J Francho

It hasn't been out that long...it's a 2018, lol. I'm still watching the snow fly!

Fish it like you stole it. Send it to DVT for a deep clean next winter.

We're not starting multiple threads with the same question over and over like the last frog bait. New threads will be merged here.

This thread is five years old, but Siege is still very good line.

If it's a reel sent to me for review, I doing absolutely nothing. If it's one I bought for myself, I tear apart, clean, upgrade drags, sometimes change handle or knobs, etc. Review reels should mimic a typical user experience, and I owe to member to just fish it out of the box, and report back my findings. Stuff I buy for myself are my toys.

Looks like Hobie has a new boat in a VERY competitive price point: https://www.hobie.com/kayaks/mirage-compass/#fishing 12', standing platform, Mirage Drive for around $2000.

Power was knocked out at work already. Temps are supposed to plummet below freezing, so we're getting snow along with 65-70 mph winds. Last year in March, we had a similar windstorm, and were out of commission for a week. Still no network at work, hot spotting from my phone - haha!

That's one of the places I've done well with this. I'm just expediting the bait through unproductive water column. Give it a try, Even if I'm wrong, you'll probably get bit up there, lol.

I'm with you. My budget is a little bigger than yours, and I'm so tempted to go with a another "bass boat" even though what I really need is a deep-v with an open cockpit and front deck. I want to fish typical largemouth bass slakes, Great Lakes and Oneida smallmouth, as well as get back to trolling for trout and salmon occasionally. That calls for a deep-v, but man, $40-50K can get you a sweet bass boat.

You can also look at the the Okuma Guide Select XH. I have that for biggish stuff and a custom SCIV custom 79HF for smaller one to three oz. baits.

A lot of people look and don't comment on these types of threads. Maybe some people in your area caught a tidbit they can use.

Shouldn't break then.

How hard did you hit the guide bunks? They're not meant to be smacked into. You center the boat, as you drive onto the trailer. The guide bunks are to keep the stern from washing out in a cross wind or current.

I knew there were mitigating/hidden circumstances. Keep in mind, the OP is in Wisconsin and doesn't have these restrictions. Please tailor your responses and advice accordingly. Holding back pertinent info doesn't make your advice better, and clouds the thread with advice that may not apply. A lot times, southern glass boats sell a little cheaper because the impression is they're used year round, and well, in the sun all day. That's why my Bullet was so cheap. It was a Memphis boat.

Well, that doesn't make sense at all, but then again, I've never shopped for a boat in Missouri. Why would a boat that has an underrated motor sell for more than one with the maximum. Let alone, then sell for less than a much lower quality hull. And why on earth would a high performance glass boat, with a hand built motor running at over 260 hp sell for even less than the Tracker. None of this makes any sense in normal used boat market conditions. Either there's some special circumstances, some excuse not revealed, you're pulling my chain, or you are just a huge fan of Tracker. It's pretty easy to go up to any national used boat site and check out used prices.

Up here, the debate is (if it's not a strawberry bass, lol) whether it's "crappy" or "croppy"

I wacky rig them, but I don't see why it would be an issue to nose hook. When I wacky rig them on a drop shot, it's for deep water. I want it to be just like shallow water presentation, but I don't want to wait for it to get through 25' of junk water. So, I use a 4' drop line, and when the sinker hits bottom, then I add slack, and pay attention for the slack line bite, just like a normal wacky rigged senko. I prefer straight fluoro for this. Can be a killer presentation on tough days.

Careful! All along the east coast, we fish for specks. This is a speck: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynoscion_nebulosus What the OP posted is what we locally call a "strawberry bass." It is more widely known, as many posted, a black crappie. So is that really what you guys up there call them? I never heard that one. Colloquial/common names fascinate me.

No argument, man. Just friendly debate, and trying to help the OP get the best deal/right boat.

Wow. The fact is, if there's a really big die off, that means a good spawn, and fat bass in following years.

Me too, probably. As I move across an area, I'm not switching baits willy-nilly. Say I'm hitting a productive strip of docks near a quick ledge to deep water. In between, I might be punching the slop, or frogging, out in front, on the ledge, I might be deep cranking or drop shotting, I might be skipping senkos under the docks. That's four or five rod changes as a pass a dock.

Those graphs are almost 10 years old.

My 2005 18' Xpress H18 with a Mercury 115, upgraded Garmin electronics, blinker trim, HotFoot, air ride bike seats, etc. was $6500, FIVE YEARS AGO. Please tell me why that Tracker is such a good deal? It's a 15 year old, entry level boat, made by robots with thin aluminum. They're a value packed starter boat. The boat in the craigslist ad is overpriced.

I bought my Bullet 21XDC with a Merc Racing 2.5L w/ a sporty and a Trophy+ prop for $8500. The Tracker is in nice shape, but it's not worth $8000.

Because of the weird winds, the shad washed up on the "affluent" side of the bay this year, and it's like the sky is falling. Typically, they end up in the south end shallows, where no one sees them, and the pike and catfish have a feeding fest. Pike especially, since it's just spawn/post spawn for them. The die off is totally normal - shad expire after spawning.