Pulling mooring ball for winter, why?

nvmbr9 · 10-11-2009, 06:29 AM

First year with a mooring ball. I see the navigation markers etc in lake year round with no obvious harm. Well at least the no rafting marker in front of house. Should I pull ball, why? It has very heavy duty tackle.

icg56 · 10-11-2009, 06:55 AM

I have seen the ice trap mooring balls and release them some distance from where they started. Even heavy chain may not act heavy when the ball is entrapped in a solid block of ice the size of the Lake.

Airwaves · 10-11-2009, 11:32 AM

The ice flow can move the mooring ball and could even snap your anchor chain.

If you don't want to pull the mooring anchor you might run a cable on the lake bed from the anchor chain where it attaches to your mooring ball and run it to a tree or something on the shore then remove the float.

That might be a way to protect your mooring now and it would be dryer for you when you want to reattach the mooring ball in the spring.

ishoot308 · 10-11-2009, 11:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nvmbr9

First year with a mooring ball. I see the navigation markers etc in lake year round with no obvious harm. Well at least the no rafting marker in front of house. Should I pull ball, why? It has very heavy duty tackle.

I would hate to see an unsuspecting snowmobiler hit a mooring ball while riding on the lake...

camp guy · 10-11-2009, 04:12 PM

Pulling the mooring ball makes good sense for all the reasons listed in previous posts. However, I always found that pulling the mooring ball gave me a good chance to inspect the mooring tackle at the end of the season and make whatever repairs were necessary before using the system the next spring. Running a cable back to a tree or a piling is good sense, a lot better that trying to grapple for it in the spring when the water is sooooooooo coooooooold.

codeman671 · 10-11-2009, 07:56 PM

We always pull ours, I did mine yesterday in the wind. We tie a rope to the chain, remove the ball, drop it to the bottom and tie it off to a tree on shore or the dock. This year I got smart and weighted the usually floating poly rope to sink it and keep it from getting clipped by the typical boater cutting the corner by our house.

Some people just drop them with rope and milk jugs however these make perfect targets for snowmobilers. Using poly is smart, if the rope is cut by a prop it will still float off the bottom and is usually reachable a few feet down.

Rattlesnake Guy · 10-12-2009, 02:53 PM

Based on our extensive collection, I assume we probably all find free boat bumpers floating in the lake. We swap the mooring ball for one of these floats. The weight of the chain pulls the float under to a level where the float displacement is equal to the weight of the chain. If you pick the size right, this could be about 3-4 feet below the surface. A rope loop is tied on the top end of the float. The float can be grabbed with a hook in the spring. We were always concerned with the standard line to the shore being pulled away by the ice flow but our location is a bit tough.

Rattlesnake Gal · 10-12-2009, 03:33 PM

Yeah - what R-Guy said.

If you are in an area that has ice flows in the spring, you should definitely remove it. Our neighbor out on The Broads did leave his in for a few years, but then the ice stole it away.

BroadHopper · 10-13-2009, 02:10 PM

Seems to be a bit thicker and sturdier than a milk jug. I also float the jug about a foot and a half below the surface tied to the chain with an old water ski rope. Retreive it easily with a boat hook. Works like a charm for years out on the Broads.

nightrider · 10-13-2009, 08:38 PM

Jugs that mooring owners float a few feet under the surface present HUGE problems for spring fishermen. These are often unseen when trolling and catch lures being trolled. I'm not sure it's legal to use this technique anyway. Moorings must have an approved tag. Winter jugs are a fisherman's nightmare and quite possibly a navigational hazard. Any legal beagles out there who may know more on how the law defines/allows this winter jug usage??

NoRegrets · 10-13-2009, 10:43 PM

I thought the mooring balls and winter jugs a few feet below the surface would be to close to shore to pose a risk to a fisherman that is trolling. Am I wrong in thinking this way?

OCDACTIVE · 10-21-2009, 05:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NoRegrets

I thought the mooring balls and winter jugs a few feet below the surface would be to close to shore to pose a risk to a fisherman that is trolling. Am I wrong in thinking this way?

No you are correct.. This is done all over the lake, usualy below the ice 5-6 feet down. This way you can still find them and pull them to the surface. Also since they are further below they do not get encompased in the ice flow so not to move your mooring / tackle.

I can't see how fisherman trolling would be an issue. As pointed out in the inital post there are plenty more markers in the middle of the lake year round, where these are close to shore.

Unless a fisherman is 25 feet off my dock (which would also be very difficult to troll by) I think you would be fine.

codeman671 · 10-21-2009, 07:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NoRegrets

I thought the mooring balls and winter jugs a few feet below the surface would be to close to shore to pose a risk to a fisherman that is trolling. Am I wrong in thinking this way?

Although I have plenty of water off my dock, my moorings are 90 feet from shore. I have had boat during the normal season cut inside my moorings as they round the corner of Mark. Fisherman are always out trolling by within 30 feet from my dock. Two years ago I got a fish hook in my hand pulling up my mooring to install the ball. It was stuck in the rope tied to the chain.

nightrider · 10-21-2009, 08:13 PM

spring fisherpersons (how's that for PC?!?) fish close to shore as that's where the fish are. Fishing in 4 or 5 feet of water, close to shore, is common. Why couldn't a mooring ball owner run a sinking line from the mooring along the bottom towards shore and have a weighted end laying in 4 feet of water. Wouldn't that be just as easy to retrieve as a winter jug 4 feet under the water a hundred feet from shore?...and it wouldn't be a fishing line catcher.

Merrymeeting · 10-22-2009, 07:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nightrider

spring fisherpersons (how's that for PC?!?) fish close to shore as that's where the fish are. Fishing in 4 or 5 feet of water, close to shore, is common. Why couldn't a mooring ball owner run a sinking line from the mooring along the bottom towards shore and have a weighted end laying in 4 feet of water. Wouldn't that be just as easy to retrieve as a winter jug 4 feet under the water a hundred feet from shore?...and it wouldn't be a fishing line catcher.

I changed my mooring chain a few years ago as it was getting thin. I kept the old chain in a bucket and the above is what I now use it for. I tie a rope to my new mooring chain and head toward shore. Then I tie the rope to the old chain and use it for the final ~25'. The chain pulls the rope to the bottom out of harms way.

I drop the end of the chain in about 3' of water near my shoreline and pull it up with an iron rake in the Spring.

OCDACTIVE · 10-22-2009, 07:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by codeman671

Although I have plenty of water off my dock, my moorings are 90 feet from shore. I have had boat during the normal season cut inside my moorings as they round the corner of Mark. Fisherman are always out trolling by within 30 feet from my dock. Two years ago I got a fish hook in my hand pulling up my mooring to install the ball. It was stuck in the rope tied to the chain.

I stand corrected. My mooring is inside of a bay about 30(ish) feet from the tip of my dock. Not the ideal place for trolling. I guess it is all a matter of where you are. But it works for me.

Kamper · 10-22-2009, 07:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by codeman671

Although ... I got a fishhook ... in the rope tied to the chain.

I'd find these in the fall too, pulling in the float line for my friends. Anyone leaving a line in the water should watch for this hazard. Unfortunatly, they aren't always easy to see.

Good luck!

10-11-2009, 06:29 AM	#1
nvmbr9 Member Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 22 Thanks: 1 Thanked 2 Times in 1 Post	Pulling mooring ball for winter, why? First year with a mooring ball. I see the navigation markers etc in lake year round with no obvious harm. Well at least the no rafting marker in front of house. Should I pull ball, why? It has very heavy duty tackle.

10-11-2009, 04:12 PM	#5
camp guy Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: formerly Winter Harbor, still Wolfeboro Posts: 1,135 Thanks: 284 Thanked 480 Times in 271 Posts	Pulling mooring ball ... Pulling the mooring ball makes good sense for all the reasons listed in previous posts. However, I always found that pulling the mooring ball gave me a good chance to inspect the mooring tackle at the end of the season and make whatever repairs were necessary before using the system the next spring. Running a cable back to a tree or a piling is good sense, a lot better that trying to grapple for it in the spring when the water is sooooooooo coooooooold.

10-12-2009, 03:33 PM	#8
Rattlesnake Gal Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Central NH Posts: 5,252 Blog Entries: 1 Thanks: 1,447 Thanked 1,349 Times in 475 Posts	Right On R-Guy! Yeah - what R-Guy said. If you are in an area that has ice flows in the spring, you should definitely remove it. Our neighbor out on The Broads did leave his in for a few years, but then the ice stole it away.

10-13-2009, 02:10 PM	#9
BroadHopper Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Laconia NH Posts: 5,512 Thanks: 3,118 Thanked 1,090 Times in 784 Posts	Clorox Jug Seems to be a bit thicker and sturdier than a milk jug. I also float the jug about a foot and a half below the surface tied to the chain with an old water ski rope. Retreive it easily with a boat hook. Works like a charm for years out on the Broads. __________________ Someday may never be an actual day.

10-13-2009, 08:38 PM	#10
nightrider Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: winter harbor Posts: 199 Thanks: 4 Thanked 33 Times in 18 Posts	jugs under water bad idea Jugs that mooring owners float a few feet under the surface present HUGE problems for spring fishermen. These are often unseen when trolling and catch lures being trolled. I'm not sure it's legal to use this technique anyway. Moorings must have an approved tag. Winter jugs are a fisherman's nightmare and quite possibly a navigational hazard. Any legal beagles out there who may know more on how the law defines/allows this winter jug usage??

10-11-2009, 06:55 AM	#2
icg56 Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 77 Thanks: 3 Thanked 29 Times in 16 Posts	I have seen the ice trap mooring balls and release them some distance from where they started. Even heavy chain may not act heavy when the ball is entrapped in a solid block of ice the size of the Lake.

10-11-2009, 11:32 AM	#3
Airwaves Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: I'm right here! Posts: 1,153 Thanks: 9 Thanked 102 Times in 37 Posts	The ice flow can move the mooring ball and could even snap your anchor chain. If you don't want to pull the mooring anchor you might run a cable on the lake bed from the anchor chain where it attaches to your mooring ball and run it to a tree or something on the shore then remove the float. That might be a way to protect your mooring now and it would be dryer for you when you want to reattach the mooring ball in the spring.

10-11-2009, 07:56 PM	#6
codeman671 Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 3,360 Thanks: 210 Thanked 764 Times in 448 Posts	We always pull ours, I did mine yesterday in the wind. We tie a rope to the chain, remove the ball, drop it to the bottom and tie it off to a tree on shore or the dock. This year I got smart and weighted the usually floating poly rope to sink it and keep it from getting clipped by the typical boater cutting the corner by our house. Some people just drop them with rope and milk jugs however these make perfect targets for snowmobilers. Using poly is smart, if the rope is cut by a prop it will still float off the bottom and is usually reachable a few feet down.

10-12-2009, 02:53 PM	#7
Rattlesnake Guy Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 1,254 Thanks: 423 Thanked 366 Times in 175 Posts	Based on our extensive collection, I assume we probably all find free boat bumpers floating in the lake. We swap the mooring ball for one of these floats. The weight of the chain pulls the float under to a level where the float displacement is equal to the weight of the chain. If you pick the size right, this could be about 3-4 feet below the surface. A rope loop is tied on the top end of the float. The float can be grabbed with a hook in the spring. We were always concerned with the standard line to the shore being pulled away by the ice flow but our location is a bit tough.

10-13-2009, 10:43 PM	#11
NoRegrets Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Hudson - NH Posts: 408 Thanks: 233 Thanked 212 Times in 88 Posts	I thought the mooring balls and winter jugs a few feet below the surface would be to close to shore to pose a risk to a fisherman that is trolling. Am I wrong in thinking this way?

10-21-2009, 08:13 PM	#14
nightrider Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: winter harbor Posts: 199 Thanks: 4 Thanked 33 Times in 18 Posts	winter jugs spring fisherpersons (how's that for PC?!?) fish close to shore as that's where the fish are. Fishing in 4 or 5 feet of water, close to shore, is common. Why couldn't a mooring ball owner run a sinking line from the mooring along the bottom towards shore and have a weighted end laying in 4 feet of water. Wouldn't that be just as easy to retrieve as a winter jug 4 feet under the water a hundred feet from shore?...and it wouldn't be a fishing line catcher.