UpGrady

Rich, 20lb test should be fine. I spooled mine up with about 200' of 30lb ahead of 20lb. I am hoping to minimize fleas this summer if I need them after an upwelling. Once you get a big mono diver out beyond 160', it's a pain to release... too much belly in the line.

John, Where did you stay? My brother and his family plus my Mom live in Mt Pleasant, so we always frequent Sullivan's Island/Isle of Palms. He's getting his boat prepped for the Mahi and Wahoo which will be showing up in a few weeks... The Sea Bass on the reefs are great for the kids, plus you never know what you'll hook up... a few years ago, he was at the Charleston 60, so another 5+ miles or so out from the reef you were on, catching sea bass and drifting some live bait for a mackeral when a drift rod doubled over and 2 hours later he had about a 75lb bluefin he was trying to tail! Better yet... it was on a 9' ugly stick rigger rod and 47H and 20lb test! Glad you had a great time, it's an awesome place to visit!

Mark, Great ship and cruise experience for my wife and I last March as well. I want to go back to Kona and charter for at least 2 two full days at some point so we have a better chance... Didn't even raise a fish? Glad you're back and ready to hit the lake!

They create a lot of slop as they shift in the rod holder, I also ran into trouble with mine on my first boat in terms of locking in... I ended up drilling several holes thru the stainless flush mount tubes and putting bolts thru as security. They are a great idea for portability, but not real great in terms of execution. I would stay away.

Rich, You had too much time to think out in the sun last week! If there is a petition drawn up to submit our voices count me in on signing it... It's part of the deal when you build on one side of a bay or river... you may or may not be able to reach the otherside easily except by water... landlubbers just don't comprehend some things. Seems to me that Hot Dog row has made out just fine in spite of it... BTW- how many years have they all been in business? And didn't Bill Gray's even build a NEW facility there in spite of the bridge circumstance?

The 55 hp is a bit underpowered, but if the price is right go for it... you can always easily repower or service an outboard, just factor it into what you're willing to pay for the boat.

Kind of tough to followup that story, but I can somewhat relate... I'm sure that many of these posts will get pretty long as well... so here goes: Boat Name: UpGrady Home Port: I-Bay I began fishing the Big-O in the late 70's with my dad and moved up from a 21' Starcraft to a 22' Grady and finally to a 25' Grady in 1986 which remained the family boat until dad retired from Kodak and moved south in 1998. We began at Sodus and ended up at the Oak after 1989. I then was relegated to working charters with some friends at the Oak and got married in 2004. That summer my wife and I were driving down to Jersey to pickup our first boat together after introducing her to fishing in my 14' aluminum! We were going thru names for our new to us 17' Grady when she stumbled and said... it's such an "upgrade" from what we have, I'm so excited... the name stuck. Meanwhile, a good friend of mine had re-acquired my dad's old 25' Grady and brought it back to life out at the Oak. My dad passed away suddenly in 2005 and the next year my buddy was looking to move on from the Grady, so I re-acquired it from him. As my wife says... this is really an Upgrade now! The name has stuck for us, but the original "Fish Seeker" name continues to lives on in memory of my Dad and all of the great times we had on the Big-O with more to come every year for my family...

My brother ran a 20' Key West with a 150 Evinrude ETEC for a a few years, granted it was a 2003 Model year, but he was never able to get the engine dialed in to idle down very well, it did not like anything less than 1200 rpm... docking was interesting at times for him... they might have solved this problem by now, but if it's an older ETEC then be wary... On a side note, he was running side by side his buddy with a 20' Sea Fox Center Console with a 150 Yamaha 4 Stroke fishing 40 miles offshore from Charleston, trolling for 6 hours then running back in and they each burned right around 35 gallons of fuel if my memory serves me right.. regardless of the total number, the consumption was virtually identical.

Figured someone would post something this week, but I guess I will. The Big-O and Erie lost another good one last Friday as Captain John Visich of Release Charters at the Oak lost his battle with cancer. Think about him this Spring when that first board line goes "Twang".... RELEASE!!! Obit in the Akron Beacon Journal: http://www.legacy.com/ohio/Obituaries.a ... =103586632

YT, Spinelli's made these props around 1990 or so... they had a business back then that was for sure... went looking for them in the phone book this past Fall and did not know they were gone... hence the post here on the forum!

NK28's... Black/Gold Lazer Spook, Super Glow Green NBK, go to spoons all season on the riggers and divers.

Actually, I would rather target bows first, then kings... nothing better than a slider bite with a 10+lb bow exploding 5 feet out of the water in your prop wash!

Had to get a plug in for Big Jon's since they are not even metioned yet... you either love or hate the flex in the boom, but it is very forgiving to your cables and cannonballs in rough seas... I'm running a pair from the mid 80's still going strong, not a single problem with them... granted they are slow as heck by today's standards, but they owe me NOTHING by now until they die.

Mark, My wife and I did that cruise last March NCL Pride of America. We did not fish, but when we go back it will be Kona for a week to fish and check out Kilauea from a helicopter... the ship takes you right by the the lava flow at night leaving Hilo... it was pretty awesome watching the lava coming down the mountain into the ocean about 1/4 mile offshore... We watched the Humpbacks breeching both days right outside the harbor in Maui... Good luck if you do make it out... I would suggest Maui as the place rather than Kauai, seems as though the weather around Kauai is a bit unstable and more stormy...

Rich, Twins are nice... but 2x for everything! What hurts me even more is that I hopped into the boat this Fall, not realizing that the marina had taken the props off and had them stacked on the swim platform until one hit the concrete floor from 4 feet up... the other had a ding that was causing a bit of a vibration and of course it could not have been the one that was dinged already... it had to be the good one that hit the floor!

Lake Wallenpaupack! My dad grew up in Hawley, still have a bunch of relatives in the area as well mostly old now, haven't fished that lake in 25 years... how is it now?

FYI - I just dropped the props off at The Prop Shop tonight... to even work on a stainless prop prices start at $300 plus any welding... needless to say, I struggled to keep my jaw from hitting the ground! Fortunately, these are some bends with no welding required... WOW! That $600 would have been some awfully nice gas money this spring!

All right Chris, I have not heard the scuttlebutt yet, whose boat did you buy?

You have a GPS and a fish finder that are working, albeit we always want something better... they can be upgraded later... go for the deep speed and temp unit... cable angle and feel will get you in the ball park, but so many times out there, the currents mess you up badly, the deep speed unit will better your chances of catching fish in a multidirectional troll, plus temp allows you watch what's going on down there and understand if fish are coming in or out of temp, esp... on those blank screen days...

The 25's with single 260's were not only grossly underpowered, but were indeed ill-handling boats. The weight distribution left a lot to be desired, esp. in a following sea. The price of this Gulfstream is fair compared to what else is on the market and would be a steal on the ocean. For comparison sake, you won't touch a mid 80's 25 footer for less than $25k on the ocean and a late 90's 20 footer won't be found for less than $30k as well unless you are buying the hull only. Which emphasizes my other points, that it can be tough to justify a Grady based upon price comparison alone with other boats. Esp. with the number of "Similar" designs in the Freshwater market. Grady prices everywhere are held up due to the saltwater market, which is good for an owner and bad for a potential buyer.

Fitz, Wow... rare boat in this neck of the woods... does not look bad... repowered with a four stroke and a kicker. I would do some research on that Mariner engine though. The Gulfstream was a nice addition to the Grady lineup at the time. A 23 footer with a wider beam to bridge the gap between the 25 Sailfish and the 22 Seafarer or 24 Offshore with only 8' beams. You might sacrifice a little bit of comfort trolling due to the deep Vee hull on a Grady, but when you power up to run into 3-5' seas on the lake and bury the trim tabs full down, you'll be very happy as you watch the the waves push aside sipping on your beverage of choice. You're paying for a name, but you're also paying for the construction. There's a reason that there are so many Grady's on the ocean. They can handle being beaten and run hard in the saltwater environment. This statement is not to downplay any other great boats being built and run day in and day out on this lake, but the Grady reputation was built on the ocean under daily conditions that we can only imagine up here. My personal opinion is that if I were running 30 plus miles out into the ocean, I'd rather have a Grady hull than any other small boat hull under me. Does that translate into necessary on the Big-O, probably not... so that's what gives Grady a bad rap up here for being overpriced and built for this freshwater market. I'd check into it more with a surveyor and make certain that it did not see salt water in a previous life...

'87 was about the first year for the 23' Gulf Stream and I believe that they intoduced the Grady Drive bracket with the Gulf Stream, so the outboard should have the ability to lift completely out of the water to reduce corrosion on the lower unit. I am imagining that this is a saltwater boat, since I have seen very few in freshwater. Obviously, a 20 year old saltwater boat is likely going to have a significant amount of corrosion underneath which is unavoidable. Chances are alll wiring should be replaced if it has not been done in the past 5 years, I would be skeptical. The biggest concern about this boat will be the fuel tank. Grady tanks are aluminum, but saltwater will get the best of them within 15 years or sooner depending upon the bilge water and you will not see it from the top, so unless the tank has been replaced within the past 5 years as well, then this will be a likely replacement as well as all of the fuel lines to and from the tank. I would also be concerned about the Mariner outboard, this is an old outboard and a single 250 on that gulfstream is underpowered, nevermind the age of the engine. I'm not certain I would trust it and it certainly will have issues idling down to trolling speeds in the lake. I'm sure that others will have some praises for Mariner's, but in my experience, these outboards were not the best for reliability. My brother is running an '88 Sailfish down in SC which he purchased used from NC and had to go thru all of this stuff. I am running an '86 Sailfish on the Big-O which has only been in freshwater. So the fuel tank is not a concern, but fuel lines are as well as wiring even in freshwater due to age. Use extreme caution with this boat and ask a lot of questions about the preventative maintenance described above and by Borderline.

What do we all expect in a state that continues to elect tax and spend Democrats that only care about downstate matters... nevermind re-electing a comptroller that had already swindled money, but we the NY State people decide to give him a second chance... we're always going to be fighting a losing battle in this state to justify this fishery to the government. I applaude the individuals, organizations and some of our upstate legislators who have gone to bat with our downstate foes for years now, but it's pretty tiring for me to see the same old song and dance for the past 25 years... remember when the thruway tolls were only to pay for the building of the thruway? Even if license fees were raised to bolster the stocking efforts, the money would eventually find it's way back downstate to fund some pet project in NYC anyway... OK... I'm done venting now too and I can't imagine how frustrated others that are actually working this issue must feel.

Thanks guys!

Anyone know where to go to have a few slight dings tweaked out of some Stainless props? Preferably Rochester to Sodus area... Thanks!