wind help

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00 mod

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Another question... Did anyone notice how much easier it was to handle their jon in the wind once they put an outboard on it? Any other tips to keep it from blowing around so much! My other jon sat much lower in the water and didnt blow like my new one!
Jeff
 
I carry an anchor and tie off ropes (for trees). Don't use them often, but have on occasion.

Have you dropped your sail? Those pick up a lot of wind. :LOL2:
 
you can build a rudder out of 1/2" plywood... take a piece of 2x2 and cut and piece it back together so that you can just hang it off your transom.. then put a 12"x15" square rudder on the bottom

I used to do that a long time ago, but I haven't done it in years
 
wont that be the same thing as adding an outboard? I fish shallow water a lot, and my honey hole tends to be windy, but was hoping adding an ob would help some!
Jeff
 
If you are talking about stopping boat movement in the wind then a anchor or maybe 2 will do the trick. Drop one off the bow if anchored into the wind or current and one off the bow and the second off the rear to keep boat (straight) from moving
when sideways of the wind or current.

If you are talking about slowing down a drift the look here...

https://www.charkbait.com/cs/csd_sea_anchors.htm

Outdoorsman
 
00 mod said:
wont that be the same thing as adding an outboard? I fish shallow water a lot, and my honey hole tends to be windy, but was hoping adding an ob would help some!
Jeff


my bad.. I thought you meant when you didn't have an outboard on the boat.

I've seen guys take a 3-5gal bucket, drill holes in the side so water can pass through, then layer the bottom 6" with gravel rock
 
I'm not familiar with Jon boats, but I'll toss in my general idea of dealing with the wind.

First, when windy I like to go INTO the wind. You can't really do anything to be more precise than that. So a VERY powerful bow mount motor is a good idea. You can always turn it down, but you can't turn it up.

Run directly into the wind with the trolling motor. A strong motor can overcome some serious wave action.

If that doesn't work, I'll turn the boat around and use a kicker motor (or main engine) to go backwards into the wind. This is more precise than going forward into the wind. Usually in this case splash guards on the transom are a good idea because you can take on water when backtrolling in heavy winds.

The other option is to go forward, using the kicker or big motor, and the bow mount to correct the path. This requires an electric steer motor, and a wireless pedal setup could be nice to eliminate the cord, otherwise the M/K brand motors with electric steer have very long cables.


The other way is to setup one or two drift socks, from the transom, and let the wind carry you on a drift. You will be going away from the wind in this case. You will use the bow mount to make path corrections.
This way works when fishing alone and you can get away with one sock off the transom.
When positioning the boat for two or more people you almost need two socks. One attached in front and back to maintain a sideways drift.


IMO if it's really rough, I would look at a tree stand safety strap type of thing to attach to you, or your belt, and go around the fishing pedestal just in case. This is more something I've considered and will probably do for Musky fishing. I can't see doing any other kind of fishing where I'm still out when it's that windy.

A spike anchor or whatever you call them with some rope is a good idea. I use this in case I get blown into shallow water and need to STOP the boat before I get blown into a situation that is going to be VERY hard to get out of. This is for emergencies. You don't need a ton of rope because you will usually drop it once you are already in shallow water.


These are the things I've come up with because of a determination when buying my own boats to never be forced to get off the lake because of wind. Something I had to do growing up fishing with my father and brother.
 
Drift sock.

It is unbelievable how much they slow you down and you can fish going with the wind.
 
LonLB said:
IMO if it's really rough, I would look at a tree stand safety strap type of thing to attach to you, or your belt, and go around the fishing pedestal just in case.

I STRONGLY suggest that you never tie yourself to the boat - especially in a high wind. The last place you want to be is tied under a boat that is capsized. Do not think that even a harness with a quick release will save you as you could very well be knocked unconscious and thus unable to activate teh realse.

Wear a good life vest and when running use the shut off lanyard
 
Captain Ahab said:
LonLB said:
IMO if it's really rough, I would look at a tree stand safety strap type of thing to attach to you, or your belt, and go around the fishing pedestal just in case.

I STRONGLY suggest that you never tie yourself to the boat - especially in a high wind. The last place you want to be is tied under a boat that is capsized. Do not think that even a harness with a quick release will save you as you could very well be knocked unconscious and thus unable to activate teh realse.

Wear a good life vest and when running use the shut off lanyard

+10
 
Agree 100% with Captain Ahab. Think twice before securing yourself to the boat. I'd hate to be attached to my boat to only find it couldn't float and was sinking. Boat safety lines do have a use and purpose like rough seas or conditions were if you feel over the boat would drift away before you could swim to it. But don't jury rig a safety line buy a actual one that one end attaches to your lifejacket and the other end splits with one end attaching to the kill switch and the other end to the boat.
 
I'm not talking about when running guys. :|

When standing on a front deck and casting, waves that have no chance of swamping your boat, or capsizing it, can easily knock you out of the boat. Think 3-4 footers.
 
LonLB said:
I'm not talking about when running guys. :|

When standing on a front deck and casting, waves that have no chance of swamping your boat, or capsizing it, can easily knock you out of the boat. Think 3-4 footers.

Yeah -I understood that - All the more reason that you really do not want to tie yourself to the boat
 
Thanks for the replies! I was more or less concerned about stopping the arse end of the boat from whipping around in the wind when im up on the front deck and there is someone fishing in the rear! Maybe a drift sock would work....how much extra strain are they on your trolling motor to move spots?

I dont have an ob yet, so maybe that will help to have something sticking down in the water..... Might try the rudder this weekend to see if it helps before my ob gets out of the shop!
Jeff

PS...i have a 1648mv so im not to worried about falling overboard on my small lake fishing trips!
 
russ010 said:
00 mod said:
wont that be the same thing as adding an outboard? I fish shallow water a lot, and my honey hole tends to be windy, but was hoping adding an ob would help some!
Jeff


my bad.. I thought you meant when you didn't have an outboard on the boat.

I've seen guys take a 3-5gal bucket, drill holes in the side so water can pass through, then layer the bottom 6" with gravel rock


This sounds like a great idea, especially in the event it gets hung up on something... i'm not for polluting water streams with 5 gallon buckets full of gravel, but 5 gallon buckets are cheap and have multiple uses, less when they are filled with holes, but i like the idea :)
 

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