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Everything is Ready... Now it's up to Us
Hogie’s jigs have been my favorite for many years.
The reels have been torn down, greased and oiled, drag washers and bearings have been cleaned or replaced. I put new Sufix on two reels; the line on the others will make it a while longer. The rods are all in good shape and I cleaned the cork handles to make them look better, even though after handling a couple of trout they'll be dirty and stained again.
We recycled all our lead-heads that had bad hooks and replaced them with new ones from Dusty at Hogie Lure Company in El Campo. Those screwlock jigs with the Gamakatsu hooks have been my favorite for years and are just "bad" sharp.
We're in good shape on topwater and soft plastics and I spent a good part of a cold and windy morning replacing split rings and treble hooks on more than a few of the hardbaits.
The boat is in good shape but we have been discussing replacing the trailer. Saltwater takes a toll on everything; the torsion bars on the tandem axles need some TLC but they'll last until next year. We replaced the bearings in all four wheels not long ago, so they're in good shape and every wheel has new tires. After three blowouts last year I hope the floor jack stays in the toolbox this year.
We had to have the leaning post seat and backrest re-upholstered and figured we'd do the same for one of the coolers. My friend Tim at Busha's Boatworks in Bay City went through the outboard not long ago and he also built a new bracket for the jack-plate pump that was in pretty bad shape. The motor passed his detailed inspection and covered me on the 300-hour service that was needed.
I found a leak in my waders last fall or maybe it found me. In any case my left leg was soaked but I couldn't find the leak. Filling the leg with water did the trick and I fixed the tiny split in the seam. Hopefully I'll be able to stay dry all day now.
We've replaced the anchor line and also the ancient clevis that connects the chain. While we were messing with rope I made up some new dock lines to replace the old ones that had been too wet for too long. We checked all the PFDs and made sure the straps were okay and that there were no rips or tears in the PFDs themselves. The fire extinguisher, flares and whistle are in good shape as is the throw cushion. We picked up some new drain plugs, just for good measure.
Water had been getting into the bilge and the only place it could do that was under the hatch flanges. I pulled the hatch lids off of the stern and scraped the old sealant from the gel coating. I ran new beads of sealant and set the hatches back and screwed them down tight. That fixed the problem.
So I'm feeling pretty good about our tackle, boat, outboard and trailernow all I need is the opportunity to actually go fishing. We spent more time in the woods during bow and rifle season this year than usual and had very little time on the water, so we're due. All we need is pretty weathermaybe this weekend. Wish us luck.
Be Safe,
Martin
We recycled all our lead-heads that had bad hooks and replaced them with new ones from Dusty at Hogie Lure Company in El Campo. Those screwlock jigs with the Gamakatsu hooks have been my favorite for years and are just "bad" sharp.
We're in good shape on topwater and soft plastics and I spent a good part of a cold and windy morning replacing split rings and treble hooks on more than a few of the hardbaits.
The boat is in good shape but we have been discussing replacing the trailer. Saltwater takes a toll on everything; the torsion bars on the tandem axles need some TLC but they'll last until next year. We replaced the bearings in all four wheels not long ago, so they're in good shape and every wheel has new tires. After three blowouts last year I hope the floor jack stays in the toolbox this year.
We had to have the leaning post seat and backrest re-upholstered and figured we'd do the same for one of the coolers. My friend Tim at Busha's Boatworks in Bay City went through the outboard not long ago and he also built a new bracket for the jack-plate pump that was in pretty bad shape. The motor passed his detailed inspection and covered me on the 300-hour service that was needed.
I found a leak in my waders last fall or maybe it found me. In any case my left leg was soaked but I couldn't find the leak. Filling the leg with water did the trick and I fixed the tiny split in the seam. Hopefully I'll be able to stay dry all day now.
We've replaced the anchor line and also the ancient clevis that connects the chain. While we were messing with rope I made up some new dock lines to replace the old ones that had been too wet for too long. We checked all the PFDs and made sure the straps were okay and that there were no rips or tears in the PFDs themselves. The fire extinguisher, flares and whistle are in good shape as is the throw cushion. We picked up some new drain plugs, just for good measure.
Water had been getting into the bilge and the only place it could do that was under the hatch flanges. I pulled the hatch lids off of the stern and scraped the old sealant from the gel coating. I ran new beads of sealant and set the hatches back and screwed them down tight. That fixed the problem.
So I'm feeling pretty good about our tackle, boat, outboard and trailernow all I need is the opportunity to actually go fishing. We spent more time in the woods during bow and rifle season this year than usual and had very little time on the water, so we're due. All we need is pretty weathermaybe this weekend. Wish us luck.
Be Safe,
Martin