jbmaine

Thanks for the thought, but it has the issue even with the foot control not plugged in, just running with the remote.

Here ya go, Lund Fury XL Sport

I'm hoping/ thinking it's the I pilot control head. We were out yesterday and it was very windy. Every time we hit spot lock in an area with shifting winds the TM would have to make extreme rotations CW and CCW to hold position. After a couple of minutes of this it would disengage spot lock ( like it became confused and just quit) . This happened several times. We then moved to an area with steady winds from a constant direction and hit spot lock. The TM only had to make minor rotations to hold position, and stayed running the whole time ( about 45 minutes, long enough for me to catch a 3.7 smallie , stealth gloat ? ). So we shall see. On a side note It's kinda funny, the TM sorta freaks my wife out, she says it's kinda like an alien head, the way it moves on it's own ?. Jim

Now that I am retired we are thinking of moving within the next year. We currently live in very southern Maine, and unlike many,we would like to move further north. Our criteria are- being close to conveniences ( doctors, stores, etc.), lower taxes than what we pay now, and of course, better , closer, fishing. I have never been in the Belgrades lake area but it looks like it would check all our boxes. Currently we fish four bodies of water but they are an hour away or better. I'd like to be closer. Also down here it's mostly LM & SM. I would love to try for Pike, and have trout streams near by. It's also close enough to come back down for family visits. So if you fish/live in that area could you let me know what you think of it. Is the fishing really as good as some say it is? Does it get so crowded with jet skies and things you just don't like fishing there any more, you know, that kind of thing. Thanks Jim

I'm hoping there is some progress in the works. I convinced MK to send me a new I pilot control head. When it gets here I'll install it and see what happens. Jim

Finally got fish slime in the new boat. It hasn't been easy. As some of you might have read I've been dealing with TM issues, and today the temps. went from the 40's overnite to 91 . with winds 20+ But I did spend a little time actually fishing and it paid off. Not great but decent for the first fish in the new boat. 3.7 SM Thanks for looking

The above posters have it right. Find the one (brand) that is the easiest for you to use, then get the largest screen you can afford, and fit, in your boat.

O.K., it's actually called surface noise. To get to it-- get into traditional sonar (hit) menu ( select) sonar setup ( select) advanced ( select) surface noise ( by clicking on this you can turn it on and off) That should do it, Hope this helps. Jim

Yesterday I called a Minn Kota service center. They just called me back. It's a boat yard in Portland ME. They would like me to leave the whole boat with them to try and diagnose the problem. They said it could be 2-3 days before they even look at it. The only issue with that is they can't guarantee they will keep the boat inside, their yard is not fenced and if there is theft or damage they say their insurance will not cover it. Right now I'm not getting a good feeling about this and I'm a little ticked. I asked them to pick a day when their schedule is free to look at it, so I could bring it home that night. They said their booked until August and couldn't do it.

I don't remember the exact sequence I used to get to that option, but I'll be in the boat tomorrow. I'll retrace my steps and let you know. Jim

Great review!! Sounds like that Yak has everything needed/wanted for a full day on the water.

Welcome, The 20ft X 84" kind if limits you on size. How large of waters do you fish? Are you looking for a bass boat, multi species, tiller, console? I'm a Lund fan myself, they have several smaller size boats to pick from. Mine's a Fury XL.

I have an Ultera on my 16+ ft. Lund and based on my experience the larger TM on your boat should be OK. However, two things to think about. The larger TM + extra battery, batteries in the bow will make the boat slower to come up on plane and add to the trailer tongue weight when towing.

I love the spawn, but not so much for catching fish on beds. Most of the waters we fish have good visibility, down to 10+ ft. so seeing fish is easy. I love cruising, looking at beds to see how many beds, fish there are. It tells me something about how healthy, productive, these bodies of water are. It gives me more confidence thru out the year fishing there, knowing there are plenty of fish to catch, and I just have to step up to the plate and do my part. That being said, I am guilty of some bed fishing, If I see a really big fish I will try to catch it. But if I do, it's a couple of pics, then right back in the water. And within seconds it's swum back and sitting on the bed.

Please let me know if your problem is resolved. I wish I could say this was a very interment problem but just using the remote it went out of spot lock 4 times in 15 minutes, in calm water. I'll try calling Minn Kota and see if I can talk to the first person again. She seemed much more helpful. Thanks Jim

After the first time it happened I made sure I wasn't holding the remote. as I mentioned, A couple of times the foot control and remote were in the front of the boat, and my wife and I were in the back having lunch. It is happening with no input from me.

Good for you!!!!!!!!!!!! Time to hit the water during the week, kick back and relax

Hi all, I've used my Ultera twice now and am having spot lock issues. The first trip out I had multiple instances of being in spot lock and having it stop working. I would notice we were drifting and the remote would no longer have the anchor symbol displayed. I would hit the spot lock button and it would come back on. Then sometimes it would turn back off. I called Minn Kota and talked to a very nice lady who said it could be the remote, the foot control, or the power head. She said to not plug the foot control in, just use the remote. If it kept happening plug the foot control in and see what happened. By doing this we could pin down the problem and she would send me a new remote, foot control, or power head. Second trip out-- Just using the remote, spot lock turned off every 3-5 minutes. Plugging the foot control in it only stopped working once the rest of the day. When I got home I called Minn Kota and got a different person, who quickly started to annoy me. I described my previous conversation and what I did, and the results. First he said I must have turned it off myself. I told him the remote and foot control were in the front of the boat, I was in the back when it happened. Then he said I must have bad batteries. I told him the batteries were fully charged, the charger showed no problem, and stow and deploy, running the trolling motor all over the lake, everything else worked perfectly ( and I tried everything). Then he said I must have a bad GPS signal, I said it showed four bars. At this point I asked about the first person who said they would send me a remote, foot control, or power head. I said most of the issues seem to happen using the remote, Could he send me a new remote and start there. His answer was he didn't believe it was anything previously mentioned. He said it sounded Like an abnormal power draw on the motor and I had to bring it in to my nearest Minn Kota authorized service center. I gotta say I am very frustrated. I've had two " experts" tell me two totally different things. I don't want to be with out the trolling motor for however long it takes right at the beginning of the fishing season, but I really don't want to fight it every time I go out. It really puts a damper on the relaxing on the water and having fun aspect of fishing. Anyone else ever have issues like this, and or how did you fix it. Jim

My wife has a name for my rod........................... but that's another story

Thanks again everyone for the kind thoughts. As some of you may have read, I had to retire early, and not the way I had planned. Having this boat will allow us to stay fishing and enjoying our selves. All things considered we are truly blessed. Jim

Hi All, My Garmins have the ability to turn off surface clutter ( think that's the right word) so it doesn't show up on the screen. I guess my question is, when is it better to turn it of, or leave it on? Thanks Jim

Strike King coffee tube in varied colors.

Thanks for the kind thoughts everyone. Don't know why I wasn't smiling in the pics, I sure was on the inside. During the next break from the rain ( hopefully Fri. ) we're going to see what we can do to get some fish smell in the boat. I also need to see if I can isolate what's going on with the trolling motor. Thanks again Jim

Hi All, Finally got to take the new boat out for the maiden voyage so I thought I'd share my experience/ review on the boat/ fish finders/ trolling motor. Boat-- Lund Fury XL Sport--It's a small boat, 16+FT. But that being said it feels bigger and very roomy . Fit and finish are great, just what you'd expect from a Lund. Storage is ample and well thought out. Rod locker holds 6 rods up to 8 ft. there's plenty of room for me and my wife to stretch out and not feel cramped. The casting deck is small, but as I will be sitting it's plenty big enough. I can swivel my seat all the way around and not hit anything. Going through the water it feels " solid" and not at all "Tippy". With a 50 Merc it will top out at around 30 mph and slices through waves very smoothly. With all the breaking in and running around we did it took less than 2 gal. of gas to top off the tank when we were done. All in all we are very happy with our choice. Fish finders--Garmin echomap 73 chirp-- My old boat had a helix 5. These are only 2" larger but seem twice as big. Very easy controls and a super clear screen. Out of the box I was amazed at the side scan. Amazing detail of the bottom. Very happy with these. Trolling motor-- Min Kota ultera 60" shaft, 80 lb of thrust-- This is where I had a couple of issues. The first time I tried to deploy it, nothing happened. Tried the foot control and remote, nothing. Unplugged and replugged in everything, nothing. Read the manual and tried again, nothing. I was dialing Min kota and tapping the foot control when it finally decided to deploy. After that it seemed to be fine. I ran it through a bunch of stuff and it all seemed to work. However twice later in the day while using spot lock it just shut off. I called Min kota when we got home and they told me some things to try the next time we go out to isolate what the issue might be. Other than the issues I love it. My back wasn't sore at the end of the day, and I see us being able to really cover more water. My only critique would be shaft length. 60" is a little long for our boat but 45" would be a little short. If they offered something in the middle it would be nice. With everything else going on we did very little fishing, and didn't catch anything, but I didn't mind. Next trip will be will be all about fishing and checking out the trolling motor. Here's a few pics. Thanks for looking Jim