Boat Control

All Around Boat control

With the brisk North winds cool water temps are just around the corner.  Yes!  The fall bite will soon be upon us and that means hungry walleyes.  A key factor to catching deep midlake or strong wind swept shoreline walleyes is “spot on” boat control.

“Getting There”
Where beastly winds blow, hawg belly walleyes will follow.  However, getting there can be tricky.  Sure, you can go Ricky Bobby like and just go straight on into the teeth of the wind and take the pounding that comes with it.  But, a better alternative is to quarter into the waves.  The idea here is to go at angle so you can still stay stay dry but reduce the pounding you and your fellow anglers take.  Boats do make a difference and a Lund is tough to beat in big waves; I’ve actually seen waves turn and run when they see a Pro-V hull headed their way.  So much of driving in rough water is a little ebb and flow and the power of a Mercury Verado combined with it’s instant throttle response will  allow you to conquer the waves.  LOA Guide, Jeff “Jiggy” Andersen, says, “It doesn’t matter what species you are fishing if your bait isn’t where they live, you can’t catch them.”  He relies on the Lund 2010 Pro Guide powered by 200hp Mercury Verado Tiller.  “A combination that allows me to fish effectively in all conditions!”  says Jiggy.  

“On the Spot.”   
No better way to tame waves and put fish in the boat than to backtroll.  Rigging, jigging, rippin Jiggin raps, all presentations work when backtrolling.  When sitting over a school of fish or sliding over a few feet to find where they moved, backtrolling keeps you safe.  To enhance our backtrolling, we pair our Lund/Mercury boats with Whitecap Splashguards to create the ultimate backtrolling machine.  No matter if it is using the big tiller Verado, the stout 101 MinnKota Vantage, or a 9.9HP Mercury Kicker motor, Whitecap Splashguards are custom fit for unparalleled performance!  LOA Guide Toby Kvalevog states  “I love rigging big minnows on midlake structure.  Targeting inside turns, transitions, etc and there are days if my bait is off by a foot we aren't catching em’.  Backtrolling offers me the precision I need while allowing me to be mobile as well.

Beastly winds will be there in your pursuit of the fish of a lifetime or just going after some eaters.  Utilizing boat control to get there and stay on the spot will help separate you from the crowd!