DaubsNU1

Spinning reels are all new, and all Shimano. Casting reels are all Citica's or Curado's. Four OG's were purchased back in the 1990's. And four "newer" found via eBay or swap meets. I really love these reels. Rock solid, get the job done, great feel.

@Joe E message me and we can talk details. I really wanted Alumacraft...loved the layout. My brother got a new Lund Alaskan in 2020. Excellent boat. @A-Jay has a great Lund, but that was a bit out of my price range. Looked at a bunch of different boats and was fortunate to find my Adventure used in NW Iowa. One of the keys for me was dealers near by. Lots of Lund dealers in my area. Only one Alumacraft dealer, and his inventory was not great.

Thanks @casts_by_fly!

Fished with a Minn Kota cable steer 40lb bow mounted trolling motor for 20+ years. It served me well. Strapped the Garmin Echomap transducer to the TM motor...again, served me well. When I upgraded boats, seriously considered the Garmin Force. Also considered the Ultrex and Birds for fish finders. But after fishing in my Brother's Lund, I went a different direction. Side and down imaging on the Humminbirds seemed much better than my Garmin. So I sent that route. I really, REALLY love the Ulterra matched up with Helix 9's, all networked. Spot lock is amazing! Go-to-mark gets used a lot. Autopilot is great as well. I really like the auto-deploy and stow for the Ulterra. I don't use auto-deploy and stow if I'm the only one at the loading ramp, or weather is bad (it's old school rope on those days). I had to swim once when the deploy got hung up. Thankfully it was in June, and the water was warm. I fish Saturday and Sunday's from April through October. Do two or three longer fishing trips a year...the Ulterra gets used a lot. Brother and I drove his Lund to Canada last summer...five straights days on the Churchill river system...no issues whatsoever. One downside of the Ulterra, I cannot attach FFS to that trolling motor.

In my old boat, I had a 10lb mushroom anchor tied to ~30ft of rope. End of the rope was not tied to the boat...some days I would tie anchor to front of the boat, other days to rear...depending on wind. One afternoon I found a good spot and decided to anchor up and pick that area apart. Dropped the anchor over the side...and watched the rope spool out...then disappear over the side...as it was not tied to a cleat. Doh!

Strong work @MikeB24!!! Congrats! Now the really fun part starts...getting to know the boat/motor/trailer, organizing things, upgrades, etc. Enjoy!!! And post more pictures!!

I am always a little cautious | apprehensive | scared | nervous from launch, to boating, to fishing, and then to load out. Remind myself to slow down, be patient, be careful, and be cautious. Better safe than dead.

Slug-Go for sure! Caught my PB bass on a rainbow trout colored Slug-Go in the 1990's.

I have a few Edge boxes. I like them very much for things like hooks, weights, jig heads. They have a nice jerk-bait box. The remainder are basic basic Plano 3600 & 3700's like @A-Jay.

Wife and I were in Costa Rica a few weeks back for vacation. Rented a car...saw some kids fishing like this off a bridge.... Of course the smarty-pants wife said, "hey, look at those kiddos fishing with bottles...I'll bet they catch more fish than you with that fancy boat!" HA! Well played!

Thoughts and Prayers....

I am fiercely brand loyal...but only in certain areas: Reels: Shimano Truck: GM Car: Honda DSLR: Nikon Garden tractor: John Deere Everything else, I'll try to balance price | quality | availability | durability, and find the best fit for me. But for reels, it's Shimano and nothing else.

Back in the 1990's, buddy read a book that talked about scent.... For comparison: Human's can smell a drop of vinegar in a 2 liter bottle.... Dogs can smell a drop of vinegar in a 50 gallon drum LMB's can smell a drop of vinegar in an Olympic sized swimming pool True? I dunno. Did we use scent back then...yep, all the time. Did we catch more fish? Again, I dunno. Throw it on if you have it.

It ain't glass, and it ain't sparkly...and I really didn't care for the color at first. But it's grown on me quite well. @RLinNH get yourself that sparkly bass boat! You only live once!

I have not fished Okoboji. It's about a 3-1/2 hour drive for me. I fish mostly local lakes in the Omaha area. Occasionally take my Dad to Frances Case in South Dakota to chase SMB's and Eyes.