Blue Fin. Quality wise, I'd put the Lund and the Crestliners at a tie at the top, followed by the Tracker, the Sea Nymph (it was a 14' with a 9.9 Tiler, so take that for what it is, and the Blue Fin last. I don't think you can go wrong with an Alumacraft, a Skeeter...friends have them and like them a lot. No comments on the others as I've no experience. I did almost buy an Xpress once, I don't think you can go wrong there either.