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What do you all think about using a trolling motor and a 10-12 ft. pole vs. sculling with a paddle and using the same rig? A friend of mine who catches about 7,500 bream/yr. swears by the sculling paddle. He feels the trolling motor scares fish when fishing that close. I think he may be right, but the elec. motor is so much easier. Opinions?
I think it depends on the situation. If you're fishing for bedding bream, your friend probably has a good point. If you're fishing 20' deep on some offshore hump, I don't think it matters.
I had to scull when I was 10 yrs. That was the way. As long as Delco makes batteries and Minn Kota make TM sculling is out. I will use a push pole if the situation exist.
I used to scull for all my early years but in my senior years no way with the paddle as for the pole I still use one as it is the easy way to walk a boat in shallow water rope loop over the side and anchor by sticking it in the mud. thats why they invented the POWER POLE they learn that from us ....
Trolling motor with long jig pole i use one from 9 to 11 feet been use that for years workes great pull line to handle and flip bait on 9 foot pole 18 feet from boat
Sculling? WOW! That takes me back about 50 years. Dad and I were on a guided bass fishing trip on the St. John's River in Florida and the guide spent the day in the back seat of the boat....sculling all day. :eek: Thanks for the memories. :D
My granddad sculled all the time, gas motor to the spot, then scull all day. I was just a kid back then, we used to catch a lot of crappie and bream in SE MO. We used cane poles then also. Talk about old school! I had a 12 foot jon boat that I used to scull on small lakes, good way to fish a small lake or pond. The hard part is finding a good lightweight sculling paddle, I don't know if they still make them, but you can use a canoe paddle if you have to. The sculler sits in the front seat of the jon boat, one arm sculling, one arm fishing the cane pole dropping the minnow around the edge of the brush or trees. Keep moving and dropping that minnow next to every piece of cover. Watch that cork disappear and hoist the crappie into the boat. Man I miss those days.
With the advent of the trolling motor sculling is a lost art, my grandfather did it all the time and thats how i learned to scull it is a very quite way to get around on the water if you know what you are doing.
Fish both ways and then you decide which you like the best for me it is a very good way to get around on small bodies of water, like ponds and creeks but your arm can sure get tired.
I noticed that both types of sculling were mentioned in this thread.
We have called Sculling sitting in the back of the boat with and oar and a notch in the transom (in the old days) Later on we got a clamp on notch.
The other way is sitting in the front of the boat and pulling your way along with the figure 8's that you use in the transom sculling.
With the transom sculling we could turn the oar a loose and we had a big wad of tape & rope, or take a Bike inner tube cut out a section and roll it up to make a stop on the oar .. Tennis ball would work ... did not have to hold it all the time ... but with the up front pulling you had to lay the paddle down and I wound up with a wet butt doing it this way but I liked to fly fish this way ....
I think that the trolling motor has helped me to catch more fish than most any of the new equipment we now have ... what really brought the trolling motor to doing the great job is when some one thought of makeing it a "puller" .. instead of a "pusher" .. Took my Ol Minn Kota Top mounted motor with the flexible drive shaft to the prop and turned the head around and had a manual "puller" ... for several years I had a sculling notch with me just in case ... You will find it hard to paddle a Bass boat but with a sculling notch and a good oar you can scull it with far less effort.
Gee I did not mean to write a book
JSC
:)
Back in the days sculling was an art,everybody sculled but some couldn't scull worth a dime.I noticed right off the bat that my fishing wasn't as good when I got my first TM,couldn't get back in alot of the spots as to the sculling.With the TM you haveta set up higher to run the foot control TM as to sculling you set low and could easy back under low limbs and behind things.When I see a guy sculling I know he knows what he's doing and will catch more fish then me.With my two man boat and TM I can get back in alot spots the bigger boats miss but still cann't out do someone with a home made sculling paddle in the oxbows.
that whole thing confuses me....
depends on the size boat and the wind conditions. 14 x 36 is all the boat you will want to scull and when the wind comes up you will work too hard. the wind hides the trolling motor sounds anyway.in my prime i could scull all day and get up the next day and do it again. Them wuz the days!
Used to fish some private lakes that the boats they had on them were set up to scull. I never got worth a crap at it. I'll have to settle for fewer fish, 'cause I'd not care to try to pick it up again. I ain't even got room in the freezer for nearly that many fish, what do I care?
I sculled myself on my shop door the other day. like to have broken my neck.
Have you tried to find a good sculling paddle lately?
You just don't see that many around anymore.
The paddle is quieter than my trolling motor and I have more delicate control of the boat... That being said, if the wind is blowing, I had much rather have the trolling motor.
Just depends on the situation and what I am trying to do.
Oscar
Have you tried to find a good sculling paddle lately?
They are hard to find. You won't find them at Walmart or any other 'big box' stores. Grizzly Jig has them in their catalogs and you can still find them at some 'out of the way' tackle shops near oxbow lakes. Also, any boat larger than a 14 ft. with 36" bottom prob. is too large to scull.