Only owning my 1976 16.5' holiday for a few months I am still learning the qualities of my new girl.
Yesterday morning started out rainy with light winds. Rain started to let up, and I needed to stock up on perch for the long winter ahead. Checked the weather and figured I had a four to five hour window of ok fishing weather.
Grabed the boat, my father and some bait. Went down to a nearby boat ramp. The lake (Lake Erie) looked pretty flat. As we got aprox a mile out I was supprised by the hieght of the rollers.
Lake Erie usually has waves spaced very close together & steep in pitch. On this day the waves were best described as swells. Very simular to the ocean, Aprox 3' high and spaced about 40' apart peak to peak. This was very strange, but made for decent fishing. (Swells left over from two previous days of consistant breez.)
In three hours we caught over sixty perch. Often bringing in two or three fish at a time using three hook "Crappie rigs". We only boxed fourty of the larger ones.
Clouds grew darker and more ominous. Then the front hit, 5-10 mph winds instantly grew to 25mph. With plenty of fish on board it was time to go. In the 10 minuets it took to secure our gear and pull anchor the seas grew. The swells were now about 4-4.5' tall. And now on top of the swells we had the more typical Lake Erie chop. Steep 2-3 footers running about 90 degrees perpendicular to the swells. I have raced sailboats in Lake Erie for over 25 years. Although this was not even close to my worst day on the lake, it was very strange.
The 65 hp merc started with out problem and we headed in. We were getting seas from what seemed like all directions. At about 4000rpm we were moving at 17mph. The boat handled very well. The boat did not produce any spay, and was very much in control.
In these parts older wooden Lyman's and Cris Crafts are ledgendary for their abillity in heavy seas. I can't speak on those crafts, but I can say that my little aluminum Starcraft handled very well. Every day I appreciate my Starcraft more and my confidence in her builds.
Redjet703
Redjet703
Yesterday morning started out rainy with light winds. Rain started to let up, and I needed to stock up on perch for the long winter ahead. Checked the weather and figured I had a four to five hour window of ok fishing weather.
Grabed the boat, my father and some bait. Went down to a nearby boat ramp. The lake (Lake Erie) looked pretty flat. As we got aprox a mile out I was supprised by the hieght of the rollers.
Lake Erie usually has waves spaced very close together & steep in pitch. On this day the waves were best described as swells. Very simular to the ocean, Aprox 3' high and spaced about 40' apart peak to peak. This was very strange, but made for decent fishing. (Swells left over from two previous days of consistant breez.)
In three hours we caught over sixty perch. Often bringing in two or three fish at a time using three hook "Crappie rigs". We only boxed fourty of the larger ones.
Clouds grew darker and more ominous. Then the front hit, 5-10 mph winds instantly grew to 25mph. With plenty of fish on board it was time to go. In the 10 minuets it took to secure our gear and pull anchor the seas grew. The swells were now about 4-4.5' tall. And now on top of the swells we had the more typical Lake Erie chop. Steep 2-3 footers running about 90 degrees perpendicular to the swells. I have raced sailboats in Lake Erie for over 25 years. Although this was not even close to my worst day on the lake, it was very strange.
The 65 hp merc started with out problem and we headed in. We were getting seas from what seemed like all directions. At about 4000rpm we were moving at 17mph. The boat handled very well. The boat did not produce any spay, and was very much in control.
In these parts older wooden Lyman's and Cris Crafts are ledgendary for their abillity in heavy seas. I can't speak on those crafts, but I can say that my little aluminum Starcraft handled very well. Every day I appreciate my Starcraft more and my confidence in her builds.
Redjet703
Redjet703
