Sunday, May 6th. Mr Pike’s maiden voyage. We went up to Long Lake, just over the Michigan border. The mission, begin the testing period on Mr. Pike 17. Since this is far more boat than Scott’s old one [which is for sale by the way] and has a plethora of advanced high-tech features, we spent a good part of the day experimenting.

I’ll try to get Scott’s opinion in his own words, until then, here’s what I thought about the Lund Mr. Pike 17 experience, from the bottom. The trailer is constructed well and the boat pulls nicely. I didn’t notice any unusual handling in Scott’s truck as we drove up to the lake, even on the winding hills after the we got off the Interstate. All of the trailer’s guide and fasteners seemed be layed out well. We had to put some effort into getting the cranker to release but I think that is a good thing. Once the strap was released, the rollers allowed for a smooth glide into the water.

The ramp at Long Lake dumps into a rather shallow area. I was concerned about the the hull or motor bottoming out but it rolled off without incident. The 75 horse Mercury 4-stroke sprang to life with the simple turn of the key. This action brought a pause of amazement from both Scott and I every time that day. Scott’s previous vessel had a Johnson with one of those lawn mower type yanking cords. Rip starting isn’t bad if you can start it on the first rip and I must admit, when I was on Scott’s boat, it usually started right away but I’ve heard of times when he spent a good deal of the day yanking his Johnson.

Anyway, a turn of the key and the 4-stroke purred. I really mean, purred! It was so quiet and smooth. The 2 stroke motors that I’ve seen have been loud, smokey and shudder. This Merc was quiet, smoke free and the vibration was negligible. We let the motor idle for about five minutes in awe.

The boat itself is laid out very well. Starting at the bow, the trolling motor platform holds the Minn Kota AutoPilot perfectly. Directly below is a storage area for the foot pedal and all the connections are right there. There is also a switch which allows you to adjust the trim on the Merc from the bow.

The bow casting platform has four doors leading to two storage areas and a “Pro-Long Live well”. There is also a compartment in the front of the console that hold 2 Plano tackle trays. The live wells were a puzzlement. I’m sure that some training will solve our issues. The concept is this. The integrated live wells pump in water from the lake through a screen inlet in the transom. The water is both aerated [to keep the oxygen levels up] and recirculated [to keep the temperature down] We thought that it would be a no-brainer, but it was the only item of the day that made us get the handbook out and we still couldn’t get it figured. We’d turn on the pump and fill it up and then set it to automatically cycle and invariably, it would let almost all of the water out. There are two main components to this system. 1. The Fill-Empty-Recirculate switch and 2. the Aerator switch. I know that there must be some “secret” combination to these to switches that will make it do what I expect but the book is weak on that point.

As you step down into the main, there is another hatch in the deck that leads to the dual trolling batteries, we stayed out of there. The console looked smart. I didn’t drive at all so I cannot comment on the layout of the gauges or the feel of the wheel. Dual rod lockers, one on each side, were adequate for up to 7-foot rods. We each had our own locker, which was a kick. One thing that bothers me when fishing is clutter on the deck. I brought six rods and was dedicated to only have one out at a time. Multiple rods set up for different baits and situations is a must. In the past, the rods-in-waiting were laid out wherever they could be and more often than not, they are not out of the way enough. It was a great comfort to move freely about the boat and not have to worry about hang up on or stepping on a rod. Although manageable, it was a little hard to swap rods. The rod locker is fairly deep but not too wide and keeping everything untangled took a little patience.

There is another live well in the aft casting platform as well as a second battery compartment. There are three seats, one fixed behind the console and two others that can be mounted into any of the five mounts. Both seats travel in the two adjacent rear positions. I moved one up to the center, next to the console Scott moved one up to the bow. The seats snap lock into the pedestal mounts and a threaded knob can free the seat to rotate. The seats were firm, solid and dry. They also promote good posture. The stereo system wasn’t exactly THX certified and the absence of auto-reverse on the tape deck was a mild disappointment, but it sounded 100% better than the stereo on Scott’s old boat which had no offering in that department.

I got the impression that Lund’s designers must be fisherman who got into the habit of taking notes when they were out fishing. Things seemed to be where they needed to be, and I imagined them fishing and saying wouldn’t it be nice if there were a feature that does this right over there. Even the interior lights are of the non-bug attracting yellow variety. There is also a light in the live well. I know that sometime, somewhere some guy was doing some night fishing and trying to get a minnow out of the live well and couldn’t see it. So, he said “hey, put a light in the live-well.”

As for the performance, it was rather windy and the lake was choppy, but the ride was smooth. It was even more smooth than riding in the truck. The Lund’s hull design keeps the water out of your face too. Since this was the motor’s first day, we kept it reasonable. The trim adjustment will take some getting used before the optimums are figured out. At one point, we had the bow way up out of the water it was cool to cruise the lake, but we weren’t there to cruise, we fish.

The true test of managing a boat is to take it out fishing on a windy day and not bring any anchors. This was kind of a bummer at the time but looking back, I think that it was a valuable experience. It forced Scott to reposition and correct etc, providing great practice. Had we brought anchors, we might have just parked and fished all day and miss out on that training.

More than once, Scott and I found ourselves on the bow casting deck both fishing comfortably. The stability of the Mr. Pike was marvelous. The beam is 92 inches. That is a pretty wide craft. That stability allowed for free movement all over the boat. Without a second thought, walking all about without the slightest wobble.

The trolling motor was put to the test too. The weedless prop design was exactly that. We chugged through some underwater jungle and had no problem at all. The foot pedal control was set up differently than Scott’s old one so that took some getting used to. With 65 pounds of thrust, we were able to cruise directly into the wind at a good clip. The auto pilot feature was pretty good too. Inside the trolling motor is a compass. Point the trolling motor and engage the auto pilot and it will follow that compass heading. It was kind of weird watching it adjust itself to compensate for the wind. In the end, it seemed like the wind was winning. During the still of deep summer though, the autopilot will be a great asset for working a shoreline.

It was about 3 minutes before dark and we decided that it would be best to do the first egress with some light. Scott disembarked and back the trailer down the ramp then we swapped, I stood ready on the trailer while he brought the boat around for the mount. The operation was a complete success even in the windy, low light conditions. Within a few minutes, the gear was all stowed and the boat fastened tight to the trailer.

It was a great outing. The ride home was rather uneventful, but it is here where the features that make this boat great, work against you. Although the rolling weight is reasonable, towing a 1200-pound boat will suck out the gas, currently $1.89 per gallon meaning a 30-gallon truck tank will cost about $60 bucks to fill. The 92″ beam while a complete joy to fish from is a nightmare to back into a narrow driveway. We spent a good deal of time trying to squeeze it past a minivan from the street which was ridiculously busy at 10:00pm on a Sunday night. We discovered the trailer’s weakness at this time. It has no backup lights. We ended up moving the van and holding up traffic for a few minutes to maneuver it in. Once that was accomplished, it took a little effort to install the cover.

I think that because it was so late and we were both tired, it augmented the feeling that the work was hard. Had we simply fastened Mr. Pike to the pier at 8:30 and walked up to the cottage to some steaks on the grill and a round of victory Heineken’s, the experience would have been flawless