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Finally got the Jaguar on the water! Jag vs Lynx.
I posted earlier in the month about picking up my 25' Jaguar. Got all the rigging done as far as installing the Stealth charging system and lithiums. Between this over-rated thing called work and the REALLY crappy and cold weather last week, I hadn't had a chance to get it on the water. Finally had a break in the weather and I got to put several hours on it this weekend. Coming from an 18' Lynx, here are my initial thoughts between the two. Now, I'm nitpicking here, as both of these are top-quality rigs!
- The STS hull is fantastic. While the Lynx rode good, this Jag is in a class all to itself. It's like riding on a couch! Pretty calm this weekend so I have't had a opportunity to realy test it but it's in a class by itself. Carves corners like it on a rail. Still in the break-in so I didn't push it hard but will quickly climb to 70 and is very stable. While my Lynx was quick with the 300R, anything over mid 60's required you to drive the boat. Not that I minded that, but the STS is very stable.
- The 400R is a beast! Came with a 26" Bravo 1 XS with all 8 plugs removed. I was running this prop on my 300R as well but with 4 vents plugged and 2 of the other vents with 1/2 plugs. It pulls hard on launch but then I can feel it slipping excessively. When the water temperature isn't 37, I'll add a few plugs that should help with this. Ran like a champ!
- The tackle storage is massive! The rear is identical to my Lynx, although somehow the two outside boxes are slightly smaller? All my heavy stuff goes here. Jigs, olastics, trailers, ect. The front rod boxes are massive but not to my liking. I'll get to that later. The takle boxes with the trays in them are going to work great for all my light stuff, crankbaits and the like. The 2 boxes in the front hold all my ropes, buoy, line, ect.
- Ok. Here is where I'll probably ruffle some feathers. I'm really missing the center rod box of the Lynx. I would sometimes here people complain about it's odd shape but it makes perfect sense to be wider at the bach to allow for the reels while narrow at the front for the rod tips. I could easily STAND in the floor of my Lynx and reach any and every rod I needed. I never understood why people didn't like this? With the Jag, the rod box on the left is good for about 8 rods, and while it's is very deep, how is KNEELING down on the deck and digging for rods from the abyss better? It's not. Box on the far right is equally massive and deep, but it doesn't have any rod keepers in it and you will be standing on your head digging for anything in the bottom. I'm hoping I will get used to it, and at a minimum, I won't be carrying as many rods as I used to, but right now, I don't like. Also, these two boxes lids go almost all the way to the gunnel. With my Lynx, I could easily have 3-4 rods on each side and still open the side boxes. You won't do that on the Jag as the front corner particularly, creates a pinch point. You can open these with 1 rod on the deck, 2 max. Not a fan of that.
- Did I mention how much I'm going to miss the center rod box of my Lynx?
Again, I'm nitpicking. As expected, the build quality of everything I've seen is top notch. It's a beautiful rig and the fishability is fantastic. Have a jerkbait tournament in a couple weeks so that will give me a couple days of hard fishing that will really help me settle in with it.
I'll report again after the tournament and I've attached a few pictures, snow and all!
Did I mention how much I'm missing the center rod box?Attachment 566858Attachment 566859Attachment 566860Attachment 566861
