Further North

It's the 360° compatability that has me looking. I've had the transom mount 360° since it came out and while it's great...I sure would like to have that transducer right at my feet rather that 19 feet away at the back of the boat. I Just bought an Ulterra this spring, love it. The power stow is great...bit it's to power trim that I really like...it's sooooo much easier to go into shallow water with the Ulterra than the Terrova...also, when I'm up in the bow trying to skip under a dock, I can drop the Ulterra head right down to the deck and not worry about smacking the rod into the head or the shaft. Can't power trim the Ultrex... ...so...for me, it'll come down to deciding if front mounted 360° is more important than being able to easily go shallow, or drop the head to the deck. A 45" Ulterra would be the cat's PJs...but you could not get one with Link when I bought mine. Gotta have Link.

I had a 23" pike get bit a couple years back, and we had a 20" pike get followed to the boat by a mid 50s musky on LOTW in June this year. ...I've also reeled in walleye heads on occasion.

It's completely cheating...but the most gear/lures I ever lost on a single trip was when a tackle box foll of flies, misc. fly fishing gear and reels was stolen from my boat. I was $1800 gone in less than 5 minutes. ...but here's the good thing: Covered by insurance.

True enough. I'm a lot closer to that than I was a few years ago.

You don't want the straps to come into contact with the bottom edge of your boat as they come out of the boat buckle housing and make their way to the transom...they will get cut at some point. If you need to, have extensions made so that the strap can run from the Boat Buckle to the transom without touching the back of the boat hull. Pictures later, if you'd like.

Sure they are. I can't possibly count the bass that have hit well within visual range, plenty right at the side of the boat. Actually...if you catch enough fish to make you smile...you're the winner.

That works OK; I find the Tyger Wire and AFW Surflon to work better...but that's probably 'cause I rush my knots... Lots. They work great...when the coating is gone, clip it off and re-tie. This is why I generally start with 12" - 18". By the end of long weekend I've usually trimmed off and retied twice, probably down to about 8" - 10".

These? http://www.cabelas.com/product/CABELAS-ARACHNID-BC-REEL/1907828.uts I have two, like them quite a bit. Virtually identical to the Daiwa Tatula Tye-R

Nice fish! I also target Pike, I prefer them, even over muskies. My favorite sized pike are in that 28 - 40" range...much bigger than that and there's not a lot of fight.

Tire Rack Reviews are even better. I remember one from some Gomer a while back all PO'd because putting Pirelly P7 on his 10 year old Camry didn't turn it into a Ferrari...

It is...It's really well thought out. ...but I don't think I like it...or rather...I don't care for fishing that way...feels like it's not for me.

I remember those...er...watching others do them, of course.

Me either - poor communication on my part - I meant more like the Escape-sized SUVs. On the Escape they do some of what was done with your truck, abut also add a sensor to the traction control/ABS system that acts as an anti sway device. It's also on a lot of their bigger vehicles, all the way to the F-Series trucks. It works amazingly well.

Thanks Jon...I'm not (or haven't been) a Kayak guy. Bought an Ocean Kayak Predator XL recently, and that one, with the motor centered in the bottom, obviously doesn't need any modifications to be powered.

Darn...I was gonna say "Bruce".

Getting back to the OP...why would you want to avoid pike? Yeah the little guys can be kind of a PITA, but you have to go through them to get to the big ones. Start tying into them up around 30" and bigger...I'll take that over bass every day. What to do to stop them from cutting your line is a different question. I use tieable leader (Tyger Wire, Knot 2 Kinky, others) FG knotted to braid. I usually start with about 2 ft., trim and re-tie as the ends get beat up. Albright knots work too. I run Texas rigged soft plastics like this all year round, catch hundreds of bass on it, and have taken pike and musky well into the 40 inch range...biggest around 48" For bass fly rigs in toothy critter water...about a foot of 15 lb. Tyger Wire FG knotted in as leader will solve the problem. I have 6, 7, 8 and 9 wt. rods rigged like this all the time.

I run nothing but braid...but teeth cut braid like...thread. I suspect...and know from my personal experience...that they're not using heavy braid as leaders. I use tieable wire or heavy fluorocarbon for toothy fish leaders.

Makes sense, thanks. You can, but there's a lot more than that to some towing packages, especially with smaller SUVs.

...stupid question: Why not bow mount the motor?

Good choice, great truck. Just curious: It seems as though you were trying to avoid tow packages...is there a reason why?

I'm sure you can...but I'd guess you can kiss any warranty goodbye...especially if you go with trying to switch polarity...and I don't think the systems work that way. You'd have to - at the very least - re-wire the foot pedal. I'd bet that'd kill the warranty too.

Sorry to hear about the passing of your friend. Fishing and hunting is good...depends on what you want to target. Smallies, some largemouth, walleye, pike, musky...trout. Grouse, woodcock, deer, probably bear.

Yeah...back in '87, my best fishing partner...my Dad...passed away. Couldn't get the zip back into it. No one else fished like Dad...had the balance of when to talk, when to fish...when to talk and fish... Life got busy...got a real job, got married, did a lot of upland hunting (always my first passion), got into SxS shotguns and shooting clays, played a ton of volleyball...11 years went by...our daughter arrived in the fall of 1998...moved up north in late winter 2004...in 2009 our daughter...always a water baby...said, "I want to go fishing, Dad!" And we did. The die was cast, the path set...I was re-hooked...Haven't looked back. Wouldn't change a thing.

I've been there when that has happened...it's no fun.

On 99% of the fish I catch, I neither weigh, nor measure...they just go into a filing system in my head: Little Fish Medium Fish Bigger Fish If I'm curious, I might measure one out of 100, just to see what it is to satisfy my curiosity. I'm not even sure where the scale I bought years ago is...or if it's even in the boat. I'm really impressed by the folks who weigh and measure everything...then do something with their data...that's just cool...but I do enough of that at work, don't wanna mess up free time with it. I don't fish tournaments, BTW. No issue with them, just not my thing.