04-30-2012, 11:52 AM
They say the worst day fishing is better than the best day at work. By the time I gave up on Mantua I was about ready to head to work. We got a late start, my 4 year old had a rough night so I let him and my wife sleep. By the time we got to Brigham, it was about 9:15. On the freeway, we realized we had not brought the $5 for the launch fee so we had to stop and get some cash. Stopped at the drive-through ATM at the bank and could smell something funny, like hot rubber, but figured it was coming from somewhere else. Went across the street to BK to break down the $10 bill so I could get a $5 and (turns out fortunately) my son had to pee. We got out of the truck and lo and behold, my trailer tire was flat! I looked a little closer and it was completely unseated from the rim (the very problem I had Big O "fix" for me a few days prior)!
So I call up WalMart and fortunately their tire department is in for the day. I pulled in and talked to the kid working there and he said WalMart policy wont allow them to remove tires from trailers. No big deal, I asked to borrow a jack and a star and took it off myself. He tried to just blast it with air to get it to seat, but no go. He ended up taking it behind the scenes for a while and putting it on one of their other machines, and got it to seat. Finally, some good luck! He didnt charge me anything, and we were back on the way.
We finally got to Mantua around 10:30, and got the boat in the water. I was a bit nervous, as I had bought the boat not too long ago, and this was the first time in the water. The person I bought the boat from had sent 2 batteries with it, but the first one would not charge at all, and the second was acting funny on the charger, so I brought my battery from my camp trailer to be safe. I threw the 45 LB thrust electric in full reverse and the boat would not move. The motor seemed to be turning decent, but not full. I decided to try the trailer battery. My motor just about flew off the transom. Guess that battery is shot too!
Got everything loaded into the boat (that took a while) and headed out. Within minutes the wind started blowing. We set up for a few minutes and the wind just kept getting harder and harder. I decided we might be best to set up in a protected spot for a while and see if it died down so we headed to the South dock. We sat there for about an hour and a half with nothing to show for it and decided to head back for lunch.
That was a great theory, except apparently those trailer batteries arent meant to power motors. I started to head back but between the wind, and the battery struggling, I was barely moving. Some guys on the dock had a good idea, so I decided to do that. My boat is pretty small so it would fit right up the outlet, they suggested bringing my truck over and getting it in from the outlet. So, after a nice (not) leisurely jog back to the truck, I went and threw my boat on the trailer and gave up on the boat.
We headed over to the East side to eat, then try some bluegill action, but the wind was just too strong, and we didn't want to mess with it. We decided "screw it!" and headed to Pioneer pond. I figured since I was out of the water, I couldnt have any more boat problems, right? WRONG! Heading down the canyon, the part holding the seat broke and dropped my seat to the bottom of the boat.
Pioneer wasn't near as exciting for bad things, but at least we finally got into some fish. We started getting little nibbles in close to shore, but they were not biting hard. My son gave up shortly and just wanted to run around and play, so he ended up not catching anything. I ended up catching 2 on power eggs, and my wife caught one. Hers was the catch of the day at maybe 14", mine were fresh planters. I tell you what though, although there were no prize fish caught, that sitting there and being able to actually fish made the whole day not seem quite as bad. QUITE as bad. I ended up going home feeling much better
So I call up WalMart and fortunately their tire department is in for the day. I pulled in and talked to the kid working there and he said WalMart policy wont allow them to remove tires from trailers. No big deal, I asked to borrow a jack and a star and took it off myself. He tried to just blast it with air to get it to seat, but no go. He ended up taking it behind the scenes for a while and putting it on one of their other machines, and got it to seat. Finally, some good luck! He didnt charge me anything, and we were back on the way.
We finally got to Mantua around 10:30, and got the boat in the water. I was a bit nervous, as I had bought the boat not too long ago, and this was the first time in the water. The person I bought the boat from had sent 2 batteries with it, but the first one would not charge at all, and the second was acting funny on the charger, so I brought my battery from my camp trailer to be safe. I threw the 45 LB thrust electric in full reverse and the boat would not move. The motor seemed to be turning decent, but not full. I decided to try the trailer battery. My motor just about flew off the transom. Guess that battery is shot too!
Got everything loaded into the boat (that took a while) and headed out. Within minutes the wind started blowing. We set up for a few minutes and the wind just kept getting harder and harder. I decided we might be best to set up in a protected spot for a while and see if it died down so we headed to the South dock. We sat there for about an hour and a half with nothing to show for it and decided to head back for lunch.
That was a great theory, except apparently those trailer batteries arent meant to power motors. I started to head back but between the wind, and the battery struggling, I was barely moving. Some guys on the dock had a good idea, so I decided to do that. My boat is pretty small so it would fit right up the outlet, they suggested bringing my truck over and getting it in from the outlet. So, after a nice (not) leisurely jog back to the truck, I went and threw my boat on the trailer and gave up on the boat.
We headed over to the East side to eat, then try some bluegill action, but the wind was just too strong, and we didn't want to mess with it. We decided "screw it!" and headed to Pioneer pond. I figured since I was out of the water, I couldnt have any more boat problems, right? WRONG! Heading down the canyon, the part holding the seat broke and dropped my seat to the bottom of the boat.
Pioneer wasn't near as exciting for bad things, but at least we finally got into some fish. We started getting little nibbles in close to shore, but they were not biting hard. My son gave up shortly and just wanted to run around and play, so he ended up not catching anything. I ended up catching 2 on power eggs, and my wife caught one. Hers was the catch of the day at maybe 14", mine were fresh planters. I tell you what though, although there were no prize fish caught, that sitting there and being able to actually fish made the whole day not seem quite as bad. QUITE as bad. I ended up going home feeling much better