Further North

I agree, also if you fish in places where the toothy critters are going to show up whether you are after them or not.

Great ideas - I rigged my battery charger plug so it hangs from the ceiling of my garage directly over the plug into the boat. If I forget, it just unplugs and hags there ready for me when I back the boat in when I get home.

Your lakes down there have turned over? Ours here (NW WI) have not (surface temps in the mid 50s), a ways from turnover yet (39°).

I use them at the ends of leaders for pike and musky...I'm not going to re-tie wire leaders, or heavy fluorocarbon line as often as I want to swap lures. I use them on in-line spinners and spoons. Hadn't thought of using shrink tuping to use them on spinner baits...I'll add that to my box of tricks - thanks. One place I use snaps (seldom swivels) religiously is on pike and musky flies. Once I tie my leader, I want to avoid having to cut it it short until it gets beat up.

I run a 36 volt system on my boat - Crestliner CMV 1850 - it it'll run pretty much all day when used as a trolling motor...I was making sure that a couple of miles against current wouldn't kill a system, particularly with multiple trolling motors on the same set of batteries. I keep my batteries in top shape with a Minn Kota charger, I would do the same in an electric powered river rig like this.

Thanks Chris...I find this idea really interesting...at most I'd want to fish up river a couple of miles...or fish down and run back up...do you think it'd work for something like that?

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Thanks for taking the time to explain - if that was the case, then yes, it was a $3K profit. If not...and it's still not 100% clear the the bonus money was related to the directly to the boat...then I still think he could have won the money without the new boat. ...but I had no idea those kinds of deals were in play, and I appreciate the info. I like it when I learn new things!

That's a seriously interesting rig...how far can you go in a day of fishing? I can thnk of sme smaller rivers around here where that might work very well.

Your friend is a sharp cat. That's a good system.

Sure...but the $5K is still gone. The $8K has nothing to do with the new boat...it's like one of those algebra story problems from high school...unimportant info to the solution of the equation... If he hadn't spent the initial $47,250 he'd have had that to spend on the new boat rather than just $42,250... Don't get me wrong...if the guy is happy, it's what he should do; but I'd have trouble eating a $5K loss in one year just to fish. Other things make me happy.

probably still woulda won the $8K + without the new boat.... ...so it looks like a $5K loss to me...

I guess it depends on what we consider high resale. In January, I bought a Ford Escape that had been on the road for 1 year and one week, had about 26,000 miles on it. The original owner paid about $36,500 for it...I paid $23,250. That's ~36% off a vehicle that'll last me years, $13,250 more for retirement and waaay less interest on the loan...and for a shorter period. Yes, it was a private owner, not an off lease vehicle. About a year and a half ago, a friend bought a new Crestliner Raptor 1850...by the time he was done, he had over $55K in it, The very same week, I bought an older Crestliner CMV with 3 hours, 34 minutes on the motor (verified by my dealer, not his) for $16,250. My boat was virtually unused and I paid less than 30% of what he paid. I did move my electronics over to the new boat, so we can add another $7,500 to mine...but still...that extra $31,250 in the Further North Charitable and Benevolent Fund, invested for retirement sure feels good. I honestly don't feel like there's any one way to do this that is better - everyone is different and they should do what works best for them and how they live their lives. I'm...ah..."frugal"...by nature and getting the best value for my dollar is a big deal to me - I enjoy it as part of the process. Other guys love that new boat/car/truck thing and that's what they should do.

I'm sorry if I gave the impression I think any vehicles these days are a POS...That wasn't my intent. I know people who drive all makes and brands of vehicles, and they are - almost without exception - well built, durable and long lasting...it's pretty hard to find a bad one any more (like outboards and boats). We really are in "the good old days"! Are there rare "lemons"" Sure. And there's a lot of problems caused by poor maintenance and general abuse. Bout a month ago I was following a car into town, and it had a blackened bumper and the distinct smell of a car burning oil...and the thought struck me that I could not remember the last time I saw one like that...when I in my twenties you couldn't go a day without seeing at least one or two like that....and I live in NW WI, in a fairly rural area where vehicles get used long and hard...and I still don't see many like that.

I just buy the raw material on Amazon: https://www.howtobuyamerican.com/content/db/b-db-autos.shtml ...then cut it to length for each rod. I pinch/fold the tip end together, stuff it into a heat shrink tube and heat it up so it holds it together. At the open end, I fold it back on itself . Works great. Not sure I save much money, but I get "custom" fit sleeves, even better for my fly rods and musky rods, most of which are 9 ft. or better.

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By "...cheaply manufactured foreign POS..." you mean Fords, Chevy's and Chryslers? Ever look at the content info for a lot of "American" vehicles? https://www.howtobuyamerican.com/content/db/b-db-autos.shtml BTW, there's 3 Fords in my garage...

I love those folks. They provide a never-ending stream of nice used boats (and cars, trucks and other stuff) for people like me to buy at a fraction of the cost and not 1) take a beating on the resale value, or 2) chuck money down the financing hole. ...while I did go through several (used) boats in a short time frame in the last few years, it was with the goal of zeroing in on what I liked and didn't like, finding out how I like to fish and paying cash for toys.

I agree on the 36 volt trolling motor...I've run q 36 volt Terrova on 18 ft boats for several years and will never go back.

Good stuff, and timely...I keep a couple pair of leather gloves in the boat for this...and they are never where I left them. ...so today I skipped them when tying a leader on...and sliced the $%^& outta my finger. I've always got a bunch of water bottles in the boat, this will work great.

I did almost exactly the same...it was nice not having the foot pedal on the deck...but once I got used to using both it would be hard to go back. One feature of the Ultera that I am looking forward to it the foot pedal mounted spot lock button.

I use the Terrova as a "set it and forget it" tool most of the the time...but I was referring more to the folks who are on their trolling motors pretty much constantly. I've fished with a lot of guys who are adjusting direction, speed, nudging it this way and that...and it works for them, which is great. You know how the Terrove is when you point it down lake and it stays that way? Cable steer can't do that...if you leave a cable steer trolling motor on at any given angle...the boat will go in circles if you don't correct it...so it needs a lot of attention. A Terrova does not need that.

Take that a step further: Woolly bugger. They don't get no respect, but....man....do they catch fish.

I fly fish a fair amount...everything from brook trout to muskies...and the the experience I carried forward from that with baitcasting and spinning equipment is tha the rod makes more difference to me than the reel. ...that said...the least expensive reel I use regularly was about $180...so I might not be the best person to ask...

THe reel I use most often is a 7.1:1, but I have more 9:1 than any other reel (ran into some stupid deals on Revo Rockets), I only have a couple slower than 7:1. ...I can always slow down...it's hard to speed up past a certain point.