We Boughta Boat

an old one, anyways.

the retired husband of a gal my wife works with was selling this custom made 24" pontoon in hopes of downsizing.  it was just getting to be to much for him to take on his own.  it has a solid fold up canopy.  it was custom made back in 1984 for a fella in a wheelchair so aside from the stationary captain's chair, it has a totally open floor.  the 65hp suzuki was bought new in '97 and is strong.  he threw in a couple rods, cowbells and other fishing stuff, a downrigger with what looks to be a 20" boom, various ropes and buoy's and a depth / fish finder machine.  it also has a tent-like system that clasps and zips into place that completely closes in the railing up .  it was alot of boat, in my humble, inexperienced opinion and i figured the price would be nowhere near what we could afford but the couple's kinda partial to my wife and blew our doors off with what they'd let us have it for.  we were indeed thankful.  i picked it up last thursday :

 

it's a heavy combo.  i was hoping to pull in behind our 5th wheel but i'm going to need to have some reinforcing work done before i attempt that.

we had family that was camping at a local reservoir this last week so i took tuesday off and met the seller up there for a crash course on pontoon boat launch and load and learning the basics of the engine and such.  we got the tutorial done in fairly short order and he was on his way.  which left me with my boat on the water heading out in search of my camping family.

everyone who wanted got rides, we then beached the boat and lolled the rest of the morning away.  around 2 i told my dad i was going to take the boat out.  get a little more time behind the wheel and maybe throw a lure out and try my hand at trolling.  he had nothing better to do so said he'd come along.  by this time the temp had hit 97* and i was really just looking to run a breeze over myself.

before i'd come up, i'd hit several of the local tackle shops and had purchased myself a nice little assortment of fish hooks.  wife said i went overboard, as usual, but like my firearms, i just don't see how having several choices is a bad thing.  lol.  anyway, rummaging throught the pile of choices i had accumulated, i picked out one that was supposed to do well on rainbow's, which primarily populated these waters.

with very little expectation i attached the hook, set the rpm to 1K and leter go.  i let the rod just sit in my lap as i hadn't taken the time to set up any of the rod holders i'd been given with the boat.

20 minutes in dad and i were talking about the temps and how nice it was to be on the water with the light breeze and in the shade when the tip of my pole bent heavily back.  i glanced quick at the depth reader and was at 27 ' . as i backed farther off the throttle i told dad i musta hit the bottom, having no clue how deep my lure really was.  i started reeling in.

there was weight on the end but nothing that i'd associate with a caught fish and there wasn't any indication for a little bit.  just very light tugs every so often.  and then the bugger musta decided he was done coming towards the boat and turned.  lol.  having my light rod ment for 9" - 10" brook trout creek fishing made the bend in the rod seem all that much more dramatic.  needless to say, i had not hit bottom.

i dropped the motor to idle and in short order was looking at my first fish caught from my new boat.  i coulda packed the boat up there and been thrilled with the day.  it was a pretty rainbow trout.  good sized.   2 1/2#.  18"  :   

 



all in the heat of the day.  dad and i were both shocked.  dad netted him, we got him on a string and back in the water and threw the lure back in.  30 minutes later the lure was slammed again by another rainbow.  this one 2 #.  17 1/4".

my wife and son weren't able to go with me so when i got home i ran the cooler into the house before i parked the boat.  before i could get back in and get pics of both fish, my wifle had the smaller one buttered and seasoned and in the oven.  this is what that one looked like     ...     post-oven visit :



fresh fish was indeed the perfect end to a real nice day.  glad i was able to have shared it with my dad.  made it that much more special.

i do believe we are going to enjoy this boat a great deal.

 

 

k  

Two happiest days in a boaters life.....the day you buy your boat.....and the day you sell your boat.

Welcome a float.

 

PS  a boat is a hole in the water that you put your money in!

I've got 4 of them dang holes.

Isn't a boat one of those things that makes a hole in the
water into which you throw money?

You're going to love it.

samchap

evening, all. and thanks for the comments. enjoyed
reading each one. being new to this whole thing i'll
probably be gleening off your experience from time to
time.

dad and i decided to head out monday morning for another
boat "break-in". this time we ran up to nylon reservoir.

we got up there around 8:15 and had the boat in the water
15 minutes later. probably shoulda left sooner, i guess.
would have got more fishing in before the winds picked
up, anyway.

i started off with baby silver cowbells and a rainbow
trout color mepps spinner on the end of a 9" leader. dad
used one of his flies that he likes. i'd purchased a new
medium / heavy rod to use with these cowbells just to
handle the drag a little better. it had been years since
i'd fished these waters. as we trolled up the north side
towards the beautiful rockies, water depths gradually
shallowed until we'd gotten to a point where the finder
was reading 10ft but showed lots of under water plant
growth. so high, we could see it close to the surface (we
learned to stay clear of this throughout the morning). as
i was bringing in the cowbells to avoid this mess, i'll
be damned if there wasn't a rainbow on the end. 15 1/2".
just under a pound. lol. i have no idea when he bit and
hooked himself and no idea why i didn't see at pronounced
bend in the rod at some point, but he was there. first
one on the string 25 minutes after we started.

we made a circle around the res a couple more times with
no bites. on one of our swings as we started getting into
deeper water headed back towards the docks i decided to
switch out gear. we dropped the motor to idle and went to
work. i pulled everything off and put on a holographic
spoon i'd just purchase out of the discount bin of one of
our local shops. dad went to a silver mepps. we were just
floating into the deep stuff as we got back into the
water and let the lines go. i hadn't even set the line
when the tip of my pole dipped and the line went running.
i put the boat in neutral again, stopped the line with a
turn of the handle and fish #2 was on. 17". just over 1#.
got him in the boat and on the string in probably 2
minutes time from lure switch. he'd hooked himself. he
musta just hit the shine of the spoon and got snagged
hard above his eye. by the time we got our gear back in,
we were in about 52' of water. i set the motor back at
about 1K rpm and could see alot of bleeps on the
fishfinder 25' down and deeper so i just let my lure
sink. i've no real idea how deep i was but stopped the
line and was just settling the pole into the holder when
the tip dipped again. that fast. the lure couldn't have
been in the water three minutes topps for either of these
fish. this third one'd snagged himself, also. and hard.
two prongs of the treble hook were embedded deep into the
outside of his lower jaw. another hit of the spoon and
getting caught.?.?.?.? Don't know what else to think.



we made a short circle around and come back down the deep
waters of that south side. with my pole in the holder, i
had two more nice hits (dad saw the second) but couldn't
get the hook set. we caught no more. we made one more
loop just as the wind was really starting to howl. these
pontoon boats are nothing if wonderful sails so we
decided to call it a day at 1:30. felt kinda bad with dad
not getting a bite. i told him to get into my box and
grab whatever colored lure he wanted to try but he stuck
with his stuff. said he was having more fun netting
anyway, but i'm sure that wasn't as fun as catching. lol.

regardless, it was a good time.



k

Good job! To bad there all trout in Nylon. Sorry not much of a trout guy. AND I HATE TROLLING! The wind always starts to blow at 11 and picks up through the rest of the day on the front, don't it ?
PS did you get an antelope tag ??? We did.

sweet :



Successful
2013 ANTELOPE LICENSE
- 444-00 was your 1st choice

looks great - congratulations!

Pretty fish. Boat looks like a good investment to me.

Edited by Muleskinner