03-18-2023, 10:36 PM
I got a report that the sturgeon were biting and it was "possible" but "risky" to launch my boat. I took the bait, grabbed Don and Randy and we headed to Idaho.
Heading to Idaho first took a detour. The plan was to use my boat and Don's truck to tow it. I have learned that the one item I need to always check is to make sure that the plug, for the trailer lights, matches the style of plug that I have on my trailer. Don confirmed that we had a match. Don backed his truck to my boat and got the trailer attached. He went to attach the trailer lights only to find out that his plug is on the opposite side of his vehicle than it is on mine. That made my wires too short to reach his plug.
We moved to "plan B" and unloaded my ice sled and a few other ice-fishing related items and backed my Armada towards the boat. I remembered that I needed to put the trailer hitch back on the Armada. Went to grab it, at it's usual location, only to find out it wasn't there. I couldn't believe that someone would be so desperate as to steal my trailer hitch. Don came to the rescue with a spare trailer hitch that fit my Armada. With that problem solved, we got headed north, 30 minutes later than the planned departure time.
The drive up was uneventful. We got to the ramp and I had been warned that one had to be extremely careful launching with a single-axle trailer, because one abruptly dropped off of the end of the ramp (the flow, at this location, is extremely low this time of year). We checked that out and decided it was doable if we launched at a 45 degree angle, and lined everything up so that the tire on the starboard side of the trailer would hit a large concrete block, which would lift the tire 1/2 of the way up to the ramp. The launch and pulling the trailer to the parking area went without a hitch.
Fishing was slower than I expected but we managed to land 10 sturgeon. I didn't keep up with quantity, but I did manage to catch the largest sturgeon at 6 1/2'. I surprised Randy and Don by catching it on a bait that I had never used, and frankly would have never even thought to use, had I not been told about it from another angler. Out of respect to that angler, I won't disclose it. Fishing was extremely difficult; especially, where I was fishing (most of the day) from the bow of the boat). Because the flow rate was so low there was almost no current. This is a problem when one anchors up and casts downstream (at the most at a 45-degree angle, when fishing from the bow). The problem is that with little current the boat is constantly swinging back and forth. My line would go tight and drag my weight and bait a foot or two and then swing the other direction and I might have at least 5 feet of slack in my line. Ideally, when one fishes for sturgeon, one wants to have a tight line, in order to detect the light bites. My only hope was that a sturgeon would hook itself, which is exactly what the 6 1/2' sturgeon did. The problem was the sturgeon first swam towards the boat and in the process managed to tangle 3 other lines. When I released the sturgeon I didn't realize that it was still tangled in two other lines. That was bad enough, but what was even worse my hand was also tangled in those fishing lines. Had the sturgeon been any larger, there is a real possibility that I may have lost a finger or two. In this case, thankfully it just caused me some pain for a minute or so.
I was more worried about damaging the trailer while trailering the boat (because the trailer would also have the weight of the boat on it while climbing back up on the ramp). We did our best to get the trailer lined up perfectly to once again hit the large concrete block and a few large boulders surrounding the block. Unfortunately, the trailer didn't climb up as well as I had hoped. Even in four-wheel drive, Randy was burning rubber before barely getting the trailer up on the ramp. With the stress that was put on the trailer, I'm confident we were really close to damaging the axle. Fortunately, there was no damage to the trailer. Unfortunately, there was damage to my prop. With trailering at a 45-degree angle the water was extremely shallow. Even with the prop trimmed up as far as I could, and still have it in the water, it got dinged while pushing the boat up on the trailer. It has been removed and is headed to the prop repair guy.
Heading home, for some strange reason, various tie-down ropes kept coming untied. I have had an occasional tie-down strap come untied, but this was reaching the point of ridiculous. I finally resorted to tying substantial knots on some of the ropes to keep them tied.
I got home and checked one last place where I may had put my trailer hitch, when I took it off for ice season. I found it immediately! Like I said it is, "Good to get using the boat for the first time, for the season, behind me."
Heading to Idaho first took a detour. The plan was to use my boat and Don's truck to tow it. I have learned that the one item I need to always check is to make sure that the plug, for the trailer lights, matches the style of plug that I have on my trailer. Don confirmed that we had a match. Don backed his truck to my boat and got the trailer attached. He went to attach the trailer lights only to find out that his plug is on the opposite side of his vehicle than it is on mine. That made my wires too short to reach his plug.
We moved to "plan B" and unloaded my ice sled and a few other ice-fishing related items and backed my Armada towards the boat. I remembered that I needed to put the trailer hitch back on the Armada. Went to grab it, at it's usual location, only to find out it wasn't there. I couldn't believe that someone would be so desperate as to steal my trailer hitch. Don came to the rescue with a spare trailer hitch that fit my Armada. With that problem solved, we got headed north, 30 minutes later than the planned departure time.
The drive up was uneventful. We got to the ramp and I had been warned that one had to be extremely careful launching with a single-axle trailer, because one abruptly dropped off of the end of the ramp (the flow, at this location, is extremely low this time of year). We checked that out and decided it was doable if we launched at a 45 degree angle, and lined everything up so that the tire on the starboard side of the trailer would hit a large concrete block, which would lift the tire 1/2 of the way up to the ramp. The launch and pulling the trailer to the parking area went without a hitch.
Fishing was slower than I expected but we managed to land 10 sturgeon. I didn't keep up with quantity, but I did manage to catch the largest sturgeon at 6 1/2'. I surprised Randy and Don by catching it on a bait that I had never used, and frankly would have never even thought to use, had I not been told about it from another angler. Out of respect to that angler, I won't disclose it. Fishing was extremely difficult; especially, where I was fishing (most of the day) from the bow of the boat). Because the flow rate was so low there was almost no current. This is a problem when one anchors up and casts downstream (at the most at a 45-degree angle, when fishing from the bow). The problem is that with little current the boat is constantly swinging back and forth. My line would go tight and drag my weight and bait a foot or two and then swing the other direction and I might have at least 5 feet of slack in my line. Ideally, when one fishes for sturgeon, one wants to have a tight line, in order to detect the light bites. My only hope was that a sturgeon would hook itself, which is exactly what the 6 1/2' sturgeon did. The problem was the sturgeon first swam towards the boat and in the process managed to tangle 3 other lines. When I released the sturgeon I didn't realize that it was still tangled in two other lines. That was bad enough, but what was even worse my hand was also tangled in those fishing lines. Had the sturgeon been any larger, there is a real possibility that I may have lost a finger or two. In this case, thankfully it just caused me some pain for a minute or so.
I was more worried about damaging the trailer while trailering the boat (because the trailer would also have the weight of the boat on it while climbing back up on the ramp). We did our best to get the trailer lined up perfectly to once again hit the large concrete block and a few large boulders surrounding the block. Unfortunately, the trailer didn't climb up as well as I had hoped. Even in four-wheel drive, Randy was burning rubber before barely getting the trailer up on the ramp. With the stress that was put on the trailer, I'm confident we were really close to damaging the axle. Fortunately, there was no damage to the trailer. Unfortunately, there was damage to my prop. With trailering at a 45-degree angle the water was extremely shallow. Even with the prop trimmed up as far as I could, and still have it in the water, it got dinged while pushing the boat up on the trailer. It has been removed and is headed to the prop repair guy.
Heading home, for some strange reason, various tie-down ropes kept coming untied. I have had an occasional tie-down strap come untied, but this was reaching the point of ridiculous. I finally resorted to tying substantial knots on some of the ropes to keep them tied.
I got home and checked one last place where I may had put my trailer hitch, when I took it off for ice season. I found it immediately! Like I said it is, "Good to get using the boat for the first time, for the season, behind me."