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Posts: 750
Location: Minneapolis, MN | I'm assuming the answer is no, but I'm wondering if there is any way to improve a boats performance in the wind. We fish from an Alumacraft Classic 165CS and if there's anything over 10 mph winds I feel like I spend more time fighting the wind to keep the boat headed in the right direction then I do fishing. I'm assuming there's nothing that can be done to to improve performance but I just thought I'd ask. |
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Posts: 2686
Location: Hayward, WI | Not much. You can fill your gas tank, and fill your livewells to make the boat heavier and sit lower in the water. Filling my front livewell helps keep the front from bouncing so much, which helps, especially if the waves are big enough to pull your trolling motor out of the water.
Other than that, from what I hear the answer is to get a fiberglass boat... |
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Posts: 134
| glass or a drift socks.... |
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Posts: 1767
Location: Lake Country, Wisconsin | get a drift sock..or even 2 of them.... |
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Posts: 750
Location: Minneapolis, MN | I had thought about drift socks but I couldn't picture how I would use them while trying to work around structure or along a path. I mean I get for drifting I would just throw them out to drag behind us as the wind moved us across an area, but if I'm trying to work around a weed bed, that's where I'm confused.
Edited by dami0101 7/1/2014 7:05 AM
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Posts: 801
Location: Delavan, WI | get a fiberglass boat and that will help immensely |
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Posts: 13688
Location: minocqua, wi. | on crazy days i've started my big motor and point it in gear faced into the waves behind me and then run the trolling motor, would be much easier with a tiller but it can help you crab without losing your back end.
there is an article done quite a few years now by Steve Herbeck in Musky Hunter Magazine that shows many options for boat control in more difficult situations.
Edited by jonnysled 7/1/2014 7:52 AM
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Posts: 756
| Do you have I-Pilot; ideally on a Terrova? If not then get it. Will help a ton on allowing you to focus on fishing. Not a silver bullet but definetely a big help. |
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Posts: 750
Location: Minneapolis, MN | I'll have to see if i can find that article.
No I-Pilot. We were all set to get one until we realized that we would loose the foot pedal since we have a powerdrive instead of a terrova. |
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Posts: 3508
Location: Elk River, Minnesota | Hiya,
One of the things you can do when working around a spot in the wind is to point the front of the motor into the wind. What you are essentially doing is using the lower unit as a fin to help direct the front of the boat, allowing the boat to run more parallel to the structure you are trying to fish. The motor pointed into the wind essentially allows the wind to push the bow in easier than the stern, thus you can control your bow a bit easier with the bow mount.
Many times, I have found both the bow mount and the main motor are pointed in the same direction and can get a parallel run on structure with wind hitting the side of the boat. There still is some maneuvering to do, but not as much.
When working with the wind (stern into the wind) I have found I can better control the boat with the bow mount thrusting against the wind and can adjust the bow in and out accordingly, while slowing the whole boat down to fish it effectively. This one takes practice, but it can be done. Like others have said here, you can apply drift socks to this situation to slow you down as well.
Working into the wind, there are times a kicker is really handy. Like Sled mentioned, start your main motor and put it in gear...let it do the pushing of the boat and saving battery drain. I will do this with a kicker as it usually will allow me to move slower, yet have the power to move the boat. Then, I can use the bowmount to control direction. In cases such as this, being up in the bow is challenging due to wave action, but at times, that wave action is where the fish are at and usually are very active as well.
I ran a lunker 165 and now a navigator, so your rig is the bridge betweeen the two I have run. The Classic is the older version of the navigator which changed in 2004/2005. Good boat!!
Steve |
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Posts: 13688
Location: minocqua, wi. | biggest thing to "control" in the wind is your mind … embrace the wind and have confidence and don't let it frustrate you. working into the wind is easy but uses a lot of juice, working downwind is easier using the trolling motor as a brake and using very little juice. crosswind crabbing in high winds is when i'll idle the big motor pointing the rear into the wind as a brake and using the front trolling motor to move across the spot.
the wind is your friend ... |
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Posts: 1285
Location: Walker, MN | Mojo1269 - 7/1/2014 8:05 AM
Do you have I-Pilot; ideally on a Terrova? If not then get it. Will help a ton on allowing you to focus on fishing. Not a silver bullet but definetely a big help.
+1 when it's howlin' really bad I spot lock up wind from my best waypoints and fan-cast off the back of the boat. It helps to have 36v. |
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Posts: 117
| Perhaps not a dealbreaker throwing moving baits, especially larger ones--but I'm fairly done trying to fish a dropshot or a small grub in 40 feet of water for smallies. I got the terrova, it helps but it doesn't fix the issue--I haven't found it to kick in soon enough or hard enough if there's much of a breeze. Other fixes haven't been practical or fixed the issues either--I'm getting a glass boat with lower sides. |
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Posts: 1040
| My buddy had a Crestliner. He was always amazed at how little my Ranger 188 was affected by the wind.
Getting a new boat probably isn't a viable solution, but if you are in the market in the future, certainly keep that in mind. |
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Posts: 51
| Drift sock or two. And use the wind to your advantage. Use use trolling to adjust around structure. Easy I've been doing it for years. |
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Posts: 1000
| I run another kite (fish hawk 1850). Best strategy is to use the wind to your benefit. Use the engine to control a drift. My electric trolling batteries can last days now |
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Way to stop boat being a kite?