Well, needless to say, this trip started with anticipation 2 days prior to actually hitting the water. Fish or no fish, it was going to be an enjoyable time. I forgot my fishing buddy had joined here not long ago, and goes by “stump knocker”. We’ve fished together several times, and actually met from another site. We live about 15 miles apart in neighboring towns, but it works out well since we normally fish Salamonie Reservoir which is north of us both.
Stumpknocker:
I left the Chiropractor Tuesday, went home & made some sammiches, loaded the coolers & headed out to Scotts. I called Scott to tell him I was on my way & he had his stuff already piled in the drive & ready to go, so after BS’ing a little, we loeaded-up his gear & headed-out. We stopped near the ramp to get bait, picked-up a few dozen crappie minnows several dozen ‘crawlers, some frozen shad and I brought some strawberry chicken & Scott some livers & some gawd-awful smelling concoction that must have been spawned in the bowels of hell…….I don't know what all was in it, and don't want to, all I know was I tried to stay upwind of him :shock:
As usual, we hit the water mid afternoon (so the ramp is normally vacant) as well as usually going on weekdays, as opposed to the busier weekends. There were only a handful of vehicles in the parking lot, but there are 4-5 ramps…still, not crowded on the water by any means. Boat wakes are a pain in the butt though especially from the larg speed boats, but you just ride them out until sundown, then there are usually only 2-3 boats (fishing) on the water & it normally it calms down a lot, depending on the wind.
I usually climb in the boat & Scott usually launches, simply because I’d have a problem with walking the distance & incline of the ramp….it’s a steep one. Anyway, this was the 1st time I’ve had this boat in the water, but started it yesterday with muffs, just to ensure it’d start OK…..fired right up & purred like a kitten, went into gear, etc. Scott backs down the ramp into the water, and before we knew it, the boat’s free of the trailer, with no effort. Easy enough I thought, and the trailer was only ½ way in the water. I lowered the motor, pumped the bulb & tried to start it….but it’d run for a few seconds & die, over & over. By the time Scott made it back, I’d drifted back up to the ramp, so he hopped in & shoved us out so I could keep trying.
The more I tried, the madder I got….lol, at one time telling Scott to stand-back cause I was gonna shoot a hole in the hull & sink ‘er right there #-o .. Being unfamiliar of the controls & characteristics of the boat, I went against my better judgment & pulled-out the owners manual….no help at all. I was getting mote ticked-off at the boat by the minute. We'd even pulled-over into the shade to get out of the 90* sun.
After a total of about 30 minutes, and using every cuss-word I could recall (or invent) at least 5 times, we finally got it figured-out. So after warming the motor up for a few, and burning off all the gas I’d probably flooded the cylinders with, off we went.. It took me a few minutes to get the motor trimmed & us up on plane, and once we were, about 38 MPH was top speed, but surprised it didn’t top-out a tad faster for a 75 hp Merc. We ran up to the far end of the reservoir to see the dam, and rode around a bit before fishing.
Bite was slow to basically non-existent, I caught 2 very small bass (which were joked about all night by us both), and Scott caught a couple small channels, perfect eater-size. We were hoping to catch a few crappie or 'gills for live/cut-bait, but didn't catch a one. It was hot, and the water was choppy from the boaters, another reason we rode around a bit after arriving, plus I wanted to get some of the SeaFoam ran through the motor. Over-all, I was happy with the way the boat ran once I figured-out a couple things, and it did help it slightly after being ran, picked-up another mph or 2.
We were passing the Marina, and seeing as how I’d burnt-up 2/3 of the 12 gallons in the tank I was down to ¼ tank & decided to fill-up at the marina. 12 gallons & $60 later, I had a full tank just in case we decided to travel around during the night. I learned I’ll NEVER hit the water without a full tank of my own “mix. Paying $5 a gallon for Marina gas was a 1 time deal for me……..
My front nav light has a small courtesy light which is on anything the light is plugged-into the holder. No way to turn it off short of unplugging the light from it's holder. It’s just bright enough to interfere with the blacklights we use in conjunction with the Solar Green Berkley Big Game for catfishing….so when we got ready to move spots, the front light wouldn’t work after plugging it back in to it's holder, and after checking neither did the rear one. For whatever reason a fuse had blown under the dash, so I swapped-out the fuse & off we went, I haven't had time to see if there's a problem, or it blown fuse was just one of those things.
We set-up for cats, calm night both the wind & the water (lol, finally), warm, and billions of stars in the shy, looked like a perfect night….lol, it was, just not for cat fishing
. Scott grabbed a nap on the front deck, and I probably nodded-off a time or 2 in the rear seats, but the fact that Scott decided to give his lumberjack impression (by snoring) limited my sleep. I caught 1 VERY small channel, that was all I caught until daylight. Scott woke-up to find he'd caught another eater cat overnight....lol, and of course I teased him about being lucky.
I had put dads Lowrance FF on the boat, but wasn’t able to find a suitable mount for the transducer, thought I could use the set-up that was on it. (and regreted not buying the TM mount for it when I wen't to Gander Mountain #-o ), which basically left of fishing “old reliable” spots, though we tried a couple new ones. I charged the 3 deep-cycle batteries just prior to the trip, for some reason the one under the front deck I installed for Scott to use evidently “went bad” since dad & I just used it a few weeks ago….so, looks like I’ll be replacing a deep cycle battery in the near future. During the day, one of the cheap $1store hand towels I buy to use for fishing (hand drying), blew-off the rod holder & into the water, seeing as how I forgot to remove it before blasting-off to a new spot, Oh well, no biggie.
After daybreak, we went to do some crappie fishing, as we usually do on the way back to the ramp. We actually caught a few crapping, and a few more (eater) cats as well.A couple were fairly nice ones. We caught the most fish from daylight until about noon. I’d been using dads transom mount #36 MinnKota, which moved the boat forward better than I expected, but reverse pretty much sucked. Also using this TM didn’t bode-well with the rod holder I’d made. I was constantly ducking under it to run the TM, but the holder itself worked fine. I also got to try-out the pool-noodle bobbers I made…..not bad, just keep in mind they aren’t made for casting, (though I did, but they have too much wind-resistance to fly well) they’re more a drift-style bobber.
We got too much sun yesterday, and it was hot again today, so we got off the water about noon, loading wasn’t bad, neither of us being familiar with the boat…we’ll put the trailer in a little deeper next time. Again, it was all a good learning experience. organized the boat for the ride home, put all the trash in the trashcans, double checked the tie-downs, and headed home.
I dropped Scott off at home, got out just long enough to help him unload his ear & I was gone, ready to get home, unload, shower, eat, and get some sleep. I hadn’t driven 3 minutes when I smelled that “sweet” smell of antifreeze & thought I noticed a whiff of steam come out between the fender & hood of my truck. A quick glance at my transmission temp sensor showed it rapidly approaching 200* (a good 20-30* more than normal) . So, I pull-over, pop the hood…..and my overflow tank is perking like a tea-pot. While I looked for a split hose….nadda, so I call Scott & ask him to bring a 9/16” wrench & some water. I figure the t-stat stuck shut & I’d simply remove it, add water until tomorrow & be on my way…WRONG. After hanging up & with Scott on his way, I look further & notice the fan belt off the pulleys. “Cool” I thought, easier to reinstall than the T-stat removal……WRONG again. Seems yet ANOTHER fine piece of NAPAs electrical CRAP has failed (add to starter, distributor, 2 batteries, and temp sending unit. The front bearing was gone, and the fan wheel & pulley were free to “flop-around”. I’ll NEVER buy anything electrical there again! It's overpriced made in China garbage that doesn't last. :evil:
Scott & his better ½ arrived & were kind enough to take my old alternator once I removed it to the parts store for me so I could get a new one. So, after $89 (+ tax) I put on the replacement, which gave the motor time to cool (and me time to slam a couple cold Mountain Dews from the pop machine), but I caught it early & not concerned with any related problems. I lost maybe a quart of coolant, so after topping it off with water, I was on my way home….again. Fortunately an alternator replacement job on an older small-block chevy is about a 10 minute total (R&R) job.
Got home, emptied the boat, put the charger on the batteries, rinsed & wiped-down the inside & outside of the boat, swept the carpet, wiped-down the seats, and put the cover back on her. Lol, I told Scott I was glad it happened (truck breaking down) where it did, instead of on the ramp. Thanks again for the help Scott, I hope you were able to get your iced tea & set in the air conditioning :wink:
Sadly, by the time all this had taken-place, and I got the fish home to clean, they’d went bad & had to be thrown away. I'd planned on having them for supper All said & done, I enjoyed getting to fish, as well as fishing with Scott….and even catching a few. Got to get the boat in the water for a shakedown run & educate myself with it as well.
Fuel- $160……bait-$25....new alternator- $89 + tax……… being reminded of how well Murphys Law likes to follow me around……..priceless :mrgreen:
ST
A couple pics of some of the water:
My largest crappie of the day, no giant by any means. I told Scott I should hold it out at arms-length to make it look bigger :mrgreen: :
Stumpknocker:
I left the Chiropractor Tuesday, went home & made some sammiches, loaded the coolers & headed out to Scotts. I called Scott to tell him I was on my way & he had his stuff already piled in the drive & ready to go, so after BS’ing a little, we loeaded-up his gear & headed-out. We stopped near the ramp to get bait, picked-up a few dozen crappie minnows several dozen ‘crawlers, some frozen shad and I brought some strawberry chicken & Scott some livers & some gawd-awful smelling concoction that must have been spawned in the bowels of hell…….I don't know what all was in it, and don't want to, all I know was I tried to stay upwind of him :shock:
As usual, we hit the water mid afternoon (so the ramp is normally vacant) as well as usually going on weekdays, as opposed to the busier weekends. There were only a handful of vehicles in the parking lot, but there are 4-5 ramps…still, not crowded on the water by any means. Boat wakes are a pain in the butt though especially from the larg speed boats, but you just ride them out until sundown, then there are usually only 2-3 boats (fishing) on the water & it normally it calms down a lot, depending on the wind.
I usually climb in the boat & Scott usually launches, simply because I’d have a problem with walking the distance & incline of the ramp….it’s a steep one. Anyway, this was the 1st time I’ve had this boat in the water, but started it yesterday with muffs, just to ensure it’d start OK…..fired right up & purred like a kitten, went into gear, etc. Scott backs down the ramp into the water, and before we knew it, the boat’s free of the trailer, with no effort. Easy enough I thought, and the trailer was only ½ way in the water. I lowered the motor, pumped the bulb & tried to start it….but it’d run for a few seconds & die, over & over. By the time Scott made it back, I’d drifted back up to the ramp, so he hopped in & shoved us out so I could keep trying.
The more I tried, the madder I got….lol, at one time telling Scott to stand-back cause I was gonna shoot a hole in the hull & sink ‘er right there #-o .. Being unfamiliar of the controls & characteristics of the boat, I went against my better judgment & pulled-out the owners manual….no help at all. I was getting mote ticked-off at the boat by the minute. We'd even pulled-over into the shade to get out of the 90* sun.
After a total of about 30 minutes, and using every cuss-word I could recall (or invent) at least 5 times, we finally got it figured-out. So after warming the motor up for a few, and burning off all the gas I’d probably flooded the cylinders with, off we went.. It took me a few minutes to get the motor trimmed & us up on plane, and once we were, about 38 MPH was top speed, but surprised it didn’t top-out a tad faster for a 75 hp Merc. We ran up to the far end of the reservoir to see the dam, and rode around a bit before fishing.
Bite was slow to basically non-existent, I caught 2 very small bass (which were joked about all night by us both), and Scott caught a couple small channels, perfect eater-size. We were hoping to catch a few crappie or 'gills for live/cut-bait, but didn't catch a one. It was hot, and the water was choppy from the boaters, another reason we rode around a bit after arriving, plus I wanted to get some of the SeaFoam ran through the motor. Over-all, I was happy with the way the boat ran once I figured-out a couple things, and it did help it slightly after being ran, picked-up another mph or 2.
We were passing the Marina, and seeing as how I’d burnt-up 2/3 of the 12 gallons in the tank I was down to ¼ tank & decided to fill-up at the marina. 12 gallons & $60 later, I had a full tank just in case we decided to travel around during the night. I learned I’ll NEVER hit the water without a full tank of my own “mix. Paying $5 a gallon for Marina gas was a 1 time deal for me……..
My front nav light has a small courtesy light which is on anything the light is plugged-into the holder. No way to turn it off short of unplugging the light from it's holder. It’s just bright enough to interfere with the blacklights we use in conjunction with the Solar Green Berkley Big Game for catfishing….so when we got ready to move spots, the front light wouldn’t work after plugging it back in to it's holder, and after checking neither did the rear one. For whatever reason a fuse had blown under the dash, so I swapped-out the fuse & off we went, I haven't had time to see if there's a problem, or it blown fuse was just one of those things.
We set-up for cats, calm night both the wind & the water (lol, finally), warm, and billions of stars in the shy, looked like a perfect night….lol, it was, just not for cat fishing
. Scott grabbed a nap on the front deck, and I probably nodded-off a time or 2 in the rear seats, but the fact that Scott decided to give his lumberjack impression (by snoring) limited my sleep. I caught 1 VERY small channel, that was all I caught until daylight. Scott woke-up to find he'd caught another eater cat overnight....lol, and of course I teased him about being lucky.I had put dads Lowrance FF on the boat, but wasn’t able to find a suitable mount for the transducer, thought I could use the set-up that was on it. (and regreted not buying the TM mount for it when I wen't to Gander Mountain #-o ), which basically left of fishing “old reliable” spots, though we tried a couple new ones. I charged the 3 deep-cycle batteries just prior to the trip, for some reason the one under the front deck I installed for Scott to use evidently “went bad” since dad & I just used it a few weeks ago….so, looks like I’ll be replacing a deep cycle battery in the near future. During the day, one of the cheap $1store hand towels I buy to use for fishing (hand drying), blew-off the rod holder & into the water, seeing as how I forgot to remove it before blasting-off to a new spot, Oh well, no biggie.
After daybreak, we went to do some crappie fishing, as we usually do on the way back to the ramp. We actually caught a few crapping, and a few more (eater) cats as well.A couple were fairly nice ones. We caught the most fish from daylight until about noon. I’d been using dads transom mount #36 MinnKota, which moved the boat forward better than I expected, but reverse pretty much sucked. Also using this TM didn’t bode-well with the rod holder I’d made. I was constantly ducking under it to run the TM, but the holder itself worked fine. I also got to try-out the pool-noodle bobbers I made…..not bad, just keep in mind they aren’t made for casting, (though I did, but they have too much wind-resistance to fly well) they’re more a drift-style bobber.
We got too much sun yesterday, and it was hot again today, so we got off the water about noon, loading wasn’t bad, neither of us being familiar with the boat…we’ll put the trailer in a little deeper next time. Again, it was all a good learning experience. organized the boat for the ride home, put all the trash in the trashcans, double checked the tie-downs, and headed home.
I dropped Scott off at home, got out just long enough to help him unload his ear & I was gone, ready to get home, unload, shower, eat, and get some sleep. I hadn’t driven 3 minutes when I smelled that “sweet” smell of antifreeze & thought I noticed a whiff of steam come out between the fender & hood of my truck. A quick glance at my transmission temp sensor showed it rapidly approaching 200* (a good 20-30* more than normal) . So, I pull-over, pop the hood…..and my overflow tank is perking like a tea-pot. While I looked for a split hose….nadda, so I call Scott & ask him to bring a 9/16” wrench & some water. I figure the t-stat stuck shut & I’d simply remove it, add water until tomorrow & be on my way…WRONG. After hanging up & with Scott on his way, I look further & notice the fan belt off the pulleys. “Cool” I thought, easier to reinstall than the T-stat removal……WRONG again. Seems yet ANOTHER fine piece of NAPAs electrical CRAP has failed (add to starter, distributor, 2 batteries, and temp sending unit. The front bearing was gone, and the fan wheel & pulley were free to “flop-around”. I’ll NEVER buy anything electrical there again! It's overpriced made in China garbage that doesn't last. :evil:
Scott & his better ½ arrived & were kind enough to take my old alternator once I removed it to the parts store for me so I could get a new one. So, after $89 (+ tax) I put on the replacement, which gave the motor time to cool (and me time to slam a couple cold Mountain Dews from the pop machine), but I caught it early & not concerned with any related problems. I lost maybe a quart of coolant, so after topping it off with water, I was on my way home….again. Fortunately an alternator replacement job on an older small-block chevy is about a 10 minute total (R&R) job.
Got home, emptied the boat, put the charger on the batteries, rinsed & wiped-down the inside & outside of the boat, swept the carpet, wiped-down the seats, and put the cover back on her. Lol, I told Scott I was glad it happened (truck breaking down) where it did, instead of on the ramp. Thanks again for the help Scott, I hope you were able to get your iced tea & set in the air conditioning :wink:
Sadly, by the time all this had taken-place, and I got the fish home to clean, they’d went bad & had to be thrown away. I'd planned on having them for supper
All said & done, I enjoyed getting to fish, as well as fishing with Scott….and even catching a few. Got to get the boat in the water for a shakedown run & educate myself with it as well. Fuel- $160……bait-$25....new alternator- $89 + tax……… being reminded of how well Murphys Law likes to follow me around……..priceless :mrgreen:
ST
A couple pics of some of the water:
My largest crappie of the day, no giant by any means. I told Scott I should hold it out at arms-length to make it look bigger :mrgreen: :
