![]() ![]() With no large outboard to feed, compact bass boats are extremely cost-effective. ![]() Most miniboat owners simply slide their boats into the back of a truck (a camper top offers a secure place for boat, motor and gear) or tie the boat on top of their car.Īnd there's no more waiting in line at the public boat ramp, since these boats can easily be launched almost anywhere along the bank. ![]() There are other obvious benefits of owning a miniboat.Ī trailer isn't needed. The result was eight bass that weighed 21 pounds and his second tournament victory in two days. On Sunday, Griffin decided to leave his fiberglass boat at home and fish a lucrative one-day tournament in his miniboat. Using his little boat, he caught seven bass that weighed 20 pounds to win a miniboat club tournament on Saturday. Last year, the Fort Worth club member located a a number of bass holding in a hidden spot in Lake Palestine. Jim Griffin knows well the value of miniboat maneuverability. "I can't tell you how many times that has paid off for me," Haynes said. He fishes from the big boat until he comes to a good-looking spot that would be inaccessible to his 17-foot fiberglass boat and then anchors the Ranger and starts fishing from his compact bass boat. Haynes, an electrical contractor in Mesquite, Texas, is such a miniboat diehard that he often straps his little boat on the back of his Ranger. I can find things that you never would even know was there with a big boat." I can take a miniboat and go anywhere there's a foot of water. I can get off into little creeks, even creeks that have openings that are silted-in. "In those lakes, I can fish so many places with my miniboat that I just can't get into with my Ranger. "The lakes in east Texas are real heavily timbered with both standing timber and submerged wood," said Jim Haynes, a member of the 60-man Longhorn Mini-Boat Club. The little boats are perfect for Florida's extensive network of canals, farm ponds in Georgia, floating a Tennessee smallmouth creek and fishing shallow-water tidal conditions all along the marshy coastal areas. A prime example of that are several miniboat clubs in Texas, such as Rasbury's Fort Worth Mini-Boat Club, which has 75 members and stages monthly tournaments.īut fish-producing applications for miniboats are in no way limited to Texas. Today, the compact freshwater boats, which average 8 feet in length and 100 pounds in weight, enjoy as much popularity as ever. That maneuverability is the major reason for the popularity of miniboats, which were first built in 1977. While the conditions on Lake Weatherford were extreme in that the surface of the water was 4 feet below the dock, enabling Rasbury to slide underneath, the fact is that miniboats simply enable you to get to fishing spots that the bigger boats can't penetrate. Rasbury's favorite story is a good illustration of the value of miniboats, which should be called compact bass boats. ![]() There he worked that side of the dock, caught another small bass and continued to the next dock. After a few more casts, he lowered the seat on his miniboat, squatted down on the floor and trolled directly under the dock to the other side. While a number of fishermen in bigger boats watched in envy from across the bright green aquatic carpet that separated them from the dock, Rasbury made a short pitch toward the first dock and caught a keeper. Arriving at Lake Weatherford, he ignored the line at the public ramp and simply slid his miniboat down the bank adjacent to the row of boat docks. He left his 17-foot fiberglass boat at home and loaded his lightweight 8-foot miniboat onto his truck. The Fort Worth, Texas, angler had a solution. On this weekend (like other summer weekends), many bass fishermen gave up in frustration and sought other less dependable summer patterns. While the water beneath and adjacent to the docks was clear of grass, anglers hoping to work these docks were faced with having to stay out in deeper water, make long casts to the front of the wooden structures and then somehow winch the fish through the aquatic jungle. In addition to standing in shallow water, the docks were uniformly guarded well by a massive line of moss that seemed impenetrable. Getting to the docks was almost impossible. Most local fishermen believed the bass had to be holding around the shade of the lake's numerous boat docks. It was unbearably hot the lake was more than 4 feet below normal, and the aquatic vegetation was in full bloom. Lake Weatherford was in the grips of a typical Texas summer. The conditions couldn't have been much worse for bass fishing. ![]()
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