I'm afraid my fish tails are around 20 years old as auto immune disease and the treatment there of damaged my spine. Had to sell ,my boat but Dr. said no more boats for me. My three boats in order of purchase are 17' Tuffy open fishing boat with a 50hp Mariner 2+2 was the ultimate fishing boat. It was fiberglass so very quiet and dropping 2 cylinders at low rpm gave wonderful control for hunting walleye.. But here in Wyoming the weather will make you buy a boat with a windshield. I fished the Wyoming Governer's cup with it and launched my boat about 4 miles from weigh in. It was into the wind , 35mph w/gust to 55mph. Every swell I went through it was like some hit me in the face with a 5 gal bucket full of water! It was brutal. after getting stuck in another big blow with a wife and 3 kids in the Tuffy I bought a 17.5" Smokercraft Fazer. Had a 115hp with Minnkota's for and aft. Gull wing hull is on a plane immediately. I fished 7 years in the Wyoming Walleye Circuit with this boat. The next to last year I fished tournaments, I told my (then) wife I would quit tournaments if I didn't win any money that year. The angling Gods kept me fishing. The second day of the last tournament, I landed a 13lb walleye. Barely landed. We were trolling using small cotton cordell walleye divers. The ran about 13' with the high tinsel strength line I was using. We got in the back of the cove we were fishing, and the lure was digging in the sand, the minute it came out of the sand she hit it hard!!! I thought it was a carp, it was running parallel to shore so I was horsing it like a rookie. I get gets near the boat and our eyes got big when we saw those eyes! I believe my partner netted it on the 1 or 2 second try, no small feat! Lucky he did as when we got her in the boat the hook pulled out of the lure!!!! Unbelievable!!! We went straight across the reservoir to the weigh in station, weighed her and released her. I have a picture somewhere. With our other fish we got 7th place money and big fish money. My name and fish were mentioned in the next seasons tournament brochure claiming it was the biggest walleye caught in any Midwestern (?) tournament that year. My third boat was the best boat I owned for rough weather. A 19' Sylvan Excursion w/150hp Mercury Optimax. I was shopping for a boat when I bought this one, I was thinking about upgrading My Kawasaki 800 Vulcan Classic. A friend of my was the mechanic there and came over and told me they are not going to sell boats anymore. I couldn't resist the $20,000 price tag for an almost $30,000 upgrade. The motor alone retailed for over $15000! A friend of mine pick up the next lower model for $18.600 , same hull with a basic Mercury 175 hp engine. My boat was quicker and maybe slightly faster at 50+mph. I got sick a couple of years after I bough this boat so it hardly touched the water. I did catch a (lb walleye jigging in a spot I had seen fish year ago on the trusty fishfinder. Once a spot , always a spot with water levels being similar. I was by myself tossing a jig and vertical jigging for a bit close to the boat , That fish hit the jig, tipped with a worm or minnow, shortly after it hit bottom and I started to twitch it home. I gave a holler when I boated it but nobody heard, I was the only boat on the water according to the boat ramp anyhow. I sold it for $14,400 10 years later. The guy brought it to the dealer as a wire in the loam was somehow damaged. He had sheepish look on his face after I gave him half the repair cost back, I doubt the motor had 20 hours on it. Truly, i hope he has enjoyed it. I bought it as much for my retirement , it was great boat, nose barely lifted getting on a plane. I miss being on the water, I felt at home there. Tight lines!
