1ST Quarter Checkup and New Boat.

[jdmidwest]

Coming home from the hospital, I started thinking about all of the things I was going to change.  Life is short, sometimes shorter than we realize. 

My 1ST quarter checkup was today and I am still cancer free.  All is well, I have healed up nicely.  Speech is good, arm strength has returned.  I am almost normal with the exception of a hairy tongue.

I have been fishing the past few years out of a 40 year old Tracker Pro 17.  She was a good boat, but I wanted more.  That trip home confirmed my conviction, a new boat set up the way I wanted it.  I wanted Aluminum with 2 livewells.  Power Trim.  Lower floor plan for rougher water.  Motorguide trolling motor. 

Search was on.  I looked at Ranger and Lowe, even a G3.  But I kept coming back to Tracker for some reason.  I found a nice 08 Tracker Crappie Pro 17.5 on Craigslist, barely used that met all of my requirements.  It has features that I could not find in current production unless I went with a deep V.   I fished her for the first time last week on Pickwick Lake and the Tennessee River and loved it.  The layout worked well for us.  Life is good.

[Ketchup]

Nice to hear the health is good. A new, or new to you boat usually helps us feel better.  Looks like a nice, fish able rig. 

[MOPanfisher]

Awesome JD, I am a couple weeks away from my 1 year checkup at KU.  Enjoy the heck out of the "new" boat, I am still trying to catch up after last summer of no fishing.

[LarrySTL]

Congrats most of all on the clean checkup, but also on getting a boat you really like as a present to yourself.

And after some more time passes, the checkups generally dont worry us as much ( I'm at 3 + years of them) and you'll still be using that boat !

[MOsmallies]

Great news on both fronts!

[jdmidwest]

The next one will include a CT scan looking for anything that may have popped up elsewhere.  Doc is still confident he has gotten it all with the surgery.

I really wanted to go brand new, but was watching Craigslist also.  I saved about 10k by buying it used.  This one was the same as new, only used a few times.  Trolling motor did not even look like it had been in the water.  He still had the paperwork where he bought it new in 08, that is about how much it depreciated.  I might buy a new camper with the money I saved.

I have made a few advancements on the boat.  Upgraded trailer lights to LED's.  Newer electronics.  New batteries.  New cover.  A little tweaking here and there. 

It will run 30 on plane with 2 in it and gear.  Fast enough for me.  It rides pretty smooth with the deeper V in front.  Barge wake was not much of an issue last weekend.

I feel more comfortable walking around in a boat with higher sides and lower deck.  With the grandson, its a plus too having taller sides and a buffer zone.  I have never been much of a high deck fan, especially on windy, wavy days.  I have fished out of many boats in my life, this one was pretty comfortable for both of us last weekend.  We spent the weekend casting docks, jigging bluffs, and trolling crankbaits.  All worked out fine.  Bass were fooling around pre spawn in the lake.  Most of the ones we caught were smaller males.  The river produced a nice creel of white bass that were ready to spawn.  And we did get some nice drum too to keep things interesting.  Not too bad since we were fishing after a big front and a cold snap.  Carharts were out on Fri.  We did not hit the water till 10 on Sat.

We did have some interesting traffic.  A little rocket hauler came by on its way to Cape Canaveral.   The Delta Mariner came up the main channel on the Tennessee River, I had to quit trolling and give her some room.  Mighty impressive boat on freshwater.  There are humans on the bank and houses behind her, its a big boat.

[Deadstream]

Did the Wikipedia search on the Delta Mariner, it is an interesting ship with a unique purpose. 

[jdmidwest]

Gotta love the net.  I saw it sail by and had to look it up too.  Seems like it is the one that took out a 300 ft span of bridge back in 2012.  Glad I backed off and give it room.

It was a light skimmer, it did not displace hardly any water.  The wakes off it were not much worse than a 14' jon boat.

Large pleasure boats on that area are the worst for wake.  Heavy laden barges are next.