Northwest Fishing Reports

Bought a different boat and now need to get top/side curtains/rear drop made as well as the tubing. I am sticker shocked by the places I have contacted in Spokane. Did a look see on Craigslist and notice much better pricing on the west side of the state. Anyone have recommendations? Boat is a Starcraft Fishmaster 196.
Thanks in advance. Mark

TiredMark, JMHO, but by the time you haul your boat 600+ miles and spend 10+ hrs hauling it there and back you'll be lucky to break even vs having the work done here.

Take care of that Optimax and you will get good service and economy from it, annual service is extremely important to longevity and excellent fuel economy. I've had my 150 almost 13yrs and it still runs as good today as when new.

I hear you. I am sticker shocked by estimates of 5K+ here when I saw two ads on the west side showing 8-900 for top and sides.

Even I would go west to save $4K and that's saying a LOT.

Hey Hewes, good to see you still kicking. Always think about you when I'm over bobbing around Rufus and Roosevelt. Canvas...... I'm having my top done right now. Price, well it's more of an issue just getting someone who will commit to work on the project. Of course, quality work is always going to make you wince. For me new top and trailer-able cover is well.... a lot. But the boat is indoors until they finish it. I contacted upwards or 20 different businesses. The guys that made the current tailer cover won't do marine anymore, most of the canvas guys went out of biz when covid hit. And the rest wouldn't even schedule as they were out over a year. I found one shop in Everett that mainly works on moored boats but they have enough workspace to pull mine inside and they're working on it when they aren't out at the marina. They'll have it for another 3 weeks estimate. I'll report back when its done. I say, good luck getting anyone to make a top, sides and curtain for $8 - 900., sounds like a real come on to me, more like add a zero and hold your breath. Mines being made from Sunbrella Marine, the extra heavy. I had mine estimated from three real canvas guys that are still in business and have been for more than a few months and they were all in the same ballpark, the other two were in Mt Vernon/LaConner and Bellingham, so long drive. I'm having them add webbing pulls at all the snap spots that are used a bunch and the fabric is being doubled and tripled at all the snap spots. When done the top will be able to be removed so it can be put in the big washing machines, like at DA Burns. It's very nice and makes the DWR finish easy to apply. Oh, and the big thing to look for when you 're deciding on a vendor is their choice of thread. No if and or buts, they must use Acrylic thread. Anything else will UV and rot long before the top material. I had my first top restitched twice. It came from the mfg sewn with cotton thread. Both restiches were done with polyester and it was marginally better than cotton. Canvas is a thing you can go on forever about. Anyways, good to see ya Hewes and TiredMark, good luck on your search.

Nice to see YOU still kicking too Bodo! I pop in once or twice a week but mostly just crickets anymore.

Yep, still fishing Roosevelt every chance we get. Bought a place in Seven Bays 2013 and keep our boat there year round.

I echo your sentiment on canvas work, one reason mine stays up year round and stored indoors when off the water, it still looks great and our boat will be 13yrs old in March, pic below taken Oct 2018.

Mines 20 and it's been stored outside with tailerable cover, 100% of the time but, cleaned every year and conditioned. The vinyl is finally starting to go. I did have it restitched a couple times. but it's time for new. I hope she'll be sitting inside after its finished. We're looking to move to the other side. Fed up with Seattle and the millennials are just so tiring. 95% of them are just lazy and are entitled to some extent. The hard part is 100% of them are pissed off about something 24/7. I'm pretty liberal on a lot of things but some things are just a hard no for me. Since I work in tech we bump heads every day. They run to HR with he's offending me whenever we disagree. One more year to say bye, bye and its a little trolling or drifting for me. I'd really like to fish more upstream of Grand Coulee. Maybe like out of North Port trolling and the fly.
The site pings me when anyone makes a post so I'm always here.
I'll post up the pics when its done.

Bodo
Thanks for the input. Have to finish folding hitch and then will work on getting a top done. Great input on the thread to be used. My boat spends all but water time inside my shop, so new canvas should last my lifetime!!