List your off season upgrades

[iceman16]

not that big i got a 617 99 with a 04 70 hp. its a tiller. going to get it next weekend!

iceman

[Esox_Magnum]

If I'm not mistaken first year of the 617. Should be a good ride for you

[iceman16]

for the city fishing i do for muskies and always fishing solo its perfect. and getting on bigger water its good to. i have been trying to figure out what kind of rod holders i wanna get and then the mud flaps that go the whole width of my pickup so i dont chip the pretty paint ha ha ha ha

iceman

[yaggie]

Just ordered Big John downriggers. Expect to do a few trips to Duluth this year.

[delmuts]

Ice! Your new ride is nine years newer than my 680C!! Should be a great ride! The only place i have any rock chipping is on the front of the trailer fenders. Looking into have a bedliner type suff sprayed on that area.

[Esox_Magnum]

Del your boat has to be about the best looking 1990 boat out there unless someone has on under a cover somplace thats never been used. Mines a 91 and been pulled and used a ton and othe than a few scratches from being pulled up on beaches by a former owner no rock chips.. Now the sides of mine are another story but just cosmetics and add character.

[IlliniWalli]

i put an HSO sticker on the back of my 2010 alumacraft. :-)

did my rigging last year.

[2thepointsetters]

1. Honda 15 h.p. kicker motor

2. Garmin TR-1 gold auto-pilot for the kicker

3. through hull transducer for the the lowrance

5. traxstech tripple tree's

6. Baffles for the live well

7. anti-foul bottom paint

[delmuts]

"Del your boat has to be about the best looking 1990 boat out there unless someone has on under a cover somplace thats never been used. " Thanks! I try to keep her looking good!

[Northlander]

i will be adding whitecap splashguards to my boat in a few weeks and I cannot wait to get out and backtroll some leadcore!

Backtroll your leadcore? Why would you back troll your leadcore?

[TruthWalleyes]

He may need to backtroll to achieve the speed he is looking for...bout the only reason i could think....

I've got a list of things to modify on my boat, but i still have 8" of snow in the boat from a late november snow! That turned to ice in a week, and i haven't even been able to get my rods out

[jwmiller33]

Backtroll your leadcore? Why would you back troll your leadcore?

my big motor doesnt troll down slow enough in forward gear unless im going against current or wind so i typically backtroll when i do any type of trolling with the big motor. i do troll forward with the electric, sometimes backtroll depending on the conditions and the speed at which i need to be trolling. the direction i troll obviously doesnt affect my fish catching

this was caught backtrolling leadcore

when i use my step dads 19 ft Champion walleye boat, all the trolling is down forwards i suppose the 101lb minnkota with ipilot and the 9.9hp kicker help a little bit.

There's nothing like the feel of backtrolling a tiller imo

[Fish Head]

NICE FISH!!

[TruthWalleyes]

There's nothing like the feel of backtrolling a tiller imo

You mean the feeling of water splashing you in the face

I hear ya, I backtroll when the conditions require it...but prefer putting my bow mount trolling motor running against my big motor to slow down my boat...but i don't have splash guards either

[Alagnak]

Just wondering, but why doesn't anyone throw out a drift sock or a 5 gallon bucket off a rear cleat to slow your forward troll down?

[jwmiller33]

i'd rather not have to deal with a big drift sock right in the path of where im reeling in fish. i'd imagine it would get in the way and i just dont want to deal with the hassle of it. im sure you could make it work but i would much rather backtroll. i dont know what you guys have against backtrolling.... you must have consoles and not tillers, its really not a hassle or anything, its just the direction your going.

[Down Deep]

Drift socks have a place when fishing big waters like LOW or Rainy and the wind is pushing big well spaced rollers that make backtrolling all but impossible even with wackers. I didn't like dodging the line on my sock so I started tying it on a cleat about 3 foot off the bow and use my stern trolling motor to help keep the boat parallel to the waves. The person in the bow can fish right off the point of the bow or move to the center of the The boat rides over the waves slow enough to keep a jig on the bottom with minimal line out. This technique works well and keeps me on the water in tough conditions.

[BPBOB]

Something I did last year was ordering a front -side spare tire mount for my Ranger boat trailer. I had noticed some of the newer model boats had that system for carrying the spare.The spare tire is held flat on the mount and completely out of the way. I got the "under mount" cut off(got some black Rubberized paint to repair the cut-off spots) and bolted on the new one-it looked a little weird to me at first,but it works great and I can step on the tire as a help when loading/unloading the boat.

No more issues with the spare holder scraping at some landings.

I ordered it through Ranger-somewhere around $200.

[hanson]

I'd rather not have to deal with a big drift sock right in the path of where im reeling in fish. i'd imagine it would get in the way and i just dont want to deal with the hassle of it.

Best solution I've come across for slowing you down is a pair of trolling bags run under the boat. Under the boat, they are out of the way. There's a company called Amish Outfitters from the Lake Erie area that makes some awesome bags, these are heavier than drift socks and made for trolling. Can't remember if I have a pair of 15 inchers or 18 inchers. You tie them to a rope that you run from one front cleat to the other front cleat. Just walk the rig around the bow when you are deploying it and tie it off to the other side. You have a lot more boat control with the pair of bags under the boat vs one bigger drift sock under the boat. I'm planning to get another pair of larger ones to slow me down another notch when I need it, any slower than that I can use the bowmount. I have a 16' with a 60 hp so the 60hp has never been able to get under 2mph without help, now I can really slow it down.

[Kyhl]

Resurrecting this thread.

I changed my trolling motor plans. Now have a 70PD I-Pilot on order. You guys talked me into it.

Picked up some Fish-On trolling rod holders on sale at FF.

[TurnUpTheFishing]

Main upgrade was my first boat. 95 Bass Tracker pro 17. Nothing too fancy or flashy but I think it will be an excellent starter boat.

Also bought myself a 798ci SI unit and upgrading the trolling motor to a minnkota.

spring cant come soon enough. Ill probably be out there trolling around just looking at my SI unit within a week of ice out.

[goose89]

10 1/2 ft S.C. Wild River rod for trolling / bottom bouncing, Fenwick Elite Tech Bottom Bouncer rod 2 Limit Creek lead core rods (long ones), a Limit Creek Shorty,couple more Sealine 27s, one 17, Avid 6'9" XF, Pleuger Arbor, Avid 6'2" XF baitcaster, Diawa Megaforce.

I sure hope the state lets me use two rods soon. I've been getting ready the last couple years, and now I'm ready even if my brother, father and nephew come along. Oh yeah, two more Off-shore boards with tattle tails.

Also gonna "trade" in the 998 'bird and get an 1198 Ethernet connected to my 858 up front.

Sidenote - The double bag trolling set-up Hanson mentioned is one of the best boat control systems I've used. I can't imagine trying to keep a constant speed while backtrolling leadcore on Mille Lacs of Devils Lake on even a breezy, not to mention a windy day. I am interested in the night time leadcore pattern though.