Further North

As has been said already, good equipment. That Loomis at 7 wt. will make a great fly rod for bass should you choose to give it a shot. You don;t mention the line weight for the St. Croix...is it a heavier weight rod, or lighter? The English made Battenkills are solid, functional reels - fine for bass, panfish or trout.

Great topic - I appreciate all the info. I'm going to try 40# on a bait-casting rig, and 24# on a spinning rig. I will most likely be running both with fluorocarbon or co-polymer leaders. I have a couple of questions: Has anyone tried the FG knot for tying on leaders with Gliss? When the business end of the line gets frayed...has anyone tried the old trout fisherman's trick of pulling the line off, swapping ends and spooling it back on? ...are there any other updates?

Xpress are great boats...Almost bought one right before I found my CMV.

I bought this (2005 Crestlner CMV 1850) http://s189.photobucket.com/user/groznak/library/2005%20Crestliner%20CMV?sort=3&page=1 ...two seasons ago with 3 1/2 hours on the motor for $16,250. I had my own electronics, so that helped...swapped them with the old stuff on the boat and hit the water. Boats like this and the one BLuebasser86 bought are out there, you just have to put your time in and look for them...and when you find them, be ready to plop cash on the table fast...they won't last long. Regarding Craigslist in Massachusetts...if it's anything like NW WI where I live, the boat sales ads will perk up considerably in the next month or so and stay that way through at least early fall. Gotta get the ice thinning a little more before folks start getting a hankering for a new rig and look to sell their existing rig.

Many are...but there are plenty of reasonably priced fly reels. especially if you do your due diligence and shop around, But a few things are worth noting: Development costs are spread out over a fraction of the number of sales. Weight is important on a fly reel...even my heavy duty musky/pike reels weight less than 8 ounces. Building durability - and a drag that works well on big fish - into reels that light is a challenge...and they get booted around the deck of the boat just as much as any other reel. I'd have to go out and count, but I'd guess I have 15 fly fishing rigs...of those, maybe three cost me - rod and reel - more than $250. I have a lot of bait-casting rigs that cost more than that.

That is a great idea! ...it would work with a plastic bucket as well and eliminate worry about rusting.

Interesting...I had a 1991 Johnson GT 150 on a Lund Pro-V...other than being a little cold blooded and having to replace a part in the oil injection once, I never had a problem with it. Really strong motor, too. There are also a lot of Johnson branded Suzuki motors out there - I'm running one now. Flawless 4 stroke performance. ...and the new E-Tech motors areas good as anything else out there - three friends who have them have never had a problem at all. I would not hesitate to own one.

I probably use the butt seat about 25 - 30% of the time. Some days, it's just in my way...others, I like the break it gives my back...or when it's windy and the deck is pitching around. One of the problems I had was the seat not being tall enough...I'm 6'2" with a 36 in inseam and the lower seats were actually uncomfortable for my back. finally found one that raises to a useful height and find that I use it more often.

I've tried several things: Leaving them on the deck for quick access. We all know how this goes. Gunwale mounted tool rack. Fly line magnet, will grab a net too. Built a tool holder for the front butt seat. Better than the gunwale mounted version, but Still a fly line magnet Catches on clothing as I try to get around the seat. I mounted a multi pocket tool holder to the inside of my port side console. Everything starts the trip here, every time. As I take some tools out (pliers, line cutters) they go on the port console dashboard along with whatever tackle I'm trying to dry out before I put it away. I put it all away at the end of the day.

This will be my 2nd year with Lake Forks Hybrid, I like it.

Current boat - 2005 Crestliner CMV 1850 with Johnson branded Suzuki DF140 - has been trouble free. I expect it to stay that way because I'm a nut about the maintenance and I store it inside (as above) without a cover. If I'm pulling it any distance, I put the cover on to keep crap out of it. If it gets rained on while I'm fishing, I open up all the compartments whn I get home, take out anything fabric that got wet and make sure it's dry before I put it back in. ...also, there's no wood in my boat - it is all aluminum and composite, so there's nothing to rot. It's all in the details...

Had a '98 Tracker V-14 that'd wind up with some water inth bilge after a long day. Never enough to be a problem. A Lund and two Crestliners since then have been bone dry unless it rains.

Right now, I have three for my trolling motor, one that does double duty as my cranking battery and my electronics battery. I want to separate those two batteries as a redundancy - I am often on lakes (Lake of the Woods, for instance) where I am both a long way from camp and a long way from any help...with my electronics potentially draining my starting battery I run a risk of not being able to start the big motor to get back to camp. This actually happened last year - I had a short develop (it was fine one day, bad the next) in a charging cable for a remote that drained the battery to where the big motor would not start...it was a long ride back to the camp on the trolling motor - about 5 miles (another good reason for the extra capacity of the 36 volt trolling motor)...so now I want to separate them. I have the room and it's it's the redundancy up solution for me.

HUmminbird/Lakemaster also has AutoChart as a stand-alone product that'll run on a lot of their equipment. I've had it for several years now, works great...the difference between AutoChart and AutoChart Live is that you have to record, go back home and create the map, then load it your your fish finder. http://www.humminbird.com/Category/Technology/Autochart/

I priced it out with the 200 Optimax, snd console, center seat, custom cover. $34,288 I think when I priced out the Lund similarly, it was about the same.

Yup, that's why I'd expect the Crestliner to come in under the Lund...that and it's just not as nice a rig, from what I can see.

I knew about where the Lund was going to be (been following your progress), I am curious about the Crestliner. If they're smart, it'll come in under the Lund...it does not look like it's as much boat...

I had that problem on a Lund I had - I put two batteries in one compartment and carved out space for the 3rd in another. The wiring was..."interesting"...but it worked great. BTW, there is only a Spot Lock button on the foot pedal of the Ulterra. Not really. As I mentioned above. lots of folks are happy with a 24 volt system on boats the size of mine...I'm not. I have never, ever, been unhappy I had the extra power and battery life.

Spot Lock will keep you in position...but the bow will orient into the wind and/or the current. I've found that if I think this out ahead of time, it's not a problem as I come up on the structure from a place that will allow me to do what you describe. I run a 36 volt, 101 lb thrust trolling motor on an 18 1/2 ft. boat. Lots of folks will say all I "need" is an 80 lb., thrust 24 volt trolling motor. It wouldn't work for me... You're only limited by how much storage space you are willing to give up for the batteries and charger(s). I'm adding a 5th battery and single bank Minn Kota charger this year so I can isolate my starting battery from my electronics battery...I have the room, and it's worth it to me.

It'd work. Looks like the Lund has more storage, but that could be misleading as this one is longer. ...right now I'd probably lean towards the Lund, but I'd want to see them side by side and know that the $$$ are.

Everyone I know who has had a V-Max loved them. As long as you're looking at fairly new motors, it's getting pretty hard to find bad ones any more. Even the worst are better than the best from 20 years ago.

Plenty of newer 2 strokes around - Evinrude E-Techs and Merc Optimax are two examples. Both great motors. I've become a 4 stroke fan, but would consider a newer 2 stroke is something happened to my current motor. Start on Craigslist, check with dealers...there are plenty of good used motors out there...but be ready to buy fast if you find something good...they'll go fast.

I used to think that...then I watched a 35" pike clobber a Strike King Smokin' Rooster that I'd just dragged out of a patch of weeds on Lake of the Woods. It easily had 8" of weed hanging from it...

That'll work - nice rig!

+Regarding the part in red: Most tin boats don't weight that much (there are some that do) but a boat+motor+electronics+batteries+gear+trailer combination can easily get that heavy. My Crestliner 1850 runs right about that 2,600 - 2,800 lb. range most of the time, and can exceed it with a full tank (41 gallons) of gas. I have a friend with a 21 1/2 ft deep-V Crestliner and it's easily 5,000 lbs on the trailer with a full load.