Susky River Rat

Rocky could also describe it

@ol'crickety I appreciate the way you believe in me

Terrible

I haven’t been here long. I do know how hobby’s change I raced motocross for 10 years. Slowly got burnt out but, a back injury was what ultimately got me out of it. I just walked right away from it. I was getting back into fishing at that time too. I musky fished for awhile once I got back into fishing. Probably about 6 years. Die hard all I did 40 hours or more a week. Pretty much accomplished everything around here musky wise. In a terrible area for them. Got burnt out. Now here I am bass fishing. I hope/ want to be doing this a long time. Even though my 2 cents is minor compared to the knowledge here by some. The biggest difference is this is fun for me. Everything else was a grind or chasing adrenaline. Now I get excited for the simple fact I’m going fishing. I read how some posted on here how the same questions get asked just by different people. Honestly, that’s what a forum is. If we didn’t get these questions as redundant as some may be this community wouldn’t be here. As people come and go new views and input get put into answering these same old questions. To also put things into perspective if you are 40 years old and did something for 10 years that’s a 1/4 of your life and roughly half your adult life at that point.

@gimruis he is serious

Miliken made a video how pretty much the top guys before FFS are the top guys after it and now much has changed. There is only a select few that couldn’t keep up with the change or started blowing people away with it. I think the true shallow water experts will shine without the use of FFS. I think we will soon come to a point where people rely to much on it and won’t abandon it for their instincts

Here’s another thing I would look at. How much are to realistically going to use this boat in the next 5 years? Are you serious about tournament fishing? Where do you want to fish? Many things to consider as much as the price. A tracker may serve you amazing. I fish completely different now than when I bought my tracker and why i wanted a different boat.

There is a woman who guides on the susky. Mainly for catfish I think. I don’t know if she had a YouTube and I can’t remember her guide outfit service. She had a really nice rig. Trait zaldain was a professional fisherwoman. She does the podcast with her husband. There was also a musky guide I think out of cave run that was female. I think it was Lady Luck guides or something.

How familiar are you with these bodies of water? I’m willing to bet you’ll be fishing against other anglers who already know some or most bodies of water since many repeat themselves. You’ll have to fish ways you don’t want to fish sometimes. You mentioned covering water. This is a very double edged sword and I recommend against it especially in a kayak . Time management is key. You want to spend as much time target fish with your line in the water not chasing where they could be. If you are covering water there needs to be a system to it. Find fish and stick on them is your best bet. google maps, Navonics, and fishing reports are great tools to help you find areas but this will never replace being on the water. I’ve looked at some very promising areas doing this and they have been busts. If you can get out and pre fish them do it.

What is basic vs bare bones? I loved my tracker. Great boat for the money. My g3 I feel is built better Yamaha outboards are more expensive to start with than a merc. the short answer is yes to your answer. Other boats may do things better or look better. The tracker will do everything good with slightly less quality.

@TnRiver46 it not a matter of finding one thing interesting. It’s what’s there what are the other conditions with current, pinch point, etc. there is some spots I won’t touch when it’s low. Some spots I won’t touch when it’s high. With river a lot of this stuff is timing. Sometimes I wish I’d keep a log like I did when I musky fished all the time.

@TnRiver46 I don’t target specific fish. I use it for depth and to find areas underneath the water that would hold fish. I have trolled for musky and fished off bait balls using sonar. Bass it’s more for just finding structure/cover

I fish a shallow river and still use. I feel lost without it.

@TJ there is 6 boat dealerships within 20 minutes of each other. One being a bass pro. I ordered my 24 in July. I was suppose to get it around Labor Day and didn’t get it till Halloween. They only got their last 23 in sept. That dealership could have experienced the same. Got their last of the 23s two months before the 24s. I’d be willing to bet as a tracker dealer he has to purchase a set number of boats under the tracker marine umbrella. You also figure the different motor configurations, colors, lengths, ranger has Al and fiberglass, tracker/ grizzly tracker. It’s not a lot of boats. My boat came rigged with the motor from factory. I do not know if they do the same. If they have x amount of tracker 170s with 25HP but you want a 50 you may not be able to get it from him. Just an example of what could happen if tracker does the same.

I was talking to the boat shop I purchased mine from. He said you’re going to see it stall out and not crash. He also told me the demographic that is generally buying new boats is 50 plus white males. Outside of that is very slim. They rarely see someone in their 20 or 30s purchase a brand new boat. He said you did see a slight uptick during covid with younger people buying boats. The boat demand is still high in this area. You aren’t going to walk in and out with a boat. Most times you are going to have to order one unless you’d go to a place like BPS.

@MIbassyaker yes sir. No different than trading a quarterback or firing a GM. That investment company doesn’t give a hoot who ike is or what he’s done.

@12poundbass half of fame inductee I believe he also went through the opens to get back into the elite series.

Tank is a great looking dog! It’s also great to see how active you are with your dogs. I know you have years of experience with them and it shows how you understand these working/sled/herding dogs. I sadly see in my neighborhood people think simply using their backyard as a baby sitter is how you get a dogs energy out. Sure these dogs are great ahtletes and they need physical activity but they also thrive off mental stimulation. Our trainer who helped us was very big on mental stimulation. We do nose work with him where we hide small bits of treats around the yard or house and say “find it” he loves that. People say I am to strict with my dog at times. I tell them no training is a game that creates a bond. Him sitting, staying, leaving it, walking “center” is all a game to him where he will be rewarded.

I used to do it with musky when I was bondy jigging them. Haven’t really done it for bass that much since I mainly fish rivers.

This is basically ice fishing. You use a flasher (now live scope) to keep your bait at a certain level and see if fish are engaging. The key is keeping your presentation as horizontal as you can. Now it’s just applied to Open water and FFS. I actually had this conversation with a coworker. I would never ice fish without a flasher. His response was you hate FFS but you won’t fish without a flasher? Then it hit me. I am basically doing the same thing without the detail. Just vertically.

@TnRiver46 I don’t know if this is good or bad on many levels haha

26v 410ws 92% argon 8% C02 ER70s6 .045

Gotta catch fish to have fish stories. I was musky fishing with my dad. I hooked up with one got her into the boat. 45 plus pre spawn fish. My dad misses netting the fish and it wasn’t that the fish was thrashing or anything. He goes to scope it to early again catches the dussa hooks on the side of the net. By this point I’m freaking out. We flip the net and net it inside out. In the bag! Start to get my release tools my dad lowers the brim of the net. I’m like whoa dad look what you’re doing the fish is over the brim of the nethe tries lifting it but over half the fish is over now. The hook that was hooked into the net breaks and off goes a really good musky. I through my rod and freaked for about 15 minutes. After that not a word was spoken for the next 8 hours.

@Big Hands I know it’s easier said than done. I’d move. That’s just mind blowing to me.

@Big Hands that’s insane.