Navigaing?

[oneshot]

Ok how do you get around some places with heavy Timber? I get to some places I think should be Channel only to find it is 20 yards over.

My Boat is a 18/60 Aluminum Jon, with Tunnel and Stainless Steal Prop. Usually I get in tight places and just take my time and still bust a snag every so often.

oneshot

[fishinwrench]

You just have to take it slow and easy at first. There's no shortcuts to learning to navigate a cove or creek arm full of wood.

You just have to put in your time and pay your dues before you can go flying through heavily wooded areas with any degree of confidence.

[shaker]

Exactly as wrench says, slow and easy I like to trim my big motor up in the event that it does whack a stump and it will even when you think that you know where you are safe. If the big motor is trimmed up it will usually ride on up and over the stump hopefully without any damage.

Another thing to watch is the water level a foot of change either way and it's a whole new experience. When you look at the lake now and it's just a bit high like .4 of a foot come back sometime if it's down a foot you will be amazed at the number of new stumps and a lot of these are in 30 feet of water. It rarely happens but if the lake is two feet low that is a great time to go look around and it is just simply amazing how many of these stumps have prop cuts on them some have been hit really hard lots of pretty colors too.

I don't mean to scare you there is only one way to learn just be careful and if not sure when you leave the channel and don't know where you are turn the big motor off and get on the trolling motor. I do it all the time and even had people go by me at a high rate of speed laughing until they hit a big one, then it's a different look. And I've had people blast by me doing 60+ right through a stump field and never touch anything, luck I guess they keep at it long enough the luck will run out. There are several boat repairs shops around Truman Lake and the appear to do a lot of business.

Good luck and just be careful it'll take a while to learn but be patient it'll be worth the effort.

RB

[oneshot]

Ok I have looked at Maps that show the Channel and it surprises me how much it changes. Thinking if I can afford GPS will help a bunch but Map is better than nothing now.

We got up where Pomme de Terre comes in, where we was thought the Channel would be straight after getting in there found we was in a Stump Field, found the Channel went to the right. Lake Level went down, we went to the same area and seen the mess we had went through before. There was no way we would have thought about it if we had known.

Speaking of Pomme de Terre Arm we like playing over there problem is all the Timber. We go from Fairfield Ramp back around or try putting in at Avery gets interesting. Use to put in at Sapps Landing got to where I found pretty good path through a stretch of it. We put in one time at Avery, went out using Trolling Motor, wind came up, it was too much for my Trolling Motor so we used Main Motor, got up on a stump put the Boat up on its side. My wife had a few things to say about that. LOL

Wanting to spend more time and get confident to go through some areas in the dark and yes common sense says take it slow.

oneshot