I guess you have noticed, not many posts from me lately. My wife had a heart attack on June 25th and a double bypass soon thereafter
The boat sat in the slip for almost a month, picking up "fuzz" and barnacles on the transducers
When the biggest rains came and the gates opened at the dam, it was time to pull her, and bring her home for some TLC.
I'll try to post some photos of the "before" and "after" shots of the transducers. The bottom paint did it's job, and the hull was in good shape. I did scrub around the waterline and when I painted the transducers, trim tabs, and Armstrong bracket, I painted a new waterline so she looks sexy in the slip this fall
I've never painted my transducers before. I spoke with a Lawrence/Simrad representative at one of the fishing club meetings, and he said the transducer paint works, but you lose sensitivity whenever you put something foreign on the transducers. Therefore, I've just cleaned them by jumping overboard, or pulling the boat in colder temperatures.
This time, I painted the entire regular Fish Finder transducer, and painted just the top of the down scan/side scan transducer with black transducer paint.
Pic's to follow.
However; I got an invitation to fish today with Mako Mike. I've had lots of invitations while my wife was recovering (thanks so much guys), but I was hesitant to leave her for extended periods of time. I did get out on my boat one day for a short evening trip trolling red hoses and #17 Tony's near Swan Point, we filled the box quickly
I was curious to see the bay, and if Mako Mike was willing to tempt fate, I was going through fishing withdraw, so I accepted.
For those of you who never saw Mako Mike's boat, it's a 26-28 ft Mako walk around decked out for offshore fishing. He's boated White Marlin, Blue Marlin, three species of big tuna, tilefish, and who knows what else. It's a fishing machine with twin Yamaha motors. Double the cost of my single lower unit if we hit a submerged tree
We left Bodkin Creek with clean water and little debris. As we broke into the bay, debris was visible, but not as bad as I expected. The big stuff was floating high, and not a lot of little stuff to be concerned about.
I suggested a place where I normally catch perch/spot; and we said "Hi" to Uncle Jake as we rounded the corner south. Drifting with bloodworm, the three of us (Phil Thompson went too) caught our 20 perch in quick fashion (no spot).
An incoming current was predicted for 9:30, so off to the "fishing grounds" we headed.
This was my first experience with circle hooks and perch. I'm old school. Spot and "J" hooks are my normal tackle. However, the State of Maryland, in their wisdom has decided circle hooks to be mandatory. I won't get into a big discussion here, but most of you know my disfavor for this requirement. I kept saying that this mandate doesn't cost the State a nickel to implement. They already have the NRP out in boats, so enforcement cost is negligible. I said, "If you are going to get the State involved, make them do something BIG. Something I as a citizen can't do, but the State has resources to acquire". Now, after the rains, every poop plant along the bay has dumped millions of gallons of untreated waste into the bay. But I digress
I tossed my first circle hooked perch over and quickly had a "runoff". I know, don't set the hook, just let the line come tight and hook the fish in the corner of the jaw. As the line came tight, I felt the pressure and head shakes of a nice fish. She was on for about 15 seconds. Maybe the fins of the perch kept the hook from doing it's job, maybe circle hooks suck
Wind and tide kept Mike at the wheel while Phil and I filled the box with 23-29 inch fish (Phil boxed 4). Only had one "sick" fish that went back over quickly
With a full limit, we scooted to the slip, and while Phil cleaned fish, I cleaned the boat for Mike. The morning was so productive, that we decided to hit a little local bar for lunch. Mike quipped that, "If Marty hadn't missed so many fish, we could have had breakfast instead." Smart Ass
So in conclusion, the bay isn't as debris ridden as I had expected. Perch work almost as good as spot (when spot aren't around). Circle hooks suck. Mike was a good Captain putting us on fish, and staying at the wheel.
Thanks Mike, for the fishing trip, and for getting me out of the house for a little while and putting my wife's recovery on the back burner for a short time.
5th
pic's to follow
Who Dat :)
Hybrid Mode
