Open water layout hunting

[Jim Matthiae]

Looking for info on layout hunting. They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks, but I'm going to try to learn anyway. Have been hunting for many years onLake of The Woods on Minn/Can border. Our DNR is now allowing open water Hunting on this area. Some friends of mine and I are going to give this a try next fall. I recently purchased a MLB Classic. I realize there are bigger layouts but we're going to see if this will work for us. I have read lots of articles about this including the one in this forum. Realize the safety issues and will be starting out in shallow water to get the hang of things. We are still looking for another layout, probably MLB super mag, UFO, or Bankes pumpkin seed. Any ideas where we might be able to find a used one? Any other input would also be appreciated. Always looking to learn more. Thanks!

 

[sean kane]

The only way to get used to setting and picking up is by doing it with a little wind. my dad and i owned an mlb classic for 5 years on the delaware bay which runs directly nw (our predominant wind) plus tide. It is a very seaworthy boat but the fiberglass is thin. you dont want to wind up on top of it swapping the gunner in or out. The most important thing is having a very competant captain. we always worked against the predominant force... (which ever was stronger the wind or tide) and set the rig accordingly so you could get in or out with out running over top of the boat or drifting into the longlines.
sounds dangerous but really just takes focus and attention to detail.
have fun, its the best way to get up close and personal!

 

[Steve Sutton]

You said you had read the thread on the site... good start....look up on the tabs above and locate SEARCH POSTS....type in LAYOUT BOAT HUNTING and hit enter and you'll have a couple of years worth of posts that will answer many of the questions you didn't know you even had...fro thoughts about which boats are the best to how to rig the boats and the decoys, how to wrap them in visqueen, (and what visqueen is if you don't know that), so that the ducks think they are flying over a pile of construction trash, (don't fall for the "it makes them disappear" line--this is an old joke so don't take this one too seriously though you will find it if you look at enough posts), to tenders, etc etc.....
There's a very good, and large RESOURCE BOOK available using that function and if you use it it will narrow your question to something that can be answered in very vague terms because of the broadness of the subject.....
Steve

 

[Capt. John O]

Most fun you can have without taking your clothes off. Stay low and make sure you keep your shots close it's extremely rewarding having broadbill oldsquaw brant scoter eider in your face practically landing on top of you.
I've gunned from a few brands of lbs, used to own a mlb super mag and hated it's construction.
Look into a brand new ufo towable. You can't beat em stable and dry. And make sure you add the drain plug option.