this was getting debated last night.
what is your opinion on minimum boat size needed for mille lacs in average conditions, and up to somewhat stormy conditions?
do you really need an 18-20ft boat with a 150+ on the back?
i run an alumacraft 165cs classic with a 70 yamaha, and was told repeatedly that it will not handle rough water, that it is not big enough. i beg to differ, but what is your guy’s opinions?
day in and day out, a 14 footer w/ 6 hp captained by a good captain is safer than a 20 foot ranger w/ 250hp captained by a fool.
Tim
Quote:
day in and day out, a 14 footer w/ 6 hp captained by a good captain is safer than a 20 foot ranger w/ 250hp captained by a fool.
Tim
I totally agree with that statement. and its not like i’m a rookie at running a boat either…
I fished Erie a few years back in my 1750 Fishawk. 6-8 foot swells, legite waves. Never once did I feel unsafe in the boat. However, it was a bit nerve racking when we first rounded the corner into the northeaster coming down the shoot.
Never did I feel unsafe on Mille Lacs due to rough weather.
Back when I grew up on Cove Bay, the 14 foot Alumacraft with a 9.9 Johnson was the pride of the fleet! Play the swells, slow down, speed up…pay attention to the environment around you. My best day fishing that lake was with 4 people in the 14 footer–all trolling raps and all catching fish at the same time. Since I’ve upgraded boats–all downhill
Depends on how and where you want to fish. Your rig will get you anywhere you want to go on the lake.
Certainly, foul weather creates issues with any size boat.
Have at it!!
I have not fished MilleLacs but fished/guided on Green Bay (Lake Michigan) for over 25 years. An 18′ Deep V and 150hp and bigger are pretty much standard boats out there. Sure smaller boats fish out there all the time but not when the chop gets over 4′.
A 16.5 with a 70HP is certainly capable of fishing in conditions up to possibly 3-4′ waves…depending on your experience and training in boathandling. But things can change in a hurry and when the conditions get worse you could be in trouble fast. You need to realize the limitations of your equipment, and plan accordingly.
I would consider an 17 to 18′ Deep V and a 115hp main motor (and kicker) minimum gear for serious fishing on large, relatively shallow lakes like MilleLacs…that whip up big waves in a hurry.
this is not my first time on mille lacs, but this is the first time that this boat will be on it.
i’m not worried about anything, i was just curious if i was correct in my assumption that they are crazy. 
Your question could be interpreted in two ways. In regard to safety, I agree with the comments above in that the person controlling the motor is more of a factor than the actual size of the boat. However, when it comes to fishing in rough conditions on Mille Lacs, a heavier boat will help you to maintain better boat control. There are tools one can use to help out (drift control socks for example). In rough conditions, I find the smaller and lighter the boat, the more difficult it is to maintain boat control thus limiting the angler from which method they go about catching fish.
I am goona’ have to respectfully disagree with Tom. Mille Lacs is a shallow rough lake at times but I gaurantee that there were no more accidents 25 years ago (when the lake was full of 16′ Red lunds with 25 horse motors…) than there is today. Its all about the driver. SOME drivers today do some stupid stunts with there big boats because they think they are invinsible because they are sitting in 21ft of fiberglass with 250 horse pushing them. Its kinda’ like the guy driving the 4X4 truck in the winter who thinks he can go faster than the civic cause he has a 4X4. He’s the guy you usually see in the ditch!
I know you know this but your boat is more than sufficient to fish the Pond…RR
it has handled just fine the roughest conditions the croix on a busy summer day can throw at it. thats why i was doubting anything on mille lacs.
Like said above, it all depends how you drive it. I have a 16’er with a 25 hp. I have spent many fall nights up there in it and have not benn concerned. You just need to be smart.
I run a 165 Alumacraft with a 50 horse Honda tiller, I spend more time on Mille Lacs than I should 
Only one have I even felt unsafe, we got caught in some straight winds. Those winds came so hard and so fast that they all most blew me off of the front deck.
We pulled out of the shallow rocks, got into some deeper and decided to wait a while before running the 10 miles back to the truck. It took some time before we felt it was safe and then slowly made our way back to the truck.
Like ours have said, it is more the operator than boat 
Well here goes. Like most have said, the guy runnin’ the boat is the most important. I run a 17′ with a 115 Merc, have never felt unsafe because of the rig… have felt unsafe because of other boats on the lake in rough waters… One year, in the early 90’s, we were sitting out in the rocks and it was the typical opener chop of 3-4′ waves… what do we see go puttering by ??? One of them Sevylor inflateable boats, with maybe a 5hp max on it !!! I really felt safe at that moment 
big G
I will agree that your boat will work just fine on Mille Lacs.
At the same time, I think we can all agree that a bigger boat built for big water will allow you to fish more days per year. It will also make it easier to control the boat and fish more techniques in rough water as well.
I guess I look at it a little differently. I fish some big water, and for me, there’s no replacement for a large boat and HP, for a lot of reasons.
Sure, you can get by in a 14’er with a 9.9HP, I did for years. Conditions are rarely ideal though, especially in my part of the world, and your “fishable” days will be 1/10th of those of a guy in a 18-20’er. It’s not just whether or not it’s actually safe to be on the water, it’s whether you’re actually able to be comfortable and fish effectively. There’s a BIG difference between the two.
As for the point about there not being any more incidents these days in than in the past, I think that’s directly related to the fact that in the past, if you had a small boat, you just didn’t go fishing when conditions were bad. I know I spent a lot more hours on the dirtbike as a kid than I did fishing, and that was due to mother nature making fishing impossible most days. There are boats on the water now in conditions that never would have been out there in the past, and they and the can actually fish. After buying a bigger boat, I can now fish on 90% of the days I want to. I don’t have to worry nearly as much about the weather ruining my holidays or chances to get out fishing, I just go.
Also, I don’t really buy into the whole “operator” thing, unless the guy in the 20′ is an absolute idiot, he’s FAR safer in bad conditions than the guy in the 14′. (I don’t want to insult anyone, but personally, I question the intelligence of the odd guy you do see out in a small boat in bad conditions.)
Waxy
My fishing partner has an Alumnacraft 16.5ft with a 75hp and we take it on Mille Lacs, it comes down to common sense and what you are comfortable with. I for one would take it out unless it was extrememly windy and rough, but there is usually a calmer side somewhere! Good luck
I also have to add that boats that are 18ft and larger do feel more durable and safe and with that comes the larger hp which help, but your’s will do just fine.
Bigger boats can also give you a false sense of security. If you think you can take waves in the wrong direction or ignore conditions because you are in a 20′ boat, then you are a fool too.
You will be fine on Mille Lacs w/ a 16′-17′ boat and 40-70 hp over 95% of the time. Just pay attention to conditions and dont be a hero. The water out there can turn nasty in a hurry. If you are miles from shore, or even your home base, get your tail moving to home BEFORE the weather comes in.
RR…My reply was geared more for the “stormy weather” part of the question…There was no input about maniacs driving foolishly with 150hp rigs…that can happen on a 100 acre lake. I know during last years MilleLacs tournament Dean Marshall could not hold anchor during swells up to 9′ with a 1950 Skeeter and the guy that could won the tourney.
I have seen 2′ waves grow to over 12′ in 30 minutes with a T storm blowing in suddenly that capsized an experienced Guide in a 20′ Lund on Green Bay.
Lets put it this way…if you were buying a new boat to fish MilleLacs including “stormy” conditions I believe you would buy the safest one you could afford…I ran a 1650 FishHawk with an 80 Yammy (which will match the Alumacraft) and my experience is that there is absolutely no comparison for rough water handling/capability as you move up to a 1750 or 1850 and matching size motor.
There are sometimes great Walleye bites induced by a stiff wind blowing 4 ft waves up on a reef…but I am not going to be there in a 14 boat! 
Quote:
Bigger boats can also give you a false sense of security. If you think you can take waves in the wrong direction or ignore conditions because you are in a 20′ boat, then you are a fool too.
I take it this was directed at me…
I don’t recall saying a 20′ boat made you invincible or able to ignore conditions? 
I simply stated that it was safer than a smaller boat in the same conditions, and provides the ability to potentially fish more days of the season.
You’re right though, operator error can be fatal, even the Titanic sank… 
Waxy
The operator does play a part in safely navigating rough water, but more than that I believe a boat cannot be over weighted. I see plenty of boats on the pond with under powered motors or too much weight in the boat. These boats don’t have enough power to climb the waves and then they take the risk of a wave catching them from behind and swamping them. I learned Mille Lacs out of a 14′ with a 20hp. The boat was very light and with that 20hp, I could go anywhere. I fished 9 mile repeatedly in 3′ plus waves. I was much better off than a guy in a 18′ fish/ski with 75 Chrysler, loaded down with four people. If you know what you’re doing and you have enough power to stay on top of the waves you’ll be just fine.
I got caught on Rainy a few years ago…the wind turned around and blew like crazy straight South out of Canada. I don’t know how big the waves were but I do remember that the tops of the waves were above my head as I sat there with my hand on the tiller. I was in an Alumacraft F7 – a shallow 14 footer – with a 15 horse Evenrude on the back. I made it to the access without incident but it took everything I had to keep the bow down and the waves behind me off the stern. So I know you can be out in 3-4 footers with a boat like that and survive, but I also know that I never ever want to be in that position again. I was lucky!
I’ll come off the lake in my 18 1/2 footer because I’m uncomfortable sooner than I would have left in my 16 footer because I was unsafe.
You will be fine in your sized boat, always had anchor duties in my brothers 15 foot Alumacraft, only complaints is having back spasms after a day of moving around and getting bounced around in the bottom of the boat a few times. I will say my boat at 18.5′ has helped us out in the comfort department a great deal, we also can outrace an approaching cloud bank faster, but there still will always be a ton of boats waiting to load in front of you.
You know I get some of the same from people… I run a 19″ Ranger 190 Reata, which is a bit more bass boat styled than a similar model 1850 Reata, which has a little deeper v and is said to handle rougher water, to date, never had an issue, really I never should…
Bottom line I fish for pleasure, I’m not out trying to scratch out 5 five for a tournament, if the water starts getting too rough, or the sky’s look bad, I’m done, time to head in. My boat does afford a bit more laziness when watching the weather, it’s quick and it’ll handle rough waves, I’m not looking to weather the perfect storm on the water.
I see plenty of “little” boats on the big, big waters, you just need to pay attention know the limits of your boat, and be smart, bigger boats IMHO afford with more room to handle worse situations, it may also allow you to fish areas in rougher water that you couldn’t in a smaller boat, plenty of times I ended up fishing areas I didn’t really want to fish in my 16′ Lund, that bigger boats were handling just fine… but the key in anything is to stay out of those situations in the first place. Technology certainly helps, I have access to weather radar on my phone (most phones can do it) and a radio, plus I watch the weather before hand and watch it when I’m out on big water.
Don’t buy into the nay sayers, just be smart about your boating.
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
