One visitor

I had other reasons to go today, but I’ll get to that in a minute. A week ago a good friend and member had me over to enjoy the monster moon bluegill bite he was on. We made around 5 stops after meeting at first light. Heat drives everything down here including fishermen back to the AC about ten so early is the game. Stop number one had recent history but they were sleeping in and hadn’t gotten up and moving yet. We moved and didn’t really find anything going on anywhere else, so now that the clock had moved some he decided to check on spot one. They had awakened. Kissimmee grass was being bumped around and my heart rate went up a little. I dropped my little jigs down but they weren’t havin it. Took half a worm and stuck it on a couple of times and it was definitely on. One after the other for the next hour plus. By the time the heat became an issue we had 19 in the box and had thrown some back including the small crappie I had caught early on. A good eating size LMB was in there too. I kept none and a good thing. Sat down in my chair when I got home and slept for over two hours. Not much stamina these days. One of the best BG days I’ve had in a long time.

Now we come to today. Couple of weeks back my ‘74 Evinrude 15 horse started acting stupid. I nosed around for a mechanic to throw some points and such into it and was quoted ridiculous prices and no guarantee. Some of the needed parts weren’t available anywhere due to age and so on. All these discoveries led to a search for another motor. Frustrating again. Keeping in mind that the transom on the boat was in need of some love too. Called my old Mercury mechanic and was told they had one but it was connected to another boat. HHHHHHMMMMMMM???!!! Went to take a look and it was all over about then. He would service the motor and check everything out before I could pick it up. Smooth! I went home and stripped most of my goodies from the old Jon and posted it on Craigslist. Seven hours later a gentleman put half of the needed funds for the new boat in my hand after full disclosure of the motors issues. Also Smooth! Brought it home last Friday and started making it mine. So after mounting a piece of 1/4” hard aluminum for the terrova to ride on and mounting said motor, she was ready for a shakedown cruise. At the ramp I was thanking God for the little bit of smarts he’s granted me. I noticed that the bunks looked different, had plastic slides mounted. Had I launched like I normally do, my new ride would have tasted the concrete. That done, things went well after that. Started as predicted and the motor has no shift lever. Safer. Turn the handle one way for forward, the other for reverse. And this motor responds when you twist the grip. Last boat was WOT at about 14mph. This one spun up to 26.4 on my phones gps in no time. The previous owner was 84 and just not comfortable in it any more. He bought it all new in ‘03 and never used it enough to knock much of the paint off of the prop. I don’t see me needing to replace this one anytime soon. So I went to my office to see about some fish. Now we’re two weeks since my bluegill trip that was so good so that’s the opposite of the full and the fish just weren’t in a fun mood. Hooked up on a couple I could barely move before they came unbuttoned, Gar I think. Heat was building and I made some casts in one of my favorite places and got the bump I’d been looking for. A good CNBG to stretch the line in the TSS and Regal 1000 that felt so good. Now I could go home and put everything away and take a nap. Doesn’t take much to wear me down but I’m still feeling good enough for short recharges like this. No marathons in my near future. Thanks for coming along, I’ve had a good time telling of my escapades. Hope to see you out one day soon. Til then, here’s some pics……Attachment 432960
This one from a week ago
Attachment 432961
Attachment 432962
Attachment 432963
Attachment 432964
And my one visitor from today.
Attachment 432965

Heck, yeah. Just got my jon trailer back after an axle overhaul, and went fishing this morning myself. Managed 3 nice crappie 12"-13" for supper before it got too hot.

Congrats on the new boat rig !
And on all the catching .
With this heat lately , I can’t handle more than a couple hours .
I haven’t been catching much lately either .
Got to be the heat .

Nice find skeet...

Congrats on the new boat! It's always nice when a needed repair turns into a new toy. I always like finding an untouched gem. Maybe you can take it on all the fishing trips it has missed over the years.

What a story and really sweet ending. Sharp looking rig. You will have fun with this one! Congrats!
Bob

Glad it all worked out for you with the new ride and nice catch on that gill.

Congratulations on the new water sled Skeet. You deserve it!

nice looking ride you got there. glad that you got to bend the rod some. I haven't been out much lately but I did test some salt today. Now you need to come over and have a taste of one of my catches.

Congrats on a nice rig and fish

That is a nice boat. Congratulations

Nice looking fishing rig! That's all we need nowadays! Enjoy your new toy!
Rick

That's awesome Skeet! That rig will bring you many years of enjoyment on the water.

Thank you for the ride along. Glad you got your rod bent and line stretched. New ride looks awesome. I know you'll enjoy that one for quite sometime..

Thanks for all the good wishes everyone. For those of you that have known me for a few years might remember the blue bass boat that I used to have. It was an ‘88 but was also mostly unused when I bought it. Once I found the right mechanic and added what I needed or wanted to make it mine, all I had to do was get in it and go. Anywhere. I’m in the process of doing the same to this one. Wiring, floor, aluminum storage box and such are in the plans and hopefully the heat will let me get some of it done. As some of you said I can do anything with this one. It still has its limits but this one has found a home for a long time to come and I’m looking forward to posting about the places we find together.

To help with Ideas on setting it up, check out Tiny Boat Nation on YouTube. These fellas turn john boats into tiny bass boats. All decked out with livewells, rod lockers, storage dry boxes the works. Enjoy how you put it together and make YOURS. Prayers continue Skeet. Looking forward to what you come up with, and your adventures...

Awesome new ride Tim, congrats. Don't work too hard getting her right, just get'r fish'n. Which it looks like you got a good start on. Thanks for sharing. Get healthy. Still praying for you buddy.

Looks good. Congrats on the ride. Only thing I see it needs other than fish slime is a Crappie.com sticker or two.

looks like a grand adventure to me , nice haul and nice boat , good times for sure :highfive
KABOOM is the word

Congratulations on the new boat. I'm running a Terrova on a tracker panfish 16 and I love that thing especially the spot lock when I get on them.:ThumbsUp

Glad ya had a good time when ya came out. Great looking lil rig, will serve ya well.

Sent from my SM-S127DL using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

I love this story and the way you were blessed with a new boat to help you enjoy chasing the fish we all love. When windows are closed in your life, always look for the open door that you will be blessed to walk through in faith. To God be the glory!

Mike

Attachment 433824

Congratulations on the new boat!!
Nice mess of fish for sandwiches too.


Sent from my iPhone using Crappie.com

Thank you Mike. I’ve been given a lot of blessings lately.

Nice to know you're back in the game again, Skeet. Nice haul as well!

Late read Skeet= nice post and rig-find.:highfive You've got that certain Timing-factor when the time comes for rig-changeovers.:Gift:cheers2