Wagoneer

Really 80lb floro? That seems really weak to me for a leader. I had 100lb in my hand the other day at the store and even that I really didn't think I would trust. I would be paranoid and have to check it over after every fish. Haha, here I am talking like I'll catch multiple fish... So don't bother running any of the lures close the bottom? How high is "up high"? Are we talking a foot from the surface or 4-5ft down? I like to run the split-body as the wash out lure, I find the heavy action makes them come up. But that's with pike, I assume musky are obviously very similar.

Don't worry about it, I get it. Gotta take the 'newb' flack for wanting to troll musky with medium action rods and reels.

I'm about a 1.5hr drive from hamilton but I regularly drive past all the time. thank you VERY much for the offer and I might take you up on that!

Holy, talk about a generous offer! I could never take it for free though!

I'd love to see one in it's natural habitat. Probably never will in an entire lifetime of exploring though.

Any boat that has enough power to get up on plane can warrant from one. Smaller and lighter boats actually have the best results. I'm not a light guy, and I don't like using a tiller extension, so it really helps to get the stern up out of the water and levelled out.

I'm always open to learn. Smart people learn from their mistakes, but a genius learns from the mistakes of others. Maybe I'll just start off with the downrigging equipment then.

Yep, exactly my thoughts just in less words

Why not? It's the exact setup that warrants a hydrofoil. Underpowered engine that has trouble getting the boat on plane with two people on board. If I had the trim on the lowest setting it would plane easily with two people but it wouldn't rev out and get anywhere near the top speed it should. If I put the trim up it would take a long time to plane but once it was on plane it would sit at the proper revs at WOT but it tended to porpoise in rough waters. The hydrofoil allows it to plane out in half the time (maybe even less, I'm not kidding) and allow me to run a higher trim without sacrificing plane time and I gained 3km/h in top speed. Plus the engine doesn't chug at WOT which makes it a heck of a lot more efficient. At 3/4 throttle running just over 20km/h I can squeeze out about 1.5L/hr out of this little thing. At full throttle it runs about 2.0L/hr. I'm not sure why there's such a weird array of negative/positive views on hydrofoils out there. There's a time and a place to use one, and for small underpowered stern-heavy boats, they're a life-safer. Almost every time you'll have faster planes with a higher top speed. If your boat already runs the proper revs at WOT, chances are good adding one will lessen your top speed. I guess their marketing for these things is a little misleading and people get angry when they think adding one on any setup with give you a higher top speed. That simply isn't true. My dad runs the full-size stingray on his 21' boat with 150hp evinrude. His stop speed went down by almost 5km/h, but he can basically plane at 1/3 throttle and stability and fuel efficiency went way up. So you basically have to decide what trade-offs you want.

I'm sure my dad and I will take another charter someday, I just want to take a stab at it on my own and see how it goes. I have no issues with supporting the local charters though!

Alright, I'll play game, you can be the judge if I'm worthy of further advide Wasn't really planning on this being a thread to show off my equipment though. Here is my musky-specific tackle. Not pictured are my leaders, and my large net. Line is suffix braided 40lb. Rods are Zebco Rhino medium action 6ft and an ugly stik medium action 6.5', both reels are quantum (sorry can't remember the model numbers). Both have good drag systems and I've never had an issue with efficiently pulling in large pike with them. Rod holders are Eagle Claw that are clamped to my transom. Fish finder is a Hummingbird fishin buddy 120. I also keep a 10lb anchor with 50ft of rope on board if I plan on casting. Boat is a Salter Mountaineer 360. Engine is a Suzuki DF6 four stroke with a stringray junior hydrofoil. I know hydrofoils are a well discussed topic but my views on them are that if you have an underpowered, light, small boat they are an absolutely asset. There's a certain point with boats where they hinder top-end performance and prop size and weight distribution become a better method of dealing with problems. I also have a 55lb trolling motor for lakes where gas engines aren't allowed. As you can see my entire setup is designed to be as portable and as versatile as possible. I like to head north and explore as many remote lakes as possible. I have a roof-top tent on my vehicle and a small camping orientated trailer with solar panels and a house battery which allows my base camp to be self-sustained for a week comfortably, two weeks if I stretch it. If anyones interested I can go further into this stuff but I know this is a fishing forum so I'll stick to that stuff. So that's basically it in a nutshell! I almost always practise catch and release but there's the odd time when I'm out on a trip that I'll clean a bass and fry it up.

And I appreciate all the suggestions/advice I can get. I'll have the trolling rods/reels with me if I have issues with getting the fish in. But that's pretty high hopes, if I even net one musky I'll be happy for my first time out.

Totally know what you mean. But I meant more like I like to feel the fish fight and work the rod rather than a heavy and stiff trolling rod and just simply reeling it in. I have heavier equipment as my dad and I down rig on lake erie, but in 12-14' of water I never saw the need to use it. I never troll very far behind the boat (nice thing about a small boat) and I can't say I've never had a fish not swim right off when I release it. I net it, take the hook out, snap a quick pic, then straight back in the water. Hopefully the whole process takes less than a minute for the sake of the fish. Hopefully alive and well for the next guy to catch it again

Good to see someone else knows the best local band in these parts! I've seen them live 8 times now. Their attitude hasn't changed since I started watching them in bars years ago in hamilton. Really down to earth guys!

Haha, I get this a lot. And it's understandable. When people hear "inflatable boat" their mind immediately pictures a pool toy. But in all honesty, I'd rather be out in the middle of the lake in my inflatable than a comparable size 12-16ft aluminium boat. The stability is unmatched because they're so buoyant. Mine is super heavy duty made from 1.2mm PVC (same spec PVC as the military RIBs) with double layering on the bottom and 5 rub strips that run the length of the boat. If I ever meet a musky that can rip through that I don't want to catch him I also have emergency training, run all the best safety gear and all my passengers and dogs wear their life jackets at all times. I appreciate your concern but like I said, I've spent a lot of time on lake erie with it and the weather can turn in less than 30min if the wind shifts and she did just fine getting me home safely every time. I'm okay with getting wet! And I've pulled in +40" pike many times. And I'm only running 40lb line because I like to use small-ish reels and rods. I don't like to just pile-drive them into the boat, the fight is half the fun! I've never broken 40lb line though. Only when I'm fishing for bass and accidenty hook a pike and I don't have a leader on. I'm not sure why a big net and big lures are a concern though? Are you talking about the hooks puncturing the boat? If that ever happens, I'll buy a lottery ticket right away. And I was thinking of trying out some 100lb flouro for leaders but I didn't think they were too leader-shy? Outlaw, from looking at maps of the lake, there doesn't seem to be too many spots that are 18' deep accept for the shipping channels?

When I'm travelling to a lake I always like listening to hard stuff like Monstertruck, Alter Bridge, or Dream Theatre. And of course all the classic rock bands. But on the boat I always turn on my acoustic live mix. Stuff like Chris Cornell, Myles Kennedy, Ian Thornley, Metallica with the symphony, alice in chains, stuff like that. I throw in a couple recent popular songs just to keep the girlfriend happy.

I'm planning a couple days of camping/fishing out of Mitchell's bay on Lake St. Clair. I've been doing a lot of research on the lake recently, but as with most chartered lakes, everyone seems to be very secretive about good spots. I did a charter with my dad a couple years ago but we got skunked as we went on the hottest day of the year and it was completely calm - worst conditions. I'm looking for some good spots out of mitchell's bay. I'll be trolling with 3 rods, two out to the side, one shallow in the middle close to the wash of the engine. Reels are freshly spooled with 40lb line and titanium leaders. That setup seems to have worked well for me before, but again, I've never trolled lake st. clair. So far I'm planning on finding some good structure and weeds and trolling the edge of it in 12' of water around 6-8km/h. One hard-bodied shad close the bottom, a bucktail around 6' and a split-body close the top in the wash of the engine. Once I find out what they're hitting I usually switch it up a bit as I go along. Is my action-plan along the the right lines so far? I'm just looking for specific spots I should head to that are known musky grounds. Takes the first few hours of guess work out of exploring the water. Keep in mind I just have a 12' solid floor inflatable with a 6hp that tops out just under 30km/h so I'm not looking to cross the lake or anything but I have lots of experience running in rough waters. I keep 20L of gas on board so I'm okay with travelling a good distance for some fish. I do have a fish finder and I do have GPS so I can do coordinates. Appreciate any help or tips you're willing to give! TIA