Flowage Video

Hey guys, here is a video I shot of the flowage in June of 2008. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjrXpdA-pR8 -- Part 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibVumQlW_kk -- Part 2

Looks like your group had a good trip. You know it's a nice perch when you can lip it! I wasn't sure the Godsmack really fit the mood of the video, but I hadn't heard it in a while and enjoyed it anyway.

I was thinking about getting a camcorder this year - I've taken video of a couple boat rides around the TFF with my digital camera mounted behind me on a makeshift rig that consists of a seat pedestal, a metal strap and a tripod head. But without image stabilization it gets really choppy once I get going. The hard disk camcorders are getting pretty cheap now, so maybe it's time to get one. One guy I know who often musky fishes alone set up his camcorder in the back of the boat with a footswitch up front so he could turn it on when a fish hit - eventually he added a second camcorder so he could have one pointed at him and the other at the water. Not quite the same as having a cameraman in the boat, but he gets some pretty good footage of his catches.

Thanks for watching the video! Yes we had a great time! One of the best times we had up there in the past 4 years we have been making the run to Mercer. I shot that video for the group of people I went with, and to post it up on this message board for others to enjoy the scenic images of the flowage as we sit and wait for ice out and spring!!! (If your not into ice fishing.) Was hoping we would catch post spawn or spawn but we caught nither. Still did decent that week. We were dealing with the mayfly, then the hatching of the cray fish. I thought the cray fish worked to our advantage becasue all of our smallmouth bass, rockbass, and perch were caught along windblow shoreline - pleny of rocks and bolders present. Makes sence I guess, crayfish live under the rocks and the smallies were focused on those kinds of structure. Walleye's that week was slow. Only a hand full when we fished humps and drop offs in deeper water and that got boaring real fast. So to break up the boredom, we went after Northern. Like always easy to catch when the smallies and walleye are not perfoming. Most of the northern's were on the small side and hung up under log jams. They were small and fun catch. We ended up with a decent size northern, (What Illinoisers whould consider) on our last day. (Last clip of the video.) Caught with a small white topwater buzz bait for a $1 from Walmart! It was like an explosion when that fish hit. As for the camera, I used a sony-dcr-dvd-108 handycam. It fits in the palm of your hand and is easy to use. Paid about $300 for it a couple of years back. Probobly alot cheaper now. Used windows movie maker to mix and edit the clips. The camera has a nice size lcd screen and has image stabilization which is perfect when your riding in a boat moving at a decent speed. I don't know though how well it will record if it's set on a tripod as the boat is bumping the waves since we held the camera. Might throw off the laser recording onto the dvd disc if you go that route. The only thing I don't like about it is it can only hold about 10 min of footage in HQ and 20 min in Sp. I use dvd-rw discs, I just transfer the files to my laptop, erase, and re-use the discs to get around that issue. Hope this helps you out!

Thanks for posting the vids. It's good to have reminders of warm weather fishing around this time of year.

I like your older Evinrude there too. It looks to be in top shape for a 36 year old motor. If you take care of it, it will probably go another 36 - just watch out for those stumps on the flowage.

Thanks McGr for the comments of the videos and boat. Yea, it's nice to watch those videos to break cabin fever. For me, I just can't wait anymore! Going to start the fishing season off early this year. Going down to Arkansas to fish Bull Shoals Lake in about 4 weeks. Never been there before but it seems to have some good reviews about early spring bass fishing. Has anybody been there?
So, going to pull the boat out of storage this weekend. Going to replace the original tilt trim unit. I bought a Pantera Electric Tilt Trim. CMC was a bit to pricey. The unit will set back the motor 7" off the transom which will improve prop performance which will give more miles per hour and better fuel economy. I like the fact that it gives better fuel economy. Used 30 gallons of fuel last year on the Flowage at $3.50 a gallon. But it was well worth it. Fished Mud, Bastine, Sweeny, Baraboo, Merkle and Horseshoe. I think the best time I had was fishing and navigating through the islands in-between Sweeny and Baraboo. Just endless fishing grounds to fish with all of those islands.
Also going to be shooting a Internet video of cruising and fishing Bull Shoals Lake. I won't post it on this message board since it's not Turtle Flambue Flowage related, but I'm sure this web site is linked up with a Bull Shoals message board. I'll keep everybody posted on this site with a url link. For now, that's all I have and lets look forward to a great 2009 northwoods fishing season just around the corner!!!!