09-29-2015, 09:26 PM
Well!... all this talk of others launching at Lincoln prompted me to drag the old boat out and see for myself if a reasonably safe launch was still doable. Arrived at about 8:30 and found one other smallish trailer in the parking lot.
My boat is a 17 footer with 75 horses... not big and not small. I was going to use my electric only and if need be, lighten the boat by 225 lbs. by "walking" it out using my I-pilot from the bank. Then I had visions of the boat getting away from me as it traveled beyond the range of my I-P toward Saratoga. Not good.
Launched okay and decided to ride it out... no problems encountered. I hit something?? just of the end of the launch-- not serious-- but the rest of the channel was no problem. I went very slow and stayed right in the middle of the channel. Coming in I got tangled up in some old fishing line and had to lift the Minn Kota and take the prop off to unwind a wad of rotten line.
No problem dropping the trailer in. Can tell when the wheels drop off the cement and it is a bit of a grunt to pull out but with 4x4, easy.
Dunno if the water level is still dropping or if maybe the irrigation demand has dwindled a bit. As Pisco said, lots of slimy green moss on the surface and mostly just under a foot of water but it is enough to launch a boat the size of mine. I wouldn't want to try it using other than an electric motor cuz you'd surely be throwing up a lot of mud.
Beautiful day but I did not plan to fish today. But.... tomorrow I'll be there back in the comfort and safety of my boat to resume my search for Mr. Big. Might even go out tonight and do a night shift if the winds stay away.
It ain't over yet. That 35 inch cat is just a few days away.
Fish on.
BLK
[signature]
My boat is a 17 footer with 75 horses... not big and not small. I was going to use my electric only and if need be, lighten the boat by 225 lbs. by "walking" it out using my I-pilot from the bank. Then I had visions of the boat getting away from me as it traveled beyond the range of my I-P toward Saratoga. Not good.
Launched okay and decided to ride it out... no problems encountered. I hit something?? just of the end of the launch-- not serious-- but the rest of the channel was no problem. I went very slow and stayed right in the middle of the channel. Coming in I got tangled up in some old fishing line and had to lift the Minn Kota and take the prop off to unwind a wad of rotten line.
No problem dropping the trailer in. Can tell when the wheels drop off the cement and it is a bit of a grunt to pull out but with 4x4, easy.
Dunno if the water level is still dropping or if maybe the irrigation demand has dwindled a bit. As Pisco said, lots of slimy green moss on the surface and mostly just under a foot of water but it is enough to launch a boat the size of mine. I wouldn't want to try it using other than an electric motor cuz you'd surely be throwing up a lot of mud.
Beautiful day but I did not plan to fish today. But.... tomorrow I'll be there back in the comfort and safety of my boat to resume my search for Mr. Big. Might even go out tonight and do a night shift if the winds stay away.
It ain't over yet. That 35 inch cat is just a few days away.
Fish on.
BLK
[signature]
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