Winter Mooring Balls

[ishoot308]

Originally Posted by Mink Islander

And BTW, I caught lots of salmon last weekend and was never closer than 150 ft from shore in 50+ feet of water.

Show off!!

Dan

[JoeG]

Originally Posted by ishoot308

Show off!!

Dan

Nightrider is right. Leaving these balls just under the surface is inconsiderate to say the least. As far as the fishing is concerned, don't post if you have no idea what you're talking about. I have been trolling for 35 years. In the spring, I have great success trolling within a few feet of docks and in very shallow water. You can still have luck in deeper water, but shallow is best in the spring. Rocks and sticks etc, are a hazard we expect. Having a ball a foot under the surface is just laziness.

[ishoot308]

Originally Posted by JoeG

Nightrider is right. Leaving these balls just under the surface is inconsiderate to say the least. As far as the fishing is concerned, don't post if you have no idea what you're talking about. I have been trolling for 35 years. In the spring, I have great success trolling within a few feet of docks and in very shallow water. You can still have luck in deeper water, but shallow is best in the spring. Rocks and sticks etc, are a hazard we expect. Having a ball a foot under the surface is just laziness.

Yo JoeG;

Get a grip will ya! I was just kidding with mink islander because he caught so many Salmon and I got skunked.

I could give a hoot about mooring balls...

Dan

[JoeG]

Originally Posted by ishoot308

Yo JoeG;

Get a grip will ya! I was just kidding with mink islander because he caught so many Salmon and I got skunked.

I could give a hoot about mooring balls...

Dan

Sorry. Wasn't meant for you. I just hit reply and you happened to be there. LOL. I understand everyone's views, but putting these things in is a direct hazard and shouldn't be allowed. I avoid boulders all the time, but when you're in 10-15 feet of water, you shouldn't have to expect to look out for a ball and chain that's a foot or two under the surface.. There are other means, like hooking a line and running it to your dock.

[LIforrelaxin]

Originally Posted by JoeG

Sorry. Wasn't meant for you. I just hit reply and you happened to be there. LOL. I understand everyone's views, but putting these things in is a direct hazard and shouldn't be allowed. I avoid boulders all the time, but when you're in 10-15 feet of water, you shouldn't have to expect to look out for a ball and chain that's a foot or two under the surface.. There are other means, like hooking a line and running it to your dock.

Alright I can't resist here.... so you just tie a line to you mooring line and tie it to your dock right?.... or well what if it is poly line that floats? Seems to me that causes just as much of a problem... sure you can sink it but what and can you be sure that your sinking mechanism will stay attached...

now what if you don't have a permanent dock, then you must bring the line up to a tree. well as the ice breaks up it can snag and break the line, then there is a line floating around in the water still something waiting for a fishing lure to get caught on.

ok then there is the suggesting that you tie a line, and attach it to a block in 3 or 4 feet of water, sure this works.... but is that 3 or 4 feet of water in the fall which is 5 or 6 feet of water in the spring or 3 or 4 feet of water in the spring which is 1 or 2 feet of water in the fall... now I would hate to be wrong here, because if the ice gets a hold of it where the hell is your marker going to end up?????

Now most people take a sealed container fill it about 1/2 full of water tie a line to the anchor chain let it sink to the bottom. The tie the jug on and drop it in.... That jug sinks about 5 to 6 feet.... plenty deep enough not to be a problem..... My uncle has been doing this for years.... I drive my motor boat right over it, coming into his dock....

Believe me this markers you people think are just below the surface are not... they would be getting caught in the ice, and broken off.... they are at least 5 or 6 feet down.... Now if you accidentally snag a lure on one, that sucks but that is life.... deal with it.... Because if you want to play this game...

How about the all the frigging lures I take off my dock, and out from between the rocks where they get snagged.... oh even better the one I find with my feet... or better yet the ******* that hooked my boat a few years ago.....

The world isn't perfect, we all have to deal with imperfections, get over them and just enjoy life.....

[Pricestavern]

"I have great success trolling within a few feet of docks and in very shallow water."

Is there a legal limit to how close someone can fish to your property?

[ishoot308]

Originally Posted by Pricestavern

"I have great success trolling within a few feet of docks and in very shallow water."

Is there a legal limit to how close someone can fish to your property?

No there is not. as a matter of fact they are allowed to fish even from shore up to the high water mark and allowed to step on and over your docks. The water belongs to the people of the state not the abutting landowners.

Almost all the fisherman I have encountered are very respectful and I welcome them in and around my docks.

Dan

[LIforrelaxin]

Originally Posted by Pricestavern

"I have great success trolling within a few feet of docks and in very shallow water."

Is there a legal limit to how close someone can fish to your property?

Nope, there isn't a limit, the entire lake is a public resource up to the full lake line.... Most of how close people come is common sense. I am sure people come in much closer if no one is around then if some on is standing in the yard or on the dock. Personally I would say about 99% of the time I never have issues, I even talk with people as they paddle by or fish their way down the shore front.... even got offered a freshly caught fish one time to throw on the grill that I was starting.

I think the only time I really felt like someone wasn't being respectful was the day the guy hooked my boat.... I think too much sun, to much liquid courage, and to much clowning around with his buddies had something to do with it.... but he wrapped the line and lure around the bimini, and instead of waiting for me to come and help him get it unwound he started yanking.....

In short it is about common sense, you are at a state park so to speak... it just happens to be on the water. You wouldn't want someone pulling a picnic table right up beside yours so don't do it to them. Respect goes a long way. The only time I find myself yelling at people for being to close is about the time they get in between my dock and my uncles next door and are to close to the marker we put out, which is also about the time the see the rocks I am warning them about. We Mark the center of it, but well it is a rather larger group of rocks.....

[JoeG]

Originally Posted by LIforrelaxin

Alright I can't resist here.... so you just tie a line to you mooring line and tie it to your dock right?.... or well what if it is poly line that floats? Seems to me that causes just as much of a problem... sure you can sink it but what and can you be sure that your sinking mechanism will stay attached...

now what if you don't have a permanent dock, then you must bring the line up to a tree. well as the ice breaks up it can snag and break the line, then there is a line floating around in the water still something waiting for a fishing lure to get caught on.

ok then there is the suggesting that you tie a line, and attach it to a block in 3 or 4 feet of water, sure this works.... but is that 3 or 4 feet of water in the fall which is 5 or 6 feet of water in the spring or 3 or 4 feet of water in the spring which is 1 or 2 feet of water in the fall... now I would hate to be wrong here, because if the ice gets a hold of it where the hell is your marker going to end up?????

Now most people take a sealed container fill it about 1/2 full of water tie a line to the anchor chain let it sink to the bottom. The tie the jug on and drop it in.... That jug sinks about 5 to 6 feet.... plenty deep enough not to be a problem..... My uncle has been doing this for years.... I drive my motor boat right over it, coming into his dock....

Believe me this markers you people think are just below the surface are not... they would be getting caught in the ice, and broken off.... they are at least 5 or 6 feet down.... Now if you accidentally snag a lure on one, that sucks but that is life.... deal with it.... Because if you want to play this game...

How about the all the frigging lures I take off my dock, and out from between the rocks where they get snagged.... oh even better the one I find with my feet... or better yet the ******* that hooked my boat a few years ago.....

The world isn't perfect, we all have to deal with imperfections, get over them and just enjoy life.....

It doesn't sound like you do much relaxing. I would think the average person would assume that I was referring to a sinking line that would be tied and run to the shore. You have so many "what ifs" in your post that it's difficult to understand if you're serious or just haven't a clue as to what's going on here. Then you're assuming "most people" do what your uncle does. Then you go and contradict what Nightrider says about them being a 1-2 feet under the surface. I troll and see these things time and time again and they're just under the surface.
TIE A LINE TO YOUR MOORING BLOCK AND RUN IT TO THE SHORE. It's a very simple procedure and doesn't need your ridiculous analyzation about how you'll lose your marker. You won't lose anything if you just tie it to your block and run it to the shore. Have a clue.

[LIforrelaxin]

Originally Posted by JoeG

It doesn't sound like you do much relaxing. I would think the average person would assume that I was referring to a sinking line that would be tied and run to the shore. You have so many "what ifs" in your post that it's difficult to understand if you're serious or just haven't a clue as to what's going on here. Then you're assuming "most people" do what your uncle does. Then you go and contradict what Nightrider says about them being a 1-2 feet under the surface. I troll and see these things time and time again and they're just under the surface.
TIE A LINE TO YOUR MOORING BLOCK AND RUN IT TO THE SHORE. It's a very simple procedure and doesn't need your ridiculous analyzation about how you'll lose your marker. You won't lose anything if you just tie it to your block and run it to the shore. Have a clue.

I do plenty of relaxing and also a lot of quick thinking on my feet the problem is people just don't always see the point. And I see that you have missed it completely.... the point of my post was the following....

Everyone assumes that every person out there knows everything there is to know about everything. The problem is most do not. So many things are done by trial and error. Once some finds a system that works they don't like to change it because then they have to go into the realm of the unknown.

The problem is there are a lot of variable when marking a mooring. and even if you do the simple thing like use a line and run it to the shore you run the risk of it getting tied up in the ice at the shore line and broken......

Bottom, line is this... Fishermen need to have patience give people a month to get going on the lake. Just because your in a rush to fish, doesn't mean the camp owners are in a rush to get the mooring ball up....

As of current I am the only one on my road excepted for the person that lives there year around that has been up every weekend since Ice out....

GIVE PEOPLE TIME DON'T BE UNREALISTIC IN YOUR EXPECTATIONS

[DEJ]

Originally Posted by JoeG

I have been trolling for 35 years.

Could not have said that any better.

[ApS]

Originally Posted by JoeG

"...You can still have luck in deeper water, but shallow is best in the spring. Rocks and sticks etc, are a hazard we expect. Having a ball a foot under the surface is just laziness.

Another "hazard" that needs some respect is referenced in the following report:

"Loon pairs laid eggs (2) on all four nesting platforms and attended the nests throughout May. Three of the four platforms produced chicks; one single and two pairs of twins, for a total of five. Fishermen, unfortunately, chose to ignore the island marker again this year. As a result, the adults abandoned the nest in late May, leaving two eggs. We do not plan to replace this platform...

"Despite the warning markers, the...platform contained three fishing lures entangled in the wire mesh when platforms were removed from the lake in June."

(The nesting platforms provided for Loons are located in shallow water, and this is the Loons' season).

[Merrymeeting]

I put my mooring back in yesterday. The setup I use worked fine.

When I replaced my mooring chain a year ago, I kept the old chain. When removing the mooring in the Fall, I tie a rope to the mooring chain and run it toward shore. I then use the old mooring chain for the last 15 or so feet and drop it to the bottom.

The chain keeps the rope on the bottom, and it's easy to pick up with an iron rake come Spring.

[JoeG]

Originally Posted by Merrymeeting

I put my mooring back in yesterday. The setup I use worked fine.

When I replaced my mooring chain a year ago, I kept the old chain. When removing the mooring in the Fall, I tie a rope to the mooring chain and run it toward shore. I then use the old mooring chain for the last 15 or so feet and drop it to the bottom.

The chain keeps the rope on the bottom, and it's easy to pick put with an iron rake come Spring.

You are a wise man

[JoeG]

Originally Posted by Acres per Second

Another "hazard" that needs some respect is referenced in the following report:



(The nesting platforms provided for Loons are located in shallow water, and this is the Loons' season).

You should let the Loons nest where their natural habitat is and not try to create a nesting situation for them. The reason they leave is just as you wrote. The platforms attract an ambush place for bass. The bass fishermen know this and cast as close to it as possible because it's an excellent place to catch a bass.The Loons see get scared off and may or may not have any more young for the rest of the season. I'm not sure if they seek a better spot, or abandon laying any more eggs altogether. Loons are protected, but flourish in our lakes. Putting a man-made platform is counter-productive in my opinion.