paleus

I know this is about the worst time to buy a boat, but I'm ready to get into something bigger than my 15' jon boat. It's hard to resist the prices on the Trackers. I've been seeing 175TFs for under $20k. I've also been looking at Vexus, the avx181, but they're harder to find and nearly $10k more than a Tracker. I don't really like the Rangers in this size, they seem overpriced for what they are. I would like 3 seat bases up front for crappie fishing and fishing with my kids. I've heard bad things about the Trackers, but they do seem like a good deal. I'll be upgrading the trolling motor and electronics anyways, probably going to go all Garmin. Any advice is appreciated.

Those look neat, but not quite as open on deck as the Lowe.

Yeah, I can see that being a big issue. It would mostly be just for cruising and hanging out on the lake, so it wouldn't see much serious fishing from it. I was planning on putting a terrova or similar trolling motor on it with remote control and spot lock, etc.

I'm looking at getting a boat for family fun. I want something with a lot of room on the deck/cockpit, but not a pontoon boat. I want to be able to pull tubes and kneeboards, don't care so much about wakeboarding. Of course fishing is important, so want it to be able to mount a trolling motor and have comfortable deck for fishing. I want an outboard for fuel efficiency and easy maintenance. 22' to 24' and trailerable. So far the only boat I've found that really fits all those things is the Lowe Suncruiser/Tahiti/SD 220/224. With a 150 hp motor it should have enough power to pull stuff. Aluminum hull, so lighter weight should return more performance and economy than a fiberglass hull. I've been finding 2008 models for around $15,000. I don't want to spend much more than that. They seem to have Merc Optimax 2 strokes on them around that time. Anybody own one of these? Anybody have a suggestion for other similar boats?

I tie the leader line on and then pull off one wingspan (about 6' for me) worth and cut it. I tie a new one once it gets down to about 2ft from retying or if it gets messed up from abrasion. I use a 12lb leader on my casting rods with 30lb powerpro and an 8lb leader on my spinning rods with 15lb powerpro super slick. I use an Alberto knot.

2 main knots for me: Alberto for joining mono or flouro leader to braid main line. San Diego Jam for attaching lure to leader. I will use a palomar if tying the lure directly to braid. I tried the FG knot and could never tie it consistently enough to trust it. I find the Alberto easier to tie and just as strong and not that much bigger when using 8-12lb leader.

So this works pretty good, even without the weight pegged (since my peg-its blew out). Caught 7 in about an hour. Also fished with a normal ned rig and caught just as many.

I think you're right. That's the smallest worm hook I could find at Academy.

I've been playing with trying to make the Ned rig weedless. I don't like the shroomz with the weed guards, they still get hung up and are heavier than I want. So far I've been rigging them this way: That works pretty well to keep the hook from hanging on things and doesn't seem to impede the action. But, it still gets hung up in weeds due to the mushroom head. So, I thought I would try this: 1/16th oz bullet weight pegged on a size 1 worm hook. I'm hoping this will come through grass and weeds better. Haven't fished it yet. The one problem I see so far is the worm is a little wider than the weight, so it may get pulled down on the hook. And this probably won't work well with split color TRDs since the eye is not off to the side, even though my favorite color is "the deal."

I rig the ned weedless with just the normal ZMan finesse shrooms:

Looks like a spot to me. Cheek scales are smaller than body scales and looks like jaw does not extend past the eye.

You still can't fish it in super thick stuff and it will pick up grass and moss, but it does keep it from getting hung up and can be pulled out pretty easily.

I looked for a while where I flipped. Really swift current and it was in the middle of a float, so hard to get back to that spot without doing the whole float again. I've already ordered another set up just like it. Chalk it up to experience. Maybe someone will find it and put it to use.

You can rig the normal Ned Rig weedless by hooking the plastic kinda like a T-Rig worm or shakey head. Here's how I do it with the Z-Man Shroomz and TRD: I have some of the weedless Shroomz too, but prefer doing it this way.

Man, I hate floats on my rods and leashes are worse. What's worse than that though is losing your favorite spinning rig when you dump your yak. Lost an Okuma Citrix with an RTX on it. On the Buffalo River just downstream of hwy 14, if your local. Every rod in my kayak gets a float from now on. At least we caught fish and I caught a new PB 16" Smallmouth. The $200 fish:

I use an 8lb flouro leader on 15lb power pro super slick for ned rig.

If you want a weedless NedRig, just rig it like a shaky head using the mushroom jig head. Run the hook in the tip of the bait then back out, then bury the tip of the hook in the bait.

I would say a reel with centrifugal brakes would be best for a beginner. It seems most people that aren't used to a baitcaster backlash at the beginning of the cast because they don't have a smooth cast. They might whip the rod a little too hard in the beginning of the cast causing a backlash that centrifugal brakes would stop. But most lower cost casting reels do not come with centrifugal brakes and only come with magnetic brakes.

They are a little on the heavier side, but still not what I would call a medium.

I have an Okuma Citrix Travel 4-piece spinning rod in ML and it is my favorite spinning rod that I own. I have an Okuma RTX reel on it, great combo,

Junebug, black with blue flake, green pumpkin.

For Largemouth I carry: M casting for spinnerbaits, crankbaits, poppers. MH casting for T-rigs, frogs, jigs. ML spinning for finesse, mostly Ned Rig. For Smallmouth: M casting for poppers, buzzbaits, T-rigs, small jigs. ML spinning for Ned Rig. ML spinning for Rooster Tails.

Abu Veritas comes in 2-piece, but I think they are just under $100. Maybe a Berkley Lightning Rod? Okuma Citrix Travel are nice. I have a 7'3" 4 piece spinning rod, it is my favorite spinning rod.

I've had the most success by far with a ned rig. What river are you fishing? I'm from central AR and fish the Buffalo often.

For fishing, no contest, SOT is better.