Well Bear you were right, the fish DIDN'T bite. I should have stayed home!
1st - Get to the ramp (new boat buckles work great) and notice not one other boat trailer (should have hit another ramp) and very little water at the end of the ramp. Long story short launched boat but had to paddle thru mud/muck to get into enough water to run the big motor.
2nd - tried everything in the tackle box including some live bait with nothing to show. Ran into a nice guy in a ranger who told me no one he talked to on Fri had caught anything, so i'm not alone.
3rd - Knowing the water was shallow at the ramp I tried to gun her thru it and got stuck on a sand/muck bar. I tried to paddle to the ramp but she was too stuck. Next I tried to use my anchor as a winch and would throw it to shore and try to catch a rock, no luck there. Finally after 20 minutes and boy did my arms hurt from that anchor and paddling, I gave up and jumped into the water with a rope to pull her ashore.
4th - Backed the trailer down loaded the boat carefully (while balancing on the trailer beams since I could not run the motor) and tried to pull her out. Problem was the trailer had dropped off the concrete ramp into the muck and my Honda van (Front wheel drive) could not pull the trailer wheels back on the ramp - so much for traction control! Hey Beka I need a new Dodge Ram 4X4 for Valentines day! Finally unhooked the boat, pulled the trailer onto the concrete and winched the boat all the way up.!
Finally pulling out the boat and van were covered with mud. I ran into a nice older gentleman with his 2 dogs who tells me (after I tell him i didn't catch a thing) that his grandson and he caught 2 10-12 lb stripers/hour that morning fishing redfin's from shore! Doesnt' that figure!
I think i'll wait till spring!
TrepMan