Better Boat for LOTW

[BrianP]

I'm heading to Zippel Bay at the end of August, and also up the Rainy River, probably up to Birchdale. My question is: I have a 16.5' deep-V Lowe and an 18' wide bottom mod-V Lowe. Which is the better boat for these two areas? The river looks to have a few shallow riffles, while I know the water can be rough outside the bay. The deep-V has a trolling motor and livewell, while the mod-V has the GPS mapping and a wider beam. Both have 50 horse motors. Any other tips would be helpful.

[CatManLee]

I would think either one would be fine. I guess the biggest thing would be how windy it'll be that weekend. The lake itself gets pretty nasty with the right winds and the river can get some good size waves going too. It could go either way, Your bigger boat would be much more comfortable if the winds are up. Wich boat handles bigger waves the best? I have a 16.5 ft Alumacraft and it does just fine on the lake if you use common sense. As for the riffles in the river, there are some fairly shallow areas, but most of the river is pleanty deep for any boat. Just pick the area you want to fish and stay above or below the rapids, there are pleanty of ramps to launch from on the Rainy. You should be able to get at any area you want.<P>Hope this helps and hope you have a good trip.<BR><P>------------------<BR>CatMan

[CatManLee]

Just one more thing. If your bigger boat has GPS and you don't know your way around the lake, that's the boat I would choose. It's pretty easy if you head off shore aways to loose where you came from. Aslo if one of your boats has a marine band, thats a huge plus!<P>Keep an eye on the weather, it can change pretty quick. If your not watching the weather you could easily get caught in a very bad situation.<P>------------------<BR>CatMan

[BrianP]

Thanks for the tips CatManLee. I thinking of just swapping the fishfinders for the trip and taking the deepV. I'll go ahead and add a marine radio while I'm at it. We don't have much use for one in Missouri. Is that just a regular CB radio? Do they have a dedicated weather channel? Thanks again!

[Paul Waldowski]

Brian,<P>Marine Band has different chanels than Citizen Band and most marine bands come with Weather Channels. I would highly advise having one on the big lake. Most of the resorts monitor both channel 16 and the channel that they use, usually 69, 70, or 71.<P>------------------<BR>Paul<BR><A HREF="http://www.drakemotel.com" TARGET=_blank>Drake Motel</A><P> [email protected]<BR><A HREF="http://marcumcustomerservice.com/index.aspx" TARGET=_blank>Marcum</A><BR><A HREF="http://otteroutdoors.com" TARGET=_blank>Otter Outdoors</A><BR><A HREF="http://www.jrstackle.com/index.html" TARGET=_blank>JR's Tackle</A><BR><A HREF="http://minnesota-lake-maps.com/" TARGET=_blank>Lakemaster Lake Maps</A>

[Thomas]

is 17' crestliner with 125 merc too small for the lake?

[AaronM]

The Oak Island weather used to be on either 21 or 22. I don't have a very powerful radio this year, so I havn't been able to listen in. Anyone know if its still in use?

[Kaz]

Fishing: I thought it was from Flag Island and was on channel 17. I haven't heard it lately either. Int Falls and Roosevelt also broadcast on the regular WX channels. They are from the NOAA network and should be accurate....Thief River Falls also has a station, but it's on the same channel as the Falls.... I liked the one from Flag as it was more local info. Here in the cities, channel 11, KARE TV, reports the Flag Island weather on their news and weather...Kaz