Spring boat prep

[kickingfrog]

Since I filled my turkey tag yesterday, today was my day to pull the boat out and give it the once over. New air in the tires, check. Motor turned over just like always, check. No signs of critters. Hookup the batteries to top-up the charge. Bit of tidying up and check the trailer lights and the one side won't light (Insert Grinch joke here). Looks like it is just the bulbs so off to CT to get new ones. Fourteen bucks later and we're road legal again. This now brings the total money I've spent on replacing broken items on this used boat I bought from a member here 10 years ago to..... $27. But if we figure I bought 2 pairs of bulbs when I only needed one, we can round down to $20. The trailer winch strap busted (in may driveway) about 5-6 years ago. Nothing on this boat has given me a moment's grief and while I'd love to upsize a bit I don't think I could give this one up. Tight lines... after we get my brother a turkey.

[glen]

I put led lights on about 15y ago and I don’t unplug them when launching and never a problem.  

[kickingfrog]

If/when I need to redo the light I'll be using LEDs as well.

[misfish]

You did really well with that boat Rob. I will be getting the green machine prepred for next weeks opener. New 50 ah battery is already on charge,new motor just needs ft extension on the wires to reach the battery to balance out the craft. Finder chip swapped from the ice machine to the large tv screen one. Might need some new air in the tires as well. Maybe hit the car wash and give it a shine. LOL

 

 

[KraTToR]

Check the bearings if you haven't. Can count the number of boats/trailers parked on the side of the hyws with a wheel missing. Can't imagine that being much fun.

Upgrading the LEDs is a great idea and new wires, connectors as well - I'm assuming its over 10 yrs old.

 

 

[BillM]

Check the tires, fill the EZ Lube hubs with new grease.  Grease both motors, change the water/fuel separator, that's about it.

Spring has been good so far.

 

[AKRISONER]

You guys are making me sad, something on my 06 seemingly breaks every trip I take lol

my spring routine is simply blowing out the engine fogger letting the motor run for a bit to clean it out and then putting new plugs in, checking my tire pressure everything else was done back in the fall.

I did an electronics overhaul this winter but that was finished in February, but I have some tweaking to do, small gremlins with my trolling motor transducer not appearing on my marine network. 

ive been out twice this year, I’ve had to completely replace my drain plug, one of my taillights literally vanished somewhere between Virginia and New York 

Replaced all of those and noticed that left rear corner marker is toast, not to mention my trailer brakes need a total clean out and bleed, maybe more…and then noticed my bunks need replacing.

I mean it’s all minor stuff at the end of the day, as long as the hull and more importantly the outboard are singing, I don’t complain!

Saturday was a gem

 

Edited May 8, 2023 by AKRISONER

[pics]

On 5/7/2023 at 10:01 AM, KraTToR said:

Check the bearings if you haven't. Can count the number of boats/trailers parked on the side of the hyws with a wheel missing. Can't imagine that being much fun.

Upgrading the LEDs is a great idea and new wires, connectors as well - I'm assuming its over 10 yrs old.

 

 

My buddy lives on a hwy that always seems to have stranded boaters with bad bearings. He isn't the only house but they seem to see his place as somewhere to get help. Boat trailer bearings are dunked in water and they really should be checked when you winterize to avoid wrecking them completely.. rear seals can't be re-used either.. 

[Fisherman]

I think it's called "the one more short trip" syndrome.  I don't put my wife away wet and moldy, or the trailer wet and rusty bearings either. 

[CrowMan]

As the old saying goes..."an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure".

Just came back from a 2500km road (round) trip towing my tinny. Through a blizzard to t-shirt weather...all perfectly trouble free. I'm religious about maintaining my bearings...just seen too many roadside mishaps that leave me sayin' "glad I'm not that dude".  One of the things, that I've got into a habit of doing over the years...at every gas, coffee, or pit stop, I'll put my hand on the trailer bearing hubs...if they're  a little too warm, I know there'll be trouble down the road. On long remote trips like this, we always take spare bearings and grease. Another habit, is to let the bearings cool down before splashing the boat...warm bearing caps and cold water can add up to problems.

This was our annual Steelhead trip up the east and north shore of Superior. For the first time in 23 years of doing this trip, we decided to tow a boat. We wanted to run up some of the bigger Trout Rivers (like the Michipicoten) and also access the mouths of some tribs that you can only get to by water...not many roads in this part of the world. We also planned to fish ice out Lakers on an inland lake on the way back.

No shortage of fresh chrome fish up on Superior this time of year...although they're smaller than their Lake O and Huron/G Bay cousins...every year they do seem to get bigger...and maybe it's because of the environment they live in (high gradient rivers), but pound for pound they battle like nothing else.

After getting our fill of chasing Steel, we spent a day or so at a lake in southern Algoma with the intent of hunting down some Lakers. Well, after reeling in a few Trout, we soon figured out that some of the bays had warmed up to 50f and the Smallies had the pre-spawn feedbag on...we quickly switched gears...not that we were planning on it, but we all had some soft plastics that we scrounged and shared from the bottom of our bags..This was a Smelt lake, so the Bass were particularly porcine !

It turned into one of those epic days...beautiful weather, still too early for bugs, and double headers of hungry 20" Bass...just crazy !

The number of Smallies jammed into relatively small staging areas was something none of us had experienced before...they looked liked wolf packs cruising in the clear shallow water. Although, they definitely preferred a smaller snack...Ned's ruled the day...

Yep...it's been a great spring so far !

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 9, 2023 by CrowMan

[KraTToR]

10 hours ago, CrowMan said:

As the old saying goes..."an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure".

Just came back from a 2500km road (round) trip towing my tinny. Through a blizzard to t-shirt weather...all perfectly trouble free. I'm religious about maintaining my bearings...just seen too many roadside mishaps that leave me sayin' "glad I'm not that dude".  One of the things, that I've got into a habit of doing over the years...at every gas, coffee, or pit stop, I'll put my hand on the trailer bearing hubs...if they're  a little too warm, I know there'll be trouble down the road. On long remote trips like this, we always take spare bearings and grease. Another habit, is to let the bearings cool down before splashing the boat...warm bearing caps and cold water can add up to problems.

This was our annual Steelhead trip up the east and north shore of Superior. For the first time in 23 years of doing this trip, we decided to tow a boat. We wanted to run up some of the bigger Trout Rivers (like the Michipicoten) and also access the mouths of some tribs that you can only get to by water...not many roads in this part of the world. We also planned to fish ice out Lakers on an inland lake on the way back.

No shortage of fresh chrome fish up on Superior this time of year...although they're smaller than their Lake O and Huron/G Bay cousins...every year they do seem to get bigger...and maybe it's because of the environment they live in (high gradient rivers), but pound for pound they battle like nothing else.

After getting our fill of chasing Steel, we spent a day or so at a lake in southern Algoma with the intent of hunting down some Lakers. Well, after reeling in a few Trout, we soon figured out that some of the bays had warmed up to 50f and the Smallies had the pre-spawn feedbag on...we quickly switched gears...not that we were planning on it, but we all had some soft plastics that we scrounged and shared from the bottom of our bags..This was a Smelt lake, so the Bass were particularly porcine !

It turned into one of those epic days...beautiful weather, still too early for bugs, and double headers of hungry 20" Bass...just crazy !

The number of Smallies jammed into relatively small staging areas was something none of us had experienced before...they looked liked wolf packs cruising in the clear shallow water. Although, they definitely preferred a smaller snack...Ned's ruled the day...

Yep...it's been a great spring so far !

 

 

 

 

 

Great report! To be hones I saw "Bass" and went WTH? So I checked the regs and low and behold in FMZ 7, Bass season is open all year I'd didn't realize that this was a thing in Ontario..lol.  Learn something new "almost" every day.

[KraTToR]

19 hours ago, pics said:

My buddy lives on a hwy that always seems to have stranded boaters with bad bearings. He isn't the only house but they seem to see his place as somewhere to get help. Boat trailer bearings are dunked in water and they really should be checked when you winterize to avoid wrecking them completely.. rear seals can't be re-used either.. 

And greasing the bearings isn't enough. Seals and other parts continue to wear out. And then there's the tire itself.  Great Pic BTW.

[CrowMan]

58 minutes ago, KraTToR said:

Great report! To be hones I saw "Bass" and went WTH? So I checked the regs and low and behold in FMZ 7, Bass season is open all year I'd didn't realize that this was a thing in Ontario..lol.  Learn something new "almost" every day.

In FMZ 7 the lakes are still probably frozen. We were much further south than that...FMZ 10 has exceptions. Up north, the locals consider Bass an invasive "trash" fish not worthy of protection...LOL

 

• All waters north of Highway 17 and all waters west of where the east bank of the Serpent River crosses Highway 17 are open year-round for largemouth and smallmouth bass.

Edited May 9, 2023 by CrowMan

[AKRISONER]

1 hour ago, KraTToR said:

Great report! To be hones I saw "Bass" and went WTH? So I checked the regs and low and behold in FMZ 7, Bass season is open all year I'd didn't realize that this was a thing in Ontario..lol.  Learn something new "almost" every day.

I think you should give the regs an even more thorough once over for bass, youd be shocked at the opportunities available to you closer to home than you think!

 

Crow we were talking to one of the scientists from Queens University last week at the NGTA bass anglers meeting and he described seemingly what you came across with those smallies. They have done tracking studies and have noted that on one of the first calm hot days of the year seemingly the majority of the largest bass all go shallow together at the same time to the same place. Pretty neat stuff.

Edited May 9, 2023 by AKRISONER

[CrowMan]

10 minutes ago, AKRISONER said:

I think you should give the regs an even more thorough once over for bass, youd be shocked at the opportunities available to you closer to home than you think!

 

Crow we were talking to one of the scientists from Queens University last week at the NGTA bass anglers meeting and he described seemingly what you came across with those smallies. They have done tracking studies and have noted that on one of the first calm hot days of the year seemingly the majority of the largest bass all go shallow together at the same time to the same place. Pretty neat stuff.

Good to hear there's a scientific rationale behind this behavior, we couldn't figure it out...never saw anything like that before. No dinks to be found at all...everything was 18" and up. Interestingly, the males and females seemed to stay in seperate packs. These fish were at least 4 to 6 weeks away from spawning.

[CrowMan]

I wonder if it's some kind of pre-spawn mating ritual....they all get together in one spot to mix it up and keep the genetics strong by selecting the best partners. Just like a high school dance...all the  boys on one side of the room, the girls on the other...figuring out who's gonna hook up with who...quarterbacks and cheerleaders get first pick.

..or I guess these days it might be the equivalent of swipe right, swipe left...lol

[AKRISONER]

10 hours ago, CrowMan said:

I wonder if it's some kind of pre-spawn mating ritual....they all get together in one spot to mix it up and keep the genetics strong by selecting the best partners. Just like a high school dance...all the  boys on one side of the room, the girls on the other...figuring out who's gonna hook up with who...quarterbacks and cheerleaders get first pick.

..or I guess these days it might be the equivalent of swipe right, swipe left...lol

Apparently it’s something related to them turning their metabolism back on, feeding and getting ready to do the dance. Water temperatures are obviously highest in the shallows turning them back on after hibernating all winter.

[jannick]

I'm glad that you were able to fix the trailer lights for just $14. That's a great price, especially considering that you only needed one pair of bulbs. It's also good to know that you were able to get the boat road legal again so quickly.