Lilly Pads And Boats?

[nicksmurf111]

Ok, dumb noobe question...what do you do about powering through lilly pads?  I've seen various places in the past where you can launch a boat in lilly pads.  The lake I've been fishing/hunting at recently has acres of pads in one of the coves.  I fished it the other day and did pretty well.  When I'm hunting there in the fall, the pads are thick and wrap around the outboard.  I need to lift the motor out for them to fall off.  A little information, I have a 12ft aluminum row boat with a 9.9 short shaft.  I haven't purchased a trolling motor yet.  I plan to get a slightly larger boat for hunting because it's not ideal to fit 2 adults in a boat this small...but a 9.9 is sure fun an a little 12ft boat.  I think I will be building a pole with a foot on it to position the boat while hunting, but that wouldn't help much bass fishing.

 

Do people take bass boats through pads or avoid them?

 

Are the weedless trolling motors really that weedless?

 

Although I doubt I'll get one any time soon, does vegetation clog up a jet drive lower unit?

 

Is it even appropriate to disturb pads?

[flyfisher]

I wouldn't motor through them and trolling motors usually get through them ok but you have to pick your way through if they are really thick.  As far as jet drives go, yes, they will clog up with vegetation pretty easily.  best thing to do is to get to your spot cut the motor and use your trolling motor.  idling around with a jet in vegetation will definitely make you have to unclog the intake which on an outboard isn't too bad but on an inboard can be a little more difficult.

[Fisher-O-men]

Trouble can happen when the intake water ports get junk sucked up to them.  No water = heat!

[Catt]

First question; can you tilt your motor up & down by hand without out it locking in the up position?

I fish shallow water marshes of southwest Louisiana in 16' x 52" Alweld with a 40 hp Tohatsu 4 stroke & on occasion I have to trim up to clear the prop.

With smaller outboards we simply chop the throttle, tilt it up, drop it back down, & hit the gas.

[zachb34]

We do it all the time on Okeechobee. Its dangerous if you don't know the depth but if it's deep enough we get on plane and keep going. Always watch to make sure the motor is still taking water and if it isn't, shut it down. My advice may not be the greatest or most excepted piece of advice but it's pretty common down here. Take it with a grain of salt I guess.

[zachb34]

When we do happen to get stuck we throw it in reverse then forward. If that doesn't work you have to pull the motor up and clear the prop. If it gets too thick we use a push pole.

[nicksmurf111]

Thanks for the comments.

 

First question; can you tilt your motor up & down by hand without out it locking in the up position?

 

Yes, with two hands if I'm careful and remember where the latch is.  Unlock on the left, lift the motor with the left hand and unlatch with the right if I raise it all the way out.

 

 

We do it all the time on Okeechobee. Its dangerous if you don't know the depth but if it's deep enough we get on plane and keep going. Always watch to make sure the motor is still taking water and if it isn't, shut it down.

 

I've thought about keeping on plane, but I can't tell if there are any shallow ledges.

 

I'm running a 35 year old Chrysler (same as the 90's Forces that Mercury eventually bought out) right now and it doesn't have a water indicator.  You literally need to reach around or look around to check the upper exhaust ports.  If they are dry, then you are clogged.  I've only clogged it in mud with a bad impeller once; I switched to a spare lower end.  I need to pick up a spare impeller if I continue running this engine...part supplies are drying up.

 

 

When we do happen to get stuck we throw it in reverse then forward. If that doesn't work you have to pull the motor up and clear the prop. If it gets too thick we use a push pole.

 

Do you have any specific foot on your pole?  I was thinking of building a hinge, but I know they sell them.  I do basic steel fabrication at home.

[zachb34]

I actually don't use a "specific" push pole. I have a power pole micro on my boat, and when I'm really stuck, I just use that. Works great unless the mud is soft enough to go down about 8 feet.

[Chief 2]

When you get your TM purchase a Ninja Blade for it There is a vendor on here that sells them. That is the best thing I have bought to deal with the weeds around my TM.

[nicksmurf111]

When you get your TM purchase a Ninja Blade for it There is a vendor on here that sells them. That is the best thing I have bought to deal with the weeds around my TM.

 

That's an interesting product.  I'm not sure why you would make a blade out of aluminum though.

[Catt]

The key is to keep your forward momentum going, when you shift from forward to reverse & back to forward you must stop first.

I simply kill the throttle, lift the engine while still in gear, the spinning props slings the pads off; I then drop the engine back down & accelerate never dropping off plan. Since your engine has a lock that locks it in the up position it is not possible to perform this maneuver.

As for the push pole you will not find a better "head" than the duck bill.

You will find the Minn Kota big two bladed prop is better than the Ninja.

[nicksmurf111]

As for the push pole you will not find a better "head" than the duck bill.

 

After reading the reviews for the BPS and Academy for the store brand ones, it looks like they aren't worth buying.  I'll just have to make one before hunting season.  I'll probably keep to that design though.

[RoLo]

“Do people take bass boats through pads or avoid them?”

You can run a bass boat through the pads, but you're not running a bass boat.

For years, I hunted and fished from a 12-foot boat with 9.9 HP.

I always ran around the perimeter of pad beds I didn’t intend to hunt or fish.

However, if a pad bed was my fishing destination (often the case), then I was going headlong into the pads.

The 9.9 Sportwin was a legend in its time, but 10 hp is simply not enough for chopping-up pad stalks.

Frequent stops will be necessary to clean off the prop.

 

Different boaters use different methods for negotiating pad-fields, but there are a few constants.

When the motor shaft is perpendicular to the waterline (parallel to the transom), it's in position to quickly

spool-up plant stems. As a result, before entering a pad-bed I'll always 'Trim' the motor UP until the shaft

enters the lower end of the 'Tilt' range. At about 25 deg off perpendicular, the prop is now less efficient

at spooling-up weed stems, and more efficient at laying down plant stalks so the boat can skate over the pads.

Over time of course, weeds will still shroud the hub, but 90% of the time those weeds can be blown off

without ever touching the propeller (4 easy steps):

> Lower the motor until it’s parallel with the transom (perpendicular to the waterline)

> Shift the trans lever into Reverse

> Run full throttle for about 1 second

            (Weeds blown off the prop will be seen floating on both sides of the hull).

> Remember to Trim the motor back UP into the Tilt zone (about 25 deg off perpendicular)

 

 

“Are the weedless trolling motors really that weedless?”

A Minn Kota with a Digital Maximizer and weedless Wedge2 Propeller will run indefinitely through lily pads

(to facilitate weed penetration, use the treadle to rock the shaft left & right as you travel). On the downside, the forward progress

made with the electric motor is much slower than the forward progress made with the gas motor.

I generally use a combination of both: the gas motor for long moves, the electric motor for short moves.

In a 12 ft rowboat though, I would lose the electric motor and 12-volt battery (unnecessary weight).

 

Roger

[Catt]

After reading the reviews for the BPS and Academy for the store brand ones, it looks like they aren't worth buying. I'll just have to make one before hunting season. I'll probably keep to that design though.

Most people do not know how to use a push pole!

As for avoiding lily pads, down here you can not avoid running though them because they are every where outside of the boat trails.

[nicksmurf111]

Thank you, Roger.  Your answers affirm that I'm not crazy.

[CWB]

I put my Maxxum on 100% and plow through the thickest junk out there. I usually stop and cast all around the boat and then hit the Maxxum and move about 2 casts away and repeat. Had a Motorguide and tried the Ninja (not very good), then the Hydrilla Hacker (believe it or not even worse), and exchanged the T.M. for a Maxxum. The Weedless Wedge prop is by far the best I have used. Bought an Endura transom mount for my son for use on our jonboat. Works pretty good also and works better if you mount it up front. Just my 2 cents.

[tomustang]

It helps to have a 36v minn kota, I just spear them through

[Catt]

CWB, I have a 55# Riptide with a Weedless Wedge 2 on my 16' Alweld, it eats lily pads & hydrilla.

Don't Doug Hannon invent the wedge?

[Chief 2]

I put my Maxxum on 100% and plow through the thickest junk out there. I usually stop and cast all around the boat and then hit the Maxxum and move about 2 casts away and repeat. Had a Motorguide and tried the Ninja (not very good), then the Hydrilla Hacker (believe it or not even worse), and exchanged the T.M. for a Maxxum. The Weedless Wedge prop is by far the best I have used. Bought an Endura transom mount for my son for use on our jonboat. Works pretty good also and works better if you mount it up front. Just my 2 cents.

 

I only have a MK 45 lb thrust TM on my boat and with the Ninja I can hack through some of the toughest lily pads and weeds Florida fishing has to offer. Don't know why you didn't have a good experience with it.

[CWB]

CWB, I have a 55# Riptide with a Weedless Wedge 2 on my 16' Alweld, it eats lily pads & hydrilla.

Don't Doug Hannon invent the wedge?

I'm not sure Catt but I still have one of the original props he did invent and an adapter for an older M.K. motor. Cant remember what it is called but it had small blades.

He is surely missed.

 

Chief- Try going through solid milfoil and pads. I mean solid.That's what I run through, not just pads, which alone are relatively easy to get through. Both props on my M.G fouled within a foot or two. I think the difference is the Ninja and Hacker try to actually cut the weeds while the Wedge pushes them out of the way. I could be wrong though. Guys on my lake with M.G.'s stay out of the really thick stuff that I just plow through. I do get guys look at me like I'm nuts, which I am.