March 18th, I took the boat up to my friends place Lake Kerr for some fishing and more break in time. I got up there, early afternoon, on a Friday and Stayed until Monday AM.
Friday was such a nice day we decided to get the lines wet for a few hours before dark. The lake was like glass and the boat did great. I am still undecided on the anchor feature of the Minn Kotta. It doesn't seem to want to settle down. Maybe I was just being impatient! Once we settled on a spot I just shut everything down and put pout the regular anchor.
I think the anchor I got is a bit heavy and the chain may even be overkill. I may have two lighten the load with a smaller version. However, I will say once it was out the boat didn't budge!
We did not catch any fish worth mentioning. About dark....
Got back to the ramp after dark but the boat handled well, lights worked great and my friend loved the boat.
I backed the boat in the water while my friend and his son backed the boat from the trailer. A combination of the weight of the huge 90 HP motor and the low area of the transom put the top of the stern a bit close to the water line for comfort. Lake waves came in and over with ease, putting gallons of water in the hull. Once I got in the boat and we got underway we hit the bilge and I thought it would never stop pumping water! I think G3 should have narrowed the low area for the motor rather than have it go almost to the sides of the transom. They would have still had plenty of room for the motor and that would have deflected a lot of water coming in from the rough water situation. I felt like it could ride a little higher in the water too. The ride height could be normal as I have not owned this type of boat before. And to be fair, the 2 trolling motor batteries along with the cranking battery do not help matters much LOL.
The only other thing I noticed, later in the day, while traveling on plane across the rough water, the boat felt like it wanted to lean left. My friend stood next to me on my right and his son sat on the seat built onto the console. If anything we had more weight on the right side of the boat. This could be the way I had the boat tried? I am still getting use to the sweet spot. Or it could have just been the rough water. I have not had the boat back out yet to make sure it's nothing permanent. I don't think it is.
We caught no fish that day either.
It was so crappy out on Sunday we decided to build camp fires and Crappie fish from the bank, at his dock. It was actually pretty fun. A couple nice catfish, a decent bass, a Jack, and a few yellow perch managed to get on our hooks! No Crappie.
Still love the boat despite the comments above. It handles the rough water fairly well. Although I would prefer keeping the people to 2 there was ample room for all three of us on the boat. I probably would not want to do a lot off cast fishing though. The boat accelerates well and is pretty peppy! Hold on when you hit the throttle!. I filled up the boat when I got it and it still has a third tank..... two trips to my lake and these two days! Not bad.
I hope to get out on the G3 at least once more before my Spring Camp & Paddle with the local kayak group. I always look forward to those!
Tight Lines!
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