BOAT CONTROL

As the soon as the fish took my leech, I knew it was big. It was a solid take, the kind that makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up. Line was dissappearing off my spool as the fish turned with the bait and swam up current with it. By moving upstream with my front troll motor I was able to gain ground on the fish, slowly reeling back in some line as I lowered my rod down to the water to sweep set the hook. Chunk, the rod stopped dead as I tried to lift it, a good solid hookup.

Fifteen minutes later, one of the biggest walleyes I had ever caught was in the net, in no small measure to boat control.

When viewers and readers e-mail and write me about the most important part of being a successful angler I always tell them versatility, or the ability to adapt to different fishing conditions.

This is a concept that is not easily digested in one sitting, like a big turkey dinner, but takes time to formulate over the course of many fishing adventures.

Most times it's a try and try again procedure forcing the angler to adapt when his or her favorite fishing hole no longer produces. What do you do next!

For years I guided fisherman from all over the world on a river system that was notorious for fish that were here today and gone tomorrow.

It forced me to be on the constant lookout for good water and active fish.

This was achieved by having quality electronics on the boat, like my current unit, the Bottom Line Tournament Master 5300. The ability to spot underwater structure and mark fish while traveling from Spot A to Spot B was critical to continued success. In other words, finding the fish.

Most anglers in this day in age understand the need to have a transducer on the back of the boat that will allow a high speed read on your depthfinder, giving you the ability to mark fish and structure while traveling in your boat.

That combined with a good set of marker buoys located next to the drivers seat, will allow you to mark spots that are too good to resist.

It doesn't matter if your mooching for salmon on the west coast or trying to catch walleye and muskie on Lake of the Woods; if you don't have complete control over your fishing rig, you will catch less fish! You have to make your boat an extension of yourself and it doesn't take long to spot the anglers who don't have a feel for their equipment. Don't get me wrong, it takes hundreds of hours on the water to be able to handle a big boat and stay on a hump the size of your living room when the wind is whipping up three foot waves. I would just like to share some boat control ideas and techniques that will increase your chances of catching more fish.

Many moons ago, while conducting a fishing program for a group of young anglers on Lake of the Woods I got to graphically demonstrate just how critical boat control is.

It was summertime and the walleye were on deep, main lake humps. One other boat was with me at the time with another instructor at the helm, fishing the same piece of structure. On my electronics I spotted a slight rise on one section of the sunken island and by positioning myself over this rockpile and vertically jigging, the two young anglers and myself started to catch fish after fish. Meanwhile, less than fifty feet away, the other boat was without a bite.

At the time I was running a boat with tiller steering and a transom electric troll motor. By moving slowly backwards into the wind, we worked our jigs through the rocks until we stopped catching fish. I would then turn down the power and let the wind push us back over the spot, maximizing time in the fish zone.

The same concept can be worked with a front troll motor. In fact, sometimes you can work more effectively with a front electric. There are many occasions when fish use underwater points and can be suspended off either side of the structure. By swinging your front electric back and forth into the wind over the point, your bait will stay right on the spot and the boat will act as a fulcrum. I have used this technique many times while vertical jigging for lake trout and walleye.

Every year I fish the Vanity Cup Walleye Championship in Nipawin, Saskatchewan. With a $50,000 first place prize it brings in top walleye anglers from across North America. There is no better example of what it takes to catch fish, and big fish under the toughest of circumstances

and the key part to this equation is to present your bait in such a way that the fish can't refuse. How do you do this? Of course it is easier said than done but lure control is the determining factor in being successful when fish are inactive or receiving a lot of fishing pressure.

There are a lot of times when just anchoring your boat right were the fish are works the best. But what if the fish or scattered or a vertical presentation doesn't cut the mustard?

The one year we almost won the big prize, weather and boat control helped us catch big fish. A fierce north wind and snow blowing along the river valley stacked up anglers and slowed their drift with the current. By backtrolling against the wind with our tiller modeled boat we were able to present the leeches on live-bait rigs at just the right speed.

This most recent year, with little or no current flow, proper speed was achieved by using both the front and back troll motors in tandem. This also allowed precise depth control as my tournament partner and myself adjusted speed and depth in either direction with the troll motors as we drifted the boat broadside downstream with the current.

In western Canada there are a number of great walleye and pike fisheries on large bodies of water. In recent years there has been a proliferation of big tiller rigs designed to hold structure in big water.

This is critical in catching walleye when a precise presentation is a must as I mentioned earlier. This past year I had a Lund Pro V with 80 Yamaha four stroke tiller. The addition of the four stroke was a huge improvement from previous two stroke technology. Number one it trolled down much slower and number 2, smoke from the engine was virtually eliminated. This in itself is a large factor when backtrolling. My boat was also equipped back and front with Minn Kota troll motors. I had the new Vantage on the transom with push button up and down. Wow, what a back saver, and with 72 pounds of thrust it would handle some pretty big water. Control was also a breeze with articulated 4-1 steering. Both this and the front Maxxum with 64 pounds thrust were on a 24 volt system which was neatly stored away under the floor boards of the big Lund. With a relatively low free board and a hull designed to track with a minimum of swing I would have to say after 19 years in the business this might have been the most user friendly boat I have ever had. These are the kinds of things you should be looking for in your next boat.