FleetTracker

my new Daiwa Seagate 60's shipped out yesterday... should have them early next week! Any one else receive theirs yet?

Haha thanks guys. I feel like I won the lottery. I see Tony at GLP has a sale going on... ordered up some triple trees and a hardtop rocket launcher spread today. Anyone know anything about Harbor's End Marina in Henderson? Any experience there? Costs? etc... their website doesn't list a whole lot. Thanks!

Hey Brian - you are correct... the salesman (Scott) mentioned a guy from PA who came down to buy a boat and saw the Penn Yan and mentioned their popularity up here. Exact story he told... pretty cool how that works out! I should be thanking you for giving him the tip! Very excited about the deal... except the wife is dead set on "Why do we need 2 boats?" haha... I got her some jewelry from Christmas so hopefully those comments go away soon. She actually is pretty excited to have a bigger boat now that she has seen it... she'll feel better about going out on the big water.

Hi Bazookajoe - haha that would have been crazy cramped! I just ran two of the new Cannon Mag STX-10's... a little deceiving from the picture I suppose... both rod holders are mounted on each rigger for when I would stack lines.

Hi lineman49 - agreed, salt water use scared me a bit but I was thankful to see the complete closed system on the 5.7L. No more salt for her... back up to Lake O where she belongs!

Hi All - I thought I'd share my story of the new Boat Purchase over the weekend. I bought a brand new Tracker V-175 last year and fish out of Henderson. Had a great first season fishing Lake O and pushed the boat to it's limits on many days. I like the smaller boat... easily trailerable and very efficient to maintain and fish out of. But I wanted a bigger boat that was a bit safer for the water up there. So I found a 1990 Penn Yan 245 Contender far far from home down in Virginia (Chesapeake Bay). It was taken in on a trade for a brand new CC 23' Tidewater. It was apparent that the dealer really wanted to get rid of it, as it's not really a popular boat style in the area. I talked to the salesman for a few weeks showing some interest, but not too much interest. After a few weeks and no inquiries on the boat but from myself, they were ready to deal. They were initially asking $4k for the boat. Through some negotiations and the fact that they knew very little about the boat, I got them down to $1k. Unbelievable right? At this price I made it known that I'm taking all the risk of potential stringer work, engine work, and some other TLC, not to mention a long haul from NY to come down and pick it up. At this price... I was ready to take on any winter project work that was needed. With the warm weather window this past weekend, I had to get my ducks in a row and quickly line up everything I needed to get the Boat up here. I left the house at 2am Saturday morning. I purchased a brand new 2013 Venture 5925lb Aluminum Bunk Trailer, got the mag wheels, extra set of guide bunks, disc brakes on both axles, and upgraded tongue jack. Got the trailer in Hanover, PA for $2850 cash. Cheapest I could find anywhere. Left the trailer place at 7am to head down to get the boat. Made it to the dealer at noon (crazy traffic around DC). Finally laid eyes on the boat and wow... the thing has never been rigged... no holes anywhere along the gunwales. Absolutely great condition for its age, and nothing a little elbow grease and tlc couldn't fix. I drilled some 1/8" holes in a few places in the stringers... SOLID! Wow... great news... (gotta fiberglass them up now). The dealer never ran the engine... they said the batteries were dead... I found it hard to believe... I cracked both battery tubs open and they looked brand new to me. I then saw the big battery switch on the transom wall and it was in the "off" position (not 1, 2, or both batteries). They never looked for the main disconnect switch. I kept that info to myself and said OK... looked at the rest of the boat and quickly whipped out 10 hundred dollar bills. Did some paperwork, got the boat on the new trailer, and headed outta there by 2pm. It was a long haul back with a lot of traffic along the way, but the boat hauled like a dream. No sway - perfectly leveled with maybe 150-200lb of tongue weight which is perfect for the aluminum trailer (I could barely lift it off the ground). Got home at 1am.... almost a 24hr day. Boy was I tired. Put the boat in the garage, unhooked, and went to bed. Woke up at 11am yesterday and just had to get out there and do some cleaning. Iron Out wash and some pressure washing... wow she's looking good already - very clean. Turned that main battery switch to "both" batteries... The ol' 5.7 Merc fired right up... purs at idle... sounds great and runs the same... no audible knocks or sign of a weak engine. Bonus with the closed loop system too. I found the hour meter in the cabin... 645hrs... not too bad. I couldn't believe it and still can't today. Merry Christmas to me! Now I gotta get all the bells and whistles and rig this thing up good. Kicker motor, tracks, rod holders, rocket launcher, triple trees, new riggers, new electronics, radio, etc... Got plenty of winter left to get her done right and ready for Browns in April. Now I gotta find a slip up North for this rig. Feels good to bring back the Penny where it belongs! I'm gonna keep my Tracker... I can't part with it and she'll come in handy when I don't necessarily need to go out in the big boat. Penn Yan Pics:

Ok good thanks for the confidence booster Gambler!!

Can't get copper through SPRO swivel twice. Please help and share helpful tips on how this can be done. About to throw remote across living room thanks!

Pretty random lot... It's possible someone is interested in the divers alone but what are the odds they need an elite 5 transducer? Probably best selling separate.

Hi Bazooka, I have a mast already and want the option of running both coppers on the big boards if I wanted to, or on the TX-44 Church boards. Or running just a single chute copper. I'm building up two 500's so that when my buddy is up with his boat, he can use one also. That said, is it not advised to run say 1 copper fully deployed with all 500' on one big board, and the other only partially deployed at ~350'? Does it damage the copper line at the release point? What's your thoughts there. Thanks!

Thank you everyone, for taking the time to point me to all of these excellent resources. I now feel a lot more confident going into this then I did a few days ago. Another prime example of how helpful the LOU can be.

All great points finsntins, Thanks! What kind of knot was used on the copper side of the swivel? Some variant of a haywire twist? I was planning on using the shrink tube over all of my swivel and knot connections, and also using it to mark the copper at 100' intervals. I think I've already addressed the rod holder issue. I worked with Tony at Great Lakes Planers to develop this custom seat base pedestal copper chute rod holder with a light on the top (See pics). It turned out pretty good and is very sturdy. Now I can light up my spread when the sun goes down!

Hi Nemesis - Yes, I realize that. That's why I started off the sentence by referring to "Salmon Slapper". He has since fully edited his post to reflect something entirely different than he initially posted... possibly why the dialogue looked confusing to you. Daiwa has been working to address and incorporate all field test feedback and results... I wouldn't classify a prototype field test unit as crap until the company has the opportunity to address any design or functionality flaws in a public release of the product. Guys - I would appreciate some feedback in the area of my inquiry.

Salmon Slapper - the reels aren't even released by Daiwa yet... They told me mid-December a few weeks ago. If you took the time to read my post, I clearly said I was building up two 500' set-ups.