vernon

I'd still WAY rather be there than here!

Whew! Had me goin' there!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Aw, I've done it and caught fish doing it but just don't find it appealing. There's lots of different ways to make money too but some of those jobs never sounded like how I wanted to spend my day.

That's part of the problem - if we ain't moving around and expending energy then we just fall asleep!

Yup. There's fishing and then there's "spoon fishing". To which I usually say, "Fore!"

You got that right! I did the same deal on the Ultrex after buying my boat in March but I'd bet most anything that you won't regret the cost of the upgrade. I got $900 for my Fortrex so that assuaged the pain a little bit. As for the electronics, they'll change another ten times before I'll figure out how to utilize the Lowrance's I've got now so I'm not looking to change anything in that regard. All the new technology stuff has just blown way past my old dude level of comprehension. I had my previous Ranger for 12 years and it was the first time that I'd kept one more than five. It was just a really, really good boat. Nonetheless, I personally was amazed at the level of improvement from my old 520 to the new Z521. Hope your experience has been similar!

C'mon, $20000 is chump change! Heck, that's not even a decent down payment on a new Ranger! Just kidding. I'd love to live on the lake but my choice of lifestyle (boats, tackle and golf clubs) would make it pretty difficult for me to keep up with the "maintenance" expenses. Everybody has their cross to bear I guess but I try not to complain too awfully much about what certainly qualify as First World problems!

I gotta tell you, out fishing me won't get you much of a pedestal! I'm with you on the care aspect though. I like to keep 'em perfect to the point that I've been known to wipe 'em down while I'm on the water! (Yet another reason why out fishing me is a non major achievement!)

And I'd bet that you're much better at it than am I. Nonetheless, (and I can only speak for myself) there's way more to my love of boats than just catching fish.

What he said. All those '79's, '87's, '91's and whatever else that guys are bragging about were ridiculously overpriced when they were new too. Or at least that's what everybody said back then and people bought plenty of them. And I remember cause my first new one was in '75 and I'm on number 12 now and have never regretted a dime spent on a single one. I'm sure that there's a bunch of stuff that those folks buy that I would think is nuts too. Guys bought 'em then and guys will buy 'em now and for how ever many more years they keep makin' 'em. Plus, I'd bet there ain't two guys in the world that are gonna have to borrow 100K to pay for theirs. For most of my 64 years I've believed that an "investment" in what makes one happy is the most sound investment of them all.

Yep. The $98,995 is the Limited Edition of which they only made 150. Don't know if it's true but some are saying that all of the LE's were sold within an hour of their release. Now I really AM disappointed since I didn't "save" 30K after all! Man. Even when I'm right I'm wrong.

Don't bet on it. There will be a "special" exemption provided for those babies and their boat cribs. Kinda like health care - WE ain't using that crap but it'll be GREAT for you losers!

A Lowrance HDS 16" in the console and a 12" at the bow. As a "Ranger Guy" for 40 years I can't believe it but I don't much like the looks of it. To me, the seats, consoles and hull graphics are trending towards Nitro and, even though lots of folks predicted it, I honestly never thought that would happen. Not slamming on Nitro - I just always liked the way Ranger seemed (to me anyways) to exhibit a somewhat unique style and look. Not that it's a disappointment exactly - I dumped my life savings on my 2017 Z521 so it's not like I was in the market anyways. AND, being the wily financial wizard that I am, now I can say that I "saved" thirty grand in the process!

If you think for one second that I'm going to open that link..................

Aw, let her have her fun. You'll only benefit in the long run, right? OK, probably not but keep a good thought anyway. Believe me, I'm not a comfort at any cost guy - I still have a few shreds of dignity left (OK, very few......) but IF anybody made fun of these babies I'd be "comfortable" telling them that they don't know what they're missing. Could NEVER do that with Crocs, with or without socks!

OMG. You say "football" and all I can think is shorter days and winter!

Well, I'm 64 so anything that I put on my feet officially become "old man" shoes the second they're secure! As far as the looks go, if you watched any of Hank Parker's shows this past season you just about had to see him wearing a pair of blue ones and I bet nobody even noticed. I've been wearing mine everywhere I go for the past four months and not a single person has so much as even commented on them so they must not be too weird looking. And believe me, the guys I hang out with would not hesitate to hurt my feelings if provided the opportunity!

Dang, I can't remember the last pair of shoes that I bought that were under $100 - I thought that these were pretty cheap!

While I don't have much need for wading shoes/boots I gotta say that I bought a pair of the more "normal" Soft Science shoes (Fin 2.0) earlier this year and they are by FAR the lightest and most comfortable shoe that I have ever owned. They dry in the blink of an eye when wet as the proprietary insole doesn't absorb water. I originally got them for fishing but ended up with another pair of the Fin 2.0 and a pair of the canvas model and they are the only thing that I wear now. My brother now has three pair also and a couple of other friends immediately jumped on the train after slipping ours on. If these guys ever start making golf shoes my entire footwear collection will be Soft Science! They currently have a 20% off sale for 4th of July and also offer a thirty day money back guarantee. Recently saw that Hank Parker and Jimmy Houston are endorsing them.

That's currently being done in several areas although last I heard it wasn't going all that well and was becoming somewhat unpopular. I don't think boats were involved in the deal though........

Sandbagging a little?

Figures.............. Surprised you said "rubber" though.

Hmmm. The fish are getting noticeably bigger but she's getting equally noticeably smaller! Probably just my imagination............

Thinking "thrifty" as always!