From the title of this thread you might see that things didn't go quite as planned, it wasn't a real happy Saturday(opening day) scenario that we had hoped for. After getting the boat ready to hit the water and blast off at 0730, the turn of the key brought a resounding SILENCE - just a 'click- click' What the sam hill's going on?????????
I thought the battery was down as there appeared to be a drain on it. Tried an newer battery and had the same results, we were able to get the kicker motor working to allow me to get the boat on the trailer to have it looked at.
Dragged the boat out and into Napanee for air in the tires and off to the repair shop. Mike Phillips at MP Marine on Hgy 38 took a look and swapped for another battery, cleaned the terminals and 'fired that mother up' (a Charlie Daniels line) No Problem!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Put my battery after being charged back and the engine started right away. What the hecks going on?
Back to Napanee for somemore gas and found that a couple of the canvas roof supports had broken and that the canvas was flapping away as we drove and some of the canvas had ripped, but almost all of the seams had parted.............
Holy Cow!!!!!!!!!!! Some more ugly news............. Pulled the canvas off and set the mooring cover to travel back to Hay Bay. Launched the boat and tied her up while we discussed the day so far and had some lunch. Decided that we should head out to fish at 1300 hrs. Headed to Long Reach for some trolling, many boats out there with the planer boards out, didn't see any nets over the side. The wind was picking up and because the Superdad was topless, we decided to head back into Hay Bay.
The wind had changed and was starting to blow and then the storm hit.... We were going to get wet that's for sure.. The Thunder and Lightening made the decision to head to the dock real easy.... Back to the dock at 1515 and off course the storm passed and the sun came out - DARN!!!!!!! We were soaked so we had to change.
As we were getting ready to watch the Kentucky Derby, the power went out along the River Road - Oh Great!!!!!!
Apparently, an Osprey nest down the road was struck by lightening and got fire, burned the chicks and some of the wires were on the ground. Cutting the power was the result while repairs were effected. No Power - No TV - Lets's go fishing.
We headed out right in front of Bayview Resort as there approx 25 boats milling around, we thought we would stay out of their way and headed into some deeper water. Got the Uzick Spinners and the worms out to see what we could do. we marked a lot of fish and shortly after beginning, my son Dave cried out "Fish ON!!!!!" Landed it and continued trolling for a couple hours. The total catch for the 2 hours was 7 walleyes landed - one fish kept for the table.
Sunday's weather forecast was gloomy with rain in the forecast, we decided as we had no protection from the rain we would stay close to home. Began trolling again with cranks as we thought we might induce them to taking. Close to an hour in, Dave hit a fish on a CC Shad, another keeper for the table. After 2.5 hours of cranks we switched to the Uzick Spinners and worm combo.
We hit a couple of small eyes and as the pack of boats was thinning out, we headed to the east and the Hay Bay Flats. Had out lunch drifting and began to fish. Joined shortly by the OPP doing a great job, checking the boat requirements, Operators Card and all that stuff. We couldn't buy a sniff up there in 6.5 to 7.1 feet of water. Headed back to the head of the flats and trollled the north shore all the way back to Bayview. we hit a couple more on the way back.
We got back at 1615 after 7 hours of fishing. Total for the day was 5 eyes and a hammer handle pike.
Our weekend enthusiasm was dampened by the motor trouble, the canvas situation, the thunder and lightening, but nonethe less, we were able to land a dozen fish, four for the table in Toronto for my Grandsons (who really enjoy the taste ).
Not quite what we had planned, didn't get to the areas where we wanted, didn't get the time fishing we wanted BUT we had a good time and enjoyed seeing all the campers and hearing of their exploits. Like the Dodgers used to say - "Wait til Next Year!!!!"
Cheers
David aka Superdad
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Glad you did get some fish and nothing serious with the motor$$$$