EricM
Well-known member
I woke up well before 6 am - for no good reason at all - and had to decide: go to cardiac rehab (exercise), go fishing, or go back to bed. Let's see, I think we can cross #1 off of today's list. Hmmm, maybe I'll check the weather. I have to get up to pee anyway.
Hey! The rain is going to hold off until later! The temp is in the high 60's! And there is very good water flow! Maybe I'll sleep in tomorrow - today should be great for fishing!!!! I can be on the water by daybreak.
Hook up the trailer. Load the boat and start the truck. Now what is that stupid symbol on the dash??? Aw crap, a low tire. Shut off the truck. OK, right rear is about 5 lbs low. Plug in the compressor and fill up the tire, no sense in taking chances. Back in the truck and start up again. Pull out of the driveway and check the mirrors, double crap - no trailer lights!! Pull over, get out, and walk around to find out what the problem is now. Plug is in, so that's not the problem. Oh! Speaking of plugs, I forgot to put the drain plug in before I left. Do it now so I don't forget at the ramp. Get back in the truck and start up. Turn the truck back off. Forgot that I had stopped to fix the lights. Get out and walk around the boat. Kick the trailer. Nope, that didn't fix it. Unplug the connector and stare at the end. What could I possibly be looking for, missing prongs?? Plug it back in. Lights work. Duh.
Off to the ramp. It starts raining. RAINING?? So much for the weather forecast. I could have gone back to bed. Hell, I'm this far, might as well go to the river and see what it's like there. Hmmm, looks like I'm not going to be on the water at daybreak. Not important. It's going to be a terrific fishing day with the weather and flow!
Launched the boat in a very light mist, walked back to the truck to park it, opened the door - hey!! Someone stole the steering whee......triple crap - I had opened the REAR door of the crew cab. Looked around quickly, no witnesses. I remember a joke about an old guy who........... never mind.
Fire the boat up and off I go! I'm still in the channel leading from the ramp and not running hard at all when the rpm's drop. No, no, no!! The motor quits. I go to using words beyond "crap". Last time this happened I had to rebuild the engine. This is not making me happy. I deploy the trolling motor (deploy?? Who uses the word "deploy"??) to keep me out of trouble while I investigate the latest problem. The engine still cranks fine, so it isn't seized up. The rpm loss was relatively slow, so it's unlikely that the problem is electrical. OK, probably a fuel problem. Reach under the console and pump the primer bulb. Soft. Pump some more. Still softer than an old man's, umm, thingie (voice of experience). Something feels wrong (with the bulb!). Oh......what was I up to?........oh yea, quadruple crap. The primer bulb has reached the end of its life and has cracked open. Now what to do?
This is the strangest thing, but whoever installed the water seperator had put a SECOND fuel bulb in the line between the tank and seperator. I always wondered about that. Anyway, I think I can do a bit of surgery (no, not with duct tape - but I have it) and salvage the trip and catch some nice fish. A bit of hose rerouting bypasses the seperator and I have the other primer bulb reinstalled. Pump it up (now it feels like when I was twenty). Yay!!! The boat is fine!! I'm on my way!! It's getting a bit late in the morning, but the fishing will still be terrific! Oops. Stop the boat. I need to "undeploy" the trolling motor. I lose track of how many "craps" I am up to. I need a scorecard. Ok, trolling motor is back up. Let's try this again.
No one else at the secret hole! I have all of this terrific fishing to myself! After 14 drifts (I used a scorecard) and one 2 pound catfish, I'm beginning to lose my enthusiasm for the day. I just KNEW that this was the day. Well, I'm here, so another hour of drifts. Net result: an additional fish of about 4 pounds. I hold the fish out to get the full effect on the picture, but my sad lower lip gives me away. There are fish below me, the problem is that they are most likely paddlefish. No bites, and I can occasionally feel the line and a fish touch. The sonar signature looks very typical of paddlefish too. Try to not wonder about why the track looks like it does on the right side of the sonar screen........
Time to give up. Back to the ramp and load up. Get into the correct truck door and pull up a bit to drain the boat and clean up. Get back into the correct door again to take off. Aw, crap. The rear wheels spin. I had parked on the big pile of wet leaves covering the upper part of the ramp. Bang head on steering wheel. Use 4-wheel drive to get going again. Carefully drive home.
Get back into bed.
And so ends today's wonderful fishing adventure. With pics, so it's not just a fish story.........
Hey! The rain is going to hold off until later! The temp is in the high 60's! And there is very good water flow! Maybe I'll sleep in tomorrow - today should be great for fishing!!!! I can be on the water by daybreak.
Hook up the trailer. Load the boat and start the truck. Now what is that stupid symbol on the dash??? Aw crap, a low tire. Shut off the truck. OK, right rear is about 5 lbs low. Plug in the compressor and fill up the tire, no sense in taking chances. Back in the truck and start up again. Pull out of the driveway and check the mirrors, double crap - no trailer lights!! Pull over, get out, and walk around to find out what the problem is now. Plug is in, so that's not the problem. Oh! Speaking of plugs, I forgot to put the drain plug in before I left. Do it now so I don't forget at the ramp. Get back in the truck and start up. Turn the truck back off. Forgot that I had stopped to fix the lights. Get out and walk around the boat. Kick the trailer. Nope, that didn't fix it. Unplug the connector and stare at the end. What could I possibly be looking for, missing prongs?? Plug it back in. Lights work. Duh.
Off to the ramp. It starts raining. RAINING?? So much for the weather forecast. I could have gone back to bed. Hell, I'm this far, might as well go to the river and see what it's like there. Hmmm, looks like I'm not going to be on the water at daybreak. Not important. It's going to be a terrific fishing day with the weather and flow!
Launched the boat in a very light mist, walked back to the truck to park it, opened the door - hey!! Someone stole the steering whee......triple crap - I had opened the REAR door of the crew cab. Looked around quickly, no witnesses. I remember a joke about an old guy who........... never mind.
Fire the boat up and off I go! I'm still in the channel leading from the ramp and not running hard at all when the rpm's drop. No, no, no!! The motor quits. I go to using words beyond "crap". Last time this happened I had to rebuild the engine. This is not making me happy. I deploy the trolling motor (deploy?? Who uses the word "deploy"??) to keep me out of trouble while I investigate the latest problem. The engine still cranks fine, so it isn't seized up. The rpm loss was relatively slow, so it's unlikely that the problem is electrical. OK, probably a fuel problem. Reach under the console and pump the primer bulb. Soft. Pump some more. Still softer than an old man's, umm, thingie (voice of experience). Something feels wrong (with the bulb!). Oh......what was I up to?........oh yea, quadruple crap. The primer bulb has reached the end of its life and has cracked open. Now what to do?
This is the strangest thing, but whoever installed the water seperator had put a SECOND fuel bulb in the line between the tank and seperator. I always wondered about that. Anyway, I think I can do a bit of surgery (no, not with duct tape - but I have it) and salvage the trip and catch some nice fish. A bit of hose rerouting bypasses the seperator and I have the other primer bulb reinstalled. Pump it up (now it feels like when I was twenty). Yay!!! The boat is fine!! I'm on my way!! It's getting a bit late in the morning, but the fishing will still be terrific! Oops. Stop the boat. I need to "undeploy" the trolling motor. I lose track of how many "craps" I am up to. I need a scorecard. Ok, trolling motor is back up. Let's try this again.
No one else at the secret hole! I have all of this terrific fishing to myself! After 14 drifts (I used a scorecard) and one 2 pound catfish, I'm beginning to lose my enthusiasm for the day. I just KNEW that this was the day. Well, I'm here, so another hour of drifts. Net result: an additional fish of about 4 pounds. I hold the fish out to get the full effect on the picture, but my sad lower lip gives me away. There are fish below me, the problem is that they are most likely paddlefish. No bites, and I can occasionally feel the line and a fish touch. The sonar signature looks very typical of paddlefish too. Try to not wonder about why the track looks like it does on the right side of the sonar screen........
Time to give up. Back to the ramp and load up. Get into the correct truck door and pull up a bit to drain the boat and clean up. Get back into the correct door again to take off. Aw, crap. The rear wheels spin. I had parked on the big pile of wet leaves covering the upper part of the ramp. Bang head on steering wheel. Use 4-wheel drive to get going again. Carefully drive home.
Get back into bed.
And so ends today's wonderful fishing adventure. With pics, so it's not just a fish story.........
