MTPanda

Very good info. Lots of my buddies always said go as big as you can afford the first time and really get what you want. Saves you money in the long term if ever need to upgrade to bigger glass boat. I think a 18'6" or a 19" glass boat can be had for about 15k to 20k. But that is a good chunk more than your budget.

ALF also has 10% off gift cards. Pretty sure you can stack that on top of the Daiwa sale so you can get a total of 30% off Daiwa just like you would at Tackle Warehouse.

Also just a bit more specific info for us SD guys. I fish all over from DVL to Lower Otay and if you plan to hit up DVL and Skinner, you need to have a boat with a direct injected outboard. From what I've researched, this leads you to buying either a boat with a Mercury Optimax, Evinrude Ficht or Etec, Yamaha VMAX HPDI, or a 4 stroke of some sort. They won't allow carbd motors at those lakes. These outboards started production around 1999 and I read the early ones for all these manufacturers had issues and tend to blow as they're first gen direct injected 2 strokes. This is all second hand info but most ppl steered me to getting as new of an Optimax motor over the Evinrudes and Yamahas. That being said, my buddy with an '10 or '12 Optimax still blew his motor last year. If you don't fish DVL or Skinner then the rest of lakes in SD don't matter and you can just get a cheaper older boat. Getting an aluminum tracker or variant usually have newer compliant motors. Ive seen a lot of trackers with efi 4 strokes and other aluminums with Yamaha four strokes so those are good to go.

I've been caught in really bad wind after 2pm on Hodges, San V and El Cap. Even in my buddy's 20ft Warrior Bass Boat (fiberglass) and it was tough to maneuver. My buddy hasn't sprung for an ultrex. My other buddy with a bass cat eyra has ultrex and it's so much easier to sit on a point and make a few casts and pick apart your spot. That's just been my experience for the last few years. I've yet to fish out of an aluminum with a GPS TM but I still think it'd be hard to pick manuever in the wind if I want to cover a stretch of bank. I used to fish out of a buddy's tracker on San V a lot and we got blown around a lot. Had to hide in certain spots and just deal with it. That's just been my experience.

I routinely check craigslist and use searchtempest to search within a radius of me. I'm also in the SD area and been kinda looking for a boat. I'd prefer a bigger glass boat because it's so windy here on all of our lakes. Whenever I'm in a rental or fish out of a bass tracker, I get blown around so hard it's aggravating. I've yet to fish out of an aluminum with a spot lock trolling motor tho. I usually hitch rides in my buddies' glass boats and it's just so much nicer.

I recently picked up two bull shad rods and I am very impressed by them. I have a fury 806, champ 807 and champ 867 as well. The bullshad rods are lighter than I thought they would be for their size and power. I spent past 3 trips hucking a baitsanity explorer trout glide (5oz) all day long with ease and cranking a DRT Klash 9 as well. I don't have anything heavier to throw on it but it tosses 5oz glides pretty easily and launches it far. Haven't caught any fish on the rods yet but they seem to very good rods for the money. I got them on sale and wouldn't hesitate to buy another. Hope that helps.

www.tackletrap.com should be able to help too. They upgrade reels with jdm parts and sell them on their site. Im sure if you call them or email them they could help you out. I haven't used them personally but a friend has he highly recommends them or THKustoms

Bought a lure few days ago via PayPal. He shipped it out same day I sent payment. Lure came in great condition a few days later. Would buy from again in the future for sure!

No prob. Hope you get some on the swimbaits! I like to fish all over So Cal as well and have been to almost every lake near me, almost. Don't forget Lake Jennings has night fishing on Fri and Sat nights till midnight. Might be a good time to go toss some big swimbaits under the cover of night.

You need to fish with a resident and buy a fishing permit as a non resident if you fish Canyon Lake. I fished it once when I got invited by a nice guy who lives in the neighborhood. Got a few bites and a slap on my gantarel there last year. Lots of boat docks you can toss your baits at. Skinner is a nice little lake but I've yet to get any on the swimbaits there. I did have a big 5lb follower on my pizz beef glide when I was fishing the inlet. There are striped bass and some big bass that hang out near the inlet. But because they have trout plants still during the winter, I would still try to hit up that lake this fall/winter. Perris can be tough. I've fished it a few times but the island is a good place to start. They're still adding water to the lake to bring the water level back up I believe which may affect the bite as I believe the bass are now discovering new structure to hang out on.

I always miss his releases because I'm always working and don't have access to my phone at the right moment. Urgh

Keep at it. I went through a 6 month drought of 0 swimbait fish then I landed a monster PB. I could barely get a bite on my 8" hudd so I switched to a 7.8" keitech. I'd think about slow crawling a 6.8 or 7.8 to see if you get bit. Also, like someone else posted. Trying fishing at night or really early morning before the sun is out. Good luck.