The Spoonpluggers Forum

Fran,

See you next fall!!
https://kstp.com/minnesota-sports/inver ... 0/5953811/

We could feed everyone with about 5 of those things. Should be great. John

I'd need a bigger knife

I have eaten a couple that I accidently killed but generally will not kill one. I was just kidding. John

Sorry Guys. Been having trouble logging in here but that’s all fixed.

There have been two posts here asking about get togethers. All I can say is ‘YES’. A few guys want to come in June. Same and different guys want to come in the fall. It’s hard to get my flying schedule this far out but I am thinking mid-June for the Spring and October for fall.

I am also planning on Lake StClair in April. Man I missed that one last year.

Never knew ‘Happy New Year’ was a prayer but it sure has been for me.

Fran

Okay, I have to ask. And this is not a question challenging your tools. I sincerely want to know how you do it. I’m new to spoonplugging and have found my entire fishing acumen turned upside down as I dive into the material and watch the videos. My question is how you fish those big waters with small and light boats. I understand why you use the boats you have but I’ve been on Mille Lacs, Vermillion, LOW, Leach and other massive bodies of water. On more than one occasion I found myself barely hanging on with 3-4’ rollers and I was in a heavy deep V boat. In October I was on Mille Lacs in 4 footers during a storm in a whaler style boat and fell 4x while casting.

Again, I’m not challenging but how do you do it? Just trying to stay alive and maximize my time on the water.

Ken

Hi Ken,
I don’t think any of us pursue big waves. But when you drive the distances that we do sometimes to fish sometimes we fish because we have to. But that doesn’t mean we punch out into 5 footers.

That being said the smaller boats do quite well. When the wave starts are big most of us stick to the trolling side of things. If we cast it’s usually a drift while jigging across the bottom. Not very many times do we just go. Although I remember a certain IceCream Brother disappearing between the waves in his 14’ boat while he anchored at the slots in Lake Erie....bah to that.

I have about a 1/4 season on Mille Lacs. Most of the time I couldn’t get out of boat house or the waves were too big for my boat. So I am buying a 175 Competitor. I want to be able to go anywhere on my lake and with that much water needs something with a little higher sides than my Ranger. I like the water outside my boat.

I know that what you are reading is shining light on how you fish. It seems overwhelming. But I suggest you do this. Learn the books stuff. Ride with a few of us as a passenger and captain to get a little time on the water. All is not lost when you fish by yourself. Casting is every bit as important as trolling. You still need to know where to cast. You can even do some mapping.

Try to get away with as little expense as you can at the beginning. Now... that’s not what most of us do. We buy all what we need. Rods reels lures boats...but it’s a suggestion

Ken,
I hate the wind!
I have used my old 1650 Lund Rebel all over this country. It is amazing how well these boats with not so deep sides will handle rough water. Like Fran said, when you are having really rough water, we Troll for the most part.
I got caught on Roosevelt here in AZ once during a monsoon storm. these storms come out of nowhere in the summer months.
I tried to set it out in a protected cove, but had to cross this big sucker anyway to get home. It was not fun due to 5 and 6 foot rollers. Closest i ever came to sinking her. She was full of water before i could get to the ramp. Almost lost her at the ramp that day while i was putting my trailer in. I hate the wind!
Ask Fran or Jerry Borst about Eagle lake in Ontario when the wind howls, yet we still go fishing when I drive 2200 miles to fish.
This lake is HUGE. 4 footers are the norm when it howls. Chris Angsten, Jerry, his son John and myself spent an entire day in his motorhome due to too much wind.
Made up my mind that as soon as i could, I was going to get a wider, and deeper boat. The 165 Competitor fills that niche for me.
I can handle the cold, but I sure do not like getting wet!
So we troll and spend the day mapping new structures and Straggler fish when the wind will not let us cast.
When I had my old Lowe 14 footer, I would not fish when it howled. Did i say I hate the wind!

Mr. Perry traveled this whole country, fished all sized bodies of water and did it in small rental boats. Common sense goes a long way. Every one of us started out with a small boat which we could afford. But we started out on the smaller lakes near home. We eventually fished some of the bigger lakes including the great lakes. Eventually we would find ourselves in a bad situation. This is what leads a lot of us to get bigger boats. I want to fish safe and make it back home. We still do just fine in doing all the controls needed to catch a fish. The boat is just a tool where we do our work. Go out and get it done. When the wind is blowing, casting is not the way to go anyways and most of the time for the musky, it's really not the way to go 90% of the time. It's pretty easy to sit in a chair and make your passes in wind that is not dangerous. If it's too bad, we shouldn't be out there anyways. John

Thanks Fran, Steve and John.
One of you mentioned Eagle. Besides the Mille Lacs adventure, I have similar stories on Eagle, Minaki and Vermilion. I guess I can’t be lazy anymore. I’ll have to learn boat control. Lol

Ken

Eagle sure gets big especially when you add the 15 mile boat ride to it.