Replacing my 12' Smokercraft. The Smokercraft Lodge looks interesting. Anyone fishing out of a Lodge?

Share your experiences!

Steve
Redmond

Hi Steve,
I have had a 15 ft model since last feb. I bought the boat after looking for about a year. It fits my needs of being large enough for the sound & large lakes, light enough to tow easily on extended camping/fishing adventures. So far, I have very happy with it. I am 6'5" 300#'s and with two buddies & myself & all the necessary gear, the boat handles well & is still stable to have 2 people stand side by side.The boat was purchased used down in Oregon.It came with a30hp 4stroke mercury, tiller model,top speed with myself & gear is about 26mph, 3 people fully loaded is 22mph, If I change pitch I am told it could do low 30's. It did come with a happy troller but I took it off because when trolling by myself the bow was affected by the wind & was more difficult to steer,put on a hydrofoil to help get on plane faster but lost the slower troll speed(.5mph to .8mph now) .The boat also came with binimi top ,side & bow curtains which makes it nice to be dry & sheltered except when sitting at rear seat.I put on 2 scotty electric downriggers, gps, lowrance fish finder,plan to put in stereo/speakers by spring.The boat also has plenty of dry storage for all the necessary gear such safety equipment , tools, spare prop,emergency gear, life vests/cushions.anchor/chain/rope,raingear/extra clothing
Gas effiency is about 7mpg @ WOT & with 6 1/2 gal. tank safe range of 40+ miles @ WOT
at trolling speed (1-3 mph) I average about 18-20 hours run time on a tank, this is a guesstimate because I always fill up before going out.
I have taken the boat out to Point Defiance-Talequah-Point Robinson-Ollala , Elliot Bay-Alki-West Point, Lake Washington , Lake Chelan , Banks Lake,Potholes Res. ,Columbia River other smaller lakes & Texada Island-Powell River-Strait of Georgia BC. Did a lot of shrimping up in BC & having a anchor roller helped pulling up the pots, plan to get one of those electric haulers that mount to the downrigger base before going back up to Texada Island. I am not sure what else to say or what exactly you would like to know , but any ?'s give me a pm.
Mike

Here's a linkto see a pic of my boat.
http://tinypic.com/view/?pic=iw3eyc

Here's another view.
http://tinypic.com/view/?pic=iw3r6t

I like the bimini top - gives me ideas for my boat.

Heres a view from the back with the full top on & you can see somewhat how the downriggers are mounted
http://tinypic.com/iy30y1.jpg

The exact same spot that my riggers are mounted on my 15 ft Klamath...