Fishing
Took the boat out...
May/23/10 04:20 PM
It only cost about $350 to get everything back to usable shape, as the tires had dry-rotted and flattened, even breaking the seal on the rim. I replace tires on the trailer every 3-4 years anyway, keeping one of the older tire/wheels (I buy them as a set, only a little more, would cost the same, if not more, to have the tires changed!) to use as a spare. I think I may have to buy another tire and/or wheel to use a a spare this go-around, as the boat sat since about 6 months before the wreck. Next up was a set deep cycle batteries, I had three, and when I parked the boat only 1 was worth trying to save, so I just bought 2 new batteries.
I had been buying Interstate batteries mostly for the boat, but had switched to the Wal-Mart brand, which didn’t seem to hold up as well. The Wal-Mart batteries have a heck of a warranty, though, so I guess it balanced itself out, with the trips to have them checked to see if they would pro-rate or replace them. I normally used 2 different size of batteries, a large Group 27 for the power hungry trolling motor in the back, they usually had anywhere from 180-205 reserve minutes. I replaced this batter with a Stowaway brand with a 182 min reserve capacity that I got from Tractor Supply. I originally went there to get trailer wheels, but they didn’t have the size I needed, so I figured I would give this battery a shot. The front trolling motor battery I always used a Group 24. Sure it ran more stuff, but the front motor usually never goes above speed 3 unless we are ‘blasting off’ or moving from spot to spot. I ended up with a Group 27 from Wal-Mart that had a smaller footprint than the Stowaway, so it would fit in the battery box I made for it, and has a 160 minute reserve capacity.
Next up was a replacement seat for the passenger, Tanner, in this case. The last seat I bought was plastic framed with a small cushion for the back and seat. The chair looks better and weighs less than the standard padded boat seat, but the standard one is more comfortable, and almost 1/2 the price. A fair tradeoff, I think, considering they don’t last as long. Comfort is where it’s at, though!
The rest of the money was spent on odds and ends, such as a few tubes of grease for the bearing buddies, a new plug, as well as other odds and ends that make life simpler while out on the water.
The JBFC (Jon Boat Fishing Club) was having a 2-day tournament out of the Longwood ramp at Kerr lake, so I decided to take Tanner up there this morning to see the guys, catch some fish, then watch the weigh-in. Sadly, due to having to work yesterday, and a new medicine I jut got, I overslept by a factor of 4 hours! Oops.....We still soldiered on and went up there, stopping by Bobcat’s Tackle Shop before hitting the lake. Having missed most of the morning bite, but was still cloudy, I took a chance and tried some topwater while Tanner threw his frog and got accustomed to his new rod and reel. I had one blow up on the Pop-R, but ended up spending much of my day explaining fishing basics to Tanner, tying on his lures and getting him out of a few messes, such as leaving his worm in the water and deciding to take off! Thank goodness for that prop wrench I carry, there was a lot of line wrapped around the motor.
We only caught one fish today, I would like to think I could have caught more, but it’s OK, teaching Tanner how to fish is going to be way better in the long run than catching a few more, that’s for sure. Hopefully I will have a permanent fishing partner. The one fish we caught was hanging out under a Willow Tree. I was fishing a Bubblegum wacky rigged stickbait. After feeling the fish, I set the hook, made sure the fish was still on and handed my rod to Tanner so he could fight the fish, he did extremely well despite trying to hold and maneuver a 7 foot rod! The rest of the day was spent learning trolling motor mechanics, learning to not leave your line in the water while learning how to drive, and playing on the playground.
I had been buying Interstate batteries mostly for the boat, but had switched to the Wal-Mart brand, which didn’t seem to hold up as well. The Wal-Mart batteries have a heck of a warranty, though, so I guess it balanced itself out, with the trips to have them checked to see if they would pro-rate or replace them. I normally used 2 different size of batteries, a large Group 27 for the power hungry trolling motor in the back, they usually had anywhere from 180-205 reserve minutes. I replaced this batter with a Stowaway brand with a 182 min reserve capacity that I got from Tractor Supply. I originally went there to get trailer wheels, but they didn’t have the size I needed, so I figured I would give this battery a shot. The front trolling motor battery I always used a Group 24. Sure it ran more stuff, but the front motor usually never goes above speed 3 unless we are ‘blasting off’ or moving from spot to spot. I ended up with a Group 27 from Wal-Mart that had a smaller footprint than the Stowaway, so it would fit in the battery box I made for it, and has a 160 minute reserve capacity.
Next up was a replacement seat for the passenger, Tanner, in this case. The last seat I bought was plastic framed with a small cushion for the back and seat. The chair looks better and weighs less than the standard padded boat seat, but the standard one is more comfortable, and almost 1/2 the price. A fair tradeoff, I think, considering they don’t last as long. Comfort is where it’s at, though!
The rest of the money was spent on odds and ends, such as a few tubes of grease for the bearing buddies, a new plug, as well as other odds and ends that make life simpler while out on the water.
The JBFC (Jon Boat Fishing Club) was having a 2-day tournament out of the Longwood ramp at Kerr lake, so I decided to take Tanner up there this morning to see the guys, catch some fish, then watch the weigh-in. Sadly, due to having to work yesterday, and a new medicine I jut got, I overslept by a factor of 4 hours! Oops.....We still soldiered on and went up there, stopping by Bobcat’s Tackle Shop before hitting the lake. Having missed most of the morning bite, but was still cloudy, I took a chance and tried some topwater while Tanner threw his frog and got accustomed to his new rod and reel. I had one blow up on the Pop-R, but ended up spending much of my day explaining fishing basics to Tanner, tying on his lures and getting him out of a few messes, such as leaving his worm in the water and deciding to take off! Thank goodness for that prop wrench I carry, there was a lot of line wrapped around the motor.
We only caught one fish today, I would like to think I could have caught more, but it’s OK, teaching Tanner how to fish is going to be way better in the long run than catching a few more, that’s for sure. Hopefully I will have a permanent fishing partner. The one fish we caught was hanging out under a Willow Tree. I was fishing a Bubblegum wacky rigged stickbait. After feeling the fish, I set the hook, made sure the fish was still on and handed my rod to Tanner so he could fight the fish, he did extremely well despite trying to hold and maneuver a 7 foot rod! The rest of the day was spent learning trolling motor mechanics, learning to not leave your line in the water while learning how to drive, and playing on the playground.
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Back from the river!
May/20/10 01:28 AM
So I’m back, and finally have the energy to write this, a few days or ‘working rest’ is all it took! I didn’t get the Monday after the trip off, so it’s been a pretty tough week. The trip was a blast, it seems to have renewed my interest in fishing, enough that I’ve taken steps to get my boat back in order, which will be around $300 all told, and that’s before and inevitable, but unwanted, unexpected problems crop up.
Nobody seemed to remember to set the alarm Friday night, so we got up late, to the sound of Don beating on our window. Oops. We were not actually late for the tournament, but we didn’t have any wake up time. I caught my first fish within ten minutes of arriving at our first spot, right outside the lili pads on a Pop-R, that felt good! Sadly, that was it until later in the afternoon until I coaxed a fish out of a stump by some pads later in the day. I take that back, I caught some non-keeper fish, but I wanted keepers!
The second day we caught fish almost all day long, sadly none were large enough to keep, but it sure was fun. I set the hook on two of them, one on a Fluke, another on a Jig, so hard that the poor fish came flying toward me out of the water, that’s how small they were. The total weight that won the 2-day event was 10.4 pounds, the winner actually had 5.2 pounds on both days, with 2 fish on Saturday and only 1 on Sunday.
Can’t wait to go back!
Nobody seemed to remember to set the alarm Friday night, so we got up late, to the sound of Don beating on our window. Oops. We were not actually late for the tournament, but we didn’t have any wake up time. I caught my first fish within ten minutes of arriving at our first spot, right outside the lili pads on a Pop-R, that felt good! Sadly, that was it until later in the afternoon until I coaxed a fish out of a stump by some pads later in the day. I take that back, I caught some non-keeper fish, but I wanted keepers!
The second day we caught fish almost all day long, sadly none were large enough to keep, but it sure was fun. I set the hook on two of them, one on a Fluke, another on a Jig, so hard that the poor fish came flying toward me out of the water, that’s how small they were. The total weight that won the 2-day event was 10.4 pounds, the winner actually had 5.2 pounds on both days, with 2 fish on Saturday and only 1 on Sunday.
Can’t wait to go back!
To The River!
May/13/10 06:04 PM
This weekend is our yearly trip to the Chowan River, can’t wait! I’ll have more details later, once we get back from the river. The first time I ever went down, I won the big fish pot on the first day, which paid for my entire trip. Not had much luck since then, or as good luck as that trip, I should say, but I still really enjoy fishing it regardless, especially the lily-pads.
JBFC Tournament
Apr/11/10 06:38 PM
So today I went fishing for the first time in a very, very long time, matter of fact, since we moved here I think the boat has only been taken out once. To be honest, I still have not taken the boat out, I filled in for Mr. Alderman so Vinny would have a partner in todays JBFC Tournament.
My primary reason for not going fishing has been the pain in my shoulder, it is at times very painful to sort, case and deliver mail. The secondary reason was a lack of interest. I ate, drank, spoke and breathed fishing for such a long time, I think I got burnt out on the idea of it, not to mention the constant tournaments I would enter and lose money in! I still like to fish, but the competitive aspect of it seemed to drain all of the fun out of it. In fishing for fun, I never felt pressured to throw a certain type of bait, to move to a different spot, and loved being able to switch tactics when a different species of fish was biting.
The shoulder pain was there, as well as the numb feeling and whitening of my fingertips in the cold. I took my time, fishing when I wanted to, hanging out when I felt pain or discomfort. Now that the day is over and I am not ‘in the moment’ so to speak, I realize that trying to fish all day may have been a mistake. Hopefully a good nights rest will cure that, I go back to see the Ortho Dr. on Tuesday, hopefully he will have some actual answers for me this go-around.
The actual fishing was pretty slow today. With the hot weather last on in to the middle of this week, and the cold front that followed, I think the fish were a bit confused. We ended up placing dead last in the tournament, which didn’t bother me at all, but it seemed to bug Vinny. I ended up catching a nice Crappie by ‘mistake’, I was fishing a chartreuse and white spinnerbait when something bit it and took off running. Once netted and measured, I had a picture taken, it’s been a while since I have been Crappie fishing, but this 13” Crappie is nothing to sneeze at, and is one of the larger I have ever caught.
My primary reason for not going fishing has been the pain in my shoulder, it is at times very painful to sort, case and deliver mail. The secondary reason was a lack of interest. I ate, drank, spoke and breathed fishing for such a long time, I think I got burnt out on the idea of it, not to mention the constant tournaments I would enter and lose money in! I still like to fish, but the competitive aspect of it seemed to drain all of the fun out of it. In fishing for fun, I never felt pressured to throw a certain type of bait, to move to a different spot, and loved being able to switch tactics when a different species of fish was biting.
The shoulder pain was there, as well as the numb feeling and whitening of my fingertips in the cold. I took my time, fishing when I wanted to, hanging out when I felt pain or discomfort. Now that the day is over and I am not ‘in the moment’ so to speak, I realize that trying to fish all day may have been a mistake. Hopefully a good nights rest will cure that, I go back to see the Ortho Dr. on Tuesday, hopefully he will have some actual answers for me this go-around.
The actual fishing was pretty slow today. With the hot weather last on in to the middle of this week, and the cold front that followed, I think the fish were a bit confused. We ended up placing dead last in the tournament, which didn’t bother me at all, but it seemed to bug Vinny. I ended up catching a nice Crappie by ‘mistake’, I was fishing a chartreuse and white spinnerbait when something bit it and took off running. Once netted and measured, I had a picture taken, it’s been a while since I have been Crappie fishing, but this 13” Crappie is nothing to sneeze at, and is one of the larger I have ever caught.