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My Triton TR-19 PDC is my
Tournament Quality Bass Boat |
My
tournament-quality fishing boat is a 2001
Triton TR-19 PDC. This
is a dual-console boat equipped with a
Mercury 175 horsepower outboard
engine wit h electronic fuel injection (EFI). Under the right
conditions, I can reach speeds close to 70 MPH, which is more than
fast enough for me! The trailer has a drop tongue that allows me
to store the boat in our garage, while my leased Infiniti QX4 sits in
the driveway. I paid $21,500 for the boat pre-owned in
December 2002. New, the same boat goes for about $30k.
As far as electronics and other
accessories are concerned, here's a short list so you can get a sense
of what I use:
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Console Finder/GPS:
Lowrance X15
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Bow Finder:
Garmin 240
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Trolling Motor:
Minn Kota Maxxum with 74 lbs thrust, foot controlled (replaced the
MotorGuide Tour Edition trolling motor due to intermittent power
outages...
What I like about it
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Fast
and stable at high speeds and turns
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Comfortable and attractive ( I like white boats)
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Trailers well
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Lots
of well organized storage
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I
love the glove compartment, it's so handy!
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Relatively easy to launch and re-trailer with one person
What I don't Like So Far
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Boat
requires careful driving at top speed to maintain stability
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Most
of the storage compartments leak a bit, and need to be aired out
after a rainy trip
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I use my Tracker Pro Team 165 for
limited horsepower Bassin' |
My
"limited horsepower" bass boat is a
Tracker Pro Team 165, equipped
with a Mercury/Tracker 9.9 Hp engine. This boat has a single
console, electric start, and a bracket for a GPS receiver on the dash.
The trolling motor is a stock MotorGuide 41 lb thrust motor, which
moves this 17' aluminum boat along quite well. This boat is
extremely easy to launch and re-trailer with one person, and achieves
speeds of about 12 mph with one person aboard. The boat also has
a livewell, lockable rod storage, and storage room for tackle under
the seat, and in the bow.
I have upgraded the stock
Humminbird finders with Garmin 240 LCD graphs, and installed an
improved trolling motor bracket for more stability.
What I Like About It
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Easy to maneuver, launch, and re-trailer (You can drive the boat
onto the trailer to save time and effort)
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Gets
me onto restricted HP lakes in style...
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Comfortable for a "small water" boat
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"No
Fear" fishing: I will put this boat into depths and places I
would never put my Triton
What I don't Like So Far
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Slow!
Especially with 2 people on it. Definitely not a tournament
boat
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Finish tends to get dull and black very easily requiring lots of
regular elbow grease
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Not
enough lockable storage
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Falcon Rods are rapidly becoming
my standard, especially the Expert line. I really like the 6'10"
Heavy action pichin' rod. It's great!
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I use Denny Brauer's 7' 6" Pitchin' and Flippin' rod by Team Daiwa
for most of my jig and soft plastic fishing in heavy cover.
For these highly effective tactics, this rod can't be beat! |
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Rods
I primarily use
Falcon's Expert and
Cara
series rods in the following sizes and weights:
6 foot medium action
(Spinnerbaits and crankbaits for short casts)
6 1/2 foot medium heavy action
(Worms, Senkos, small jigs, spinnerbaits and crankbaits in grass)
6 1/2 foot medium action (large
to medium sized cranks and spinnerbaits)
6 foot, 10 inch Pitching Rod
(Excellent) in heavy action, with a great, sensitive tip (pitchin'
jigs, soft plastics in heavy cover)
For flippin' and pitchin' jigs
and soft plastic in heavy cover, I use
Denny
Brauer's telescopic 7 foot, 6 inch flippin' and pitchin' rod by Team
Daiwa. This is a great rod, and I highly recommend it.
It gives you enough sensitivity to feel subtle strikes on jigs and
soft plastics, but enough rod to horse he big ones out of heavy cover.
This is a really professional tool at a great price.
Other Rods
I own other rods from Fenwick,
G Loomis, and Quantum in some of the sizes indicated above. I do
use a 7 foot medium action rods from Quantum's PT series for making
long casts with crankbaits, spinnerbaits, and lipless crankbaits.
A word of warning to those who
want the sensitivity that comes with buying a G. Loomis Rod: I
have owned many of them, and many have broken under conditions my
other rods have experienced with flying colors. Let's just say
that if you are not likely to treat your rods delicately, choose a
brand other than G. Loomis. 'Nuff said... |
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I have several
of these Chronarch Bantams, and they're a great all around reel -
even in the non Super-Free spool model |
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The Chronarch
Super Free is probably going to become my standard reel.
Great castability, smooth as hell... |
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This reel is a
"reel" treat...but at $300 bucks a pop, a true
luxury...nevertheless, I love this reel for Senko fishing |
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The Cadillac
of the Shimano line, these Calais reels are so smooth they are
actually hard to cast well with all baits. I have 3 or 4 of
these, and I tend to use them with crank and spinnerbaits -
anything with some weight to them. Otherwise, the Calais can
send you into backlash hell...but OH - so smooth and comfortable! |
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A good number
of my reels are Japanese made Chronarchs, otherwise known as the
Scorpion Metanium XT. Same reel as the Chronarch SF...The
Japanese are very picky about their gear, so I'm completely
comfortable buy pre-owned reels on E-bay. |
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I have one of
these Daiwa TD-Z 103 reels, and I really love the light weight and
smooth action this reel provides. It's expensive though,
$350 per unit - I got my for a few bucks less brand new on E-Bay.
In my book, better than the Calais for the money |
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I have several
of these Quantum Energy 600 PT reels. I originally planned
to standardize on these, but found that I preferred the quality
and feel of the Chronarch line a bit more. And, since you
can buy nearly new Chronarch SF's for between $150 and $200 on
E-Bay, it was a no-brainer. |
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Reels
I am trying to standardize on a
single reel, but I have yet to make a final decision.
The closest I have come to
standardizing is the fact that about 60% of my reels are by Shimano,
and most are of the Chronarch brand. I have Bantams, Chronarch
SF's and Chronarch MG SF's. A good number of my Chronarch reels
are pre-owned Japanese versions that I bought on E-Bay. You can
get really good quality Japanese Chronarch SF's on E-Bay for about
$150.00 - they are called Shimano Scorpion Metanium XP's. I have
yet to detect a significant difference between the US made reels and
the Japanese made reels, except that a good number of the reel handles
are of the shorter variety, which makes for a different feel when
retrieving lures and fighting fish. Either way, you can
change them if you don't like them. I also have a number of
Shimano Calais reels, as well as the Japanese version: Scorpion
Antares.
Most of my reels are 6:3:1
ratio reels, except for a few of my Quantums which are 5:1 ratios.
I use these for Crankbait and Spinnerbait fishing when I need a slow,
steady retrieve, or when I need more leverage in fighting and playing
fish in certain situations. You have a bit more control over the
fight with a lower gear ratio reel, but you can't take line up as
fast. So, if you are planning on fishing worms, jigs, or other
baits that require you to pick up slack quickly, I'd suggest a high
speed reel of at least 6:3:1.
I also have a couple of reels
from Daiwa, specifically the X and Y reel. The Y reel is
amazingly light and smooth, while the X reel is really quite average.
If I could fill my boat with the Daiwa X reel, I would do it,
but at $350 a pop, it's not bloody likely that I would do so any time
soon. Nevertheless, I like the one I have.
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