Hole Shot
horsehunter
Posted 8/9/2012 10:12 AM (#576997)
Subject: Hole Shot




Location: Eastern Ontario
Why do people feel hole shot is so important are we not fishing rather than drag racing. I rarely pin the throttle when I take off and I don't run a high HP motor (60 HP) I frequently launch, start motor, park truck, shut off motor, fish with electric, the fish arn't all at the other end of the lake. If moving any distance or eating lunch I will troll.
sworrall
Posted 8/9/2012 10:31 AM (#577003 - in reply to #576997)
Subject: Re: Hole Shot





Posts: 32951


Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin
A proper hole shot means your boat is propped correctly so it will run at optimal RPM and fuel efficiency, plus make your boat perform as intended. I run a 50 HP 2 stroke Merc on my around home ride, and ended up with a 12 pitch 4 blade stainless.
curleytail
Posted 8/9/2012 11:06 AM (#577011 - in reply to #577003)
Subject: Re: Hole Shot




Posts: 2686


Location: Hayward, WI
I think the other consideration is guys that fish a lot of big, rough water. It can slow your holeshot some taking off into big waves, and can probably be a safety issue - either having your bow up in the air for a long time or taking water over the bow before your boat is out of the hole and on top of the waves.

I've never been in scary big water, but when I've been in some bigger waves with 4 people in the boat, a full livewell, and a 50 4 stroke tiller, it made me feel like I wanted the boat out of the hole and on plane as soon as possible - a little quicker than it was able to do.

I think another factor is just the satisfaction of cranking the throttle and being up and running rather than taking 1/2 the lake to get out of the hole.

Tucker
VMS
Posted 8/9/2012 11:44 AM (#577019 - in reply to #576997)
Subject: Re: Hole Shot





Posts: 3508


Location: Elk River, Minnesota
Hiya,

In a nutshell, a good holeshot means low end power, which in waves is your absolute best friend. It means if you need to power up a wave, the motor is not fighting the boat, but fighting the resistance of the wave. Good low-end response means your boat can perform in adverse conditions...to a point.

Case in point...let's say you are in some good rollers and you are having to travel in a following wind. the low end response allows you to power up the next wave before the following wave can overtake your stern (the absolute worst scenario anyone can have...a swamped boat in one wave) If you are over-propped, your boat will not respond anywhere near as fast, thus that following wave has a higher potential to overtake your stern.

Long story short, hole shot is much more important that top speed in my humble opinion. Doesn't mean I don't like to go fast, but priorities change over time. speed is nice, but really not the #1 factor for me anymore...

Steve
gregk9
Posted 8/9/2012 12:16 PM (#577029 - in reply to #576997)
Subject: Re: Hole Shot





Posts: 797


Location: North Central IL USA
Well in my case, unless I'm on my annual 1 week fishing trip, I get about 5 maybe 6 hours tops to fish on any given day trip. I wanna get from point A to Point B as fast as possible so it's *throttle down* for me!

Edited by gregk9 8/9/2012 12:17 PM
Waldo
Posted 8/9/2012 12:31 PM (#577033 - in reply to #576997)
Subject: RE: Hole Shot


Fishing metro waters where you'll have 30 boats in a bay on opening day, it's safer to get the boat on plane as soon as possible. Between the jetskiiers, waterskiiers, kayakers, swimmers, wakeboarders, sailboarders, trollers, cruisers, sailboats, etc. I want visibility with the bow down more than top end.
dougj
Posted 8/9/2012 4:36 PM (#577116 - in reply to #576997)
Subject: RE: Hole Shot





Posts: 906


Location: Warroad, Mn
I suspect that a decent "hole-shot" will save you some money of gas. When I fish I commonly take off 25-30 times a day. The faster I can get my boat on plane the less gas I burn.

Doug Johnson
horsehunter
Posted 8/9/2012 4:49 PM (#577119 - in reply to #576997)
Subject: Re: Hole Shot




Location: Eastern Ontario
Like I said I troll between spots my boat dosent spend a lot of time on plane
glog
Posted 8/9/2012 11:54 PM (#577204 - in reply to #576997)
Subject: Re: Hole Shot




Posts: 42


???

Edited by glog 8/10/2012 12:02 AM
curleytail
Posted 8/10/2012 10:18 AM (#577263 - in reply to #577119)
Subject: Re: Hole Shot




Posts: 2686


Location: Hayward, WI
horsehunter - 8/9/2012 4:49 PM

Like I said I troll between spots my boat dosent spend a lot of time on plane


Then I suppose hole shot doesn't concern you much. Others have stated several valid reasons why a strong hole shot is important to them, which is what you asked about.
Lone Stone
Posted 8/11/2012 9:44 PM (#577536 - in reply to #576997)
Subject: Re: Hole Shot




Posts: 477


Location: Iowa
Sell your outboard and buy a couple extra batteries. Then you don't need hole shot at all.
smallmouth/musky
Posted 8/11/2012 11:01 PM (#577547 - in reply to #576997)
Subject: RE: Hole Shot




Posts: 128


horsehunter - 8/9/2012 10:12 AM

the fish arn't all at the other end of the lake. If moving any distance or eating lunch I will troll.



No they aren't. But I'd rather spend my time on what I feel are the best spots, especially at the best times, vs just putting around fishing just anywhere.

To me that means trolling to spots, is a waste of lots of time unless that is going to be covering prime water.
VMS
Posted 8/12/2012 6:48 AM (#577560 - in reply to #577547)
Subject: RE: Hole Shot





Posts: 3508


Location: Elk River, Minnesota
Hiya,

At certain times of the year, trolling is THE best option and one can find the motherload of big fish. AND...on some of those days where all the fish seemed to have disappeared on you...trolling just outside of the normal casting spots can locate those fish that have just moved off the structure.

We also should not forget that gin clear water is tough either way, and trolling is sometimes the best option.

I know of guys who troll all summer on the waters that has quite a few spots I spend time casting....and they catch the bigger fish. Was not all that long ago a buddy of mine managed to nab what he felt was an extremely old fish that went 64" long when measured. Head was huge but the body was thinned out tremendously.

I know I'm not going to knock anyone for trolling between spots...as I believe DougJ would say, "keep your lure wet."

Steve
horsehunter
Posted 8/12/2012 7:55 AM (#577563 - in reply to #576997)
Subject: Re: Hole Shot




Location: Eastern Ontario
Most lakes in Ontario under 3000 acres were mapped to determine water volumes and not for navigation or fishing. After fishing my home lake for 30 years I felt I knew it well enough that when trolling between spots I was not zombie trolling. However I am still discovering unknown features and it allows me to log sonar soundings and develop my own structure and hardness map using Dr Depth. I was once able to run around the lake casting my milk run 15 hours a day but now my 69 year old shoulders require frequent rests.Without checking 30 years of logs i would guess trolling has yielded larger fish per hour of effort. I also fish up a small river on weekends away from the crowds in a 12 foot boat with a 3 HP motor people I have taken don't want to leave. Bottom line is I don't feel the need to put up numbers that I once did and enjoy fishing more at a slower pace and guess what the numbers haven't suffered that much.