Cutler Boat Attempt

[SkunkedAgain]

Was such a beautiful day that I had to go give it a try.  After fixing the bunk board on my trailer I hit the pond about five ish, tried the usual hot spot this time of year, lots of carp around but no cats... Then went to my number two favorite early spot and once again nothing willing to bite... So I tried my fall spot, it's deeper and has current so I didn't think there would be much there... There wasn't, but there was a bullhead that grabbed my worm under the bobber just after I cast out and he volunteered to break my skunken... Kept trying until after sundown, but that was my lone catch for the night... Not sure why I couldn't find them the water had warmed up nicely but there didn't seem to be any channels lurking around on the perfect afternoon.... Oh well it was sure nice to get out... Boat ran well and the bunk board fix held up for now... Maybe better luck next time.. Later J

[wiperhunter2]

At least you got out and beat the skunk by a whisker. I think sometimes, when these warm spells hit, the fish don't get the message, right off and it takes a while for them to wake up. Did you happen to notice what the water temps were?

[Boatloadakids]

Same thing down this way Jeff. I usually do an early trip to Lincoln Beach just to be sure the perpeller is still turning. Boat ran fine. I didn't take a rod with me but started to wish I had taken one when the little marks on the finder seemed to be begging for grub. UL water level is way up as it usually is this time of the year. Water temp was around 60-61. A few walleye guys were launched but not sure how they did. Several guys fishing for white bass in the channel and others by the first spring but no action observed. Still a bit early for the wb but the past few warm days should get them fired up for love. Looking forward to a good year and... maybe this will be the year for that 36 inch cat.

[SkunkedAgain]

At least you got out and beat the skunk by a whisker. I think sometimes, when these warm spells hit, the fish don't get the message, right off and it takes a while for them to wake up. Did you happen to notice what the water temps were?

Hey Curt, I was using the 360 rather than my boat transducer and it doesn't have the temp transducer, but a friend that went with me lost his rod tip over the side of the boat and as I was reaching in the water to retrieve it, the water was very warm to the touch, I was expecting it to be much cooler than it was... Sorry that's all I've got this time... J

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Same thing down this way Jeff. I usually do an early trip to Lincoln Beach just to be sure the perpeller is still turning. Boat ran fine. I didn't take a rod with me but started to wish I had taken one when the little marks on the finder seemed to be begging for grub. UL water level is way up as it usually is this time of the year. Water temp was around 60-61. A few walleye guys were launched but not sure how they did. Several guys fishing for white bass in the channel and others by the first spring but no action observed. Still a bit early for the wb but the past few warm days should get them fired up for love. Looking forward to a good year and... maybe this will be the year for that 36 inch cat.

Sounds like I should have did the same thing you did and I wouldn't have felt so defeated... ya that was what I did was a boat check to make sure the motor would start... Now I feel better I had a successful trip... Only problem I had was with my electric motor, I charged it last winter in the cold and I have lithium batteries and I haven't been able to get them to work ever since.  I found my wires disconnected in my connector so i fixed that, but it still wouldn't work so I'll probably try charging the batteries again and hope I didn't ruin them... My remote seems like it got wet and fried as well, so I took my foot control, but things were still not working, so looks like I still have some work to do....  Well Lynn sure hope you get to wrastle with that 36"er this year.... I'd like to see your grin holding that cat... Best of luck this year... Later Jeff

[wiperhunter2]

Hey Curt, I was using the 360 rather than my boat transducer and it doesn't have the temp transducer, but a friend that went with me lost his rod tip over the side of the boat and as I was reaching in the water to retrieve it, the water was very warm to the touch, I was expecting it to be much cooler than it was... Sorry that's all I've got this time... J

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OH, we always run both while fishing, a regular FFer and my 360 or side scan at the same time, that way we get a better picture of whats going on below and around the boat.

[SkunkedAgain]

I do when I'm on deep water ponds, but when it's only 2-3 feet deep a regular ff doesn't do any good, and I haven't put my other ff back in the boat since I set it up for ice fishing... I need to get that switched back soon... I did find my batteries for my trolling motor were drained, so hopefully getting them charged will bring my electric motor back to life... Crazy how much stuff you have to fix each year... Still trying to decide if I should get my Bimini top resewed or replace it completely... wish I had a little hand sewer I could just put a quick stitch in it... Anyway looks like the weather took a turn back to rain overnight up home, so I planted a bunch of beets and spinach and lettuce last night... Will transplant them in the tunnel after they get up a little bit... Got potatoes, strawberries and onions growing in the tunnel now... If I can keep the berries from freezing I might have some before too much longer, they are blooming now.. Anyway have a good one Curt... Later J

[MSM1970]

Jeff you are supposed to be after the big eyes now not silly cats, and yes always something fix or make neeter on a boat.

[BearLakeFishGuy]

I have a couple of friends who went to Lithium batteries for their boats (one in Michigan and one here in Utah). Both of the friends are back to using leaded batteries and learned an expensive lesson. If the Lithium boat batteries aren't kept above freezing, they die. If you look on a lot of mid-west fishing forums there is a lot a discussion about the Lithium batteries and how they just don't hold up in the cold, especially if you don't have a heated garage to store the boat in after your trip. Personally, I use my boat year-round and in some really cold temps, some well below zero at Bear Lake. I also store my boat in an unheated garage where I know it gets down well below freezing. Both scenarios are killers for Lithium batteries.

[RockyRaab2]

As with all things...you gotta read the destructions.

[SkunkedAgain]

Jeff you are supposed to be after the big eyes now not silly cats, and yes always something fix or make neeter on a boat.

I know, I just can't talk myself into getting there at the right time of day to be most effective plus I needed to figure out if the boat was going to run before I headed that far from home and took the chance of having to paddle home... Do you think they would still be there this late in the year?  I kind of thought I was too late already... If not I might try it next time I get out... Thanks for keeping after me.. Jeff

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I have a couple of friends who went to Lithium batteries for their boats (one in Michigan and one here in Utah). Both of the friends are back to using leaded batteries and learned an expensive lesson.  If the Lithium boat batteries aren't kept above freezing, they die.  If you look on a lot of mid-west fishing forums there is a lot a discussion about the Lithium batteries and how they just don't hold up in the cold, especially if you don't have a heated garage to store the boat in after your trip.  Personally, I use my boat year-round and in some really cold temps, some well below zero at Bear Lake.  I also store my boat in an unheated garage where I know it gets down well below freezing.  Both scenarios are killers for Lithium batteries.

I hope you're not completely correct on that or it will be an expensive lesson..  I put my charger on the batteries and they seem to have taken a charge, won't be sure until I take them out and see how long they last... I also found one other thing that resulted in my problems, my power supply cable from the front socket to my motor had been pulled out and when the cables got reattached they were switched, so it reversed polarity.  I thought it would have just changed direction of rotation, but turns out when I found this and corrected it the motor started working as it should... So I'm a little hopeful that I've fixed my problem, but I won't know until I spend a day on the pond.... But you are so right about the cold charging of the batteries, I won't do that again... My first winter with the lithium's I didn't have my in boat charger and it was easy to pull the batteries out and charge them in the house, so I did that and I never had any issues using the lithium's in the cold, they held up well all day and I thought I was good to go...  But I have found now that you never want to charge them when it's cold outside.. Hard lesson to learn, but I hope I didn't ruin them...  Still love the lithium for ease of use, they are so sweeet and light to work with if I was a summer only boater there would be no doubt I'd be using the lithiums, but being a cold season user I'll have to say this jury is still out... I'll try to post after the next trip that I use the trolling motor much and let you know what I've found out... Later Jeff

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As with all things...you gotta read the destructions.

Better yet, you need to do what they tell you... thought I knew better, that was a mistake... Hate to say, but I had read them and knew it was a risk, but thought I'd be okay it was only a few degrees below freezing...  I was wrong...  Isn't that what they said about challenger??? Later J