Further North

I like that...but what's with the funky prop?

Here's how I look at it: Adding another potential channel in the outside of the motor shaft has a chance of weakening the shaft...resulting in failures from impact...or who knows...even from driving down the road with 1,000 jolts every 100 miles... THe engineers that design this stuff are pretty sharp, and though I've heard about Minn Kota shaft failures...I've never seen one, or talked to anyone who has actually experienced one. I have to believe...scratch that...I know...the folks at Minn Kota know how their equipment is being used and want to take care of their customers. There are other solutions out there that don't involve potentially compromising the trolling motor shaft. What I've done...I didn't use DI off the front of the boat this year. I wanted to see if I'd miss it. I've run it off the transom mounted MEGA transducer when I felt like I needed to see it up front (18 feet's not that far, the sonar cone will likely pick up the structure it I'm more than a few feet deep, geometry tells me that). That worked for me, though I'm considering one of the other solutions for 2018...but here's a critical bit of info: I seldom fish vertically...it bores me....it's a personality flaw I'm not proud of...but it is what it is.

The toothed belt is the drive belt for the auto-deploy, auto-stow and power trim...I'm guessing that's why Minn Kota would do that. It's kind of important on the Ulterra.

That will not work on an Ulterra - there is a toothed belt that rides in the notch in the shaft. There are several solutions available for this situation, some commercial, some fabricated on the spot. Do a search and you will find them.

I'd say so.

...and wear a good hat. Keeping your head warm is a good part of keeping the rest of you warm. If you focus on keeping your core (thighs to shoulders) and your head warm, keeping your fingers warm gets a lot easier.

As mentioned back in 2014, Simms tends to lead the pack on this sort of thing as long as spending a little money isn't an impediment to your comfort. I have several different pairs of their gloves that I use, depending on temperature and conditions. Fly fishermen...particularly those that fish cold weather conditions like steelhead have put a lot of thought into this over the years and Simms has several versions of gloves that get the job done...but you could spend $80 on them at the high end... Kast gloves are also worth a look, I'm putting a pair through their paces this fall and am happy so far, though they are more for the runs between spots than actual fishing. Try some of the fly fishing products, Simms in particular. I share your circulation issues and these things work, for me.

I love guys like you...any time my wife starts thinking I spend too much on fishing...I find some pictures like this and show them to her... That's usually worth several months of no questions...

If someone told me I had to not use braid or fluoro...I'd lie to them. All types of line have their place. I can't see any reason to avoid any of the line types.

Great preventive program. I've been doing similar since the 80s on every trailer I've owned; it makes a difference.

Simple...I completely miss-read your post...Getting old isn't for the faint of heart...

??? My Navioincs Canada chip worked in my brand new Helix units on Lake of the Woods in June. ...and yes, they are always updated as new releases come out...

Happens a lot here with smallies...they often cough up what they were eating and the other fish eat it... Another fisherman on the boat can often capitalize on it by tossing in a lure that's close to what they are coughing up.

Never driven over any...but was out on the Bighorn River a few years back and we were fishing a nice seam with good sized trout working a seam about 50 ft. out. I switched up from a nice new 3 wt. St. Croix with a brand new Orvis reel on it to a 5 wt. and had started out 100 ft. or so above the drift boat, which we'd anchored to shore behind us. What was working was to get a double nymph rig out there, let it drift a few times, catch some fish until they shut down on that spot, take about 5 steps downriver and do it all over again. After several moves, I went to launch my rig, felt a tug on my back cast and heard my friend Dave yell something and turned around just in time to see my brand new wt. rig flip out of the drift boat and into the current...I'd snagged one of the line guides on my back cast... Know what you can't do fast enough? Wade through 50 feet of thigh deep river to get to your fly rod before it drifts out of reach and sinks...

I flew over the Finger Lakes last week...they looked awesome from the air.

Years ago, I was fishing a lake with a guy...and I was pulling two or three fish off every dock...and the other guy...one fish every couple docks...at best. I kept offering to rig him up like I was...but for hours, he wouldn't make the move...finally gave up and agreed to rig up like i was...caught fish in 4 casts... Letting people help you isn't a bad thing...

Being at the front of the boat when it's windy is a ton of work...and you wind up missing a lot of spots the guy in back can plunk a bait into easily while you fight with the boat.

Smallies bigger than 20" are an order of magnitude better than "nice". Great fish, congrats!

Interesting development...I'm fortunate to live in an area where Lake Master chips in my Humminbird get the job done really well. I have WI and Lake of the Woods chips and that covers my needs right now.

Mine leave (I put two on) a path of floating, chopped vegetation. ...did you follow installation instructions as to placement?

I wondered if anyone would catch that... I've been after that particular fish for four seasons now, seen her a dozen times. She's seen every musky lure known to man (and some that aren't) a dozen times thrown by every one who thinks they know how to catch a musky. I finally got her to eat. 7" Senko over an 8/0 Trokar EWG. 18" of Tyger Leader FG'd to 50# 832 Suffix, Medium Heavy TFO 7', 3" GTS with a Diawa Tatula CT.

Looking forward to the report...in the meantime I'll just go catch another musky.

'05 Crestliner CMV here, with an '05 Johnzuki 140...I update electronics periodically, along with batteries...everything is just fine...

Good choice - I think you'll like it.

I hear that being old and retired will do that.