Further North

Jim, congrats on the new boat, you'll love it. Lund makes great boats and it sounds like the one you've picked will fit your needs well...but... ....do yourself a favor, and go to an 80 lb. thrust, 24 volt motor. I ran a 12 volt, 55 lb. thrust Terrova on a boat slightly smaller than yours...and it was frequently down to its last gasp after a day on the water...and it's waaaay under-powered for that LUND, IMO.... I'll bet dollars to donuts You'll be disappointed in a 12 volt trolling motor on that boat, and since your trolling motor impacts how you fish so much more than other electronics...I'd cut back there before I'd go to a 12 volt trolling motor. Given your age and existing/potential health issues, I'd recommend an 80# thrust Ulterra. I have a 60" version on my boat and it works just great, zero issues with anything at all...the mount and deployment work just fine with no interaction from me.

Good rig. Around here, I'd go similar: Foam spider at the top, some kind of bead head nymph (I don't think it really matters) about 18" down. Foam based hoppers work well too, cast relatively tight to the bank/shore. I had bunches of panfish trying to eat this: Monday and Tuesday...and that fly is 3" long. There's a smaller, similar fly called a gurgler that would have worked had I wanted to catch panfish. Here is one example of a variation:

Salmon will get your attention, congrats!

OK...so here's some more... Had a bunch of fun Monday on a lake north of Wausau a ways...Only one musky on but a a few fat smallmouth and half a dozen like. The Musky accomplished an LDR when my fishing partner left some slack in his line...bye-bye... The smallest smallie we caught was 16", 3 about 18', one at 19" and one at 20" Dunno what they eat in that lake, but there's apparently a lot of it... Everything seemed to like pink...blue didn't' hurt, but pink was the key...which was fortunate as I'd tied several flies with pink in them because the place I headed Tuesday is known to produce fish on pink... Tuesday started out promising, had a follow on my third cast, high 20's musky...caught a few pike and one smallie, all on variations of pink flies...then the fishing gods flipped a switch. Weather was great for fishing...not so much for catching...mid-70s, bright sun, not a cloud for a hundred miles...that came home to roost on Tuesday about 11:00. I struggle with this lake...it is a weed infested, featureless series of bays with little to no structure...fish are just sort of where they are...Also saw few bait fish, where other lakes around here have schools of minnows all over the place... Took a run down the channel to another lake, to a spot that has always produced...this lake has two islands Bout 150 yards apart and there's an extension off the points on the islands that spans that gap...the water never gets deeper than about 24" and it's infested with BAMF rocks...it never fails to produce a pike or a musky or three. I always work the gap from the upwind side running pretty much point to point, fan-casting left, right, and center and watch my offering like a hawk. I'd shifted to gear, to cover water as much as possible; right when I got to the buoy that advises boaters to go the heck around a mid 40's musky follows a twin bladed Mepps #5 right to the boat, stares at it through the figure 8, then swims off to the stern. I pop it right back in and she follows it back again, all the way through the figure 8...twice...then goes to hide under the boat. I've got another rod rigged with a Smokin' Rooster...I try that...no joy. I figure, what the heck, tossed the same fly that generated the follow in the AM back there...nothing...so I started casting my way around the boat...she came in from the bow this time, was right behind the fly until the first turn on the 8...and just kept going... Worked that fly around the boat again...nothing. Picked a different one...all the way around...nothing...went to a clown pattern...there she is again...but this time she hesitated about 5 feet off the bow. turned and swam off... Picked up the 10 wt, had a big orange/yellow/gold fly on it...crickets. Wet crickets... Grabbed the clown pattern's big brother, tossed it back where she went off the bow...she follows...she's got her nose in the trailing fibers...and then she's gone... That was it. Same fish, at the bot 5 times in 20 minutes...no bite... I wonder what a laughing musky sounds like?

"Keeping eyes on the kids" is the most important thing you'll be doing until the kids are older. ...that said, pulling a boat with a trolling motor is infinitely better than pushing it. A transom mount will have you spending 3x the time on boat control and that much less time fishing...To illustrate this, cut an 18" piece of string, lay it on your table, place your finger on one end and use it to pull the string around....now do the same...but try to push the string from the back end...it's a Cap'n Obvious thing...but it gets the message across fast. But with a 12 year old and 7 year old on board, we're kidding ourselves if we think you're gonna be doing any fishing... Here's the deal: when the lids get older...or you run out of patience...take the screw that holds the head of the trolling motor out, rotate the head 180° and put the screw back in...it'll be backwards to the lower unit and can now be mounted at the bow.

I'm glad you like the DekIt mount...one of the owners lives right down the road from me. On the OP: I prefer the swing arm mounts from Ram. They keep the units low, off to the side and don't rely on how tight I can crank the handle to keep my Helix 12 from moving around fraom wave action or hauling the boat down the highway. https://www.amazon.com/National-Products-RAM-109H-Marine-Single/dp/B001GLLF3I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1505347195&sr=8-1&keywords=ram+swing+arm+mount

In my experience, here's how that kind of thing happens: Some bean counter somewhere...or a person with that kind of disposition...gets a wee bit too much influence over the way things are being run...and that's when stuff like that starts popping up. There's nothing wrong with getting paid for your work...and sales folks who get paid commission can be sneaky when it comes to "add ons" and "Oh-by-the-way"... But the smart thing is to figure out what the customer expects when they write the check...include those things in your costs, bury the costs in the initial price and make a fair amount...or what the market will bear. I can tell you that i'f I'm all excited about a boat...and I sit down at a desk and start writing a deal...and I get told a freakin' horn is extra...my checkbook is going back in my pocket and we're goin' shopin' with the competitor...and one of the first things I'm going to ask is, "Is the horn extra like on the Lund?"

I do something similar...but I use about 18 ft of 1/2" bungee cord instead of a winch strap...boat comes in nice and slow and there's no hard stop in the process.

Makes sense, thanks. Wasn't aware of the restrictions on MK retailers.

It would blow your budget, but I went with an Abu Garcia LTX and a St. Criox Avid X. It does great at exactly what you are trying to do. The whole rig - reel, line and rod - weight only 10.4 ounces. I've got fly rods that weigh more... There are plenty other good choices out that that will just as well, a lot will come down to preference.

What's odd to me is in today's world of social media (like Bass Resource) and instant communication of even minor levels of dissatisfaction and customer complaints going straight to Lund's target audience...if that they didn't just comp the horn as a "thank you" for spotting and reporting the issue. They've got much less than $51 in that horn and the goodwill a gesture like that (just as likely to wind up on social media) is worth the cost many times over. ...instead there are now people who will read this...possibly for years...who might open the door to other brands even though they were initially set on a Lund... Bad call by whomever made it, IMO.

I guess that's what doesn't make sense to me...it'd make a lot more sense if it had a little more thrust than the standard 70# unit...not less. Offer Bass Pro Customers something they can't get anywhere else that has better performance. Instead it looks to be a lower output, cheaper version...I wonder what else got left out to drive the price down? It looks to be 24 volt...that was one of the first thing I wondered...if they were trying to pedal a "high output" 12 volt unit.

Sorry...couldn't resist...

I don't understand the purpose of the 65 lb. Maxxum in Minn Kota's product offerings...except perhaps to sell to a price point... Personally, I agree with the "get the biggest you can afford" strategy. I run a 112 lb. Ulterra on an 18 ft. aluminum boat...I have yet to run out of power, even on a 12 hour day, and with the exception of very strong current where nobody is going to have success with an electric motor...I can always get where I want to go. ...and you wind up running the more powerful motor at a lower percentage of it's capacity most of the time, which is easier on the motor...so it lasts longer. ...if your only choices are the 65# and 70# Maxxums...go with the 70#

I sure do...a quick measurement (or estimate + fudge factor if I can't get a tape on it) and and a run to the hardware store and we're ready to go.

I still have the original bolts from my first Terrova. They are almost always too short.

Hmmmm...Tough call. Could be the small fish deal that Weedwhacker suggested.

Tough call without seeing what's happening...Can we assume you are Texas rigging with the EWG hooks? It seems to me that most of the bass that eat my Senkos either eat enough of the bait to make hooking easy...or they self hook when they try to run with the bait. ...Should probably ask: You are either leaving the hook tip exposed...are are just barely tucking it into the top of the Senko, correct?

From what you described, you're going to have to do a custom build. Sounds like a cool project though, have fun with it!

...or to put the lure where it needed to go. I have a couple of rods set up for distance, but both are open water rods where accuracy isn't important to any important degree. Yup. "Let the rod do the work" is something you...eventually...learn with fly rods & it applies to gear fishing just as much.

How much wiggle room is going to depend on the dealer and where you live... I don't buy new cars, trucks or boats (hate the depreciation, too much of a numbers guy), but can tell you there's just as much, if not more wiggle room in used boats. Good summary of the differences. ...and no, no one had popped in - yet - to sing the praises of glass over tin (or vice versa), but it always happens and I assumed the OP had run a search... I'm also "old", and store my boat in a garage...but I tow with a smaller and less expensive all wheel drive vehicle...I'm not at a place where I feel I can discount expense...and I just don't find glass is more comfortable...but note my exclusion for folks making long runs on big water...much easier to have that be a critical part of the equation in those cases. Here in the northwoods, the opportunities for long runs just don't exist, with very few exceptions. Horses for courses...

I don't recall if that is correct, but I think so...I've been using the same bolts for the last three boats...I can't recall where they came from. THe instructions says it come with the screws/bolts: https://www.minnkotamotors.com/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=3569

NIce fish! So...do you feel like those bass would not have been caught without the Bullet?

I'd go to the Minn Kota website and see if I could download the mounting instructions, including a template for drilling holes.

Everything I've heard about Triton tin boats is positive. I run an '05 tin boat (Crestliner CMV 1850) wouldn't swap it for anything. If something bad happend to my boat, I'd replace it with one a lot like Ajay's (Possibly the soon to be released Crestliner Bass Hawk 1850). IMO, the whole "Glass boats have a better ride" thing is vaporous at best...since I fish 10x - 20x the time I ride (fish for 8 hours, drive the boat for 25 minutes = 19.2x...this WILL vary considerable on big southern impoundments) , I'm going to bias my choice towards what fishes better...it's not like I'm a walleye guy trolling my 'round the lake, or sitting there with a jig hanging over the side.... The "Tin boats blow around more in the wind" is nonsense IMO observation as well. I've never seen an apples to apples comparison...but I've seen a lot of glass boats get batted around when my tin boat is doing just fine...but I didn't pick an under-powered trolling motor, so that may impact things... Often overlooked/hidden cost of glass boats: Size for size, you're gonna need a bigger tow vehicle, and a bigger outboard to tow it around and move it down the lake. Both can translate to serious $$$. All that said, there's nothing wrong with glass boats - several folks I know have them, I like them just fine...but fisherman should make their choice based on what they like and how they fish, not on some insubstantial, subjective concept about glass boats being better.