Wintertime Woes

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D-Cypher
Posts: 22
Joined: Tue Aug 22, 2017 12:33 pm
Species: Lake Trout

Wintertime Woes

Post by D-Cypher »

Left home at 5:00am on 12/3 with the intention of launching at the coast gaurd and getting out for some late season salmon. After a stop for breakfast me and my favorite fishing partner arrived at the launch, this is when the problems started!

Untied the boat, mounted the digitrolls, and put up the enclosure. Backed the boat into the water and this is when I knew something wasnt right, I had to back the Trophy much further into the water than usual to get it off the trailer. So I fired up the motor and started to look into why the boat was sitting much lower in the water than typical. I had known for sometime that my boat cover had been leaking but didnt think much about it so I opened the catch into the hull and found that the drain plug hole had been plugged with some debris and there was about 8" of solid ice in the hull of the boat! Not Good! While I was letting the Honda warm up the temp alarm started going off and I noticed there was no water circulation! Also not good! So we put the boat back on the trailer after not leaving the dock and headed to try and thaw things out. So we headed to a carwash to thaw out the hull and get the boat draining. Managed to get it done and found out that my bilge pump had been damaged in the ice!
Figuring without a working bilge pump it was not a good idea to head out into the icy waters of the lake I headed south to make the 2 hour ride south with my tail tucked between my legs!

I had really hoped for one more good day of fishing on the lake before I called it quits for the year. the weather looked perfect! So the Trophy is now safely tucked away in its 50 degree storage building and I will survey the damage in the spring.

I guess the moral of the story is that if you have a leaky cover it doent hurt to double check your drain hole!!

Key West is looking pretty good right now!!
tmcaul
Posts: 219
Joined: Mon Dec 19, 2016 10:26 am
Species: salmonids
Location: Charlotte

Re: Wintertime Woes

Post by tmcaul »

My son and I were out for about 4 hours yesterday. Weather conditions were perfect for boating and without any wind we weren't bothered at all by cold. But the fish didn't cooperate. We caught a small laker and only two salmon. As we were launching at Converse another fisherman was leaving and he told us it had been very slow (his own experience plus what he had been told by other fishermen). Nearly flat calm water = slow bite...I don't know. The one salmon (16" and 2.75 lbs.) we kept for dinner was loaded with forage. Maybe 12 small minnows in its stomach and intestine.

Saturday we had fished Whallons and caught 7 salmon and 5 lakers. But we changed it up on Sunday to fish some sections of the lake that we can't manage when the wind is or has been blowing. We trolled from Split Rock down to Snake Den Harbor and back.

Sorry about the freeze-up. Someone on the Lake Ontario forum advised adding some recreational antifreeze to prevent bilge pump problems this time of year. We are going to try that...maybe. I think the boat is headed for storage next weekend.

Enjoy the sun and warmth of Key West!

Tom
Tom
"Tyee, Too"
18' Lund
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BottomDollar
Posts: 601
Joined: Tue Sep 03, 2013 9:09 pm
Species: cold water
Location: Burlington

Re: Wintertime Woes

Post by BottomDollar »

Assuming that the outboard has been stored in the vertical position, if you let it run for a minute it'll thaw out the ice blocking the tell tale hole without hurting anything...it will just divert to the exhaust. It happened on my Honda kicker yesterday, too.

It was very slow for me as well up north yesterday, tmcaul. Flat calm, full moon, lots of bait around. Just a couple of small lake trout in Shelburne Bay.
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Surprise
Posts: 1351
Joined: Sun Aug 28, 2011 9:03 pm
Species: FROSTBITING

Re: Wintertime Woes

Post by Surprise »

Cheer up and Beg a ride with anyone else. Show up at the ramp with 5 gal Gas and a Smile.... :D

The Blood Baths of High count are at the Door and starting TODAY! Water temp 46-47 are high for this time of year ......Magic Number 42 Degrees and they will Bite your hand.

Ask the questions on the water, watch your speed, Keep it Simple, have Fun.

Randy
Fish On!
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Crazy Ivan
Posts: 884
Joined: Sun Aug 28, 2011 5:22 pm
Species: All

Re: Wintertime Woes

Post by Crazy Ivan »

I agree with Randy, just show up at the ramp..... Pat and I Launched at 630am today and found a fellow angler needing a quick salmon fix on the dock. We had a blast with our Suprise guest! I have even been know to show up at the ramp and beg a ride with an angler heading out.
Todd
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homewrecker
Posts: 779
Joined: Tue Aug 30, 2011 7:00 am
Species: salmon,mermaids
Location: Essex Jct

Re: Wintertime Woes

Post by homewrecker »

Crazy Ivan wrote:I agree with Randy, just show up at the ramp..... Pat and I Launched at 630am today and found a fellow angler needing a quick salmon fix on the dock. We had a blast with our Suprise guest! I have even been know to show up at the ramp and beg a ride with an angler heading out.
Simple Favors changing the lives of those who need it most! Thanks for the fun Amigos, always willing to return the favor as well. Thanks Todd and Pat for sharing the secrets of the Lake.
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