Okay - first the bad . . .
Last night, I hook up the boat trailer and test the lights for an early morning run the next day. Dang it - rear passenger side won't light up. Open it up and water in the capsule with a purple bulb (supposed to be clear!). Run up to Advance Auto Parts. Dang it again! Forgot my wallet. Head back home. Not a problem, found a spare bulb - whew! Swap it out. Still not lighting! Probably corrosion in the socket. Fiddle with it, clean it, spray WD-40. Nothing. Clean, spray, scrap. Still nothing. Back to Advance Auto for a replacement light module. Hook it all up and notice the ground wire on the trailer broke! Thank goodness for a stock of O-ring connectors. Hook it up, still nothing. Break out the multimeter and find no power from the vehicle side socket. Clean, scrape, test. Clean, scrape, test. FINALLY it works! Whew. Time for bed for an 0400 start.
Wake up, head out and make it on time with about 4 hours sleep (YAWN!). Fish aren't really biting well - even for early morning. Then, while fishing the grass beds of the Potomac I haul on the trolling motor handle to shake off the grass and SNAP! Trolling rope breaks and BAM! down I go onto the deck. Ouch! Thank goodness I keep plenty of spare rope in the boat. Rig up a new trolling motor rope (not without some difficulty in getting that sucker through the hole and fed down to the release!) and continue fishing. Fish still aren't biting very well. Run up to Quantico (bumpy ride on the river with small white caps just starting to form due to wind - and more of those stupid crab pots to dodge!). Notice the trolling motor is loose in the mount. Sigh, okay, get the screw driver (one of those pocket ones with bits) and its too short!! Use the bit and a pair of needle nose pliers to get it "tight enough."
Back to Aquia. Had enough of the wind and reluctant fish (two dinks all morning). Up into the creek and BAM, my fishing partner that day lands a nice fish - estimated just under 3 pounds. Things start to look up! We place him in the livewell and kick it on. Fills slowly (hmmmm). Livewell fills up and stops. Wait! I don't have it on AUTO - its supposed to be ON! Darn. Livewell burned out (was expecting this after having fiddle with it last go round). Sigh, seven plus hours and maybe four fish (for me).
Now the good . . .
Up on time and out the door to meet at Carlos. Fly by a car with Michigan plates on Route 1. Gene (of the MVM gang) and his daughter's boyfriend (Mike) are in town and meeting us to fish. Guess their going for coffee. Make to Carlos and great to see him again!! Been too long (wow - three years!). LOVE his newly expanded garage and the way its organized. Now THAT's a garage!! Gene and Mike show. Shoot the breeze a bit and head out.
We run out of Aquia and the motor runs flawlessly. River is glass smooth at 6am so we can open it up and have a smooth run up about 5 miles to the grass beds. Bite is sluggish, so Carlos suggests a dark senko or worm. Put on a junebug ribbontail worm and sure enough - first fish! Mike follows up with a similar size fish:
Yup, that's Gene and Carlos in the background! We next head up to Quantico and as we fish around a HUGE military transport takes off right over our heads - too COOL! Back to Aquia for some quieter fishing and back up creek, Mike lands a NICE fish!
We get some pics (obviously!) and after another few more casts, we call it a day. Carlos and Gene are nowhere to be found, but what the heck, let 'em fish. Mike and I head back to Carlos' house where we chat with Sue until Gene and Carlos show up about 30 minutes later. Thanks to the generosity of Sue and Carlos, we got treated to a GREAT dinner of some of the biggest burgers I've ever eaten, deviled eggs, beans, potato salad, onion pie and a couple of cold ones - not to mention starting with chips, five layer dip, crab dip and crackers - burp! What a great way to end the day - good food, great friends (old and new)!
Finally, the ugly . . .
Four hours of sleep before seven hours of fishing and several hours of hanging with friends is too little. Made it home fine, but backing the boat into the driveway and back to the yard took four tries (usually two tops!). It was ugly!!
Thanks again to Carlos and Sue for the great hospitality. GREAT meeting Gene of the MVM and Mike. Hopefully, it won't be three more years until we can hook up again!
Last night, I hook up the boat trailer and test the lights for an early morning run the next day. Dang it - rear passenger side won't light up. Open it up and water in the capsule with a purple bulb (supposed to be clear!). Run up to Advance Auto Parts. Dang it again! Forgot my wallet. Head back home. Not a problem, found a spare bulb - whew! Swap it out. Still not lighting! Probably corrosion in the socket. Fiddle with it, clean it, spray WD-40. Nothing. Clean, spray, scrap. Still nothing. Back to Advance Auto for a replacement light module. Hook it all up and notice the ground wire on the trailer broke! Thank goodness for a stock of O-ring connectors. Hook it up, still nothing. Break out the multimeter and find no power from the vehicle side socket. Clean, scrape, test. Clean, scrape, test. FINALLY it works! Whew. Time for bed for an 0400 start.
Wake up, head out and make it on time with about 4 hours sleep (YAWN!). Fish aren't really biting well - even for early morning. Then, while fishing the grass beds of the Potomac I haul on the trolling motor handle to shake off the grass and SNAP! Trolling rope breaks and BAM! down I go onto the deck. Ouch! Thank goodness I keep plenty of spare rope in the boat. Rig up a new trolling motor rope (not without some difficulty in getting that sucker through the hole and fed down to the release!) and continue fishing. Fish still aren't biting very well. Run up to Quantico (bumpy ride on the river with small white caps just starting to form due to wind - and more of those stupid crab pots to dodge!). Notice the trolling motor is loose in the mount. Sigh, okay, get the screw driver (one of those pocket ones with bits) and its too short!! Use the bit and a pair of needle nose pliers to get it "tight enough."
Back to Aquia. Had enough of the wind and reluctant fish (two dinks all morning). Up into the creek and BAM, my fishing partner that day lands a nice fish - estimated just under 3 pounds. Things start to look up! We place him in the livewell and kick it on. Fills slowly (hmmmm). Livewell fills up and stops. Wait! I don't have it on AUTO - its supposed to be ON! Darn. Livewell burned out (was expecting this after having fiddle with it last go round). Sigh, seven plus hours and maybe four fish (for me).
Now the good . . .
Up on time and out the door to meet at Carlos. Fly by a car with Michigan plates on Route 1. Gene (of the MVM gang) and his daughter's boyfriend (Mike) are in town and meeting us to fish. Guess their going for coffee. Make to Carlos and great to see him again!! Been too long (wow - three years!). LOVE his newly expanded garage and the way its organized. Now THAT's a garage!! Gene and Mike show. Shoot the breeze a bit and head out.
We run out of Aquia and the motor runs flawlessly. River is glass smooth at 6am so we can open it up and have a smooth run up about 5 miles to the grass beds. Bite is sluggish, so Carlos suggests a dark senko or worm. Put on a junebug ribbontail worm and sure enough - first fish! Mike follows up with a similar size fish:
Yup, that's Gene and Carlos in the background! We next head up to Quantico and as we fish around a HUGE military transport takes off right over our heads - too COOL! Back to Aquia for some quieter fishing and back up creek, Mike lands a NICE fish!
We get some pics (obviously!) and after another few more casts, we call it a day. Carlos and Gene are nowhere to be found, but what the heck, let 'em fish. Mike and I head back to Carlos' house where we chat with Sue until Gene and Carlos show up about 30 minutes later. Thanks to the generosity of Sue and Carlos, we got treated to a GREAT dinner of some of the biggest burgers I've ever eaten, deviled eggs, beans, potato salad, onion pie and a couple of cold ones - not to mention starting with chips, five layer dip, crab dip and crackers - burp! What a great way to end the day - good food, great friends (old and new)!
Finally, the ugly . . .
Four hours of sleep before seven hours of fishing and several hours of hanging with friends is too little. Made it home fine, but backing the boat into the driveway and back to the yard took four tries (usually two tops!). It was ugly!!
Thanks again to Carlos and Sue for the great hospitality. GREAT meeting Gene of the MVM and Mike. Hopefully, it won't be three more years until we can hook up again!
