fishnkamp

You could go a different direction. You could sell the 9.9 and go with something like a transom mount Minn Kota Vantage. It would require you to run it from the back fishing seat but in the 101 pound thrust it would run that boat well. They use that in some big water boats like Lunds. I remember some of the guy on In Fisherman an All Linder shows having them on board. It is a special motor with some unique advantages and it would not require the same fuel, steering and controls issues to be solved. Just a thought. I also agree I am not sure your Tracker has enough beam to support that much weight. It could be a safety concern.

That 734 will work fine for jigs up to about 3/4 plus the typical trailer. If you give me an e-mail at fishnkamp@gmail.com I will give you a bit more in depth info.

I have owned several Veritas rods and they are okay. They do not come close to the way the Dobyns Fury will handle. I would go with that FR 734C. That is a super versatile stick for the money.

Well that rod specs as a 7'4" MH mod fast. It says 3/8 to 1 1/4. I would think it might play sorta like a Falcon Buccoo I have. It might handle larger ( 3/8 and up) spinnerbaits, chaterbaits, maybe even like the smaller A rigs that people make like a 3 wire Yumbrella. If the rod has enough backbone it could probably work for 1/2 to 1 ounce carolina rigs. You would need to experiment with some different baits. Also if you fish any of the larger hollow bodied swimbaits like a Reaction Innovations Skinny Dipper or Big Dipper on any of the swimbait jigheads that would be a good use for it as well. I really like those baits and the Big Hammer Shads as well. If I am fishing for suspended fish those baits on a 1/2 to 3/4 ounce head works really well. That is a Striper and bass bait for me.

Awesome in our fast paced world we often forget to mentor the younger generation. We are all guilty of judging everything by money, when the most precious gift we have is our time and attention. For a young kid to have the ear of someone not involved directly in his exploding world is a major positive. Perhaps the most important calming influence in his life. Not only that, but since you have stayed involved with him, perhaps somewhere in the future you will get to fish together again. There is no way you can have too many fishing partners in life.

The 705Cb from Dobyns is a nice rod. I really like the Dobyns offering. My other suggestion is the rod I throw those baits on. It is an Irod Genesis II IRG 703CC, the Gabe's rip rap special. Ignore the rating of fast, it is a composite rod with w really nice moderate action. I throw all of my rattle trap style baits, square bills down to medium diving crankbaits. If you have never had an Irod in your hand here are really nice. I have sold off many of my rods in favor of Irods,Powells and Dobyns. For a reel I would pick a Daiwa Tatula CT or SV TWS. I have changed over 8 of the reels in my arsenal to Daiwa Tatula, Tat Type Rs and CT. I am pleased with all of them.

It is hared to tell but the fish in my picture is a Kentucky spot (Alabama strain) I caught while fishing Center hill Lake in Tn. I was fishing with a guide named Craig Powers, he is a FLW angler. The fish weighed over 5 pounds.

That is a nice hull and to redo the seats will not cost that much. The 20 on it will get you around and was probably chosen to meet the restrictions on some of the PA lakes. That would do well for you if the rest of the boat is in good shape. Later on if you decided you wanted to get more hp I would go talk to Barb at Lakeside Marine in Harrisburg PA. She sells the G3 boats and Yamaha engines. Often times she has good used ones. I have been dealing with her for decades and she has always taken care of me and my friends I was not sure what part of Northeast USA you were in.

I use this rod for my normal jerkbait fishing. It is a 6'4" delay series rod for lighter baits If you look at the video he explains what he designed it to do, it has a 60% backbone-40% tip ratio and a shorter handle. The next rod in his "Delay" series is a 6'6" 60-40 rod also. It specs for cranks and square bills but it handles baits from 3/8 to 1 ounce so I bet it would work well for your use. I love the one I use and it is not ridiculous in price either.

I have talked to the owner of Powell several times. He will fix it for sure. All of the manufacturers of rods, boats and trailers are all off during these holiday weeks. This is there slow time before they will be getting ready for show season. Call after January 4, 2018 if you can not return it easily from where you purchased it. I myself am waiting till then to go look at new trailers and found everybody was closed.

I fish Dale Hollow Lake as often as I can. I stay at Hendricks Creek Resort. That lake is about 60 miles long and the marina has been renting boats for decades. The rent two types of boats for fishing. Here is a pic of the 14 foot Alumacraft V boats they rent and they have 8 hp outboards on. They also have 16 footers that look the same. The second pic is of the much larger boats they rent which have big engines and all the electronics. Both are safe crafts to fish from. You could also consider something like a used 17 foot aluminum mod V bass boat like a Tracker TX. Sometimes you can find a good deal on one used. If you can afford it take a look at this boat. It is a 16 ft Lowe deep V boat in nice condition. It has a 60 Johnson on it with some extras. They want $3500. That seems like a good deal. I found it on Craigslist. Here is the listing. https://lexington.craigslist.org/boa/d/lowe-1605/6421417166.html

Okay I have loaded the pics of my Lowe Stinger 170 bass boat several times on this board before. I like the boat, but am going to have to upgrade the trailer or the factory Karavan painted box trailer is going to tun into a rust pile on me someday. I use it in brackish/salty/ tidal rives and the Chesapeake Bay. I am curious any of you using a Venture or Load Rite trailer either galvanized or aluminum? Do you like it. Also who here is using a MK Terrova or a M Riptide Terrova? The Riptide version is the same but the salt water version. How do you like the spot lock feature?

I would build a storage box up front ( like a mid height box with a door. Move two deep cycle batteries up there and run proper sized battery cables back to your trolling motor. This will give you added weight up front, lots of power to run your trolling motor all day and perhaps some extra storage. Next I would install an Anchor Mate up on that front deck and mount the winch back by you in the rear seat. I did this on a 15 foot jon boat I had years ago. I ran the rope through some PVC pipe so it would never get caught by a fish hook or anything. I even had to make a 45 degree turn up and onto the front deck. It worked very well. You can also use a manual shallow water anchor pin. Those poles and a couple of mounts work really well.

Then a Dobyns Sierra or Champion XP series DC 734C would be my choice. Use the old setup to troll with. He will love the feel of the 734. It is truly a great feeling versatile rod.

new2BC4bass you are correct, that is why I suggested he may still need to find as solution for the light weight baits. i would suggest using a 6'6 to 7' medium power fast action spinning rod for the light baits like grubs, tubes, Rapalas etc.

Okay is that budget $100 for a rod or a combo? If that is about what you want to spend on a rod/reel combo then I would suggest a Pflueger President 30 series reel. It is a battle tested and moderately priced reel. You should easily find it for less than $55. For a rod to complement that, I would look at Bass Pro Shops or online to find a Berkley Lightning Shock rod 6 foot medium action rod. It is a very good all purpose rod that handles baits from 1/8 to 3/4. My wife and I fish rods that cost up to $300 and yet we both fish with a Lightning Shock rod. If that budget was for just a rod, then I would look at a place like Tackle Warehouse and order a Dobyns Fury 6'6 medium 3/16 to 5/8 spinning rod (it is referred to by Dobyns as a FR 663SF). That rod fishes as well as many of the $250 rods others sell. It would be very versatile for her. My wife has fished with me for decades and she is only 5 foot tall, this rod would work out for both of them. I suggest in addition to the Sencos get her throwing grubs. My wife loves to catch fish on them, and she is successful with them all over the country. I like the 5 inch Kalin Lunker grubs and the easiest way to rig them is to use a Bass Pro Shops Perfect Finesse Worm Hook. It is like one piece texas rig. here is a pic of that hook. In addition she would also fish a Skinny Dipper from Reaction Innovations on that rod. They also catch us a lot of fish everywhere we fish. Rig them on a belly weighted swimbait hook. If you add these to her arsenal I bet she loves fishing all 3 baits.

Dobyns, as well as most other manufacturers, is easy to get in Toronto. Just order from Tackle Warehouse, they regularly ship into Canada. I found that out for another Canadian angler last year. I own Champion XPs and Sierras. Nice rods.

For a reel I always suggest the Daiwa Tatula family. I use 7 of them ( Type Rs, CTs etc.) In my opinion the brake system is great. I tried one and just started replacing my Shimanos, and BPS one by one. For an all around workhorse, go with a 6,3-1 Tatula CT for around $120 ( check everywhere online for the best price). There are some advantages to a Type R, nut not enough to really push you to one. I chose my type Rs due to gear ratios available at the time. As for a rod I would normally tell you to consider something like a Dobyns Fury 734C. That is about as multi purpose as it gets. However you mentioned that 1 1/2 lure, so I would lean you towards the Fury 735C. That rod will do a lot for him except he may still need to find a solution for the lightweight baits like Sencos. All in all you would be looking at about $240 for a setup like that. I fish with several Dobyns rods, but mine are Champions. My friend Ed fishes with either 4 or 5 Fury rods now and loves them as much as I do my Champions. Either way Dad is going to love the new setup.

I have owned two Landau boats in the past. They made their boat well. My first one was a 1236 and it fished on our reservoir very well. My second was a 17 1/2 foot long bass boat ( like a Tracker TX) with a Merc 75. I really liked that boat till I started fishing the Potomac and wanted fiberglass.

I fish rods from Bass pro Shops ( only 3 left in my arsenal), Dobyns, Powell, Irod, G Loomis and a few others. I do fish two Abu Garcia rods, including 1 Veritas ( I have fished 3 Veritas rods in the past) You will find that every rod brand rates them differently, but generally the Veritas lineup will fish a bit on the heavier side. I find the lure rating to be correct, but if it says it is a medium heavy 1/4 to 3/4 it will be more like a medium heavy/heavy. I find the Abu Garcia "Ike Series" rods are exactly what Ike says they are. I really like my Ike series jerkbait rod. Lets start this over a bit. What would you like your next rod to do best? Are you an angler that fishes with just a couple of rods, or are you like many of us and we have an arsenal full. Are you looking for an all purpose rod? If you are looking for an all purpose rod go look at this review. I fish one of these original series rods. Powell now offers the MAX3D version of the same rod. It is a very versatile rod. http://www.tackletour.com/reviewpowell683cxfast.html

I have to give the obvious warning here, You get what you pay for! Many swimbait guys go to the round reels like Abu Garcia has made for decades. Lots of the Musky guys go in that direction too. They hold a lot of line and work great for lots of big fish. My catfish guide use them for flatheads up to 40 pounds in river current. Take a look at the Abu Garcia Ambassadeur C4-6600 Round Baitcasting Reel. It goes for around $140. You could also look for an older model used off eBay or another used tackle sale site. There is the Shimano Cardiff A Series Casting Reels for about the same money. If you read some of its reviews some guys love it others question its quality. I would not go cheap on a reel that is responsible for throwing BIG swimbaits that cost upwards of $25 each ( some cost as much as you want to spend on the reel), if those are the type of baits you were going to be throwing.

Most of the spots I have caught out in TN were caught near vertical structure. Rocky bluffs, bridges and deeper marinas have given up my fish. I have caught them on shakey head worm rigs, as well as Reaction Innovation Skinny Dippers rigged on swimbait jig heads. Also the Big Hammer heads and swimbaits have great action as well. I know lots of anglers that prefer the Keitech baits too. I know the spoons are a favcorite but don't forget baits like silver buddies too.

Try a different lure. Look at getting some baits like a Keitech Swing Impact or Reaction Innovations Dippers or skinny dippers. If you are fishing water that is less than 5 foot fish the smaller baits and rig them with belly weighted swimbait hooks. If there is deeper water rig them with a swimbait jig head. I have included some pictures to give you a clearer idea of what I am suggesting. Throw these baits out and you can retrieve them by letting them sink and then swim them back, swim them steady with some pauses or swim them and add a pause twitch, twitch to them. They have incredible dying action on the pauses. Many of your bites will happen as they fall.

Very nice all in all a good day.

Here is a picture of the Lowe bassboat I rigged up originally to fish a HP restricted lake in PA. It is 17 1/2 foot long and had a power trim plate and a 25 Merc on it. Lowe made a wide hull and that adds to its stability. We have fished Lake Anna in VA, several PA lakes and the Susqy with this setup, as well as both Center Hill and Dale Hollow( both are large 60 mile long lakes in TN). The boat did fine in all those cases. However, I would tell you to be careful on the Upper Chesapeake Bay and the Potomac rivers. The fishing I do now is on the same boat, but I repowered with a 75hp Merc for speed and safety. These tidal rivers are BIG water and have BIG recreational boats, as well as some commercial ships on them. You can certainly fish the Potomac with your boat, especially if you decide to launch on one river like the Mattawoman and run around it and perhaps cross over to the VA side and fish the nearby rivers. I would not make the long run to DC from there in that boat for safety reasons. We chose a section of the river and launch accordingly. If you launched in say the North East river and sneak out to the flats you will be fine ( Upper Chesapeake Bay). Just be aware of the wakes the larger vessels will produce. I was once on the Susqy Flats and nearly got in trouble. I was crossing over to the Sassafras river and two 60 foot+ yachts entered the creek just before I got there. I did not even see them. I had to turn and run fast because they left two 4 foot tall wakes that were barreling down on me from each side. I was in a 20 foot bassboat with a 200 hp engine and I was glad it did 68 mph right about then. Here is a pic of my boat when it still had the 25 on it ( yes it was sporting a 20 hp decal that I have no idea how it got there LOL). Dale Hollow is amazing and so was Center Hill. If you want to chat more in depth about specifics on some of these lakes give me a pm. In the fall, you would be more than welcome to join me and chase some stripers in your boat. I live only 5 minutes from Middle River ( that is the river Aron Martens won his BASS event on a few years ago). The stripers come in our creeks that time of year. We chase them with rattle traps and swimbaits like Keitechs, Flukes and Reaction Innovations Dippers. I just reread your post. When my wife and looked at getting this boat we had looked at all the options out there and ended up choosing between the Lowe Stinger we purchased and your Triton VT 17. It came down to which storage setup we preferred. You have a very capable boat if you learn how to handle bigger water. I rigged my boat up with a 7 inch GPS/sonar unit on both the front deck and the console. It help a lot to have the maps and learn to use waypoints and trails when running around on larger bodies of water. It is funny how all of the lake can look the same after a few turn arounds and fishing all day. If weather or daylight change you want to be confident when going back to your launch. I also suggest you consider using a guide to learn a new lake and how the fish are patterned up at the time. I always do that, even if I only hire him for a half day.