Bought this boat used last fall and I'm having boat control issues with it. We jig fish a lot and it doesn't take much wind to make this boat difficult to control with trolling motor on bow. What's the secret? Or is this just a difficult boat to control because of the size of the bow. I do only have a 24V MinnKota Maxxum up front.

Thanks for any help!!
nebrwalleye

You come from an area where the wind does blow at times.
You also have a large boat. Any boat - can catch wind and become difficult to control.

Many folks find that the use of a stern mounted trolling motor - either by itself, or in conjunction with a bow mounted motor is necessary to control the boat.

Some folks also find the use of a kicker, in conjunction with a bow mounted motor is necessary to control the boat.

When the wind is really kicking up, often the best choice is the use of a good anchor, and lots of anchor rope and the use of cleats off both sides of the boat as well as straight off the bow.

With a good anchor, and enough rope, you can get a good solid hookup any where that is needed. Then, by using cleats on both sides of the bow, as well as right off the center front, and the use of additional rope, so that you can start off a reef - work both sides and edges, and then gradually shorten the rope to allow you to work up over the top edge. Never need any trolling motor, but just use the wind to move the boat over controlled spots of the reef.

Big boats mean control issues. Never any single or simple solution.

Since you are new to this boat, you might have a long time and good fisherman take a ride with you to help with some pointers on boat control.
I suspect that he will come up with similar suggestions as stated above.

Take care
REW

The 215 has more freeboard than your typical bass boat and more than some other walleye boats. When there is more boat out of the water, the wind is going to have a greater effect and push you around more.

Cable steer bowmount will be easier to control as they react quicker. There will be a learning curve to the new boat. A 24 volt should be plenty but i would rather have a 36 volt system.

That's the problem with boats that sit fairly high in the water, full windshields make them worse. Anyone who fishes Mac regularly has some technique to fight wind and starting with a low profile boat (ProV or Ranger) and windshield isn't a bad idea.

I fished a full windshield Crestliner (bad news in the wind) for quite a few years and when I was slabbing in the wind I would hang a big drift sock off the back of the boat, using one that didn't have big floats in it and hanging a fairly heavy weight off thhe tail end. The trick is to get a good enough sock that stays open and doesn't collapse when you hang weight on it. I have an older Cabela's pro series that worked good. You want it to hang low enough under the boat that it doesn't tangle in the motor.

Like the other guys posted, backtrolling is your best option but when the waves get very big at all you are screwed. In my current boat (Ranger) I do backtroll with a sock off the front but I have to keep the livewell empty and not have any passengers or things get real wet. My Opti backtrolls very well.

Thanks for the help / suggestions. Previous boat was a YarCraft 1895BT and boat control was very seldom an issue. A boat this large present new challenges that I'm not sure I want to take the time to tackle. I think it's the ultimate bigwater walleye boat, but possibly not the boat for me. Watch the classifieds.
Thanks again!

make sure all the live wells are full to add extra weight. I know some mac fishermen that have added a by pass line to the hull so they can fill the hull up with some water so it sits lower in the water and is heavier. I can't seem to make myself do that but it can work to keep you on that jigging or spooning spot. Bad idea if yo forget to pump the water out when loading on a trailer. Another idea would be to by a wake boarders pallist (sp) bag and fill that up to add weight. Local ski shop should have one.

JT