Chas0218

Gave them a call, man they are still a pricey boat, 40k for the 202 Offshore and 46k-47k for the 222 Offshore. Anyone interested in buying a kidney? A place over on the west coast has them not sure if it is worth the $1500 to drive over to the west coast to pick one up. On the west coast shipping would run me about $2k so for that $500 might be worth having it shipped.

Yeah I'll have to give them a call, there are only a few on the whole east coast that sell them.

The gunnels seem to be thick and geared towards big water fishing like with riggers and masts they offer berts tackle packages but I think I would go a different route for myself. Seems like the old islander with a twist, I like having a cuddy on my current boat but with the bench seats they offer there will be plenty of room for gear and my kids to sleep on the bench.

I'm jumping ship! So I have been a long time fiberglass boat guy but I have got hooked on those plate aluminum boats. I love the look of the Hewescraft, Kingfisher, and North river but holy price tag, the middle class working man wouldn't be able to afford that with school loan payments 2 kids a mortgage and yada yada yada. Well I have been researching and I think I have found my next boat. I believe they are brand new to the Smoker Craft lineup called the North angler Phantom series. They are a similar to those west coast boats but with a little more manageable price tag. Granted they aren't 100% welded aluminum but they will definitely fill the niche. They offer 3 lengths 2 of which are their "Offshore" model. I am seriously considering the 222 Offshore model in 24'11" the smaller offshore model is the 202 at 22'6" either way both those boats would be solid Lake O boats. The only thing I can find that isn't welded on the boats is the floor and possibly the gunnel area. It looks like it has 2 different canvas options with a bimini or rigid structure wrapped with canvas. All around good looking boat, just waiting to see what the price tag is. I have saw out west they are selling for around 30K if that is the case I could definitely justify that to the wife vs the before mentioned.

The RV anti-freeze does freeze but does not expand that is why they use it in RV lines, traps, tanks, ect. Now if you had some water mixed with it yes it will freeze and expand cracking whatever is holding it. I would highly recommend staying away from the pink stuff for use while winterizing a boat and if you need to put any anti freeze in use the 50/50 glycol mix and run it on muffs before dropping in the water to keep pollutants out of the lake. Not only that the glycol mix is a rust inhibitor compared to the RV anti freeze.

Do not buy a Savage with the accu-junk trigger they are everything a trigger isn't supposed to be. They are usually long pulls and not really that smooth. Ruger American are a little nicer than the Savage 116 but the Ruger american use cast parts instead of machined (cuts the cost of production down). I wouldn't go buying a gun with an odd caliber if you don't reload or plan on shooting the gun often. The weatherby and short magnum calibers are pricey to shoot although they are all very flat shooting. If you are planning on hunting NY only I wouldn't see need in a gun to shoot out past 300 yards. The biggest knock on Tikka is the recoil lug which they fixed with the newer t3x and the 2 lug bolt. I think the 2 lug bolt is what really makes this gun accurate because the 3rd lug if not machined correctly can hold the case crooked within the chamber causing bullets to contact the lands of the barrel differently forcing the gun to try and stabilize the bullet more. If it comes out straight it will shoot straight. My father in law has a TC Venture and seems to shoot nice I didn't have anything to complain about but nothing to really brag about the trigger was ok not overly long a little heavy but nothing unbearable.

I think it is called bloody death. Definitely outproduced most other spoons on our boat. Purple black with white glow and purple ladder. Caught a lot of nice steelhead and king on it.

Not much of a difference really only the recoil lug being steel instead of aluminum. The bolt shroud is now metal with the t3x, and a nicer recoil pad. I have a T3 in .270 win. and it is a tack driver. Impressive gun at a good price.

No replacment for displacement in this case hull displacement. If you are primarily fishing big water I would be getting something close to 20'. Not saying 20' is big enough but my 23' fiberglass has taken a beating and has had me out in some big waves, I think the biggest were 10'-12' rollers and 8' white caps. Either way I got back to port safely but not dry.