Christian M

I have a 96 Tracker PT17 but mine has a 9.9 on it becasue 99% of the lakes in NJ have HP limits. I got mine for $2700 in EXCELLENT condition and I love it! I'd say $6500 for an 06 w/a 60hp is a great deal. Congrats & enjoy!

My buddy has the 1448 Lowe Roughneck and is having the same issue. I had a 14.5' trihull that had no livewell at all. I bought a big cooler and built a pretty nice livewell for pretty cheap and it wasn't difficult at all. It worked great, I kept fish in it for up to 8 hours and never had one die. I was also able to take it out of the boat whenever I didn't need it which was a big plus especially with limited space.

Thanks Glenn!

In NJ we have pretty strict emissions inspections too. I have the truck under warranty for the next 2 years and by then hopefully I'll have most of it paid off. Sorry to hear about ur sons truck, 275k is a lot of mileage to get out of any vehicle though. What did you guys end up doing with the Pathfinder?

I researched for months before I pulled the trigger on this truck. I needed something really rugged but with a 6 cylinder engine to save on gas costs. It came down to a Jeep Wrangler or an Xterra. My Father has a 2010 4door Wrangler Sport which I used often and like, but when I drove the Xterra there was no question. The 4.0 VQ engine has tons of power, is extremely reliable, and the hard poly plastic in the back is really useful. I can get it as dirty as I want and just wipe it clean or hose it out, its like having a small truck bed in the back. Plus everything folds flat including the front passenger seat. Not to mention the Xterra sits on the F-Alpha frame that the FJ cruiser, Titan, and Frontier share. I can definitely understand the need for a full bed if your truck is going to be used for more than daily driving and fishing.

I finally picked up a new...(well newer) truck! Its an 07 Nissan Xterra SE, 70K, one adult owner, bull bar, running boards, roof rack, tail light guards, new tires, SUPER CLEAN inside and out. The best part about the deal was that I got the truck for $1000 under list and $3500 under what the dealer was asking all because someone made a mistake and listed it online for $11,000 instead of $14,500 lol! Its silver with black trim and I cant wait to tow my Tracker PT17 to the lake with it. This is my second Xterra, my first was an 01 and went STRONG for 250k miles before it gave out, I sold it for $1000 and the next guy got another 40k out of it. I hope this one lasts as long.

Black & blue chatterbait. Caught my PB around 2am in the rain throwing a black & blue Booyah Chatterbait.

I had a buddy do something similar, but with my rod & reel. He asked if he could cast my new $450 rod & reel, next thing I know he lost a grip on it & I saw it sinking. Luckily the braided line was still floating. I grabbed the line & pulled until I got to the mono backing with a slipknot tied around the spool & gently pulled it out of the muddy, grassy bottom. I had to clean & grease the reel before I could use it again. Needless to say he never touched another rod of mine.

I was fishing a small pond with a buddy when I decided to go off on a hike by myself around the other side of the pond. I crossed the stream feeding the pond and went about 2 miles along a trail where I found a little runoff pond with dirt hills around it. I decided it would be a good idea to scramble up one of these hills to get a better look. I started walking toward one of the hills and before I knew it I was up to my waist in mud. I had stepped into a sinkhole! Thank God I was wearing oversized thick neoprene chest waders. I was able to slowly claw my way out of the waders and onto semi dry land. By the time I was out of the waders I was covered in mud past my elbows& my waders were buried. Looking back, they may have saved my life, if I wasn't wearing them I could have easily sunk all the way in. My buddy was a good 2 miles away through thick woods across a pond. He never even heard me calling him Lesson learned-never venture into unfamiliar areas alone Another time I was fishing out of my canoe & I got caught in a thunder storm. I put the TM on full speed headed toward my car. As I was passing under a bridge with narrow wood pilings & long lag bolts poking out, my canoe started going sideways. I went to push off the piling, lost my balance & went overboard. To make it worse the TM was still on high & I had to swim after the canoe. The worst part was climbing the slimy piling to get back in.

6'6" -7', Meduum power, fast to x-fast, 6-8# flouro. Rod length & action depends on water depth & clarity.

Shakey head fishing is one of my go to techniques. IMHO, a 7' Medium power fast action rod is the way to go( I use a 6'10" tech spec ), definitely agree w/CP on reel selection, you need a smooth drag as you'll be using light flouro ( I stick with 6-8#) & thin wire hooks. There was recently a great video posted up specifically on shakeyhead fishing. Do a search & check it out, it covers all the bases.

My family and I made plans to spend a couple hours together on the boat Monday. My father is a veteran and proudly served his country, along with his older brother, nephew, and a cousin who just came back from his 3rd tour. In honor of them & everyone who has served and sacrificed for our nation, I secured a flag to my boat. As I pulled out of the driveway and started down the road, I saw the flag come loose and hit the road. I pulled over & raced into the middle of the road to get our sacred flag up off the ground. I thought for sure on coming traffic would stop to aviod our flag...I stood in the middle of the road on memorial day as 5 cars ran our country's flag over without so much as slowing down. Finally I walked toward it and the sixth car swerved to avoid hitting me. I picked up the flag, brushed it off, and placed it safely in the truck. I have no words to express how disgusted I felt.

I love jitterbugs, this thing looks legit! Thanks for the share

Jig & Craw

I have a 96 Tracker PT & I know exactly where you're talking about. Between Bass Pro Shops & Cabelas online you'll find what you need. As far as PT wood you should be ok, I don't think it would be worth usimg aluminum for such a small area.

Welcome to the forum. If you are using spinning gear you can also palm the reel, I do this sometimes when I'm using light line and I want to control the amount of line that the fish takes. With experience you'll learn how you like your drag set.

I own 3. A 6'10" med fast shakeyhead/dropshot rod, a 6'6"med fast, & a 7'MH, my favorite is the 6'10". I own St Criox, Shimano, Quantum, Abu Garcia, e21 & a few more. I bring one of my tec specs out everytime I go fishing, they're sensitive, light, really durable, & if u can get em for $40 I'd say jump on it. Obviously its not gonna compare to a $300 st criox, but they are as good if not better than a lot of rods in the $100 range

By all means, do urself a favor and buy createx paint. You can buy sets of basic createx colors and learn to mix your own custom colors. However, I still thin my createx paint. It's very, very rare that I buy a bottle and can paint without thinning it. As far as artistic ability, as an artist I feel my education and experience affords me the ability to visualize then execute lure designs, patterns, & color combinations without as much trial & error

X2...I use my dads 4dr Wrangler Sport sometimes, you dont want to be drilling holes in that speaker bar. This should do the trick. Congrats on the truck!

Im a lefty & when I played baseball the sidearm pitch was a great weapon. When Im using a casting setup its always sidearm or roll cast. When Im using light spinning gear, sometimes its easier for me to load the rod with an overhand cast, but the rest of the time im getting as low as possible. I'll even get my body as low as possible to skip docks sidearm. I use a backhand roll with soft stickbaits & jigs when I have a close target, I guess it would be considered a flip.

I have some Cordells, but honestly they never get used, I have much more sucess with other brands of lipless cranks that come with better hooks, paint & splitrings. #1- Clackin Raps- I have pretty much every pattern in every size & when its time to break out lipless cranks these are my go to. I catch big bass on these. #2- Live Target- If I had to choose between these & my Rapalas it would be hard. I've caught trout, LM & SM Bass, Perch, Pike, Bluegills & sunnys on these. But at $11+ it really hurts when I lose one. #3- Strike King Red Eyes & One Knockers- They have some nice patterns and I find on certain lakes they do the trick.

I cant count how many jig & spinner skirts I have had the collars break or melt before I even got a chance to tie them on, not to mention the ones that have torn and broken from heavy useor a toothy critter getting a hold of it. I know a lot of manufacturers are producing skirts that dont have traditional collars, or come wire wrapped, but there is still a big portion of the industry that uses rubber/plastic collars. A few months ago I was browsing the isles at the local craft store in search of wire to hang my airbrushed crankbaits after I apply epoxy. I came across a spool of thin copper wire which is for light soldering & I bought it, hung my baits to dry, then a bulb came on in my head. Heres a quick, inexpensive way to fix those brittle, melting, or torn skirts before they fall off, and if you have a bunch of jigs & spinners that already lost their skirts, heres a good way to bring them back to life. Plus it may add that extra flash or weight that could provoke a strike. Go to your local arts & craft, or hardware store and buy a spool of copper, aluminum, or whatever thin metal wire you like. Make sure the wire is malluable and thin enough to wrap around a skirt collar, but solid enough to hold its shape. Take your lure and expose the collar holding the skirt together, then take the wire and simply wrap it around the damaged collar until the rubber or plastic is no longer exposed, snip it with a pair of wire cutters, and you have a nice neat coil wrap. Press the tag end down so its not poking out. If you want to take it a step further, get a solder tool. (You can usually find these in the same store) It looks like a calligraphy pen with a wire at the end to plug it in and heat up the tip (a wood burning tool will also work). Take the tag end of your wrap and solder it into the coil, being careful not to melt too much metal. If you're handy with this sort of thing you can use another length of wire and solder the end. Now you have a metal wrapped collar in the color of your choice (brass, copper, aluminum) If you want a black collar, simply wrap it in black craft or electric tape, if you like the collar to match the skirt, you can always use the small bottles of automotive touch up paint. I've used the touch up paint on weights, jig heads, & spinners. Its cheap, smooth, durable, dries instantly and odorless.

NEWS FLASH.... Last night I got a text from the club president... CLUB PRESIDENT : Are you definitely going to make it on Saturday Christian? Your partner hurt his ankle and can't make it...my partner needs to jump on your boat because he doesn't have his boaters certificate... ME : No. I also texted my partner and simply said "I wont make it on Saturday and honestly I am stepping aside for the remainder of the season, I hope your ankle is ok". Case closed. I hope my partner didn't hurt his ankle badly and I truly wish him a speedy recovery. Seems like Karma may have stepped in on my behalf. time to start looking for a new club

X2...I bought my Tracker cash in full, Its a proud feeling knowing your boat is all yours. My tracker may have a few years on her but you would never know by looking at it or fishing from it. I was going to spring for the 597 but all they had was the 581, I'm happy with everything and I also plan to keep my baby for many years to come

My very first boat, if you can even call it that, was a Sevlor 360 Fish Hunter, got it brand new it for $300 with an electric west marine pump, new battery, new Minn Kota trolling motor, and lots of rope, I fished from that raft til it couldn't hold air for more than 2 hours. lasted one season I Upgraded to a 14' Scanoe which was awesome to fish out of but a nightmare to load up. I got it for $220 on sale then discounted because they lost the title & were missing bolts for the middle bench seat, I did some tweaks to it & put a cheap FishFinder on it. Then bought a 1976 Glasstron Tri-Hull that was converted into an open deck electric bass boat. I bought it for $2000, which was a steal because everything had been redone, from the stringers, to the wiring on the boat & trailer, to the wood, carpet & paint. Plus it was sitting on an 06 loadrite trailer that was worth $1500 easily. The boat came with everything I needed, All I did was upgrade the bow mount motor & build a livewell for tournaments. Finally this Spring I sold the Scanoe & Trihull which I had for about 3 years. Got a steal on a 96 Tracker Pro Team w/a Merc 9.9 4 stroke that was hardly ever used, plus its got a built in gas tank that fills up just like a car from the outside. I paid $2700, EVERYTHING is in mint condition,The trailer has brand new wheels & tires w/new bearings, bearing buddies & protectors. I swapped out the stock Motorguide 36lb for my 55lb MinnKota PowerDrive. I also swapped the cranking motor out for an Optima redtop. I bought a 31M Bluetop & installed a 50amp breaker for My Trolling Motor. I kept the lead acid cranking battery on the boat because its new. I bought a new Minn Kota 210D onboard charger, and last but not least I bought a new Humminbird 581i HD/DI/GPS combo for the deck & mounted the transducer to the Trolling Motor. All thats left is a kicker bracket for my 55lb transom mount Minn Kota trolling motor, but it's all money well invested. I could turn around and sell it for way more than I paid, but thats not gonna happen for a long, long time. Sometimes I miss the trihull because it was so simple & solid...Then I look at my Tracker & think about how hard I worked to get it & how long I wanted one. Not to mention it runs & fishes like a dream.