Small boat on the "BIG" Water?

[jbsteel]

I have a 16' Mirror Craft Troller. I am heading to Ludington this weekend to try for Salmon on the Big Pond (weather permitting). I know there are many charter boats out there, but I was wondering how many of you fish Lake Michigan (or Huron for that matter) in a small boat (15', 16', 18', etc)? How well do you handle the waves? How far out do you venture? Any advice would be helpful.

[adjusted3]

17' Lund, 140hp 4 stroke,

I pick and chose my days but have no issues in 2-4. I have ventured out max 27 miles and will not think twice about running 20 on the right days. I alway have an ear to the weather, watch the conditions and will not take undue risks.

Yes I have been caught out there on more then one occasion. I worked my way in once in 9's (no joke) with soiled paints and PFD's on but took my time and picked my way thru them. Just make sure you have good electonics, a great radio and the required safety equipment on board.

Again, read the first sentance, I pick and choose my days.

Mark

[jstfish48162]

a high quality compass is priceless when it is foggy.

[adjusted3]

JST,

I agree... A compass is your best friend. I have a Chart plotter on board that cost me my 2nd born, but I always carry a handheld compass ($14.95) for a back-up. you never know!!!

You are right on target!

MARK

[roger23]

watch the weather You will be ok don't be hard headed like me and stay out to long when you see weather coming . make sure you have a good radio .the hand held compass is a must I don't care how many GPS's you have when all that fancy stuff takes a ***** only when you really need it,;)

[HuRon]

I've got a 16' Smokercraft w/50hp. Fished every great lake except Lake Ontario with it. Likes been said, watch the weather. I've got a bow cover on mine, which helps. Open bow isn't good in rough weather. GPS (2 of them), compass's (2), radio, cell phone, bailing bucket, sea anchor, spotlights, flashlights, batteries, spark plugs,tools,gas. Everything & a backup for everything. All coastguard safety equip. too, of course. Hope to up grade to a bigger boat next year, though.

[myers0729]

Me and my brother fish out of Tawas and we have a 310 quick silver raft which is 10 feet long and has a 15 h.p. johnson on it. We take the raft all over from tawas to oscoda and harrisville and we also have been caught in the fog and 6 to 8 footers. But like the others say have equipment aboard and watch the weather and you will be fine. Our handheld chartplotter has saved our butts many a time.

[bluekim7]

Same as everyone else says about pick your days. I have a 16 ft sylvan that I take on Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. I usually stay withing 5 miles of shore since I only have a 28 Johnson on it. I just wait until the Salmon come in closer to stage and then try my luck with them.

[CaptainNorthwood]

I have a smaller boat and the only place I fish is Drummond Island and Presque Isle, mostly because thats where our cabins are and you can get to deep water fast, and get in from deep water Fast. Getting out isn't as important as getting in!!!!:lol:

[jsmith2232]

2 years ago i had a smoker craft 14' with a 40 on it and put on 285 miles salmon fishing in one summer on the big lake, i even made the run from holland to port sheldon with it. I have a 17.5 foot crestliner now with a 70 on it and hit it last week thursday with 4-6 footers, 15-20 mph out of the west, it was rough but we still got out to 90 foot of water, remember rollers are alot better then chop.

[jbsteel]

I appreciate everyones helpful advice. I checked weather.com and it looks like smooth sailing for the weekend. 5 - 10 mph winds W to WSW, slight possibility of scattered T Storms. I will be heading out in my 16' mirro craft with a 40 HP Evenrude E-Tech. I have been out on Saginaw Bay in 2 footers. I like the idea of the bow cover, I will have to look into that one. I have a handheld GPS with plenty of batteries, but I will be buying a compass on my way to Ludington this afternoon. I also bought an extra 6 gallon gass tank, now I have a 12 gal. capacity.
I always carry PFD's, flares, cell phone in zip-lock, 2 fish finders, two 12 volt batteries, fire extinguisher, first aid kit, etc.
I will look into getting a marine radio too, maybe even a handheld one.
We plan on fishing fairly close to shore. I won't be heading 20 miles out! I think I'll do just fine.
Again, thanks for all the advice. I will post a complete report with photos when I get back on Sunday. Tight Lines.

[ALLEYES]

A marine radio is a must IMO.

[limige]

A marine radio is a must IMO.
i second that, wouldn't hit the lake without one..period.

[jsmith2232]

check out www.weatherunderground.com (http://www.weatherunderground.com) for a hourly breakdown of the weather, they are usually really close.

[gunrod]

check out www.weatherunderground.com (http://www.weatherunderground.com) for a hourly breakdown of the weather, they are usually really close.

They're close a day or two before but have been horrible if you are trying to plan a week out. They change it about 48 hours before in my experience.

I use my 17' 60hp on Erie all the time. I've been out as far as 7.5 and the only reason I haven't made it farther is I usually run out of time. I feel safe down here because of all the nearby launches and I'm not sure how I feel about Lake Michigan or Lake Huron yet. As time goes on I'm sure I'll be out in Lk. Mich. soon.

[limige]

MI is worst than huron for the most part.
i use the greatmich site for links to weather
http://www.greatmich.com/greatmarine.htm

[jbsteel]

Check out my report on big water reports. We managed to get out on Sunday morning (Ludington). We went about 4 miles out. I will be getting a marine radio however. I agree it is a necessity. Thanks again.

[spendit]

Another thing to assure is working before you need it, is the lights. Us small boat guys are not always easily seen (pre dusk or dawn) and more then once I have almost been run over by the larger guys:yikes:

Put your net up in a holder for others to see you in waves helps too.

Best thing is to pay attention, because many are not looking for the smaller guys out there. I have been 25 miles out in my 17' but only on the days I know the weather is stable - read the weather reports.

[syonker]

I fish out of White Lake in a Starcraft SF14LW with a Honda 15.

It has all of the safety equipment mentioned in previous posts & I wear a self-inflating PFD with an engine tether kill switch attached.

My bride has a float plan & I always call once I'm feet dry. I also try not to be the first out or the last one back in.

I even had a buddy call me from his work on my cell phone warning me about bad weather coming based on an Internet radar weather image.

I pick my days and have been turned back at the ramp more than once because the weather forecast has changed.

I typically fish the 50-125 FOW range, but once on a perfect weather day when the fish weren't cooperating I nosed her out to 200 FOW, but I promptly trolled back to 125'.

I'm a firm believer that their is no reason to repeat the coho storm of 09-23-67 on Platte Bay.

[dtg]

My brother and I used to own a 16' Starcraft Walleye type boat with a 50hp O/B rigged for Salmon and we went out on Lake MI all the time. I never once felt unsafe. 1-3' no problem, I did go out on some 6' rollers and felt very safe, keep in mind these were rollers and NOT waves. We did venture out into the Big pond via White Lake and found 6' WAVES and it took some finessing to get her turned around to come back in. That made me a bit uncomfortable.

[Far Beyond Driven]

I have fished with SYonker and he has fished with me in my 14' as well. Mine has a bit more beam and depth but with a 15 horse is a little slower. Slow is not good when you need to get in in a hurry.

We got caught off Muskegon last year knowing full well a front was coming in. Had to get that last fish (took 2 trying to pull lines - was about ready to hack them off). It went from oil slick calm to OMG in about 20 minutes, and was approaching *** by the time we entered port. In my 215 we would have kept fishing, but in the 14' it was quite hairy.

Learn to read the waves as well. Two weekends ago we fished my 215 in 5' waves, big and evenly spaced, and had no issues. I've fished the 14' in front of the harbor in 4' swells with no sharp edges and big spacing and other than almost barfing we fished just fine. I've had tight packed 2-2.5' chop and turned my 4000# 260 Hp Four Winns around as boat control was a nightmare.

FBD, Holland, MI

[Oldgrandman]

Well somebody from a 25 footer is lost out on lake Michigan right now, hope it isn't going to be a tragedy for some family.
Small-big makes no matter if you do not keep an eye to the sky and use caution and common sense out there. I learned what threatening weather blowing in fast is like in a hurry, it is the subtle changes you need to be aware of, not waiting until the 5 footers are on top of you. The reports are just wrong some times.

[MichiganMike5]

We fish reguarly out of Grand Haven and Muskegon from our 18' Lund and have been to 300fow several times. One piece of equipment that many view as a piece of trolling equipment but can help save ya on the big pond is a sea anchor or drift sock. We towed in a 21' Bayliner last year, out of Muskegon, The 2 guys and their teen sons had the poor luck of losing power on a very foggy day, they didnt have enough anchor line to reach bottom and no way of controlling their drift much less anchoring in one spot. after they made several requests for someone to help without success, the wife and I pulled lines and went looking for them, the trouble we we ran into was that their GPS coordinates kept changing as they continued to drift farther and farther to the NNW and the fog was very thick in places. We finally found them and had a very slow 6 mile ride back to the harbor. A sea anchor or drift sock would've made it much easier to find them, Luckily, they had a good marine radio that allowed us to stay in contact while locating them.

Mike

[chuckinduck]

People always tell me I'm crazy for heading onto the big pond in a small craft. I always pick my days, if its rough, its not happening. Northwood and I have a 14 mirrocraft with a 25 HP merc. Its outfitted with a marine radio and GPS and plenty of back up supplies. Its been clocked at 26mph with 3 guys and gear. I have no worries about going out and fishing the big lake in it. If something should kick up, we can get in to shore fast. That being said, we also pick perfect days and don't head out to far. You take chances no matter where you fish or what you fish in, the key is to minimize those risks by using your best piece of equipment, Your brain.

[Sin_X]

Been reading responses, the bow cover is a great idea. I'll have to take it off the shelf in the garage and put it in my boat. I have a 17.5 foot smoker craft that has a mid-vee so I have to pick and choose my days. anything over 3's start coming over the bow. I recently install a good radio and GPS and have always had a good compass. Hope to be able to get out of Manistee a few times this year, last year had to turn around due to weather both times I tried.