Got new boat, went fishing today

[Garry2Rs]

Hi Guys;

Last month I mentioned that my boat and trailer were wrecked when a leaf spring snapped at 60mph, on our way to the winter place in Yuma Arizona. The insurance company decided that they would write-off my boat, motor and trailer, so I went Bass boat shopping. After picking the brains of some friends, (Thanks again Brian) I bought a used Ranger.

I'm very pleased with this boat, it rides nicely and goes like stink...grin.

So...after a month of being shore bound we were finally on the water.

 

The guys at the Yuma Bass Masters and the Desert Bass Club, were all saying that at this time of year, the fish should be moving away from cover and chasing schools of Shad...But the hot weather was delaying the game.

Until the last few days it's been very hot...in the 90's almost everyday. On Tuesday a front moved in and over night it dropped the day-time highs into the mid-seventies. With the cold front I had high hopes, that we would finally see some "Fall" fishing. I also assumed that the fish would be sulking for a few days after the cold front moved through. I gave it until this afternoon for the fish to adjust to the cooler water etc.

Buck and I drove to Mitry Lake, which is a reed and palm lined man-made lake about ten miles out of town. The water comes from the Colorado River but the lake isn't connected to the river, it's fed from a series of canals that originate at the Imperial Dam about twenty mile upstream from Yuma. This is a good big fish lake and has produced Bass of up to 14 pounds! We didn't see anything like that today, but we did hook a few in the 1.5 - 2 pound range, and it's aways nice to know that a new personal best might only be a cast away...GRIN.

Today we fished a Rattle-Trap and a DT-6 out from the cover in open water, where we could see submerged weed beds. We fished the lip less cranks like jerk baits, ripping them through when we felt them touch anything. The club guys said most of the strikes come after you rip...Sure enough our hits came after we had ripped the lure free of weeds.

Here's the bait we were using...

Garry2r's

[SlowPoke]

Congrat's on the new ride Garry!

That report helps take some of the chill out of the air around here.

-Brian

[bassmastermike]

Hey Garry when you get back next summer gonna have to race ya to the hole i should have my new motor by then!! LOL Is that a 21 foot?? mines only 18

[bassmastermike]

Hey Garry when you get back next summer gonna have to race ya to the hole i should have my new motor by then!! LOL Is that a 21 foot?? mines only 18

[b2kptbo]

Congrats on the boat, looks nice. Great report...

[pikehunter]

Nice boat Garry, and a nice bass report.

 

You know a cold front with temps in the 70's sounds like a warm front anywhere north of where you're at this time of year. Today it will maybe hit 5C in Hamilton.

 

Glad to hear too that your insurance company came through and you found a nice boat.

[Shelley Cooper]

Nice Boat Garry.... nice report too..

 

Thanks for sharing...

[Roy]

Sweet looking boat there Garry! Buck's gunna LOVE that spacious casting deck...especially during those dog days.

 

I guess they didn't have any tillers, eh?

[fatherof3]

good report and congrats on your new ride,glad it all worked out.

[Terry]

nice boat

should give you years of great fishing

[Smokey]

Looks great Garry. Nice to see you out fishing agian, enjoy the winter it with.

 

Mike

[misfish]

You lucked out with that machine bud.

Sweet.

[Garry2Rs]

 

Mike -

This boat is an 18ft too, I took the picture with a wide angle lens, that stretched it a bit...the motor is a 150, Black Max XR2, with a 6" jack plate. I'm amazed at the hole shot compared to the 120 Evinrude I had on the Skeeter. I'm not sure if it's the jack plate or just the extra ponies...

With Buck and I on board, and both tanks full, I'm getting about 5800 RPM at full throttle, the red line on the XR2 is 6000 RPM. There's no water around here that's big enough to really wind it out and see what subtle adjustments to the trim might do.

 

Roy -

I love tiller boats too, but the bass club rules say you must have "remote steering."

Garry2R's

[BFSC Kevin]

nice boat and huge casting deck!

im jealous

[Krisco]

Great to see your back on the water Gary! Enjoy your winter down there, looks like lots of roaming space up front for Buck.

[Clampet]

Ranger, good choice.

Keep them reports a comin'.