well it is that time again the boat made a splash hitting the water and getting thew bugs out I took some time to try out my new rod for trout and salmon works great but only caught lake trout and the season for them is closed here but looking forward to a good season.
I have started to work on a new build all so a super light 6'6" spinning rod just for pan fish
spring has sprung for me hope it does for you all to Matt

The best day to be alive is always tomorrow !!
Think out side the box when all else fails !!!
Wi.

Matt,glad to hear the boat stayed afloat.It is always nice to try out new rods that you build. And to catch fish with. good luck with your next build.

One of the fellows on a different board - took his boat out of storage and found that the livewell was full of ice.
Then, after thawing the livewell ice, he found that the water had gotten into his livewell plumbing and ended up with cracks in his hoses and pumps. So, before floating his boat, he had to execute plumbing and pump repairs on his boat before it would float without taking on water.

Enjoy the soft water season.

One of the nice things about living in the South is you can use your boat year round.
Norm

My season started out normal enough. I had planned to pull the boat out of storage in March and take it to a local Boat Shop to have the bottom stripped to gelcoat, new barrier and bottom paints applied. Sounds easy enough. Well, I also instructed them to be aware that I hit a dead head late last summer, and to look for any signs of that impact. Shortly after beginning to remove the old bottom paint, I got a call that we all dread. They told me that I needed to come to the shop, and that there was lots of damage. The impact hit the boat (27' Tiara) right in front of the keel on the starboard side, driving the keep backwards, cracking the hull the full length of the keel on each side. They ended up removing a 20" x 20' section on the Starboard side, and 10" x 15' on the Port side along the keel. After the repair to the hull was complete, and the bottom paint finished, they decided to have the running gear checked as a precaution. Marine Machine and MFG came and diagnosed that the starboard shaft was bent, both props damaged, and both strut bearings worn out from taking up the run out from bent shafts. Luckily insurance has stood behind me on this, or I would have eaten over $12K in repairs. Hopefully will have the boat finished up late this next week, so I can get my inspections and begin the 2017 charter season with a brand new boat from the water line down LOL! BOAT-Break Out Another Thousand

Norman Miller Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> One of the nice things about living in the South
> is you can use your boat year round.
> Norm


And we do, but things are heating up fairly nice right now. We went a couple weeks ago and caught 64 bluefish in a couple of hours...3 of us with 18" fish. Last week the blow toads had moved in and people were catching up to a couple hundred a day...we caught our share (just not that many). Northern puffers...best eating in the ocean.

While we were catching all those bluefish a couple weeks ago, just a few more minutes out the inlet and up the beach folks were casting to schools of 20-50# red drum.

Saw the first report of a 44# cobia caught earlier this week.

Things are turning around! Spring is here...warm those reels up...it's gonna be a good'un...

Went to my last Father/Daughter dance last night . This leaves me 7 more years to get my youngest through school then further south and east I will head. Thinking New Bern, NC looks nice.

Rick

Matthew,
Since you said that you hit the water this week - my sympathies to you and I hope that you were not hurt as you entered the water. Water can be quite unforgiving if it is hit from the end of a 100 foot dive off a cliff.

But - since it is the first of April - enjoy the warmer weather.

Be safe