Krux5506

Nice boat. The first fish on a new boat is a pretty cool feeling.

Personally I'd be more leery of a Tracker boat than Mercury outboard. When I was in the market for my boat about 5 years ago (ended up with a Lund) I really thought I was going to go the Tracker route but just read and heard too many horror stories. To be fair though, you'll get that with any major maker. I just decided to spend a little more for a Lund.

are you fishing from a boat or from the bank?

Only thing I like it for is leaders, as in braid to fluoro leaders. I rigged up a couple different reels with straight fluoro and had awful results, granted I was using "cheap" stuff but I'm really just not willing to drop ridiculous money on the "good" stuff. Cheap fluoro works fine for me as leaders.

Glad I'm not the only one. When I'm underway in rough waters it's not too big of a deal. When I stop, try to fish, get bounced around, stare at my electronics, and try to tie knots in those same waves is when I start turning green. Never actually lost it out there but I know my limits.

I was back and forth with the idea for a while putting them on my boat, and I ended up buying one Talon instead. Figured it was an easier setup and power poles and I got the 12' model. Also figured by doing it one at a time rather than buying two, I could see if I even actually needed two. In my opinion, I only need one unless I'm fishing in 20+ mph wind trying to stay on rocky bottom. I would consider it a huge plus for a boat to have either talons or power poles. Now my question though is how much more effective are they than a trolling motor with spot lock if at all?

I run an 80lb Fortrex on my boat with speeds 10-100. #10 is the slowest, and I'm pretty sure it doesn't even move my boat.

Thrust is relative to speed. I never felt efficient at all in my boat until I got into a 24v TM. I had a 46# Motorguide and couldn't stand it. If you can make it work, definitely get the biggest you can afford in 24 volt.

I will start out in the wind blown area until I get too annoyed, but really depends on how the fishing is. If I'm catching, obviously I keep at it. If it's uneventful, I'll just head to calmer areas where even if it's equally uneventful I'm at least focusing more on fishing vs boat maneuvering in the wind. By the way, a 17 ft Lund doesn't bode too well with wind, I feel like a cork out there sometimes. Talons help, but still...

Never been in a pedal yak but one question i have is how do you deal with shallow, weedy water? Much of the water I'm kayak fishing is smaller ponds and stuff. I was out once this year and there was an older guy with a new kayak out doing a whole lot of fussing around, and as I was pulling mine outta the water he started complaining to me about all the weeds getting hung up in his pedals.

Well as predicted the seller totally bailed on the deal. I've never dealt with a worse deal maker than this kid. Anyway, keeping more options open now though I really am just drawn to the Predator. In the off chance anyone on this board has one they want to sell that are within a couple hours of Rochester, let me know!

First off just get used to that sweet brand new boat. It's gonna be a bit distracting to try and actually fish out of it the very first time you're out. I would just drive around, get a feel for the boat and trolling motor and spend a whole lot of time looking at the sonar.

I have the Rebel XL Sport 1725 and even though it's a 1ft difference, the 16 when I see it seems noticeably smaller/more cramped. Even with mine I'm only fishing lake Ontario on the smooth water days, but that's more so from me not wanting to deal with bouncing around rather than the boat not being able to handle it. Still though, for the great lakes a 20' + would be nice.

Sounds like you're just burned out on the boat. I get the same feeling sometimes except I just keep mine on a hoist all season at my family's cottage. If I'm burned out, I simply just don't go out or go down there. If I didn't have that convenience/luxury I'd probably be in the same position as you. If you can sell the boat without having any remorse, go for it.

Yeah it's brutal. I throw mine on a Mojo Bass 7'9 heavy swimbait rod. I don't know if I hate the A-rig or just that rod, but either way I have nothing to show for the times I did spend time (or mostly energy) throwing one.

I'm far from being any expert on electronics but I have a Garmin Striker 7dv on the bow of my Lund and I like it. Super easy to use, in my opinion. My plan is to update my old little Lowrance console unit to the Striker 9SV at some point. Seems to me like you get the most bang for your buck with Garmin, and they just seem like the underdog in this market.

Pretty sure last time I spent a couple hours chucking an A-rig I woke up the next day feeling like my back was tweaked out. It's definitely a work out.

I would justify having both. Sometimes fishing smaller water out of a kayak is just way more fun than dealing with a boat on bigger water. Sometimes the fishing is also way better on smaller waters via kayak or so I have found this year during the dog days of summer when my home port bass fishing becomes practically dead. At this point, I am really glad to have both.

Ned rig or drop shot in Lake Ontario in anywhere from 6ft to 30ft. This time of year is when I see big smallies in both shallow and deep water out there. Usually I will choose to go shallow because I love sight fishing structure with long casts + finesse baits.

20lb power pro to 8 lb FC leader, usually 6 or 7 feet for me. I use their normal dark green braid but next time I spool I'm going to try hi vis just for the heck of it.

'16 Silverado 2500hd Duramax.

My Fortex 80# has been good for the past 4 or so years but if it were to crap the bed this year it wouldn't really break my heart. Not that I want to drop the $$$ on a new TM but I regret not getting one with spotlock....Probably would've made more sense and been cheaper than the Talon I put on.

Can't help but think when a seller is far less than eager to make cash and get back to a buyer (but still read the buyer's messages) then the deal is likely to fall through. Pretty frustrating but if i have to suck it up and spend a few hundred more on a brand new one then so be it...Or wait for another used one to pop up for sale.

Predator layout is pretty appealing to me, but the weight is definitely a con. I believe it's 86 lbs without the seat. I'm capable of moving it and luckily just transport in the back of my truck vs on a roof top rack. I've never stood and fished from a kayak since I'm not nimble enough to do that on my Eagle Talon though I don't know if anyone really is. Everyone says its very easy to do with the Pred 13. Unfortunately the only people I know who kayak fish are my own friends who either have cheap yaks or use my spare ultra cheap, not-meant-for-fishing Pelican. In other words, I've never fished out of a good quality kayak.

Good to know. Like you, I'm not a huge fan of electronics but I like having the basics. I have the Striker 7 on the bow and want to upgrade the console sometime to the striker 9 SV and link together.