Further North

Same here...since my decks are aluminum, I'll wear out the carpet before I have any issues with the floor.

Good move, IMO. ARs are a blast (pun intended) but if you're already using the boat more, looks like this was the right choice.

Spot on, IMO.

Not from what I have seen. See above reference to Avid X price, bought them out of Senkos in the colors I use the third week of the sale at less than I normally pay...bought some fishing pants at half what they used to be, and got a Shimano Curado for lots less than they sell for anywhere else...

Thanks Tom, - you're exactly right. Hard to tell where the new owners will take the business. Seems to me it'd be an odd choice to buy "the brand" and not take advantage of the established market, but that might not be their goal. There was a "letter" on the website stating they hope to keep 70 stores open, not sure about which ones. I think that's a good move, mostly because I think the reason they went belly up is that they expanded too fast...

It's a baitcaster, so not what you're looking for - but it's the AXC68MXF. Yup. Mentioned in the original post. Not sure why that matters? Their assets have been purchased by Camping World/Good Sam.

I love my Ulterra and the 2017 versions are even better. It deploys with a touch of a button and power trims for shallow water (when I stick a lure in a bush).

My boat is a 2005 Crestliner, bought used 4 seasons ago with 3 1/2 hours on the motor. It was all but new in every way. I paid a lot less than your $26,500 for it, and unless something really stupid happens, or my life changes for some reason...my wife will have to sell it when I die. If the motor goes TU, I'll re-power. If you take care of your stuff, you'll be fine for 15 years, mine is already 12...

Here's how I'd look at taking it back, leaving it and having to go back to get it later: You say it's 3 hours...I'm going to guess 50 MPH average speed to be conservative...that's 150 miles one way, 600 miles total. According to the IRS, mileage is worth $0.535/mile. That's $321. Not sure what your time is worth...call it $50/hour. IMO, double that if it's weekend or vacation time, that's precious, can't replace it time...but we'll stick with the $50 because it'd be hard to get a dealer to agree to much more than that. There's another $600. Figure 4 meals on the road, we'll be charitable here and call those $15. Another $60. $321+$600+$60 = $981. Let's call it $1,000 even, I'm sure we can scrape up another $19 if we try. ...and this isn't warranty work, this is a flat our failure to deliver a properly set up boat. No matter how great the guys are, and it sounds like they are pretty good, I'd have a really hard time taking a $1,000 shot on a brand new boat I'd just purchased. The "...we need a couple days to get it right..." deal is completely unacceptable IMO. This is a pretty big screw up, IMO, and you need to be their top priority the minute you show up with the boat. I would not be concerned with the rest of there scheduled work at all, not my problem. IMO, they need to send you a new prop, probably two, let you work it out if you are willing. Next up would be $1,000 worth of gear, even at retail. Next choice, if they are unwilling to let you do the work of swapping the prop, send the prop to a local dealer, pay them to do the work. They could send the dealership truck with a couple guys to come get the boat on a Monday, do the work and return it by Friday. If you have to leave it and miss a weekend of fishing...I dunno how to value that...but I'd go ballistic this time of year...I can't get that back, ever. I'd start out calm and reasonable, but escalate to suggesting it'd be pretty easy to post on a lot of forums, Facebook, etc. about how you had to spend your time on money to fix their problem. Just one guy's opinion, but this feels like a failure to understand who the customer is. Bummer...I tried it, just for fun with my boat (2005 Crestliner CMV 1850, Suzuki DF140) tried it with both bass style hull selected and multi-species as it sorta splits the difference. 20 gallons of gas, 5 batteries, one trolling motor, 150 lbs of gear, my chunky ol' self at 200 lbs. at 1,000 ft elevation... They don't have anything. I was just curious...

Cabela's is currently selling Abu Garcia Revo SX ($159.99) for $99. http://www.cabelas.com/product/Abu-Garcia-Revo-SX-Casting-Reel/1395410.uts?searchPath=%2Fbrowse.cmd%3FcategoryId%3D734095080%26CQ_search%3Drevo%2Bsx That gets you a $160 reel, a spool of braid and a few lures for your $150...

Bought an Avid X from Gander for $140 not long ago. It's my dedicated Senko rod and with an Abu Garcia LTX, line and everything, the whole rig weighs 9.6 ounces. It gets all the way to 10 ounces with a hook and Senko on it. St. Croix will cover the rod, you don't have to worry about Gander...

Nice rig, congrats!

I"ve got a couple of those older Ambasador reels...they were OK for their time, but are way past what is needed for musky. As soflabasser noted, muskies don't peel off lots of line unless they are huge and you've got no drag. You don't need anywhere near that much line capacity unless you're dragging lures way behind the boat trolling. My brother landed a 45" 'ski on a St. Croix medium action Mojo Bass rod with a Pflueger President reel on it. I helped with the boat quite a bit, and it was a really good lesson in "use enough rod" for him, but it worked. It was not something I would recommend, or even remotely consider repeating, but he was fishing for smaller pike in the roks along an island on LOTW...stuff happens, and we got it done.

I fish a lot of muskie lakes and catch a far number of them (4 YTD, biggest about 38"), i was well into double digits last year. I've caught them up to 48". I target pike a lot, I'm going to catch some muskies in the process. I have one dedicated musky rod...have yet to catch anything on it. I've also never caught one on a "musky" lure. I've caught all my muskies (and a ton of pike) on heavy bass rigs...and even on some not so heavy bass rigs. All the fish I've caught have come on smaller lures, the biggest might be 8" or 9" long (except for big flies...I'll throw those to 13" - 15", but that's a while 'nother ball game). Here's where you want to be cautious: Use enough rod. If you' don't, you'll land the fish, but the odds of killing it go way up. Big muskies and pike take decades to get big, it's best to get them off the hook and back in the water as fast as you can. On the positive side, Pike and muskies are not great fighters,,,but what they can be is heavy. A heavy bass rod that'll throw a ounce-and-a-half spoon or in-line spinner (Think big Mepps) will do just fine. 50# or 65# braid will be fine, heavy fluro (50#, minimum, and try to use leader material, not regular fluoro line) or tieable wire tied on with an Alberto of FG know will get the job done. Check the leader a lot, after every fish, no matter how big. If it's nicked, replace it, or cut it short and re-tie your terminal tackle. Also: Get an appropriate net. And long pliers to get the hooks out...and pinch your barbs. Most bass guys have no idea what it's like to try to back a bg barbed hook out of a big pike or musky's mouth. Learn to "figure 8"...which doesn't mean you have to make a figure 8, but that you want to change direction and depth boat side for at least a few feet (think a full rod sweep with 18: of line out, running the rod tip into the water. These fish will eat at boat side. H append to me Sunday...and the Saturday before that... Hope all that helps...

The 547 yards threw me until I converted it to meters... I've used and like PowerPro (several different types), Suffix 832, and Seguar Smackdown. I was less happy with Sipder Wire, but that was years ago and I should probably try it again. I've tried Gliss and while my initial impressions were good it worked OK for a season on a spinning rod...I feel like braid should last longer than that without looking all beat up to the point where I didn't have confidence in it. That was the 24 lb. product, I'm trying the 40lb. now.

The Alberto knot is great for joining braid to mono. I use the FG knot as well, which is smaller and stronger...but I've never had an Alberto knot fail, so knot strength is sorta moot.

Not big deal. I've just always been curious. Now I have two good reasons I can pick from depending on how I'm feeling. Well...maybe not the exact thread...this one opened with a solid reason for why we started down that path instead of asking why....

Good...I'd get that in the Craigslist ads, or at least a picture showing the HP on the motor. Great boat at a great price, it is really too bad you can't hang on to it...but I absolutely get that it doesn't fit your life right now. I've slotted myself into a place where I've got an eighteen and a half foot, 8 foot wide, aluminum hulled boat that has the multi-species hull of a regular Crestliner, but has the layout of a bass boat (big decks front and back, tons of storage below deck). 2005 Crestliner CMV 1850, Johnzuki 140 4 stroke, electronics have been upgraded to Helix G2N since that picture was taken. I don't need...or want...a 20 ft. boat with a huge motor that goes 70 MPH. Those boats are a blast...a lot of fun...but not something I feel like would enhance my life at all. There is more than one option out there for you that is similar, and will fit your life better, have fun finding it!

Bummer...too bad you're half a country away. That is a very nice rig, I suspect it'll sell fast. Found the Craigslist listing...you're going to want to list the HP of the motor. What is it? Looks like a 150.

Yup. Evolution in action.

Wait...there's a Bass World? Where is it? How do I get there? Much more important: Is there a Musky/Pike World? I'd bribe public officials for access to that...

That's the real (reel?) answer, but I've always been curious where it started and why...and it's really hard to get answers like this: ...which is another perfectly good explanation...without it devolving into a bunch of defensive justifications and/or why one way is better than the other...or, my favorite: "The pros do it, so it must be right!"

I was reading something on a fly fishing forum about our old beat-to-death topic of casting right, reeling right, and I came across something that - finally - makes sense: Not sure if it's true or not, but at least it makes sense.

Trying to learn (because I suck at jerkbaits): Why not a heavier leader?

That pass through is a pretty slick set-up! I would have done the same (our "boat garage" is a detached 24 x 36 building) but to do that I would have had to cut down a bunch of trees. Not worth it for the ability to pull through...and I would have lost a bunch of shelf storage.