The busyness of early summer has left me stranded far and away from the IDO boards lately. Between family obligations, work travel, and as much fishing as I can squeeze in, I just haven’t been around here as much as I’d like.
A couple things to share. The most exciting one is the purchase of my new rig. After owning many different Alumacrafts over the past 6-7 years (great boats btw) I decided to go glass. I bought a new Skeeter WX1850 with 150/9.9 Yamahas about 3 weeks ago. After having it out on the water several times now, I can say that I’m thoroughly impressed – more and more each time out to be honest.
The ride quality is fantastic. For an 18′ boat, this thing handles as big of water as the SD wind can throw at it. It rides waves with confidence, the bow stays high and does a really nice job of deflecting water out and away. With the 150 I’m seeing top speeds of around 48 mph which is plenty fast for me. My favorite part? The bow storage compartments are just plain HUGE! I can get all of my life jackets, tackle boxes, and any other misc gear stored with plenty of room to spare.
If anyone is looking for a new 18′ boat, don’t overlook the Skeeter WX1850. While glass boats have a stigma of being “expensive”, I think one would be surprised how well the WX1850 is priced. It can be had for the same money (or less) than some of the name brand tin boats out there of the same length. Now that I’ve had this one, it would be darn tough for me to buy another aluminum boat. If anyone is interested in this specific model, I’d be glad to give a test ride here in SD.
On to the fishing. For the most part, fishing in the N/E part of the state has been good. The constant hot and cold swings were making it very day to day there for awhile, but overall, plenty of fish to be had. We’ve been pulling cranks with Storm Smash Shads as well as Rapala Shad Raps and Minnow Raps on several larger bodies of water with good success. With shallow weedlines becomming very defined now, casting stickbaits such as X-Raps, BX Minnows, and Husky Jerks has been very effective. VMC jig/Plastic/swimbait combos have also been pulling quality fish from these same weedlines. I specifically like the 1/4 oz MoonEye jigs with the wire plastic retainer. They do a fantastic job holding your plastic/swimbait in place through weeds, wood, and short striking smaller walleyes/perch.
With some stable weather, the bite should continue for some time.
Andy
