cadman

I believe the owner did say that it was 12' and they are also going to have a 15' one as well. I guess if I had all the money in the world I would buy one just for small lakes. It does look kind of cool

I appreciate your experience and inside information. Thanks.

I thought the same thing. The cost similar to a personal size watercraft. Small enough to get into ponds that require electric motors only. Definitely can hit bigger waters if you watch the weather and stay close to shore. You can have all the options you want. Custom made to the color you want. Not bad at all in my opinion. He did mention that the entire boat was filled with foam. So if you stand up, it does not have a tendency to want to tip. Granted, probably not a tournament boat, but let's face it you don't need a big fancy boat to catch fish. You can catch fish in anything if you can locate the fish and then entice them to bite.

Well, I have nothing to do today at work, so I called the number on the website and spoke to the owner. This is all the info he could give me. Please do not hold anyone to these prices as the new website will be up in January, after they get Coast Guard approval for H.P rating for the boat. Anyway the boat is approx. $4,500 dollars, if you want glitter coat it's more $. Tandem trailer is $2,200, currently a Shorelander trailer, but an aluminum Triton trailer is available. Single axle trailer is $850.00. Reason for the tandem axle is it tows better behind a car. Don't have a price on the outboard, but a 9.9 motor will push that boat up to 23 mph. A 45lb V2 Minn Kota trolling motor is $500. Rods go on the passenger side of the boat, with the rod tip sticking out toward the stern of the boat. Graphs can be added and transducers are epoxied in the floor. Livewell in the back along with some storage. Bilge pump can be added. Apparently very stable in water with 1 foot waves. I got this info from Steve the owner. Moderators, this is not a advertisement and I have no stake in this company. I was just curious what the cost was and wanted to pass it along to other since they inquired. Please delete if you find this unacceptable.

Wow, A lot of good info here. I had a Tracker 17' aluminum split window boat for 17 years. I can't say anything bad about that boat. Used to run it up the river. I could beach it on the sand or gravel, without worrying about scratching the bottom. Took it to Canada twice. It served me well for many years, and I wouldn't hesitate to buy another one, although I would buy a Lund this time. I now have a glass boat. It has everything I want in it plus some. I don't use it on the river because I don't want to damage the hull. It does tow better, easier to put in straight on a trailer and is better when it is windy because it is heavy. It also does run smoother across a windy, choppy lake than my aluminum because of the weight. With that said, look at what and where you are mainly going to fish. If you fish a lot of rivers, get an aluminum boat as it has a lot less maintenance than a glass boat does. JMO

So, what are you getting for Christmas? If you run into a lot of jigs that are screwed up (not to your liking, the fish really don't care) take them all and put them in some paint stripper, in about a 1/2 -1 hour, they will be clean. Rinse with soap and water, and they will be ready for a new coat of paint. BTW nice looking jigs.

Wow I don't know. That's interesting, curious what they do use though?

I agree with you on some of what you stated. Not to start an argument, but let's take this scenario. I have a brand new loaded Chevy Tahoe, $50K+. You mean to tell me that I cannot put any other motor oil that is recommended for that vehicle other than going to a GM dealer and have them put in "their GM specified oil" ? No other oil, like Penzoil, Quaker State or Shell oil will do? I beg to differ. But we all can do what we want, after all it's our money. JMO.

You are correct, but my boat is a 2007, and just for the record, for a 2007 boat my boat has been meticulously maintained, as I do all the work on it myself. It looks as good as the day I took it off the show room floor.

It's not that I can't afford Quicksilver oil, but my biggest gripe is that we all know that Mercury does not make their own oil, they are not in the oil business. So if Lubrimatic privately labels their oil for Mercury, why not use it. It would be nice if Mercury and other companies would give you an alternate along with their brand. They won't do this because of revenue. This holds true for spark plugs as well. I am supposed to use NGK plugs for my 9.9 (4 stroke) and 225 outboards. The NGK plugs for my 9.9 are $11 per plug. Champion has the identical plug for $2.39 each. Now I haven't found a replacement for my 225 which run around $20.00 + per plug. Again I can afford these plugs but its the principal. Why not give people alternates, I think people would be happy to see that there isn't just one brand that you can use. Just sayin'

I don't have all the technical facts about oil and lubes, but I use Lubrimatic brand 2 stroke Oil in my 225 Optimax and also Lubrimatic oil in my lower unit. Have had 1 boat for 17 years and another now going on 7 years. Never any problems. I have spoken to some Mercury techs at Mercury and they told me that it wasn't a problem. I also heard at one time that Lubrimatic made all the Quicksilver oil for Mercury, however I can't confirm this. I do know that Mercury oil and all their other products are privately labeled for Mercury outboards. This is my opinion, so take it for what it's worth. I'm not saying I'm right in doing it this way.

You are probably correct as far as renderings, and I guess I shouldn't use the word ugly until I see it in person. If they price it competitively, then they should do good. I bought my first boat in 1987 which at that time Tracker called them Magna 17, a deep "V" split window aluminum boat (Now called the Targa). I had that boat for 17 years and I took it everywhere. Never had a problem with the boat leaking or rivets coming loose. I did have to replace the floor boards, as they used plywood for flooring instead of marine plywood back then. If I didn't buy a glass boat I would stick with an aluminum Lund. To me they are top notch and can take a lot of abuse, which you cannot do with a glass boat. It's funny but you see a lot of Lunds, Rangers, and Tritons in the Midwest and northern states. Kind of like more Minn- Kotas up here than Motor Guides. I guess lot of it has to do with dealership location.

I wonder if Ranger will be able to compete. I too think it is ugly and is very basic, definitely not up to Rangers standards in my opinion. In 2007, I was looking at three boats at that time to replace my 17' Tracker Targa. They were Tracker Tundra, Lund and what I finally settled on was a Ranger 619VS. If Ranger were selling these back then I don't think I would of bought one. I liked the Lund much better, and Lund has a strong following along with many aluminum boats built for many years.

Yes the ones I used were pre-rigged as well. They come in weedless and exposed hooks. I never liked the weedless, because you would miss a lot of hooksets.

If it is what I think it is, they were called "Do-nothing-worms", "Ike-Con" and "Little Action Mac". These worms are poured and molded, so when you cast them out and retrieve them, they would twirl in the water, everyone fishes them that way. But that is not how you are supposed to fish these. You cast it out reel in, ( it will twirl), stop and the worm springs back to shape, reel, stop, reel stop and so on. They are an excellent bass worm fished over weeds tops and through sparse vegetation. They need to be used with a swivel, and preferably a split shot about a 12" above the swivel. This is a very slow presentation, but it does work if you give it some time. I used to always fish these before I started jig fishing. Try them out you will be surprised. Yes, they do have a tendency to snag, also the hooks are kind of small, but I have never had a bass throw one of these.

Felix, Buy it by the pound, it is much cheaper. Any powder paint you buy will all work for jigs. Don't get hung up on brands, because someone was the first to start selling it in the industry. I use 20 different brands and they all are excellent. Also what you pay for 2 oz of Pro-Tec, you can buy a lb from someone else. If you don't use it all it will last forever or you can sell some to a friend. Maybe you will one day start Felix outdoors.

Hey Mark, No problem. When we got off the lake at Geneva. We spoke to a guide that was taking someone out that morning. He said fishing was really tough that day as well. However, he said as it gets colder, the smallies start to cooperate more. So maybe by the time you go it will get better. Post your results as I would like to hear how you did, and your what and where you fished, if you don't mind sharing.

Tell you what I should have gone there today instead of Browns. Went to Browns and got there at 6:30 AM. Well a bit nippy this morning, air temp 45°, water temp was 62°. Went out to the first point fished that stretch, nothing. Went around the point fished that into the bay I got a hammer handle pike. Fished in the bay, nothing. Went across the bay to the other point, nothing. Fished into that bay nothing. Fished towards the dock on south shoreline nothing. Shot across the lake to the north side, wife picks up another hammer handle pike. Fished the island, nothing. Fished the big East bay nothing. Went back to the first point , nothing. That's all folks.

Mark, Went out to Geneva today, got on the water at 6:00 AM still dark. Headed out to Lighthouse Point. 3rd cast felt the old telltale sign of a Geneva bass tapping on my line. Set the hook and a 15-1/2 " was brought to the boat. 15 minutes later and another fish 15". Wow this is going to be a great day. Fished the same area felt some taps, but didn't hook up. Must be those d**n rockies, sure enough. All of a sudden action stopped. Wow that is weird nothing, no taps no rockies nothing. Fished up to 7:00 AM and a northern slams my jig. Brought fish to boat, 30". Nice fish, no wonder the bass stopped biting, a bigger prey lurking in the shadows. Sun started to come up and nothing fished for another 30 minutes and then moved to the golf course. Put on a rattle trap nothing. Moved to the Narrows, fished a long section nothing. Partner throwing top water, I'm throwing a crank. Ran over to Cedar Point, partner picked up a 11" dink. Went across to Conference Point, nothing. Headed back to Lighthouse Point, nothing. Went to fish the flats on Trinkies, nothing. Moved and started to fish docks at Trinkies wacky worm, partner picks up another dink 10" bass. Shoot over to Maytag Point, nothing . Off in the distance see the rain pouring in Fontana. Headed back to the ramp at 12:30 PM. That was all she wrote. Very poor day for fishing. Weather co-operated with just a few sprinkles. Once at the dock, it poured. Hope you have better luck. I'm going to Browns tomorrow. Hope we'll do better.

slonezp, Looks like you guys did good. Nice smallie in the first pic.

Hey QuakenShake, Nice looking fish. I find persistence does pays off. I have spots on a lake that I know produce fish. I will try them at different times of the day like you did. Many times especially in a tourney you can get a couple eventually.

Mark, No problem, I'll post results Saturday night. Not many weekends left. They are taking all the docks out. I usually launch at Linn Pier. I believe the public docks are the last to be removed, and that usually happens around November. If this year follows like the years past, it is usually a jig bite this late in the season. Possibly rattle traps, but traps are a hit and miss. Jigs fished slowly will definitely get bit. Hope we have a good day out there and will definitely give you an update. I also plan to take a day off of work and fish Tichigan in the middle of next week. Running out of time this season, and trying to get my fishing fix in before the cold and rain comes.

Yes Congrats Bwell and nice limit.

Nice pike slonezp, How big was it? I'm going out to Geneva this Saturday and probably to Powers or Browns on Sunday. Browns was really good this year for me caught a lot of fish over 3 lbs. Will give you a report on our success or failure.

If you are going to stay around the shipping canal, definitely try Sawyer Harbor, at the mouth where it meets the shipping canal. Lots of smallies there caught on crankbaits. I fished there a couple of years ago for 5 years straight and did well there, also don't forget to fish inside Sawyer harbor. If you don't find them inside the harbor, then don't waste a lot of time, cause they aren't there, they will be on the outskirts. I also fished and ventured out of the canal towards snake island. I watch the weather religiously, and as the day went on, the wind started to pick u-p. I had a 17' alum. fish-n-ski, and on the way back to the launch in the shipping canal, I was haulin' **** as I saw the weather get progressively worse. Made it in time, but I was never in 3'0 waves and it scared the crap out of me. As far as the lower dells goes. I never tore up a prop running the river, however if you don't know where you are going, then I guarantee you will tear it up. A lot of shale shelfs, and rocks when you come to the dam.. I always stayed at the River's Edge for the weekend. Most of my boat damage was from the boat banging up against the dock when it was tied up, or guys, not knowing how to maneuver around a river that has current, and they hit you as they try to tie up to the dock. Many times I didn't see this as I kept my boat tied up all night on the river. They rent boats there and a lot of guys are careless. Best to take your boat in and out and launch every day. Saves a lot of aggravation. Going up to the dam from the Rivers Edge, stay in the middle until you start coming up to the dam. If you've never been there take it slow and watch the water levels, look over the side of the boat frequently to see how shallow you are and look at the can buoys in the water they will show you where the low spots are. Again don't go flying around the river, especially going up to the dam. As you approach the dam, watch where everyone else goes, and take it slow. It is beautiful up there this time of year. Now going down river past the Rivers Edge, towards the cable, not much to worry about. Again go slow. I would assume that the dam will not be fully open, so you should have some good fishing, as the current won't be as bad. As far as fishing for walleye, sauger and smallies, I have found the best to use out there is 3/8 oz round ball jigs tipped with a fathead. jigged on the bottom, like they fish the Wolf River. You must keep your jig in contact with the bottom as the river fish hug to the bottom on the lower Dells. Operate your electric trolling motor with your foot, and bounce two rods one in each hand, on the bottom. You will find them in slower moving water. I have also had better luck with pink jigs. Bring a lot of jigs, not bass jigs, as you will lose at least 12-24 per day, if you are not bouncing or dragging jigs you will not find the walleye. White and yellow chartreuse works well some days also. I love that section of river and have always done well there. However now I have a fiberglass boat, and It would kill me to see it get damaged. You can also anchor, up river and cast into the river. That works well sometimes also. I found moving around with a trolling motor works better. If you need more info, you've got my number call me. PS: As far as using your GPS to run the river, use your eyes and judgement. GPS is only good for about 10 feet either way. The River is not that wide, so have guys look over the sides as you drive and go slow. I may be over protective of my boat, but you don't want to hit a shale shelf going too fast. It will shear your whole bottom off. I don't want to scare you but it's better to be safe than sorry. Once you drive up and down a couple of times, You will get used to what spots you can run. Good luck ,good fishing and post your fishing results when you get back. Looking for your fish stories. LOL