Zeeter

I'm trying to teach my teenage son fishing etiquette. We may join a club next year as he'll be 18 and I don't want him doing things he should't be doing. First thing he needs to learn is not to think he has a fish on every other cast. I hear him all the time going "ugh!" like he just had a bite. If he caught every fish he thought he had a bite on he'd be in the bassmaster classic every year. While maybe not bad etiquette, it certainly can be annoying (not to me because he's my son, but to someone he doesn't know). More important though, is fishing another angler's fish. For example, on Sunday I had a pretty good bite on a worm. Missed the fish and in the two seconds it took me to readjust the worm on the hook he had cast into that spot. To me, that is bad etiquette. I found the fish. If he had been a rider in someone else's boat during a tournament that would be unacceptable, and certainly during the vote-in the matter would be brought up. What are everyone's thoughts on that?

Yes, I have two plans in place. One is to increase the size of the gate. Currently it is juuuust big enough to get through but with a shed and tree nearby it makes maneuvering difficult. Second is to pave a section of my back yard. Once I do that it should be easier to use the dolly. I tried the dolly last weekend and once I got it moving it was manageable. Not something I want to do indefinitely, though. Thinking of maybe putting some plywood down for the time being. Cheap stuff. Won't look too good, but it won't be there too long. Plus I can pick it up after each use so it's not an eyesore.

I've been looking at some trailer dollies lately. My fence is just barely wide enough to get the trailer through, and there is a shed less than the trailer length right behind the fence. Moving the shed is not an option. So it takes a lot of effort to get the boat into the yard and I've already scratched up the wheel wells a bit. I am thinking of a trailer dolly. This will give me more control bringing it in, plus I won't have to account for both the trailer and my truck when getting it around the tight turns. It is a grassy section of the yard, but is level. I hope to pave this section after a while, but not this year. Does anyone user a trailer dolly? If so, what do you think? What do you recommend? While I'd love a mechanical one, the manual ones are much cheaper.

Tournament fishing as a rider when the boat owner front ends you. I always put the rider in a good position to fish so that he's not always fishing the bank where I just fished. Can't always help it but I'll go out of way to keep them on fresh water. Wish I could say the same of others.

I have a cover for it. Looking up how to remove fence posts, now. I think they're anchored with concrete.

Yes - all three reservoirs are electric only and the boats cannot be used in any other water as they fear zebra muscles. The rental there is only around $35 with two batteries, so I don't mind paying that. There's good fishing there! I took in quite a few 3 or 4 pounders, but haven't caught the big one, yet. Without a boat I've been unable to fish the larger waters like Deep Creek and the Susquehanna. I also want to take it up to the Adirondacks and Finger Lakes. Maybe even the Great Lakes on a calm day. 17' is about the minimum I would take on a great lake and it would need to be a pristine day.

Lund 1700 Angler SS. 130 hp with a 9.9 kicker. Set up for water skiing, too! 80# thrust motor. Even has a AM/FM Cassette (which I doubt I'll ever use). I have some problems with the gate of my back yard. It is JUUUUST barely wide enough to get the boat in. Unfortunately I need to take it in at an angle due to the proximity of my back neighbor's lawn across the alley. This gives me about 1" to spare against a huge tree.

I was thinking of someplace above the Conowingo Dam. BTW, I got the Lund you pointed me to today. Looks like I need to extend my fence gate as it was all I could do to get it in my yard.

I'm in Maryland and am wondering where the best place to launch is. This will be my first time launching this particular boat and so I am looking for someplace safe and not too busy as I don't want to hold anyone up while encountering any mishaps with my launch. Looking at quite a few places along the Susquehanna but definitely want to avoid Northeast as that's pretty busy.

I'm not saying not to buy it as I haven't seen it. However, in 2003 I bought a 1987 Ranger 363V from a local seller as my first boat. Here is what happened: Batteries that he swore were in perfect condition didn't charge. Charger he sent with it didn't work. (Got a brand new, 3-bank charger from the manufacturer for around $40 on a $300 item. I think this was Dual Pro and they had fantastic customer service!) Foot controller popped off on an electric-only lake. My father in law had to hold it down while I got us back to the dock. Windy day, too. All electronics failed within three months. Cockpit controls, fish finders, etc... Trailer tire came off while driving. Turns out the seller had the wrong size tires on it (am I going to verify the tires before buying a boat/trailer? No.). This resulted in a two hour drive home using only 3 lug nuts on the spare as the studs on the one that came off were all bent. Plus I'm lucky I didn't kill any other drivers with the tire rolling down the street uncontrolled at 50 mph. Boat was not registered properly. Now this was partially my fault as I didn't know to follow through as he'd lost the title and gave me POA to get a new one. Engine would only start after 20 minutes of haggling with it. Took forever to get up on a plane. Neither livewell worked after the electronics went out. He didn't tell me the boat had a plug...which is really my own dumb fault and was quite embarrassing at the boat ramp when it started sinking. There were a number of other, minor issues with the boat that aren't worth mentioning. So the thing had a bad electrical system, however it was a first boat and I had no idea how to fix this stuff. It was trial and error. Especially with the electric, which I never actually fixed. If I was to give advice to a first time buyer I would say to buy as new as possible as there is likely less that will be wrong with it. Buy from a dealer and not a local. A dealer, while maybe not perfect, does have a reputation to uphold. Check the little things like maintenance records.

I think most of us here on this site are sport fishermen. Therefore we are inclined to catch a fish, maybe take a picture, and then throw it back. Some people look at it differently. They catch a fish and say, "dinner!" I've fished tournaments and when we'd walk back to the water to release the fish people would keep asking us for them. It got kind of annoying, actually, and of course being a tournament we had to say no. People who fish for species that actually taste good are more likely to keep their fish. Pike, pickerel, salmon, walleye (though I've never had one), catfish, and trout are good eating. They're also generally a lot harder to catch than bass. Let's face it: our favored species is relatively easy to catch (at most of our skill levels) and so keeping our limit would devastate our nearby lakes and ponds. Therefore we, as a fishing community, have a more or less unwritten rule that we only rarely keep a fish and even then it should be at or just above the size limit but no larger. Big bass make other big bass.

It does have some rod holders in it. Just bought a towing receiver and hitch; I'm thinking my 6 cylinder Colorado should be able to tow it. I like the idea of the kicker engine, but at the same time I wonder if it might be better to store it unless I'm sure I'll need it. That's an awful lot of weight to add on there for something I may not use that often. Without it I think the 80# thrust could really fly!

I looked at this today. Great boat! Lots of extras. I think I'm going to pull the trigger on it.

I'm really thinking about that Lund now. Going to try to get there today if I can. I just talked with the guy and they say they've serviced it ever since the owner bought it and it's in great shape. It's 14" longer than the Fish Hawk and the 130 is just about the max engine for it, compared to the 60 on the other one. Little things that I like are that both fish finders still have their plastic covers, which I probably would have lost the first trip out. Electronics have recently been re-done and the trolling motor is newer. It's 2K more than the Fish Hawk, but between the added footage and the motors I think this is a better buy.

That's a nice looking boat and I might look into it. Found out the rod locker on the 2011 I was looking at is only 6'6", which doesn't bode well for my 7'3" rods. The only issue with this one is that it's a 2002 and I was hoping for something newer. I dealt with a 16 year old boat a few years back and it was more headache than fun. Last time I deal with a private seller. Dealers are sharks, but at least they still have to maintain their reputation and will try to make amends.

So one of the dealers called. They have a 2011 Crestliner Fish Hawk 1600. 50hp, bimini top (not that a top is a factor), 55 thrust wireless trolling motor, so presumably I could use the trolling motor if I'm in my kitchen. It's a nice looking boat from the stock pictures. He's going to send me some pictures of the actual boat and I will post them here. I'd like a bigger engine; at least a 60. Yet what I'm looking at is the higher quality of Crestliner over Tracker but maybe below Lund, and the lower payments. Like...a LOT lower. Yes, but right now my sites are set on the Fish Hawk in my latest post.

I think we're on the same page here. Sure, Tracker may be the best selling, but as Chevy beats Mercedes in sales, that doesn't make Chevy a better vehicle. My point was that if comparing a Chevy with a comparable Mercedes, if I spent the same amount of money on the Chevy I could get a lot more features. So more for my money. Doesn't make it a better car; just has more cupholders or...whatever.

What I mean by that is dollar for dollar, I think you get more with the tracker because it appears that they use cheaper materials. Using comparable boats and disregarding price you're probably right.

Fishnkamp, I'm now looking at the Lund boats. They do seem to have a better reputation as far as multi-species boats. And I am looking at 17'ers. The price is about $4K more for the Lund vs the Tracker on the 17 footers, but the beam is wider - not by much but it means more square footage. I think with Lund I won't get as much for my money. Yet what struck me when I was checking out the Tracker was that I stepped on the rear fishing platform and it almost felt like the storage compartment was going to cave in. The plywood didn't seem strong enough, which seems like an odd area to cut costs. I mean, how much is another few mm of plywood? Obvious resolution is to not step on it that, but then what's the point of having a storage compartment in the floor?

I'm comparing to Lund boats now, but I don't know of any dealers in the area. The closest one is up by Philadelphia, which is quite a haul for me. Hopefully they at least have places to have it serviced down here.

Bringing this up again because it's decision time. I have until Saturday to pull the plug (pun intended) on the Tracker. Any reason why I wouldn't get a Tracker boat? I read some reviews of them, however they sell a lot of boats and usually you're only going to hear the negative feedback. Some people are quite happy with them. A minor problem here or there but nothing major.

Really wish the fish would follow the rules. It would make life a lot easier.

Since I usually go with a slow retrieve, anyway, if I get a bump or any sign of interest I immediately throw something different into that same spot. In small water I might follow up a crankbait with a jig. In big water I might follow up a crankbait with a spinner, or vice-versa. Thought is that if they weren't interested enough to take the bait the first time they probably won't be interested a second time, but if I give them something else they may seem more interested.

On Saturday I broke my 12 year old G. Loomis IMX rod. I was coming forward with a cast and it just snapped at the 3rd eye. It did feel a bit heavy for a few casts before that, as I was only casting a 3/8 spinner. The medium rod should have easily been able to handle that, but it felt like I had 3/4 oz on there. Anyway, it snapped and there I was using St. Croix for the rest of the day (the struggle is real!). Anyway, knowing that the warranty was well out of date I was shopping for maybe an Avid or Mojo today as a replacement because I didn't want to spend another $300 for a new IMX when I just bought one a few weeks ago. Yet I learned from G. Loomis that they have an Xpedite program. I tell them the rod, they send me a brand new rod for $100, I send back my old, broken rod in the same package, and I'm all set. So basically, I replaced a 12 year old, broken G. Loomis IMX rod with a brand new G. Loomis IMX rod for $100. Not bad. I think St. Croix's warranty is a little better, but this is still a pretty good deal.

While the Great Lakes would be nice, I don't want to get something so big I can't take it out on the smaller lakes.