Layout hunting open water with a Stealth 2000?

O

Ohio Mike

New member
Hi All, first time post here.

I drew what I think will be a pretty solid lottery hunt for the opening day of Ohio's main season, though most people say the best way to hunt it is with a layout boat. Once upon a time it was a marsh but with high lake levels it's been completely under 4-5 feet of water for most of the time I've been hunting. There is a single island in the area that I would like to set up on so that all 3 people in my group could hunt at the same time, but with the potential for 2 other groups of hunters there is no guarantee we are the first ones there so I need a plan B and C.

Has anyone here had experience or success using a layout that was more designed for marsh hunting but instead setting up on open water? Last winter I picked up a Beavertail Stealth that I was planning to set up and hunt 2 people out of in some of the marshes around here, but if I need to use it like a more traditional layout we could do that and have 2 people working a tender boat and just switch out shooters. My main concern is that I've personally never tried it, and just doing some internet research people seem to say birds will not come near you when setting up a boat on open water. I've got enough raffia and natural materials around me that I think I can grass it in pretty well, but I'm really hoping to find some feedback or stories on people trying similar set ups.

Thank you in advance for any input!
 
MIke,

Welcome aboard!
Couple of question:
What's your target species? I hunted Mobile Bay for years mainly for gadwalls & divers, with a smattering of just about every other duck species in the flyway. We almost exclusively used boat blinds with cane stuck in the bottom around the boat. Worked well for us. With a nice rafia/fastgrass boat blind you might be OK.

But you have to be on the "X", birds have to want to be there. Are the ducks going to the spot you have to loaf or feed? If feeding, I always found the shallower you set up, the better. Even with divers sometimes.
How sheltered/calm is the water? If its calm/sheltered, the Stealth should work. But its not a true open-water layout. If things get nasty, you need to be prepared to pick up fast.
 
I've hunted Sandusky Bay and Mitchell's Bay in Busick layout boats as well as a 17' and 21' TDB. since the early 80's. Both are effective and as Carl says depends a lot on divers vs. puddlers. Both can be shot but divers decoy better in most cases. Also, the conditions are important as it helps to have sunshine as that creates the glare to help mask the boat. Until I started serious marsh hunting, I always thought cloudy conditions were better. But now I've seen that puddlers decoy better in sunshine. Many times on a cloudy day I've sat in the marsh blind and ducks not decoying until the sun pops out and bingo, here they decoy right in feet down. I think it has to do with the glare and UV light effect on the ducks vision and ability to pick out fakes and the hunters. No solid proof but based on experience and then my research on it. Enough wind but not too much. I'm not familiar with hunting out of a stealth but conditions can worsen quickly and become dangerous. If you are going to do the open water shooting I assume you will have a good tender boat. Not just for the number of decoys you will need (we normally would never use less than 100) but also for safety. Those who have hunted Mitchell's Bay know the story of the family whose grandfather died in an open water accident and then the father and uncle died on the same day years later with only the boy surviving. First time I hunted Mitchell's Bay we watched a coast guard helicopter looking for a drowned hunter. Good luck and take great care!
 
Hi Carl, early in the season like this I'll expect to see almost exclusively puddle ducks and even Canada geese. It could be a real mixed back of mallards, teal, wood ducks, and then some gadwall, and even the occasional pintail.

Being open water I'm thinking it would be more of a loafing spot. I say this is open water, but it is actually ~ 800 acres with a shoreline on the south and dikes on the east and north borders. The west end leads out to Lake Erie. The county metro parks run and operate the areas around the shoreline and in my conversation with Ohio DNR they made it pretty clear they don't want us hunting directly from the shores. That is why my plan A would be to get on the lone island/cluster of trees about 200 yards from the shore. I think we would rather all 3 of us be able to hunt at once from an island, even if that's not on the X or the most trafficked spot. You alluded to this, it would be the safer option too. I'm going to get out this weekend and scout the place and hopefully get a better idea of what my options are.

Regardless of how we hunt it we'll be motoring in with a 16-1/2' Lund as well to carry our gear and however many decoys we want. Unless we have a strong N/NE wind we should be just fine handling any waves, but that is one thing we are very careful about.
 
Thank you for the feedback. Do you see many divers on the Sandusky bay early in the season? Almost all of my duck hunting has been in the public marshes around lake erie/sandusky bay. We don't even have diver decoys. More than once I've sat in the marsh in mid-late november and had a very stale day but could hear people booming away all morning on the bay. My dad doesn't care to chase diver ducks but now that I've been doing more stuff on my own I've been thinking about going out with a friend of a friend who's an outfitter to layout hunt and give it a try.

But in regards to my plans for this opening day hunt - yes we'll have a solid tender boat. I have a trolling motor for the stealth but I think our plan will be to tow it in. When I pitched this idea to my old man his first comment was to ask what kind of waves it can handle. Just to be safe I think we will have to get a calm day. We are going to scout the place this weekend though and try to get a good idea of what we're dealing with. It's not our #1 choice but if push comes to shove I think we will be fine to try layout hunting it.
 
As you guessed divers are later in the season. The Bay holds a good number but the Lake especially around the islands, Kelly's Island, and the shore along Port Clinton and off Magee Marsh tend to hold greater numbers. Maumee Bay generally has more divers and a little earlier in the season. Not to be redundant but make sure you understand the regulations with respect to where you can hunt and how far off shore you need to be. I haven't hunted there for a number of years so not sure anymore. The west end of the Bay is the Muddy Creek rest area and you have to be outside the mouth. Johnson Island is by Cedar Point and access to the lake from there. I've hunted in the open water around Johnson's Island but not aware you can hunt from shore. The dikes are private and you must stay off and not anchor to the rocks. There is a hunting app, I think "On the X' or something like that which shows private and public land. Make sure you check as it is not always accurate. You might consider taking a layout guide hunt to gather information.
 
Here is my rig on Mobile Bay. We hunted 6" to 3' of water over eelgrass, ruppia, milfoil and similar grassbeds. Same setup on Mississippi Sound.


BoatBlindonWater3.jpgBoatBlindonWater2.jpg01242016C.jpg
 
I cut down some pieces from a 10' blind I had to fit with the stealth because I'm cheap and did not want to pay $500 for a blind.

My main concern though is using it as a layout boat on open water. Despite what some say I don't think its all that sturdy to have 2 people shoot from it, even while sitting down so I would only shoot 1 person from it on big water.
 
Mike,
The facts you describe:

1) It's opening day and you seem to have a good draw. The ducks will be relatively dumb, especially early in the morning.

2) I looked up a Stealth 2000. A Stealth 2000 is not designed to be a layout boat in 4-5'' of water. I used a Busick layout for many years. The Stealth is not a layout boat for open water; some manufacturers are trying to suck guys in by calling their marsh boats layout boats. The Stealth is a marsh boat that you could lay down in... in a marsh... but is not a true layout boat on which the waves will roll off the comb. Also, be careful about rotating hunters in and out of a boat like that in 4-5' of water. Easily dangerous.

3) You have never used this boat for duck hunting. Why experiment on opening day?

4) You have a very good boat for three guys in the 16' Lund. And you have an island.


My suggestions based on those facts, and my personal experience of overthinking special hunts:

a) why mess with the Stealth when you are hunting opening day with your buddies? Even if it works, you will waste lots of time retrieving birds and rotating hunters. Just because you have a new boat (the Stealth) doesn't mean you have to use it. Save it for another day and its intended purposes.

b) Grass up your Lund or get a blind for it, like Carl displayed in his post. Enjoy hunting with your three buddies together.

c) Or, hunt from the island on marsh seats and tuck the Lund nearby and just lay a camo tarp over it. Use the Lund to retrieve after enough vollies. Enjoy hunting with your buddies.

c) It's public land on opening day. Don't add to the craziness by being crazy yourself.

Have fun and welcome to the Forum.

Larry
 
Larry, thanks for the perspective. After seeing the pictures of Carls boat last night I realized I?m definitely overthinking this. Looking back at yours and a few others comments I am starting to agree I might be better off leaving the stealth at home and waiting to use it in the marshes, which was the main reason I bought one in the first place.

It?s been a few years but my dad and I had rigged up some scrap pvc to use as a supports for a boat blind on the Lund. I?ll try to dig those back out, I know we have enough fast grass and raffia to get the job done. I also do recognize that I have the advantage of hunting some pretty naive birds on opening day which helps a ton. Thanks again, I?ll follow up once the season comes around and share how we do.
 
my setup is very simple: conduit support poles on the bench seats and a pvc pole holding the camo netting.
I also used to use fast grass in a similar setup.
cerexblinddiagram.JPG
 
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Ohio Mike,

Fellow Buckeye hunter here. Been chasing ducks on Lake Erie and Sandusky Bay for nearly 3 decades. Is the hunt you are referring to the East Sandusky Bay/Putnam Marsh hunt? If so, hunted it a few times over the years. PM me and I can provide more details if that is indeed your hunt location. I, too, have hunted in on opening day. There should be a decent amount of birds in the area, especially when the 3 marsh units start to shoot them up.
 
Carl, the blind set up we had rigged up was similar to this but I think you are really on to something just placing the pvc w/ elbows onto the conduit. This weekend I am going to have to dig in and take inventory of what materials I have.
 
Carl said:
MIke,

Welcome aboard!
Couple of question:
What's your target species? I hunted Mobile Bay for years mainly for gadwalls & divers, with a smattering of just about every other duck species in the flyway. We almost exclusively used boat blinds with cane stuck in the bottom around the boat. Worked well for us. With a nice rafia/fastgrass boat blind you might be OK.

But you have to be on the "X", birds have to want to be there. Are the ducks going to the spot you have to loaf or feed? If feeding, I always found the shallower you set up, the better. Even with divers sometimes.
How sheltered/calm is the water? If its calm/sheltered, the Stealth should work. But its not a true open-water layout. If things get nasty, you need to be prepared to pick up fast.
Click to expand...

In some States, creating a blind in open water by sticking stuff to the bottom and surrounding your boat is considered illegal. Check your regs before doing so.
 
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