Finally got to fish the new lake Thursday. Had to rent a boat as mine doesn't meet the new standard. First off, the rental was a dissapointment! It was a 17' Triton with an X51 and a 42lb trolling motor that was missing some parts such as the the knobs to tighten down the unit so the shaft wouldn't wobble when the motor was engaged. Meaning it was noisy!! Secondly, given the fact the lake has been open for approx. 10 days...the rental boat looked and operated like a vessel that has been on the water much longer! I don't feel it is worth the $117.00 per/day charge. The Johnson outboard was missfiring and hard to hold an idle. Unbelievable. Oh, I could not return the rental as there were no spares. We toughed it out.
As for the fishing, we had a dismal day on the water with 3 quality fish and some rats. I lost two nice fish as I decided to use 8lb. fluro. When these fished realized they were hooked, their pull was phenominal. Even after I had reduced the drag on the reel they busted off. We fished deep and threw mostly plastics.
No much action on hard baits at all.
The wind kicked up in the early afternoon and it was interesting. Most people we spoke to had a similar day. I was planning on returning to DV in the near future but I'm going to wait and see.
If your going out to DV soon please post your report.
:D
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Hey Bassimus....sorry to hear your day wasn't so great. Bummer about the rental too....compared to a "normal" rental boat, they looked good to me. They will need to have a fulltime certified "new-technology" mechanic to keep up with the wear and tear. I'm sure that X-51 wasn't dialed in either,...did you make adjustments?....I know a graph is crucial there for the deep bite. I thought I wouldn't be ready to go back anytime soon, but am wrong.....I can't wait to pull on those studly fish again.....HEY KEVIN!!!.....Where's my invite?....anyday.

Yeah, we adjusted the X51 and you are right, compared to a "normal rental boat" the boats at DVL are better equipped. Our experience may not be the norm for the lake and I'd be curious to read about other angler's experiences before I return. I haven't heard of anyone yet strokin' um! I you go let us know.
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