Stoneyman

here you go: http://www.seaeagle.com/FoldCat.aspx

I'll second the motion for seaeagle boats. But, if I were in your shoes i'd save up & get this: http://www.seaeagle.com/FramelessPontoonBoats.aspx I did the kayak fishing thing and it got old fast. I've had my seaeagle pontoon boat for 2 years now and highly recommend it. You don't even need a motor it glides across the water with ease. And it's made for fishing and very rugged.

I often wonder why they don't have a world series for fishing, like say FLW vs Bassmaster Elite anglers. I just don't get how they have the fishing postseason setup. Same old boring story. They need to shake things up! Think it'll ever happen? Has there ever been talk about this kind of head to head match up?

I've done the float tube thing and had a blast. But since i got one of these: http://www.seaeagle.com/FramelessPontoonBoats.aspx Life is even better. I would just save up a bit more and get one. You can easliy add a used trolling motor later which is a bonus.

From the photos i've seen on "ESPN" they look bored outta there you know whats. I know I wouldn't want to go out for 8 hours watching someone else fish. And it seems "BASS" has there thinking kinda backwards making the marshals pay a $100.00 entry fee to watch over the pros shoulders? Seems they should be paying them $100.00 to be basses watchdogs. My predication? May last but one season. I think the co-anglers will be back next year.

what kinda of compressor? do you have a link?

TW=FTW, BPS & Cabelas have great stuff, but they could learn a thing or two from TW about customer service. Being a vet working overseas, i've had to actually plead with BPS & Cabelas to provide a USPS Priority mail check box on their online checkout process. In fact i've been asking about this for serveral years now, with no change. They just flat out refuse to make any changes. With TW its done automatically and i get my stuff in a couple of weeks vs 2 months with BPS or Cabelas who ship parcel post. > Kudos to *** for supporting us vets overseas!

I'm still here in Sasebo, where are you going to be stationed? lots of places to fish here although the fish are small here. There are big ones but very scarce around these parts.

Could be worse, you guys could work in Japan like me with no coverage at all. I got on espn.com to check out some video and a new webpage opens up and tells me I have to pay $4.99 a month for crappy coverage-lol! My wallet got scared and the credit card slid itself back inside ;D If bass wants my money and a new member they had better improve their coverage. >

I'm in the same boat Micro. I'm torn between the revo winch & the crazy cranker. I'd probably have bought the Curado E5 if they had a left hand model. BPS has a David Fritts bc reel also for only $89.00 but only in a right hand model No love for lefites:(

I had some ideas for seats before i got my SE9 underway. I mainly bought this boat to start doing some seabass fishing out in bay. After it's maidian voyage i would say if you intend to stick to fishing calm lakes & ponds there are serveral ways to mount seats. One of them is like Long mike has on his rear bench. another would be to buy some of these "release a seat mounts" http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_45026_200004009_200000000_200004000_200-4-9 with these seats: http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jsp?id=0022915016465a&navCount=4&podId=0022915&parentId=cat21334&masterpathid=&navAction=jump&cmCat=MainCatcat21276-cat21334&catalogCode=IH&rid=&parentType=index&indexId=cat21334&hasJS=true and mount em on the rear bench and the long board with this swivel. http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_16129_200004009_200000000_200004000_200-4-9 you could also just get a couple of these spider seat stands: http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jsp?_DARGS=/cabelas/en/common/catalog/item-link.jsp_A&_DAV=MainCatcat21276-cat21336&id=0028169016081a&navCount=2&podId=0028169&parentId=cat21336&masterpathid=&navAction=push&catalogCode=XH&rid=&parentType=index&indexId=cat21336&hasJS=true I found though if it starts getting choppy out in the bay it's best to not have any seats or plywood floor and just have some of those inflatable seats. hope this helps you out.

Wow! that is outstanding there long mike! now i really can't wait to get mine! i like your seat! i have the same pedstal, I'll have to give it a try. very nice!

No doubt pontoon boats are nice, i own two. Every type of watercraft has their pluses & minus. There are numorious reasons i went with a seaeagle SE9. One of them is i needed something with higher weight capacity and stablity for my family. two i can use this in the lakes and ocean bays i can also stand up in it and fish and not have to worry about pesky waders and fins. and last but not least it has minmal of fuss to setup. For $499. ($50. gets you the SE9) it's on pair with a quality pontoon boat. I looked at buying a jon boat first but over here in Japan they want almost $2000. for one. not to mention i would have had to buy a roof rack etc..etc.. bottom line get what works for you.

I would save up a little more and get this: http://www.tackletour.com/reviewse8.html i just ordered one, should have by next week I'll let you know how i like it

I was in the same boat as you a few months back. I purchased 2 shimano crucial rods for $139.00 each. They scream quality and they can't be beat at this price point. They come in different models to fit every type of bass fishing. You can find em here: http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jsp?_DARGS=/cabelas/en/common/catalog/item-link.jsp_A&_DAV=MainCatcat20166-cat20372&id=0030802119430a&navCount=1&podId=0030802&parentId=cat20372&masterpathid=&navAction=push&catalogCode=IH&rid=&parentType=index&indexId=cat20372&hasJS=true And a review here: http://www.tackletour.com/reviewshimanocrucial.html

i wound stick with proven brands like outcast and bucks bags, outdoor engineering. http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jsp?_DARGS=/cabelas/en/common/catalog/item-link.jsp_A&_DAV=MainCatcat21276-cat360011&id=0042492319534a&navCount=1&podId=0042492&parentId=cat360011&masterpathid=&navAction=push&catalogCode=IH&rid=&parentType=index&indexId=cat360011&hasJS=true the cool thing is most of them come with a trolling motor mount. to me having a trolling motor opens a whole new world of fishing. rowings ok but i'd rather spend the time fishing then getting a workout. basspro has a trolling motor for like $99.00 . Add a marine deepcycle battery and you got a nice lean mean stealthy fishing machine.

Wow! this good info as i live in Nagasaki prefecture. There's one lake i fish at in Saga Japan (Kitayama lake), and it explains why 3 weeks ago as i was taking a break from fishing, i was walking around the the shore line and saw some dead bass. I was confused as to why someone would leave their dead fish like that smelling up the joint. Here in Kyushu where i live, they will have a hell of time getting rid of the bass in the lakes and reservoir for a number of reasons. Most of the smaller reservoirs don't allow boats or fishing, so i would imagine there are huge amounts of bass in some of them. That one lake i fish at has so much pressure that it will be a long time before all the bass are gone. I can say for sure those bass are gonna keep slipping outta my hands back into the water.

Here yea go: http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jsp?_DARGS=/cabelas/en/common/catalog/item-link.jsp_A&_DAV=MainCatcat21276-cat360011&id=0036658318855a&navCount=1&podId=0036658&parentId=cat360011&masterpathid=&navAction=push&catalogCode=IH&rid=&parentType=index&indexId=cat360011&hasJS=true at that price you can get two and you'll be out on the water.

If i were buying the boat i would want to take it out on the water and see what works and what doesn't and suggest a fair price to your friend. As far as the engine goes, there are serveral factors in determining wheather the engine needs a full blown overhual or just a minor tuneup. The best thing to do is find out how many hours are on the engine then call the manufactuer to find out what they recemmend and what the cost would be. There should be a label with the model and serial number on the engine.