JerryInLodi
05-07-2007, 09:13 AM
The wind howled on Saturday but was supposed to be manageable on Sunday so I planned to take two clients out, starting at 7am.
The first bad omen was the fact that my temp guage showed that the water temperature had dropped four degrees in the last five days, from 67 down to 63. We thought we might be able to find some warmer water in the sloughs and so headed out of the marina, first to throw some flies at some stripers.
Even though it was early, the wind was blowing hard enough on the main river that I was having a hard time keeping my boat in position. In additon, the water all along the shore was very muddy from the previous day's wind.
We abandoned that drill pretty quick and headed off to SandMound Slough to see if we could get some bass fishing in out of the wind. Once there we found that the water was just as muddy and just as cold as the main river. We tried tossing some poppers and then switched to bluegill patterns. I was having a miserable time keeping the boat positioned although it didn't seem to be blowing that hard.
We stuck one small bass on a bluegill pattern and then the boat wouldn't respond to the trolling motor at all. I tilted up the motor and it wouldn't respond to the remote until I was at half throttle, and even then, no power. My battery meters showed I had plenty of juice.
This was pretty much the third strike, low water temperatures, big wind and now no trolling motor. We ate an early lunch and headed back to the barn. Once we were on the main river and were hitting a few bumps, black liquid started spilling from the trolling motor head, now laying parallel to the deck. Aha, trouble diagnosed, leaking main seal, motor full of water.
I was going to haul the motor in to Sunny's Electric Marine today but I see that they're closed on Mondays. I'll make the drive tomorrow.
Some days are diamonds, and yup, some days are STONES.
The first bad omen was the fact that my temp guage showed that the water temperature had dropped four degrees in the last five days, from 67 down to 63. We thought we might be able to find some warmer water in the sloughs and so headed out of the marina, first to throw some flies at some stripers.
Even though it was early, the wind was blowing hard enough on the main river that I was having a hard time keeping my boat in position. In additon, the water all along the shore was very muddy from the previous day's wind.
We abandoned that drill pretty quick and headed off to SandMound Slough to see if we could get some bass fishing in out of the wind. Once there we found that the water was just as muddy and just as cold as the main river. We tried tossing some poppers and then switched to bluegill patterns. I was having a miserable time keeping the boat positioned although it didn't seem to be blowing that hard.
We stuck one small bass on a bluegill pattern and then the boat wouldn't respond to the trolling motor at all. I tilted up the motor and it wouldn't respond to the remote until I was at half throttle, and even then, no power. My battery meters showed I had plenty of juice.
This was pretty much the third strike, low water temperatures, big wind and now no trolling motor. We ate an early lunch and headed back to the barn. Once we were on the main river and were hitting a few bumps, black liquid started spilling from the trolling motor head, now laying parallel to the deck. Aha, trouble diagnosed, leaking main seal, motor full of water.
I was going to haul the motor in to Sunny's Electric Marine today but I see that they're closed on Mondays. I'll make the drive tomorrow.
Some days are diamonds, and yup, some days are STONES.