Dutchman
05-12-2001, 06:18 PM
LAST EDITED ON May-12-01 AT 08:20PM (CST)[p]I recently attend a forum for a new type of soft bait for Berkley. There where about 6 Bass anglers and 6 Walleye anglers attending. The Bass anglers had recently returned from a Bass tournament on the Missouri River in S.D. They reported that High winds wreaked havok on the tournament and sank 3 brand new 20' Strato's bassboats. All anglers where ok and one group was towed back by a WALLEYEBOAT. Multispecies anglers are you listening??? I fished a Walleye Tourney on the same day and all boats came back in with no problems. The moral of the story is "if your gonna fish the Dakotas big waters leave your Bassboat home"
Juls_WI
05-13-2001, 03:11 AM
That's bad news. I'm glad everyone was ok.
Juls
I'm glad are okay.
On the other side of this, the boat is no better than the driver. I've ridden in bass boats on the great lakes for the last 15+ years and some walleye boats. Yes, the walleye boats have higher sides and are less apt to spear a wave. But, if you get in a bass boat with someone who has experience driving in the rough stuff, especially big water, you are every bit as safe as you are in a multispecies boat(in fact, I've found that in the right region of the country, I'd much rather get in a bass boat with an able captain than some guy in a multispecies who's fished reservoirs and rivers where he comes from). Bass boats are more nimble...even in the 22 foot class. An experienced driver can make a monkey out of many guys driving a multispecies boat in big water.
My point is, don't think for a minute that your all good and safe in a multispecies boat. Many of them are not much more than bass boats with a bit more freeboard anyway (less than 10 Deg deadrise). The driver makes all the difference in the world.