Master Bait'r

One more note- the semi-v has a tendency to list side-to-side pretty badly but I must admit that the center mounted stools almost completely negate it. Gives plenty of room and even at their highest position you still feel planted and secure. Reaching overboard for a fish is the only time both people really need to be aware in the least, and that is a relief to me.

Took a cool pic of it all finished up with the front hatch etc. That little trolling motor gets that baby moving!! Really surprised at how well it pushes that tub around. Ran it for 4 hours and it still had about a 75% charge too which is great. I still may elevate the front battery hatch so I can put the seat mount back underneath the surface, I like the way it looked better that way but there were battery clearance issues. Didn't feel like handling it before I got it out on the water but I will likely resolve it eventually.

832 & PP Are the crowd favorites. SX1 & FX2 are probably the toughest I've ever used but can be a bit noisy. Smackdown is my favorite all around. Smooth and quiet like PP/832 but tougher and keeps color better like SX1. It's the best of both worlds IMO. Great finesse diameters available too!

How light can you go with baits with that medium crucial before the casting starts to suffer?

What a beautiful night last night. Tim's Lucky 7 worked like a dream! We only grabbed a few dinks but it was just nice to be out again. Shane Yours truly

Battery has been acquired. It's a big mother though, so I have to trim up the battery tray a bit so it will fit under the hatch. Getting crazy close now!

Yes. It is made for flotation. It's also quite rigid, made the floor very nice and sturdy.

It was a 2 part foam, and it was the 2lb density. Expands 30:1 and is quite strong once it dries.

I have been bitten by the ML/light M spinning rod bug BAD. Once my boat is in the water, it's going to be almost impossible to not just go and buy myself something nice. It's been a tough week and I need to re-up my stoke levels again in a big way to break me out of this funk and get back in the swing of things.

Carpet is glued down and cut. All that is left is the foremost hatch (don't care about it right now) and the battery (tomorrow). "Tim's Lucky 7" will have her maiden voyage this weekend! I can't wait to get 'er out there!

The boat has been sitting while I dealt with the loss of my brother but now that I'm back in the shop I'm set on finishing it up and naming it after him. I've already got plans to go out with a bunch of our mutual friends fishing once it's completed. Hoping to have time to glue down the carpet today so we can run wiring and be a battery away from a running working boat.

I'm sorry to tell everyone that my brother lost his battle with his injuries last night. He passed in my arms early this morning. Be at peace baby brother. I love you and I miss you so much.

Sincerest thanks to all. It's been a hell of a 24 hours. Long story short they have him stabilized and making steady incremental improvements but it is still a very scary situation. I'm finally back at home after a very long sleepless night and a ton of traffic. Thanks again for the kind words. Definitely an unimaginable situation but he is doing well considering the extent of his injuries. We have a big strong family and an even bigger community of friends and everyone is coming together around him for his recovery. Thankfully his cognitive function has been preserved and he is moving in the right direction as quickly as anyone could hope for.

Depends on the bottom composition and weed cover to be honest. Not all ponds are created equal.

Got the call last night at dinner. The call nobody ever wants to get... My little brother was in a very bad motorcycle accident and was burned really badly over most of his body and he was being life-Flighted to Boston. I dropped everything and ran out the door. We've been in an ICU burn unit ever since and he made it through the night and surgeries but he is far from out of the woods. I'm not looking for anything from y'all except maybe a prayer and sorry for the emotion dump but I just need to let it out and tell someone just to get it off my chest. Seeing him all burnt up sent me for the biggest craziest loop and I'm having a really hard time keeping it together. I totally lost it just buying a coffee in the caf earlier and I'm just so terrified of losing him it straight up grips me like a vise at times and then it all just comes like a flood. I don't want to say anything on FB because I'm too scared to explain to his/my friends until we know more. So here I am. Venting. Praying. Counting each moment as a tiny victory to build upon. I know there is nothing I can do at this point but the massive sense of helplessness is as inescapable as it is crushing. Sometimes strangers are the best place to put something like that I guess.

Knowing nothing about you I'd say anything with the Shimano 4x8 DC would be a solid bet for "best high performance top tier" reel.

He means "Lien" which basically means a 3rd party- usually a bank- actually holds the title while the owner you're buying it from is making payments to them. I wouldn't buy a lien boat. Just find someone who has the title and is selling by owner. It will just be simpler. As far as what boat to get, I'd go 14-16.6' or so, and the wider the better. Any Jon boat will get you there, it's just a question of what you really want out of it and how much you have to spend. I would go at least 42" wide though, bare minimum. The wider the better though, with Jon boats the width and hull shape is almost more important than the length!!!

You don't have to, all you have to do is mimic something that will trigger their instinct to feed, bully or simply kill. Sometimes that's a 10" trout, sometimes that's a 2.75" TRD. It all depends on the fish though!

That's a 16.5? Which model is that? I really like it!

^ I laughed when I got to the Ringworms. That has got to be the best worst name ever.

Thanks guys, really happy with the progress so far and I am having a ton of fun doing it. This has been like an adventure and an art project in one. I don't know why I never did this before, it is fun as heck to make a cool boat. I might have to do this more often.

I love them but you've got to be careful texposing or you can gore the heck out of your bait. Otherwise they are KILLER hooks. T-rigging structure bugs on a mag worm trokar with a screw lock is a major go-to for me!

Haha right?! Even the little ones do it! Actually it wasn't bad at all though, as long as the total build stays under a grand (I'm probably around 700-750 right now) I'll be happy. All I need is a battery so I'm looking pretty good. But now I want a new *** MLXF too. Maybe a gift for myself to celebrate not spending too much money on the boat? Lol

Tallying up all the money I've spent on this boat build project, it wasn't quite as "bargain" biased as I would have liked, but I'm still way out ahead IMO.

Yes that will work. Got everything and I mean everything painted up. Before After It's all glossy gray now! Hope the shine doesn't make me crazy out on the water. Anyways, she's going to sit and cure for 2 days before I lay the carpet but she's pretty much done save for some small cabinetry-type work up in the very front. Exhausted but very excited. Can't wait to get this beauty wrapped up!