New Spoonplugger

[vernfuse]

I am very new to spoonplugging , but completely sold on the technique. I have had limited opportunities to put it into practice and not very good results yet. Most our lakes in southern Louisiana are very shallow (20 feet or less and very grassy throughout) which makes it difficult to fish spoonplug on the bottom. The boat I now own has console steering which I understand makes it more difficult. How important is it to have tiller steering or can I get around it? Any suggestions would be helpful.

[Steve Craig]

Vernfuse
Welcome to the board.

Rip out the wheel or sell it and get a tiller.
You will be hindering yourself from the start with a wheel boat.
You simply can not control your fishing any other way.
Steve

[Hal Standish]

Vernfuse
Welcome to the board.

Rip out the wheel or sell it and get a tiller.
You will be hindering yourself from the start with a wheel boat.
You simply can not control your fishing any other way.
Steve

Tiller boats are they only way you can learn how to spoonplug and once you learn you will never go back to the wheel boat!

Hal

[TN_Explorer]

Welcome to the group - check out this video on why you are getting these responses:

[vernfuse]

Thanks for the advice, I was hoping for a way around having to change boats.

[Fran Myers]

Morning Vern,
When I started mapping structure I had to use a 25’ pontoon boat. It’s not quite impossible but results are questionable.

The tiller boat is the BEST way to learn Spoonplugging. But there is more to it than pulling a funny named lure behind the boat. But I will go a different tack than everyone else and say this...
If you begin KNOWING that you will never fully understand how structures are laid out meaning the relationship between fish movements from deep to shallow and that you are limiting your potential catches...

If as a fisherman out of a steering wheel - if you fish with understanding of our basic guidelines and use depth and speed, weather and water, daily and seasonal movements as your guide...
You cannot help but INCREASE YOUR CATCHES. No matter what kind of boat you fish out of.

There will be situations where only trolling works, you won’t be able to understand the total picture why fish are in a place or how they got there BUT again you will increase your catches and do as much as you can to be within guidelines. WHEN you have success within the limitations you have put on yourself you may well buy that tiller boat. Your desire for more and bigger fish will fuel the change.

I say use your boat the best you can and ask questions about how to fish within your abilities. There is nothing wrong with that.
Welcome and don’t let 20’ bother you. Their are decades of experience fishing in those kinds of areas.

[MuskyAddict]

Welcome Vern,
Like you, I am new to spoonplugging and I’m working through the study guides now. I haven’t had the first chance to give it a try because I live in MN and the water is a little hard right now. But I can’t wait for the ice to be gone.

I too have the wrong boat. I’ve resolved in my mind that I’ll need a tiller boat in order to be as successful as I can. I will likely get a 2nd boat with a tiller. I’ve found the advice around this topic to be consistent and these guys have the proof to show they know what they’re talking about. Fran has also helped me to keep things in perspective and I think his counsel to you is good. I plan to do the best I can within the limitations of my wheel boat. I’m blessed to have newer generation electronics on my boat and I believe they will help with the mapping part of the procedures. At least that’s my hope.

Best of luck to you. Let’s keep learning together. This time next year we will be a year smarter and a year closer to becoming great fisherman.

Ken

[brett]

Welcome Vern. Lots of people to reach out to here to keep you encouraged. I’ll never be able to fully understand how hard it was for some of the legends here that has to figure it all out on their own. Stay in touch and keep us posted.

Brett

[John Bales]

Not sure about the legend thing. I do know that when I got started, there was no one available to reach out to. We wrote a few letters to Mr. Perry and he answered every one of them with direction to get us back in line. One such letter was to get off of those clear lakes and fish water color. He supplied us with a couple of lake maps from two lakes in Michigan and the results changed our lives. Even these days, when the clear lakes whoop us, it brings us back to reality that water color is the key to consistent catches. There is no magic in success, just lots of time on the water doing what is necessary to catch the fish. Electronics has not changed a thing over all these years. The same guys catch the fish because of one thing. They spend a lot of time on the water and use Mr. Perry's knowledge and guidelines to put themselves in position to catch a fish. Success cannot come without a strong desire to do this. John PS. Fishing has a lot of variables involved. For most of the time, fishing is bad and then it gets worse. With many years of being on the water, you and I get to experience many of those variables and learn to understand what makes a fish tick and what we must do to catch them. For me, having this knowledge allows me to see success often enough to want to learn even more. Fishing would not be as much fun or satisfying without Mr. Perry's knowledge. Each cast or trolling pass is done for a reason, to eliminate the fishing water and arrive at the fish. Relying on luck or a magic lure or simply not having Mr. Perry's knowledge would be a disaster. What we can have is very rewarding!!!!!!!! Thank You Mr. Perry. John