04-16-2010, 09:00 AM
Filled the new boat up with people and coolers early this morning and went on the big fish hunt. We thought we&#39;d get some bluegills for live bait so we stopped at fail-save spot #1. ONE bluegill. Went downriver to fail-safe spot #2. NO bluegill. Not a good start on the day. Even worse since I discovered that boat slips can be hazardous to a boat&#39;s rail mounted rod holders. Bent one and broke a piece off of another. Well, no kidding - Spur was in the boat.<br /><br />Made an interesting discovery today. Four people, four coolers, a bait tank full of water, four batteries, two anchors (luckily), and all of the fishing gear I own are just enough to keep my Honda 90 from getting the boat on plane. 12 mph at full throttle is not good for fuel economy. With the bait tank near empty (30 gal x 8 lbs = 240 lbs lighter) she&#39;d struggle, but get up and run on plane. I guess there&#39;s a reason it&#39;s rated for 150 hp. Maybe if Spur weighed a little less...........<br /><br />We fished EVERYwhere, used EVERYthing, and we were generally snubbed by every fish that apparently wasn&#39;t even there. A handful of blue cats to 8.5 pounds, a smallish flatheat cat, and a handful of bluegill were all that a full day of fishing for 4 people produced. Then, to add insult to injury, we saw PJ and he GAVE us another couple of fish emoBang. The only saving grace was the commercial netter that couldn&#39;t hardly find a catfish either.<br /><br />My good friend Spurhunter tied a second rope to the primary anchor rope and heaved the anchor overboard. The boat drifted, and drifted, and drifted, so Erik hauled up the rope - but the half with the anchor was missing. Seems there must have been a defective frien......., uh, knot tied. Remember, Spur was in the boat.<br /><br />Then there was the kill switch that I hit with a cooler and broke the &quot;key&quot; that holds the button in and makes your boat run...........and didn&#39;t have my usual roll of duct tape! Since it was an emergency, I got out the first aid kit and used medical tape to hold the little button in, rather than make Spur kneel and hold it in all the way home. I blame Spurhunter. I didn&#39;t say that it was his fault, just that I blame him. He WAS in the boat.<br /><br />A beautiful day for fishing, a horor for catching. Very embarassing, but it happens. I had a great time, but they wore the old man out and I&#39;m about to crash. At least no one fell in this trip! Spur may have a pic or two to add to the post. If not, it is his fault (of course). emoBig
