WeeHooker

I've had an ultimate 12 for near 10 years as part of my fleet. Here is my two cents based on my experience. Three problems with fishing rough water in these boats. First the sides of the bow and stern are high so they get pushed around by wind and waves. Second the sides arn't high enough amidships . If your going to take on water, this is likely where it will roll in. ( There is a guy on You tube that shows this pretty well. Just search "Ultimate 12 Where not to take") Lastly, IF it does take on water, you'll get in trouble fast unless you have flotation bags installed. Bottom line: While I'm comfortable using the Ultimate in estuaries in decent weather, I would not consider it a good rough water boat at all.

I like the idea of nylon with a flat deck. The pictures are horable though. Any chance of a better shot of the basket with the "shooters" in place?

Generally speaking, I don't look to match the hatch with Bluefish. I like bright flies fished fast to trigger reactive strikes. I've had good luck with bright colored simple streamers tied on the back 1/3rd of a long shank (34011 or longer) hook. I use synthetic hair and epoxy the head similar to Jim H's top picture . This creats a pretty effective and tough fly. I also usually fish them behind a simple 7-8" single strand wire leader. For these, I use tabaco colored rigging wire of about 16-20# test. On one end of the wire, I have a twisted loop. On the buisness end, I have a snap hanging off a twisted loop. The snap makes it a quick deal to change mangled flies.

Been there -Done that. Based on my experience I will tell you that there is a danger in setting the precident where people expect to be entertained by a presenter/presentation every meeting. Once you go through the list of worthwhile local guru's , it gets more expensive and harder to fill the slots with each month. My advice is to only have a couple of well spaced presentations each season, Combine that with an "ask the round table "session or two and some fly tying /swap nights and you'll get more people who are willing to participate vs wanting to be entertained . Some on water fishing meetings ( lone or jointly with other clubs) are good to show how to fish particular spots in various seasons too. p.s. Be careful of judgeing your success based on attendance numbers only. IMHO, a dozen truely interested but regular members are better than 50 who will only show up to see the ghost of Lefty Kreh. :-)

I've been running a Striker 4 on my Lure 11.5 for a couple of years now. IMHO, that is one of the best inexpensive sonar/GPS combo's made. I've got larger and more expensive combo's on my power boats but the little Striker is everything I need on a yak. Good clear resolution (even in bright sun), Simple and intuitive operation and /spot marking, not plauged with a bunch of uselessly anoying features and alarms,.. Sips juice too. I can run mine for days on a gang of 10 AA batteries. I'm sure it will serve you well for many years to come!

Nice! If l wern't so far out for me, I'd likely join and give you a hand.. Back in the early 90's when I got started, I joined a like minded club known as the "Rhody Fly Rodders". ( You can figure out where RFR is located :-) The guys there were great and the experience they held was immeasurable. There was no better way to learn the ropes ( and a few choice spots!) . I likely owe my lifetime addiction to SW flyfishing to those who patiently and selflessly mentored me there. Some became lifelong friends. In fact a few years in, I gave back by becoming presedent for 5 or so years. Bottom Line: It's allot of work if you want to do it right. There are news letters, meeting planning, fishing meeting planning, entertainment arrangements........... Getting reliable help is key. You'll get members that want a feast ( of services) set on the table and a handful that are willing to help set that table. In the end, it's all worthwhile though! p.s. Take Capt Castafly's advice ( in earlier post) and talk to other Clubs. They can save you ALLOT of chaseing your tail. Tight lines!

When I considered a small LPG outboard some 7-8 years ago, the researched actual consumption rates were something like a 20# bottle /5-6hours. I'm doubting that got a whole lot better. That gets expensive, inconvienient fast . Additionally, you can't just top off your fuel tank ( or even be sure how much you have in the tank without weighing it.) . I ended up sticking with gas. For about the same $ (maybe $200 more) you can buy a brand new Tohatsu built 5-6 hp 4 stroke from online dealers. The gas outboard is cheap and easy to feed. Better yet, find a used one. FWIW, I have a pair of 90's vintage Tohatsu built (Mercury and Nissan) 2strokes that start 1 or two pulls even after sitting for weeks/months. They will run all day on a gallon of fuel. My 2015 Tohatsu 4 stroke starts the same and is even stingier on gas. I use a 3 gal tank about every 6-7 trips. If you feed them a little Seafoam with every fill-up they start/run as reliable as a hammer even after 6=8 months of storage.

I've only fished it early season so my experience may/may not be representitive. We always found fishing to be pretty good..... until it wasn't . When it "wasn't", it was usually weather dependant. I can tell you there are NO shortage of healthy fish. We would target Largemouth, Smallmouth and Pike but would always get a significant bicatch of rock bass and chubs. Great place for a fly rod!

The basket I used is perforated I can change the tension and or fit of the basket by moving the hooks on the bungee to a different location. I can also just pull the basket up or around quickly. It's not a perfect solution but it works for me. Of course my basket is smaller and lighter than many. Personal choice.

I like a 24" bungee for my home made basket. The kind with the plastic hooks work best.

Some people scorn them but there have been days when they were the only fish taking my flies. :-)

I used to go up to Middle Saranac regularly in the spring to pike fish. (There are some NICE fish in there.) It's a pretty cool place in April when it's not snowing or the bugs arn't carrying you away :-) . Anyway here is my 2 cents. Yes there is only the one " official" access for put in's in Lower Saranac. Parking is limited but we never had a problem finding someplace to stuff the truck and trailer. If you look at a map, there are a couple of camp sites that are not more than 500 yds from Route 3. We had one member of our group park along the route for a couple of days and walk in. I've herd (but not done) that the feeder stream that crosses rt 3 can be paddled to the lake as well but it looked tight to me even in the spring when the water was up. . Middle Saranac is cool in that it is remote. There realy is limited access and very few people who bother to go up there. Not allot of camp sites and they are spread maybe 1/4 mile apart. It will take you a good hour and half to paddle from the put upstream to Middle saranac. More if it's windy and or your loaded down. There is a self operated Lock system you'll need to go through to get into middle saranac. Very cool in itself! The problem with middle saranac is that it is remote! You need to pack in EVERYTHING you need for your stay there. That means water (or water filter) , food, clothes, gear , TP, fuel, beer, steaks, lobsters.........etc. Full disclosure, we used to load up a 16' power boat and load it up like a container ship with provisions and just tow in canoes. ) If you can borrow a tin boat with an outboard, you might consider dong the same. If your going to paddle in your likely going to have to leave some of the nicities home (or at least in the truck) If you need to replenish anything, it's going to be a good 1/2 day shot paddling to the put in, getting the truck and drivign to the next town to shop and then reversing the process. (The shortcut to rt 3 saved us a few times.) A note of Fishing/ Boating. So personally I like Lower Saranac better. The campsites are a closer and it see's more boats/people but there are allot more islands , coves and structure to fish (and hide behind when the wind rips down the lake.) It's also an hour closer to the car :-) In any case, your going to have a great experience that you will remember for years!

Just to be clear, I don't need selling on the company. I think they make good boats that are well thought out.. I had an 08' Ultimate 12 that served me well (as part of my small fleet) for 10 years. It was my go to boat for allot of my calm water light tackle/ fly fishing. I reciently sold that Ultimate 12 to a friend and immediatly had sellers remorse. Sure my FeelFree Lure 11.5 is a luxury machine for bass bugging but it weighs 100# rigged. As I get older, there are days when I just don't feel like lugging it around. The Ultimate hull is near 1/2 that . It was never my choice for open water striper fishing but a very good boat for getting into small places without a ramp ( including a striper rich estuaries. ) Anyway, I noted the above anomalies when I was researching replacing the Ultimate with something light weight . Turns out I found a new leftover 2017 FX12 at 30+% off right down the road. I really liked the upgrades/ changes to the FX over my older basic Ultimate so decided to undo my mistake.. Got the front hatch coming ( at 50% off). Trying to find a few other storage related accessories now but they are largely out of stock. In any case, I plan to have a happy 10 year relationship with this one too.

I've been seeing more than a few brand new 2-3 year old Native Watercraft yaks on the net for sale from kayak shops. I'm also seeing less of them being stocked at yak dealers around my area. Lastly, I'm seeing the "out of stock/ Not available" notice on a growing number of their accessories when I look online. Is something going on with the company that I've missed?

I used to carry every color under the rainbow. Now, generally speaking, I my go to colors (in order) are: Red Shad/Leach ! Brown Shad ( especially after a good rain)! Black Green Pumpkin Blue Shad That said, I believe size, and stule has just as much effect as color on many days. Sometimes a 7 1/2 ribbon tail is the key. other days a 4" ringworm is what's needed.