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I always said if a fish couldn't catch up to a trolled bait he isn't worth catching anyways LOL

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It,s white fish and laker opener here on Simcoe. I love my whities. Deep fried ,smoked even pouched. It was a cold start to the morning 0 deg. Get to the toon launch and the wind is light,sun is coming up. Perfect. Launch the toon and I am on my way to my grounds where I knew they would be waiting for me. Here is where we fast forward a couple of hours when me bye Terry shows up. I have bad news bye. Not a single mark. It was disappointing. Terry goes a bit shallower and says he marked. Alrighty then ,good luck Terry is here. Then I mark. Well that was the only 2 marks. We move about for the next 2 hours and nada. Terry says see ya later,I say it,s to nice of a day to head in,so move here and there. I finally mark a couple of fish. Hook up and half way up it buttons. NOOOOOOOOO I stick it out and just chill enjoying the day dead sticking a meegs 3 ft off bottom. Fish comes in. Drop,tap a tap on the bottom and hooked up. This one gets to the net. On the board WHEW. Another hour goes by and not another mark, THEN, it happens. The screen lights up with bait and big fish through out them, bottom 10 FOW. This was at 11am. From then til I left at 11:45 am, I went 11-8. That was stupid crazy action. As soon as I would release one and drop,I had another one one. I was fishing a large flat and those fish could be anywhere.

Went out this morning greeted by a fierce east wind . Tryed several spots and no takers today not to waste much time switched gears to crappie and the spots were void of people and they were Hungary kept half limit for dinner .

Winds were crap, got two until I got bounced off the Sound, lol. That's fishing for ya! Really hard to stay vertical with the Terrova out of the water 50% of the time

Haha Lew! HF I was in the same 'boat' as you are in. I have a 70's 18ft Crestliner side console with a 45hp power tilt 2 stroke main and a 5hp 4-stroke 1cyl kicker. 2 huge batteries aft along with kicker with 5 gal gas tank. The 5hp kicker is just fine for my application. Had to use it once when the main developed an intake leak so I shut er down before ? happened. Got back after 3/4 hour full throttle but made good progress in a chop. Went a few miles at least. The 5hp trolls down very slow but my electric is perfect for dead calm days.

I ran a 9.9 Evinrude on the back of my 80's 18' Sylvan, identical hull to a Starcraft, no problem getting back to the launch if my big motor had a problem and plenty slow enough for Pickeral trolling. It was a 2 stroke, just watch that you don't get too much weight on the transom if going to a 4 stroke, those old narrower hulls were designed when motors were a lot lighter.

Hack, your boat is like this one? https://forums.iboats.com/forum/owners-groups-by-manufacturer/s/starcraft-boats/648918-1974-starcraft-16-ft-super-sport In my youth I used my dad's 5hp motor on camp and rental boats, bare bones aluminum ones, 16 footers, I wasn't going anywhere fast, but it beat the heck out of rowing! Just my view? For a boat as pictured a 9.9 minimum? The boat pictured has to weigh x2 of those camp and rental boats? Not sure how slow you really need to troll, I trolled for walleyes, pike, smallies with my 35hp Merc on a 16'8" side console and speed was never an issue, with a 60hp or more maybe?

I have a 4 horse that I put on the back of my 18 footer when travelling to the East arm of Great Slave in case I have any issues with the main. With the 4 horse my boat tops out at 7 MPH but it pushes it along quite well.

Nice shooting Mr B!

perseverance pays off - nice going!

I used to troll with my 50 when I had the 16 footer. You can use drift socks or buckets with holes drilled in them to slow you down more if you need to, or a trolling plate. You could also consider a 24 volt electric for trolling dead slow. I'd be aware of weight - both from a transom perspective (what can it safely support) and an impact to your clearance from the waterline. I have a 18 ftr with a 115 and a 20 (both 4 stokes which are heavier) . The 20 only weighs 10 more lbs than a 10. I got a steal of a deal on it (it was actually cheaper than the 9 I was originally looking at). Its a little heavier than I would like and required a bit of ballast up front to offset the weight. You may want to consider a small kicker (5 hp or less) and a VHF DSC radio. I used my 20 to get me home once. I can't say I would count on it if things turned nasty and my main failed - I'd be on the radio.

I used to have a 16' Crestliner and put a 6 HP Merc on the back for a kicker and although it was great for trolling it didn't have the power to turn the boat fast in a strong wind.

I would think a 9.9 or 15 would do the trick. You have to take the wind into consideration as well.

patience rewarded! Good for you. Not sure how you go 11 for 8 though...couple double headers I guess?

Nice day to be out after whitefish. Got our 4 and enjoyed calm seas, nice sun and few equipment quirks. Going to use Doug's aka Shag's smoking recipe on my two. Can't wait to enjoy smoked whitefish. BB not sure where you've read there aren't any lakers left in Simcoe. Seems only old ones that aren't reproducing are left though. Didn't see any caught today but maybe Terry or you got into some as in the past? If so any young ones say under 4-5lbs?

Ice is finally gone. Just messing around from shore for pike and bass. Bass still deep, coming shallow(er) to feed, pike in shallow and very active, good fun. Slip bobbers and LARGE minnows.

Got the hard part done. The rest should be pretty easy.

Looking good Brian Art

Dinner is served Made a sweet chille, housin and cucumber dressing. Drizzled on top of fish I am stuffed