During the spring of 2019 I had the great opportunity to join the Pro Staff for Crestliner boats by being sponsored by Clark Marine in Manchester, Maine. I already had a Crestliner boat and I loved how durable and bulletproof the hull was so having the chance to represent the brand was a no brainer. I had a very specific boat style in mind and went to every vendor that was available, but the team at Clark Marine was the only organization that saw value in what I was looking for and what I wanted to do as well. As soon as I met with Duddy from the Clark Marine team at the Portland Boat show he had the model I wanted and assured me that it was no problem getting the boat that I wanted. As for the Pro Staff position I worked with the owner Rob Brown who was very easy to work with and also to buy a boat from. Rob and his staff listen to what you are looking for and gets you into the best fit instead of selling you what you don’t need. I had been looking for a tiller style boat so I could keep my clients in front of me and to maximize working space and ideally it needed to be at least 18 feet. I was also looking for a boat with plenty of storage space to keep the boat free of clutter and the Kodiak had just that. The Crestliner Kodiak was the perfect fit and has changed how I guide for the better.
My new Kodiak
So much space!
There were two big questions when I was going through the build process. First was the size of the motor. For this I chose the 60 horsepower Mercury with the Big Tiller handle option. With the Big Tiller I could control the RPM and I had all of the my controls right at the tip of my fingers. As for my motor all I would say is to err on the side of larger, but also listen to the team that is selling you the boat. If they say the extra horsepower won’t make a huge difference then take that into consideration. The next option was which style trolling motor I wanted for the bow. For those of you that do not fish with a bow mounted trolling motor you are truly missing out. I will get into the specifics as to why later. I selected the Minnkota Terrova 80 pound thrust with I-Pilot. These come with both a foot pedal and a remote control that you wear around your neck. With these two options I decided it was time to get on the water and put my clients in a comfortable platform to catch their fish.
Plenty of space for four anglers
Stable platform for casting
With the Kodiak you gain length at the cost of width. However, with that being said the best example of the capability with my clients was the group of four that I took out on the Andro River at the end of September. All four clients were casting at the same time with no issues. They were spin casting and having no issues catching and landing their fish. With fly anglers I am still restricted to only two casting at the same time, but that is normal due to the space required for fly fishing. What makes this boat so versatile is the ability for me to move around anywhere on the boat while controlling the trolling motor remotely. While setting up for trolling for lake trout all I needed to do was set my trolling motor on a set course with one touch of a button and the motor will keep me on course. That flexibility has been vital in getting set up and also being able to net the clients fish while never worrying about going off course or turning too sharply.
Holding upstream of rising fish in heavy current
Even on big lakes the anchor feature is invaluable
Two trips in particular showed how my Kodiak exceeded expectations for myself and my clients. First was on the lower West Branch of the Penobscot in around 4200 cfs. I had Turner and Max fly casting and when we found a pod of rising fish I maneuvered the boat into position and I activated the anchor feature on my trolling motor. The motor kept us right in position with very little effort and allowed my clients to cast to the fish much closer than I have ever been able to before. This is also a stretch of river that I have donated plenty of anchors to so that is another huge bonus to having a trolling motor with those features. The second example was on the lower East Outlet of the Kennebec with Chris and Charlie. This river wasn’t running as high, but it is a smaller river so the flows are concentrated and strong where we were. Again I was able to move effortlessly throughout the run with ease. Both Chris and Charlie had been with me the year before when we had to set an anchor manually. They could still see the anchor I had to cut the day before still on the bottom of the river so they knew firsthand how beneficial the new motor was. What was also great was that I ran the motor hard for two days straight and didn’t have to recharge the batteries during that time. I really didn’t have a choice as I was camping on Indian Pond for three days so there were no electrical outlets for miles.
Father and son time
Never have to leave the boat for lunch
Having a boat that you can trust and that handles many different bodies of water effectively has opened up how I guide. Before with a smaller boat I had to turn away larger groups or bring in another boat just to make the trip work. Now I can book these clients with confidence that they will be fishing on a stable vessel that can accommodate many anglers. Every client that I had on the new boat this past year has only had good things to say about my Kodiak. I am looking forward to this upcoming year and if you want to fish on my new boat give me a call and I can make that happen!
So much fishing space!
Fishing for lakers with planer boards