MustHuntAndFish
04-28-2014, 05:06 PM
So... I got my motor going after 10 months. You can read about the repairing adventures in the General Discussion Forum.
Anyway... even though weather reports said cold and windy at the Mid for Sunday, I wasn't waiting a whole week to go test the motor out. I still had a free launch that Tammy gave to Trailblazer at Striperfest last summer. TB gave it to my son for catching the biggest Kitty.
Stopped at Gallions for bait and made it to the Mid just as they opened. Set up the boat and rigs in the lot and then headed for the ramp.
Some guys with a jet boat stopped right in the one way lane that takes you to the ramp. They were unstrapping and setting up their boat right there where nobody could get by. I told them that the parking lot is where they should be doing that and that they were in everybody's way. They were already finishing up so they hurried and got outta the way. I returned to my truck and ranted to my wife about "rookie" boaters and their lack of common sense. She just rolled her eyes... :Rolls Eyes::Rolls Eyes::Rolls Eyes:
I launched and told my wife to take the boat to the end of the dock so that she wouldn't be in peoples way while I parked the truck.
I got back, jump in, and started the boat. It fired up and as I was looking down at something, my wife... on the dock holding the rope... said you're going forward!!! I was already saying... "no I'm not" as I picked my head up... but I was in fact going "slowly" forward!!!! I grabbed the shifter and it was in the neutral position... but the boat was going forward!! No panicing here... I just pulled the shifter back into reverse and throttled it a little... but that gear was forward too!!! It just made me throttle forward!!!!!!!!! OK... Now I'm panicing!!!!! I cut the engine and move back to the motor to lift it (no auto trim), I was gonna damage my hull but I was gonna save the motor I just worked on for a week! Luckily for me... the wife risked being pull off the dock, held onto the rope, and was strong enough to stop me from driving the boat up the ramp:EyePop::Embarrassed::Shocked:
WTF!?!?!? I have no idea what I did when I re-attached the lower unit but my motor only has 3 gears... forward, forward, and forward! Gonna have to research and get that fixed.
Well... that wasn't stopping us from fishing. My wife pulled the boat back to the dock, we positioned it so it faced the lake and not the ramp, she jumped in, I started the motor and we were off! As we pulled away... my wife starts busting up and says... " who's the ROOKIE boater now?" My first instinct was to tell her to STFU!!!!!!!!!!! but I just laughed with her. She did save my arse afterall! On the bright side... the motor ran great all day!!!!! In forward of course:Cool:
Now for the fishing report...
Did a lap around the channel but got no love and only marked fish in deeper water. Went out and trolled the island area for more of the same... nothing. I've got a long way to go as far as the trolling learning curve goes.
The weather report was right... it was cold and windy. Good thing my son was dressed for fishing in Alaska!
http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy30/g4deleon/ColdatMid_zpsd4f5ae6e.jpg (http://s774.photobucket.com/user/g4deleon/media/ColdatMid_zpsd4f5ae6e.jpg.html)
The spot where Bassfan did his damage at Striper Bowl seemed to be protected from the wind so I headed over there and anchored. I didn't mark any fish but it didn't take long and we started with double dinks for my son and I.
http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy30/g4deleon/Mobile%20Uploads/IMAG1516_zps920168f1.jpg (http://s774.photobucket.com/user/g4deleon/media/Mobile%20Uploads/IMAG1516_zps920168f1.jpg.html)
Then my wife quickly picked one up. It was non stop dinks with multiple doubles and I twice farmed what should have been triples. Eventually the wind swept us off of that spot and as we drifted over deep water I finally caught a decent fish in the 2-3 pound range. We re-anchored on the other side of that cove and it was dinks all day just like across the way. I mentioned a few times that I wanted to move or start trolling in search of bigger units but my son was having none of it! Why leave if we are catching fish after fish? I couldn't argue with him.
When we finally left we trolled back to the ramp. Finally... my wife picked up a troll fish by the island.
http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy30/g4deleon/MidTrollFish_zps50547e79.jpg (http://s774.photobucket.com/user/g4deleon/media/MidTrollFish_zps50547e79.jpg.html)
She doesn't like taking pics.
Then in the channel we both get slammed... Mine didn't hook up and she farmed hers about half way in.
That was all the action for the day. We caught about 35-40 fish... lost count... but only kept the three decent sized ones and the few that were floaters because they swallowed the hook.
Here's some more pictures of our day.
http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy30/g4deleon/BloodatMid_zpsa7ce87be.jpg (http://s774.photobucket.com/user/g4deleon/media/BloodatMid_zpsa7ce87be.jpg.html)
http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy30/g4deleon/Mobile%20Uploads/IMAG1514_zps3a9aa490.jpg (http://s774.photobucket.com/user/g4deleon/media/Mobile%20Uploads/IMAG1514_zps3a9aa490.jpg.html)
http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy30/g4deleon/Mobile%20Uploads/IMAG1517_zpse8b4ff74.jpg (http://s774.photobucket.com/user/g4deleon/media/Mobile%20Uploads/IMAG1517_zpse8b4ff74.jpg.html)
He made me take one last picture so that we could sent it to his grandparents!
http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy30/g4deleon/Mobile%20Uploads/IMAG1519_zpsf5c3ffce.jpg (http://s774.photobucket.com/user/g4deleon/media/Mobile%20Uploads/IMAG1519_zpsf5c3ffce.jpg.html)
Anyway... even though weather reports said cold and windy at the Mid for Sunday, I wasn't waiting a whole week to go test the motor out. I still had a free launch that Tammy gave to Trailblazer at Striperfest last summer. TB gave it to my son for catching the biggest Kitty.
Stopped at Gallions for bait and made it to the Mid just as they opened. Set up the boat and rigs in the lot and then headed for the ramp.
Some guys with a jet boat stopped right in the one way lane that takes you to the ramp. They were unstrapping and setting up their boat right there where nobody could get by. I told them that the parking lot is where they should be doing that and that they were in everybody's way. They were already finishing up so they hurried and got outta the way. I returned to my truck and ranted to my wife about "rookie" boaters and their lack of common sense. She just rolled her eyes... :Rolls Eyes::Rolls Eyes::Rolls Eyes:
I launched and told my wife to take the boat to the end of the dock so that she wouldn't be in peoples way while I parked the truck.
I got back, jump in, and started the boat. It fired up and as I was looking down at something, my wife... on the dock holding the rope... said you're going forward!!! I was already saying... "no I'm not" as I picked my head up... but I was in fact going "slowly" forward!!!! I grabbed the shifter and it was in the neutral position... but the boat was going forward!! No panicing here... I just pulled the shifter back into reverse and throttled it a little... but that gear was forward too!!! It just made me throttle forward!!!!!!!!! OK... Now I'm panicing!!!!! I cut the engine and move back to the motor to lift it (no auto trim), I was gonna damage my hull but I was gonna save the motor I just worked on for a week! Luckily for me... the wife risked being pull off the dock, held onto the rope, and was strong enough to stop me from driving the boat up the ramp:EyePop::Embarrassed::Shocked:
WTF!?!?!? I have no idea what I did when I re-attached the lower unit but my motor only has 3 gears... forward, forward, and forward! Gonna have to research and get that fixed.
Well... that wasn't stopping us from fishing. My wife pulled the boat back to the dock, we positioned it so it faced the lake and not the ramp, she jumped in, I started the motor and we were off! As we pulled away... my wife starts busting up and says... " who's the ROOKIE boater now?" My first instinct was to tell her to STFU!!!!!!!!!!! but I just laughed with her. She did save my arse afterall! On the bright side... the motor ran great all day!!!!! In forward of course:Cool:
Now for the fishing report...
Did a lap around the channel but got no love and only marked fish in deeper water. Went out and trolled the island area for more of the same... nothing. I've got a long way to go as far as the trolling learning curve goes.
The weather report was right... it was cold and windy. Good thing my son was dressed for fishing in Alaska!
http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy30/g4deleon/ColdatMid_zpsd4f5ae6e.jpg (http://s774.photobucket.com/user/g4deleon/media/ColdatMid_zpsd4f5ae6e.jpg.html)
The spot where Bassfan did his damage at Striper Bowl seemed to be protected from the wind so I headed over there and anchored. I didn't mark any fish but it didn't take long and we started with double dinks for my son and I.
http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy30/g4deleon/Mobile%20Uploads/IMAG1516_zps920168f1.jpg (http://s774.photobucket.com/user/g4deleon/media/Mobile%20Uploads/IMAG1516_zps920168f1.jpg.html)
Then my wife quickly picked one up. It was non stop dinks with multiple doubles and I twice farmed what should have been triples. Eventually the wind swept us off of that spot and as we drifted over deep water I finally caught a decent fish in the 2-3 pound range. We re-anchored on the other side of that cove and it was dinks all day just like across the way. I mentioned a few times that I wanted to move or start trolling in search of bigger units but my son was having none of it! Why leave if we are catching fish after fish? I couldn't argue with him.
When we finally left we trolled back to the ramp. Finally... my wife picked up a troll fish by the island.
http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy30/g4deleon/MidTrollFish_zps50547e79.jpg (http://s774.photobucket.com/user/g4deleon/media/MidTrollFish_zps50547e79.jpg.html)
She doesn't like taking pics.
Then in the channel we both get slammed... Mine didn't hook up and she farmed hers about half way in.
That was all the action for the day. We caught about 35-40 fish... lost count... but only kept the three decent sized ones and the few that were floaters because they swallowed the hook.
Here's some more pictures of our day.
http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy30/g4deleon/BloodatMid_zpsa7ce87be.jpg (http://s774.photobucket.com/user/g4deleon/media/BloodatMid_zpsa7ce87be.jpg.html)
http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy30/g4deleon/Mobile%20Uploads/IMAG1514_zps3a9aa490.jpg (http://s774.photobucket.com/user/g4deleon/media/Mobile%20Uploads/IMAG1514_zps3a9aa490.jpg.html)
http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy30/g4deleon/Mobile%20Uploads/IMAG1517_zpse8b4ff74.jpg (http://s774.photobucket.com/user/g4deleon/media/Mobile%20Uploads/IMAG1517_zpse8b4ff74.jpg.html)
He made me take one last picture so that we could sent it to his grandparents!
http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy30/g4deleon/Mobile%20Uploads/IMAG1519_zpsf5c3ffce.jpg (http://s774.photobucket.com/user/g4deleon/media/Mobile%20Uploads/IMAG1519_zpsf5c3ffce.jpg.html)