stk44

Assuming you can live with the 115, the cost to jump to a 80# thrust tm likely will only be another $2k or so if they can swap it out at the dealer. I have an 18’ fiberglass boat and the 80# is great, except sometimes when in swift river water. In those cases I’m running on 8-9. Or sometimes need to get on the big motor to advance to another spot upstream.

@ATA glad I was able to inspire. Now I feel like I’m on the hook for this one. 😅 The boat looks beautiful and hopefully the tech can look everything over for you. Good luck!

Ok it’s coming back to me now. I fully remember seeing this boat from another thread. Between the boat, the trailer, and motor, I feel like I’m looking at a work of art.

Very sorry to hear that about your Mom. I never knew how bad it is until experiencing it first hand. One of the most underfunded diseases. The stage I’m in right now my 8 year old likes to go out with me. My wife comes out maybe 1-2 times per year. My oldest is into “girlie” stuff as well but she comes out every once and a while to bounce a ned jig head off my head.

@A-Jay Wow, it’s really been 10 years with the pro-v bass? Seems like it can’t be older than 5 years, but man does time fly. I fish Erie once a year, but each time it makes me question why I went the traditional fiberglass route.

Couldn’t agree more with being financially responsible. I’m a finance guy by trade and I explained to my wife why taking on some debt can be a good thing. Especially when the cost of debt is lower than the market rate of return. And I will tell you that there is what makes sense and what makes a wife comfortable. We have no debt other than credit cards and that makes her comfortable. End of story there lol. To your point about age. When I was younger I saw on the news some lady that was over 100. I always thought that was such a great thing. As I got older I see that quality of life can be a totally different topic. Using my Dad and FIL as an example, one is still able to live a limited physical life but quality of life is still there. For my FIL there is nothing left. Quality of life has a much smaller window in my experience than the median age of death. So I always keep that in mind to try my best to enjoy the “good years.” I think what you mention about living within your means, such as financing an affordable boat for 3-5 years is sound advice. Even better advice is paying off major debt so you can be in a position to take on a little leverage for recreational things that will bring enjoyment. Glad you were able to get the basscat! What model did you end up getting?

That’s awesome. Hopefully you two get the time on the water that you both deserve. Hoping for a continued recovery for your Dad.

I considered buying a boat in my mid 20’s. I don’t come from a boating family, so I was very inexperienced (and still am). I always envisioned exciting and memorable days on the water with my Dad, my Father-in-law, and my wife. I joined a bass club in my late 20’s to ease the learning curve which was extremely helpful, so I waited until I was more experienced. My wife and I decided we wanted to pay the boat off in cash. So I waited a bit longer. Then I was in grad school. I was also working full time with a 2 year old and a new born. I had had no free time. I’ll wait until I graduate before getting the boat. Finally in 2023, just shy of my 36th birthday, I finally pulled the trigger on a 2023 Z18. Boy, wasn’t it nice not having a boat payment and being financially secure? Sure. But… there is a cost of waiting. My Dad was diagnosed with Leukemia in 2024 which has been extremely limiting. He’s been on the boat once. And I think we went out for steelhead one time before he got sick. He was just in the hospital for the last 3 days and I honestly am not sure if he will ever get healthy enough to fish again. My father -in-law was diagnosed with ALS last year. Watching a tall, fearless, extremely in-shape, 69 year old turn into an old man in 6-8 months and COMPLETELY lose his independence has been rough. The visits now consist of me sitting next to him while he is hooked up to a breathing machine. What a BRUTAL, BRUTAL disease. My point to all of this is that things do not always work out the way you want them to. And tomorrow is not promised. If you are on the fence about buying a boat, I strongly urge you to factor in the cost of elapsed time. Obviously don’t sell your house or finance a boat for 20 years. But so what if you need to make payments on it? So what if you need to get a used boat? If being out on the water helps connect you with the ones you love, I strongly urge you to act sooner rather than later. You can’t guarantee what things will be like in the future, the only guarantee is what you have in front of you today.

I have not had any issues with my 2023 ultrex (ipilot link). My only gripe That I’m dealing with is when I’m spot locked on big water and the ultrex has to make quick, major adjustments, sometimes the coiled wire gets caught on the thumbscrew. The ultrex senses the tension and then turns spot lock off. Kind of gets annoying knowing that I can’t fully rely on it.

@STPC dp you wear a neck gaiter that covers your nose? I wear Oakley split shots and they will fog 100% of the time that way. I did just buy costa Rincon 2, and they have the vented nose piece that @Swimbaitstud mentioned. I’m curious to see if those work.

I wear mostly huk. Mostly the icon long sleeve shirts. I’ve never found it uncomfortable and it very breathable. I also wear a neck gaiter, hat, and sun gloves. I like wearing shorts and flip flops when I can, and the best solution I’ve found for exposed skin is a sun screen stick for the face and generally lotion for my legs and feet. I try to reapply every 2-3 hours but during a tournament that might only happen a couple times per day.

That’s a heck of a fish for the first trip!

Nice! I really like the cougars, not many people in my area have them but they are a sweet ride. Didn’t know their was a hybrid but that is a good option to have available. I am looking to get poles this year or next in the matte black as well. BPS used to have the matte black option but now they only have white or black in the blades with one-pump. Hopefully they get it back in stock.

@Junk Fisherman congrats on the boat— that’s awesome! What model bass cat is that? I don’t know much about the Suzuki stealth, but that is the best looking motor on the market right now.

After a long spree of both kids snagging the overhanging tree limbs, we finally managed to make a cast in the right spot. It was a special moment because this is my youngest’s first ever bass. It was caught on a sleeper lure—a 5” black and blue senko. We are also fishing a bit cleaner. I only got clubbed in the head once with a 1/8 oz ned jig and got a puncture through my rain gear. Compared to our last outing, I’d say we are heading in the right direction.😆

Glad you were able to get out and it wasn’t a wasted trip. My wife and I took off today to go to to a lake in WV. I did my homework on the flow of the upstream river for debris, the water level, weather, etc for days. But the wind advisory kept me from taking the trip this morning. I was told there were white caps by mid-morning and it was only going to get worse. I know it was the right call but the time both me and my wife can take off is limited. Ended up loading stuff in the camper and then getting lunch.

I use 2 group 31 lead acid batteries for my brushed ultrex. Per Minn Kota, it is not recommended to run above 8.5 on the trolling motor, so I don’t think I will ever get lithium for that reason. If I could, I would probably go with a LiTime battery. I have the 100 ah Bluetooth battery for electronics and it is really high quality.

My biggest mistake was not getting my boat soon enough. I don’t think you will have any regrets.

I have mojo bass, avid x, LTBs, and Legend X’s. The only rod that broke that I am not 100% sure was my fault was a 7’1 mh LTB. However, I think the issue was my hookset. I was caught way out of position and set the hook on fairly slackline with straight braid and a locked drag. Back then I fished tournaments from the back of the boat, so rods got banged up a little more than usual, even though I’m pretty careful with my gear. Maybe try a different rod in the lineup or try to evaluate if there is anything you are doing that might cause a breakage?

I use Gamakatsu for all my EWG and flipping hook needs. For circle hooks, drop shot, and Neko hooks I use all VMC/VMC redline. I started experimenting with the redline hooks last season.I have not made up my mind if they are worth it.

The most important thing to me is consistency, so I second the accu cull scale. I do not neccesarily care if my 4.90 bass reads as 4.80 lbs on the scale. But it needs to read 4.80 every time I weigh that same fish. The accu cull does that. I like the accu cull because it is very consistent, accurate, it’s simple to use, and compact. It also has a built in measuring tape that I have used once to measure a piece of drywall I needed to cut. So there’s that.

It’s not much, but a few small largemouth kept me from reporting in the multi species section again. Could only get them to bite finesse jigs. Here’s my 1st official 2026 bass:

Many lipless have a good wobble when you let them fall on a semi-slack line. Have you tried fishing it like a blade bait? I like doing that in cold water. I also have good luck popping them out of grass flats in the spring. Once water temps get above 55ish degrees I start leaning more towards lipped cranks.

@Jigfishn10 your guess is as good as mine. No idea how they work but I wish they would just stay working. After owning a boat and several trailers, I have realized that nothing is maintenance free and I’m starting to get worn out LOL.

Ah ok. I was just curious if the issue was a bad LED for sure. The reason I ask is that after two seasons, my starboard side brake light was out but would sometimes turn on very dim. I unplugged the light and plugged it into the port side and it worked fine. So then I went to the ground wire, scuffed the terminal, sprayed contact cleaner, and applied some dielectric grease. That fixed my issue.