It's Still Way Too Hot Out

[Koz]

Now that I finally have a trailer for my kayak and a new SUV to pull it, I'm no longer bound to fishing near my hotel and storing my kayak there. So last week I took a couple of hours off in the morning and launched at Cosby's Landing on Lake Sinclair. The weather was iffy, so I didn't fish long and stayed within a mile of the launch. I fished for an hour or so, didn't catch anything, and didn't even see much of anything on my electronics.

 

I was fishing the shallows and vegetation. It looks like a place to target in the spring.

 

Today I headed back to Sinclair and launched at the Dennis Station ramp where we launched for our MLF event earlier this year. I caught two small ones on topwater early on right in the creek channel where the ramp is located. Then I pushed into four different coves and was fishing 3ft - 8ft of water and there was absolutely nothing. The area has tons of downed trees in sunny and shady areas but there were no takers. I even pedaled over those areas and picked up nothing on side imaging, down imaging, or 2D. I'm guessing it's the lack of oxygenation in the area this time of year. 

 

Sure, I'd like to fish more dropoffs further off shore, but it's no fun being in open water in a kayak on a weekend. There's tons of pontoon boat and jet ski traffic and I just don't have the patience for that anymore.

 

I moved to deeper water outside one of the coves and my electronics lit up with tons of fish and baitfish. The water was 24 feet deep and the fish were active between 6 and 17 feet. This is where packing light for the day may have got me. I had no deep cranks, lipless cranks, or spoons packed today. Nor did I have an umbrella rig. Or a big swimbait. My guess was these were probably stripers, and it would have been nice to catch a big one of those as well.

 

There are some other areas nearby that launch that look interesting so I'll head out there again. I'll also head out there earlier next time, probably before first light. I didn't launch until almost 8 am today.

 

I stayed out for less than 3 hours because it just got too dang hot out there, especially pedaling around in my kayak. I think this will be my last season kayaking. It wears me out in the heat and I'd just like to cover more water. With this heat it wears me out loading everything up at the end of the day.

 

Right now I'm eyeing a 17 foot Lowe Stinger or a Lowe Skorpion. While I'd like a bigger boat or a fiberglass boat, the towing capacity on my Bronco Sport is limited. I like my Bronco and I have no plans to trade it in for a more powerful towing vehicle.

 

But the good news is that with my trailer I hope to finally start fishing more again. I had basically stopped fishing for months because my kayak was stored at my hotel and every time I went there to fish I got sucked into work. 

[Bird]

Talked to several fisherman this weekend who have completely given up due to the heat.

Gotta admit, August is tough.

 

Won't your Bronco comfortably tow a 17ft Stinger ?

[GreenPig]

Can you get out after dark? It's a little cooler, fraction of the boat traffic, and the fish are more willing to hit. Trailer looks good.

[gim]

Not much relief for the sun belt on the horizon either. And hurricane season is up next.

 

All of the sudden the land of snow and ice in the north doesn’t seem so bad.

[TnRiver46]

1 hour ago, Bird said:

Talked to several fisherman this weekend who have completely given up due to the heat.

Gotta admit, August is tough.

 

Won't your Bronco comfortably tow a 17ft Stinger ?

It sure will. I think he said he wanted a bigger fiberglass but didn’t want tow that so looking at the lowe 

[Bird]

@TnRiver46

Gotcha 

[flatcreek]

“To everything turn,turn, turn 

To everything there is a season turn, turn,turn “

[Glenn]

Ok, now THAT'S a lyric I wasn't expecting.  Dang it. Now it's stuck in my head!

 

Back on topic: I'd much rather deal with hot weather than snow, ice, freezing rain, hail, etc.

[Koz]

6 hours ago, Bird said:

Won't your Bronco comfortably tow a 17ft Stinger ?

 

I have a maximum tow capacity of 2,200 pounds so I can tow both the Stinger 178 and the Stinger 175C. Ideally. I don't want to push that limit and overwork my transmission.

 

Obviously, there's a big price difference between the two (about $10k). So what it might come down to is what features I want to add, say a spot lock trolling motor and a live target system.

 

Knowing me, I'll spend all winter listing different boats and options on spreadsheets and overanalyzing everything. I'm also going to be asking a ton of questions here on BR.

1 hour ago, Glenn said:

Back on topic: I'd much rather deal with hot weather than snow, ice, freezing rain, hail, etc.

 

The heat index got up to 113 today. There's hot and there's no way I'm goping to bake on the lake in this weather ?

5 hours ago, GreenPig said:

Can you get out after dark? It's a little cooler, fraction of the boat traffic, and the fish are more willing to hit. Trailer looks good.

On Oconee I have been out there at 3 am because I'm familiar with the areas I am fishing. These are the first times I am getting out on Sinclair. I wouldn't be comfortable going out there at night until I familiarized myself with that part of the lake. My maps can show me the coastline, but not where all of the trees and stumps are.

 

Plus, it's really creepy out there on a kayak after dark! I need to be in the right frame of mind to go out there. 

[Blue Raider Bob]

13 hours ago, gimruis said:

Not much relief for the sun belt on the horizon either. And hurricane season is up next.

 

All of the sudden the land of snow and ice in the north doesn’t seem so bad.

      You are spot on with this! I tried it yesterday and ended up going home after five hours even though I fish under an umbrella. The heat and humidity were oppressive......that and the fact that I couldn't hardly catch anything except for a few dinks and one really fat Blue Cat. Either she was full of eggs or she wiped out an entire Shad year class!

      Wish I could spend summers on Katie's bogs and winters on the Tennessee river.

 

 

[gim]

2 hours ago, Blue Raider Bob said:

and one really fat Blue Cat.

No kidding that thing clearly ate something large recently.

11 hours ago, Koz said:

I have a maximum tow capacity of 2,200 pounds so I can tow both the Stinger 178 and the Stinger 175C. Ideally. I don't want to push that limit and overwork my transmission.

The Lowe Stinger 175 weights 1050 pounds, boat only. If that's all you were towing, then you'd be fine.

 

Unfortunately, you have to add a motor (max 75 hp), a trailer, gasoline, and your gear.  If the max towing capacity of your Bronco is only 2200 pounds, you are definitely going to be pushing the limit, if not already over capacity.  I'd highly advise against it.

[Koz]

30 minutes ago, gimruis said:

No kidding that thing clearly ate something large recently.

The Lowe Stinger 175 weights 1050 pounds, boat only. If that's all you were towing, then you'd be fine.

 

Unfortunately, you have to add a motor (max 75 hp), a trailer, gasoline, and your gear.  If the max towing capacity of your Bronco is only 2200 pounds, you are definitely going to be pushing the limit, if not already over capacity.  I'd highly advise against it.

The load out on the 175c is about 1700 pounds. I’m not sure about the 178.

[gim]

7 minutes ago, Koz said:

The load out on the 175c is about 1700 pounds.

I'm not sure where you're seeing that.  Their website says "boat weight" is 1055 pounds.  That is the boat ONLY.

 

https://www.loweboats.com/fishing/mod-v/stinger5-bass-boats/stinger-175.html

[Koz]

56 minutes ago, gimruis said:

I'm not sure where you're seeing that.  Their website says "boat weight" is 1055 pounds.  That is the boat ONLY.

 

https://www.loweboats.com/fishing/mod-v/stinger5-bass-boats/stinger-175.html

The load out includes the boat, trailer, motor, spare tire, and an estimate of on board gear and tackle. I found the number on some marine dealer websites.

[gim]

2 minutes ago, Koz said:

The load out includes the boat, trailer, motor, spare tire, and an estimate of on board gear and tackle. I found the number on some marine dealer websites.

I'd be shocked if an outboard, trailer, gasoline, and gear only weighed 645 pounds.  Whoever is doing the math on that one needs to go back and add again.  A 75 hp 4-stroke outboard is almost 400 pounds alone.

 

Bottom line, that whole setup is well over 1700 pounds combined.  I have the same size boat in a Ranger and mine is 3500 pounds.  I would think twice about hooking up a boat like that to a vehicle that has a max rating of 2200 pounds.

[GreenPig]

A jon boat is fairly light and easy to tow.

[MN Fisher]

Ya, Bass Trek comes in at just over 1100lbs total sitting on the trailer with a full load.

[TnRiver46]

5 hours ago, Blue Raider Bob said:

      You are spot on with this! I tried it yesterday and ended up going home after five hours even though I fish under an umbrella. The heat and humidity were oppressive......that and the fact that I couldn't hardly catch anything except for a few dinks and one really fat Blue Cat. Either she was full of eggs or she wiped out an entire Shad year class!

      Wish I could spend summers on Katie's bogs and winters on the Tennessee river.

 

 

I’ve cut them open like that and they were full of mussels 

[Koz]

2 hours ago, gimruis said:

I'd be shocked if an outboard, trailer, gasoline, and gear only weighed 645 pounds.  Whoever is doing the math on that one needs to go back and add again.  A 75 hp 4-stroke outboard is almost 400 pounds alone.

 

Bottom line, that whole setup is well over 1700 pounds combined.  I have the same size boat in a Ranger and mine is 3500 pounds.  I would think twice about hooking up a boat like that to a vehicle that has a max rating of 2200 pounds.

That's why I'll get the details and do the math. Another example is the Tracker Pro 170. It has an average package weight of 1840 pounds. On the Lowe 175C the motor options are 25HP and 60HP. The 60HP is about 250 pounds.

2 hours ago, GreenPig said:

A jon boat is fairly light and easy to tow.

 

While I initially considered a jon boat, I plan to keep tournament fishing in the future.

[Darth-Baiter]

@MN Fisher  dude, I love your boat and what you have done to it.  one day, I will copy you.

 

but: you need a new pic of your boat :D.  lets see a new pic!! 

[MN Fisher]

DB - I'm taking it out Thursday...I'll take a few shots then.