I am not George of the Jungle...

One of my favorite movies is "George of the Jungle."  I especially like the scene where George is trying to get Ursula to dance around the fire with him.  Ursula said that she would feel stupid.  I love George's answer..."sometimes George falls out of treehouse, but not feel stupid...something good always happens after"  Well, I'm not George of the Jungle...and something good didn't happen after...

Tuesday morning, we launched the boat and headed out onto the lake.  When we got out of the marina, Dale hit the gas to go faster, but the boat wouldn't plane out...we looked toward the back of the boat and it was full of water!!  There was about 6 inches of water on top of the deck back there...that meant that the entire boat was filling up!

He quickly turned around and headed back to the docks...as he turned, he asked me "did you put the plug in?"  Oh, crap...

 For those of you who aren't boaters, there's at least 1 hole in every boat that, when the boat is on dry land, lets out the water that splashes over the front or sides of the boat when it's out on the water.  There's a plug that should be put into the hole (BEFORE it's launched) that stops water from flooding in and filling the boat with water.  

Now, on a normal fishing day, Dale backs the truck up to the boat and I attach the trailer, and we head out on our way...when we get to the boat ramp, Dale gets out, puts in the plug, and gets into the boat to start getting things ready.  While he does that, I am removing the tie-downs, unlocking the motor, unplugging the power from the truck, and a few other things before I back the boat down the ramp and send it into the water.

But we're camping at the lake, so when we pull the boat out of the water, we are skipping all of the little chores that we do if we're going to head down the highway after our day of fishing.

So on Tuesday, I got into the truck and Dale hooked it up.  Since we were totally out of sync with our normal process, neither of us gave a single thought to that open hole in the back of the boat...and I drove to the boat ramp and launched our now-not-yet-seaworthy boat right into the waters that would soon begin to fill it up.

So back to our nightmare...racing time to get our now sinking boat back to shore before it's too late.  At least we have a bilge pump.  Its job is to pump water out of the boat if there's too much water in the bottom...the only problem is that there was more water coming in than the bilge pump could pump...it's just not made for that volume of water...

We made it back to the marina and Dale beached the boat.  I hopped out of the boat (well, climbed as fast as I could, which is not very fast these days) and ran (okay, okay...I walked briskly up the hill) to the truck, grabbed the plug (that we store in the cupholder so we always know where it is) and got back to the boat as fast as I could go (like I said before...I'm not very fast these days, especially going down a steep boat ramp and then down a gravel, dirt and rock pathway...in flip-flops)

Now if this really was a George of the Jungle-like movie, the narrator would come in at this point and say "Meanwhile, back at the boat, Dale is waiting patiently (yeah, right...patiently waiting as the boat sinks and Amy meanders to the truck and back)..."

So I got back to the boat and climbed back in...but neither of us could reach far enough to put the plug in from the inside of the boat.  So it was obvious that one of us would have to go wading to get it done...and since that part of the shoreline was really muddy and slick, I voted myself the lucky candidate, not because Dale couldn't do it, but because his crutches and mud are really not compatible.

I climbed back out and walked to the back of the boat in what was now almost waist deep water, reached down and finally got the plug in the hole...yay!  At least now there wouldn't be any more water coming INTO the boat...now we just needed the bilge pump to do its job and expel all the water from inside the boat back into the lake where it belonged!

There was still a whole lot of water in the boat, so we sat there, beached, for a while...a couple of guys cruised over to make sure we were okay, which was nice.

After a while, enough water had left the boat that we were comfortable going out again, so we used the push pole (thank goodness for fishing in the shallow Texas waters, so we do have a push pole and I have lots of experience using it) to get us back into deep enough water to use the motor again.  

Even after our ordeal, we still wanted to go fishing!  It was kind of windy, so the water was somewhat rough, but we headed out anyway...because that's how we roll!  (and I was soaking wet, head to toe, and this was the one day that it was not over 90 degrees and sunny...but I figured I'd dry out pretty quickly...and I wanted to go fishing!  Now, mind you, Dale is a caring hubby and had suggested that I go change into some dry clothes, but I refused...sometimes I'm not too bright)

There was still quite a bit of water in the boat, and the bilge pump was still running...but it was pumping less and less water...Dale turned off the pump to see if whatever was blocking the pump would dislodge, but no go...so we let it pump, slowly, for a while longer...it finally slowed to a trickle...so I decided to stick my finger in the outlet hole to see if there was something blocking it...and apparently when I did that, it caused enough back-pressure that it actually DID dislodge whatever was plugging up the pump, and it started spewing lots of water...yay!

So we started fishing, but the boat was rocking and rolling and pitching...it was hard to stand up...we fished for a couple of hours with no bites, and the boat kept trying to spin and our lines were tangling...then I didn't get one of Dale's lines out of the way of the motor fast enough, and it got snagged by the prop!  I cut the line and pulled in the rest of it (and the lure, thankfully).  I was reeling in our other 3 lines when another line crossed into the prop...not good!!  Not only that, but that line had snagged the bottom and it wasn't coming loose...so I cut that line, too, but that lure and sinker was gone...

By then, I was so fed up with our fun day of fishing (not to mention that I was still cold and wet and it was my own dumb fault) that I told Dale I just wanted to go home...so we did...(those of you who have fished with us know that we are total die-hards and don't quit for much of anything...but this day had just pushed me over the edge)

So...I am NOT George of the Jungle...I DID feel stupid...and something good did NOT happen after...

NOTE: we now clip the plug to the boat keys, so if we ever forget it again (we'd better not!!!) at least we'll know it pretty quick because it's right next to the ignition key...

PLAN AHEAd

 What a goober I are!!!

We had to put new tie-downs on the batteries for the trolling motor in the boat before we left Texas...no problem...they went on just fine.

Well, when we got home, because there is a lot of vibration and motion that the boat goes through when it's on the big trailer, one of the batteries had broken it's little plastic anchor piece and had bounced all the way to the farthest limits of the battery cables! Yikes!!

So we decided to replace the cheap plastic anchors with some nice steel straps (raised up with some nylon washers so the strap can slide underneath them)...

I went to Ace and bought the steel straps and nylon washers (1 per strap, right?? Wait for it...)

I climbed into the boat this morning and found that the steel straps I had bought were too small...I was afraid of that...so I drove the 16 miles back to Ace, got the right straps (this time I took an old piece for comparison...no reason to do that in the first place, is there? Nah...) So it cost me 90 cents to exchange the little straps for the correct straps, and $6 for the gas to go exchange them...boy, am I a money-saver or what??? Luckily, I had some more errands to run.

So anyway, I got the bigger straps and they are perfect!!

I climbed back into the boat (mind you, it's about 9 feet from the ground to the gunnel, so it's a bit of a monkey climb...

But I digress...I climbed back into the boat, and put the first 2 straps on with the 4 washers I had bought...(do you remember that I said "wait for it"??)

The first 2 straps were perfect and I put the battery into its place and strapped it down...and then it hit me...it takes 2 washers per strap, and there are 2 straps per battery...and there are 2 batteries!!

Remember I said "I are a goober??" You do the math...so now I need 4 more nylon washers, and if I have to run back to town, it will cost another $6 in gas to buy $1 in washers....

I think I'll wait until I have more errands...

Oh yeah, and in the middle of it all we got a thunderstorm...just where I want to be when the lightning starts to fly...in an aluminum boat hanging 9 feet in the air under a bunch of nice tall pine trees!!

Life in the Parking Lot

 Holy moly! The things RVers do!!

For the past week or so, there's been a fifth wheel parked next to us...they're not here for service, and the folks at Bretz have no idea why they're here...the guy in it told me his wheel bearings leaked grease and it got on the brakes, so they had no brakes...he changed out the bearings and brakes right there in the parking lot....

Last night, the service manager stopped by to give us an update on our issues, and asked if anything had been going on next to us...so we told him what we had been seeing, and that even if the truck was gone, there was a woman and child inside...so he went over and asked them to please leave, since they weren't customers (a reasonable request, especially since they had been plugged into the electric here for a week.)

So last night about 9, the guy came back with his truck, hooked up to the fifth wheel, and pulled out...and the whole are heard a big metallic clunk! He stopped, got out of his truck, went to the back of his camper, and then he reeled up his power cord...the clunk was the plug ripping out of the electrical box! I hope he didn't damage his trailer (or the power box here)...seems like they have enough problems already...

Then just a little while ago, a motorhome just like our old one (same model, same year, same paint job...I mean identical...I had to go out and look to make sure it wasn't the same one, but it wasn't)

Anyway, this motorhome pulls up the road past me, and I always look at the top of RVs passing by...because I've chased down lots of them with the antenna up...but this one was different...this one had his satellite dish up!! Now ripping a tv antenna off an RV roof would cause some damage....but ripping a satellite dish off an RV roof...well, that would cause a whole lot of damage!!

I went out and pointed to the guy as he sat in his driver's seat...then I pointed to my head, and cupped my hands together on my head and swiveled from side to side...his eyes got wide as he realized what he had (or hadn't) done...he finally got it lowered and we had a nice chat about his motorhome, since we both had or have the same one...and I suggested that he get a clothespin and put it on the key or steering wheel when the dish was up, and on the switch box for the dish when it was down...I told him that, having had the exact same coach, I knew that the travel height is about 12' 8", and his dish was in definite jeopardy! He's really lucky that he didn't have to go under any low bridges!

The RV life is never dull!!!

You should get what you pay for...really!

 Last year...just about a year ago this month, we had a new Humminbird fish finder put on our boat...it was supposed to have had both "down imaging" (which shows what's underneath the boat) and "side imaging" (which shows what is under the water to both sides of the boat).

A few months ago, Dale was trying to figure out all of the controls, and was having trouble accessing the side imaging feature.

We finally looked up the model number on the Humminbird website...and...lo and behold...our fish finder did NOT have side imaging!

When we had picked up our boat after the installation, we hadn't checked the model number of our new fish finder (who actually does that??? well, we do now...) or we would have seen that it was the wrong one, but we didn't know the difference from just looking at it, and we had no idea how the side imaging feature actually works without having the boat on the water...

So today, we went back to the place where we bought the unit and who also had installed it. We spoke to the parts manager, who asked for pictures...a very reasonable request...but I didn't have any pics on my phone...so we told her we would do one better, and, having nothing better to do today (seriously...we had nothing better to do, since the motorhome is sitting in the parking lot of the same place, waiting for some repairs that couldn't get done before we left for Texas last year), we drove the hour home to get the fish finder out of the boat so the parts manager could see it for herself!

Now, mind you, the boat is still on the big trailer...and although it's lower than it is when we travel with the truck underneath it, it's still about 8 feet up, so I played "monkey" and climbed the trailer and got into the boat to retrieve the fish finder.

(We also picked up all of our propane tanks, since we get propane here at the RV place for only $.99...can't pass up that deal!! (propane is going for $3.25 a gallon elsewhere))

But I digress...

So we brought the fish finder back and she looked up the model number in her system...and she looked up our invoice in her system...Incidentally, we had looked through all of our paperwork and couldn't find anywhere that said which fish finder model we had actually paid for...

And it turns out that we were charged for the correct (and more expensive) fish finder...but when the unit was entered for the installation guys, whoever had typed it in had gotten one number off, and so the less expensive, non-side imaging unit was ordered for installation. (Can't fault the guy who installed it either...he did what he was told!)

So we're waiting for the verdict, figuring that we would be offered a refund for the difference, but that's not what we really wanted...we wanted the unit that we had ordered...we wanted side imaging!

So the parts manager looks up and says "well, we installed the wrong one. The warehouse is currently out of the correct model, but I'm ordering it and we'll call you as soon as it comes in, and we'll install it...with no charge to you, since this is obviously our mistake.

Wow!! I was kind of expecting to have to argue the point that we should have the unit that we ordered, but we didn't have to say a single word! I'm impressed!

Then Dale commented that, of course, they would take the wrong one out and we would just have the new one...and...the parts manager said "you know...I don't even want to mess with trying to do anything with the other one...you keep it and sell it or do whatever you want to do with it"

So I have to say that I'm thoroughly impressed with the service we received today at Bretz RV on this matter!

Now, hopefully, the rest of our "fun with RV repairs" will go as smoothly...tomorrow will tell!!

Playing hide and seek with corrosion is not a fun game

 Well!  The batteries on the trolling motor haven't been holding a charge....after less than a half hour of use, they die...they should last for 3-4 hours at least!!  Our first set of batteries lasted over 6 years, and this set was less than a year old!

They've been plugged in overnight and still read dead this morning, so we took them to the parts store to have them checked.  One had bad cells and the other one is borderline bad...so rather than spank it and put it in the corner to think about its behavior, we decide to replace both batteries.

Dale has been wanting to get plastic boxes for the batteries to keep them out of the weather and salt water.  So we bought the boxes along with the 2 new batteries.

We had unhooked the myriad of tangled cables, and marked them all so we knew how to hook everything back up.

Then we removed the old trays that held the old batteries, cleaned all the dirt and sand that had been hiding underneath, and filled the old screw holes with silicon.

We had to figure out where the new boxes would go, because they need a little more room than the little trays. We had to hook up the cables again to make sure we had enough clearance.  When I started putting things together, I noticed that one of the cables had busted almost all the way...it was being held on by only a little piece of the plastic sheath!

I was looking at the wire, and I saw that it was corroded...so I cut a little piece off so I could put a new end on...and...more corrosion!  I kept cutting off little pieces...I showed Dale, and he took over cutting off little pieces...and we had to cut off almost 3 inches to get to good wire!  Finally, I got to put the new end on...and moved on to other cables...When I moved another wire, I felt a tiny "snap" and there went another wire!!  We looked at a couple more wires, and they were all breaking and totally corroded!

Now, mind you, we've learned a lot about corrosion and rust since we got to Rockport last October, and a wonderful product called CorrosionX, which is my new best friend...but this didn't happen just in the last 6 months...this is years of corrosion making its way up the wires, inside the plastic sheathing so we couldn't have seen it or known it was there.

So now we're wondering if that's why these batteries only lasted a year...we've never had batteries die so quickly!

But here's the difficult part...all of the broken wires are from the battery charger...and they're hard-wired to the charger...so I don't know if they're replaceable, or if we're going to be in the market for a new charger now, too!  

I guess it's time to start researching charger repair....and we definitely won't be using the trolling motor until we get it fixed or replaced...Oh, well...you know what BOAT stands for, don't you?

Break Out Another Thousand!!

1 Fish...2 Fish...Redfish...Black Drum!

So we went out again on Monday because the weather was supposed to be nice (remember, I said "supposed") with calm winds.  We decided to go out earlier than usual for us because it was supposed to get a little windy and rainy in the afternoon.

We got up and got ready and when we got outside it was FOGGY!!  Years ago I listened to a morning radio show on B100 called the B Morning Zoo...they had Kermit the Frog give the morning fog report...and he reported the amount of fog at 1 to 5 "Piggers"...so when we went out to go fishing on Monday morning, I would have to say it was about a 4 pigger!  Pretty foggy....

As we launched the fog was starting to clear a little...maybe down to a 2 or 2 1/2 pigger...so we plugged in our navigation lights and started out down the ICW.  The foggy morning was quiet and calm, and the sight of a shrimp boat heading past us was pretty majestic.

And there were dolphins hanging around our fishing area, which usually means there's fish nearby!  (And they're such talented dolphins...they swim sideways!)

The spot we had picked wasn't far, so we got there pretty quickly.  We were using frozen shrimp and FishBites, a packaged scented bait that we had heard was working pretty well for Black drum and Redfish right now.

We fished the first spot for about a half hour and caught a couple of small fish, but nothing we could keep.  So we moved to another spot...and no bites there...We moved a couple more times during the morning, trying to find "the" spot.

As the morning progressed, the fog cleared, but the sky was looking pretty ominous and dark.  It started sprinkling and the wind picked up a little...I'm not too opposed to fishing in the rain, but I'm really not fond of fishing in the rain with the wind blowing, too...and the dogs are really not fond of it!!  Samson was giving me dirty looks the whole time...

But even though the weather was kinda crappy, we fished on, because that's how we roll...we're either hard-core or crazy...you decide which one!

So we picked one more spot...the one where Dale had caught his first keeper Black Drum, across the ICW from where we were currently fishing.  The reason we hadn't gone there in the first place was that we had lost a bunch of tackle there because there are oyster beds right where we were fishing and we were trying to bottom fish because the Drum were staying deep, in about 5 feet of water.

(Now before we got here, we had only fished mountain lakes that were 30-300 feet deep...and when we got here, we got told that the fish were deep and to fish in the deeper waters...so one day, I asked what is considered "deep" here and was told that down here, 4 feet is deep!  Everything is relative...)

So we went across the ICW to that spot and tossed in a couple of lines...after a few minutes, Dale's line went ZING! and his rod bent over...he reeled in a nice big Redfish, but when we tried to net it, it spit out the hook and it went flying right past my head!  But it missed me "by that much"!!  Oh, well...you can't catch 'em all...and at least he got to see it.

Then about 5 minutes later, he reeled in because his line had gone slack and he wanted to check his bait.  As he reeled, all of a sudden, it took off and spooled some yardage!  He reeled, the fish fought...it was a great battle!  Dale finally won, and we netted a nice 21", 5 lb Black Drum!  

Then about 10 minutes later, he reeled in a 20 3/4" Redfish!  The Redfish put up a good fight, too! 

A little while later, Dale's pole bent over...he grabbed it and it ran his line out fast...it must have been really big because it took his line and before he knew it, his line snapped!  It took his leader and all! 

I still hadn't caught anything keepable, but I wasn't giving up...I got caught up a couple of times on the oysters, but the nice little pinfish would grab my bait and try to run with it...they weren't big enough to get hooked, but they would move my tackle off the oysters and get me unstuck!  If only they would quit stealing my shrimp!!

After the pinfish got my line loose from the oysters, I cast one more time into the 5 foot water...and...BAM! something grabbed my line and started running!!  The fight was on!  I reeled...it ran, spooling my line...I reeled some more...and finally I got the nice Black Drum to the boat where Dale netted it.  It was my first Black Drum and was about 20 1/2", 5 lbs.

We fished for a little while longer but the wind was getting pretty strong so we decided to head for home...what happened next is for another post...I think I'll call it "The boater's Walk of Shame" although it doesn't involve walking at all...

Fishing, Finding, and Catching

 So I never really thought about it before, but there's a huge difference between "fishing," "finding," and "catching".  

Take the last few weeks, for instance.  We had that nasty cold spell that killed a bunch of fish here.  And ever since, we haven't done very good.

We've gone "fishing" multiple times.  We see others coming back with lots of nice fish, and lots of posts about people getting lots of nice fish...but we haven't been getting anything, often not even getting a bite!

People tell us "we limited out here" or "they were killing it there"...but when we go "here" or "there," do we come home with any fish?  Not a one.  It gets pretty frustrating sometimes...

But just being out on the water "fishing" outweighs the lack of "catching".  (Although, catching is definitely more fun than just fishing.)  

Like last week...we were told about a spot where we had never fished before, where the person who told us about it and his friend had limited out on large Black Drum 2 days in a row.  We scoped out the area on Google Earth, and picked out our areas to go.  It was about an hours' drive to the launch, so we got up before daybreak and headed out.  We launched the boat, got to the area, and started fishing.  It was a great day, although it was kind of windy.  We fished all of the guts (that's what they call dug-out channels here).  No bites.  We fished deep...down to 10 feet deep...No bites.  We fished shallow...about 1 foot of water...No bites.  We fished every depth in between...No bites.  But when we got back to the marina there was a guide taking pictures of his 3 clients and their 12 nice Black Drum!  I asked them how deep they were fishing when they caught their fish, and they told me they were caught in 7 feet of water...we had fished all over that depth, and deeper, and shallower...oh, well...it was a good day "fishing".

I've realized that "finding" is a big part of "fishing" because if you can't find them to fish for them, you can't "catch" them!  And I am becoming convinced that "finding" is the hardest part of fishing.  You have to know a lot about the fish that you want to catch...behavior, feeding habits, general physiology...there's a lot that goes into it.  

Now, the guides know how to find the fish...they know where they'll be on a given day at a given time.  They consider the tides, temperature, wind, location...lots of stuff...and it's because they do this every day.  It's their livelihood...it's how they feed their families...they have to find the fish.

We've had guides tell us exactly where to go, exactly when to be there, and exactly what to use to catch the fish....and we went there, and did what we were told, and didn't get a single bite!  We were even where others were catching fish right next to us!

Maybe you're thinking about now that I'm whining about not "catching" lots of big fish...but I'm not really.  Fishing is fun! (unless you're in the middle of Diamond Lake during a massive Midge hatch, but that's a nightmare for another time)  Even when we're not catching the big ones...although catching the big ones is REALLY fun!

So after reading a bunch of posts on a local fishing page, we decided to go out this last Tuesday for a while.  We were betting that since it's still been cool, the fish we wanted would be kind of deep.  We headed down the ICW to a gut only a few hundred yards away from the marina.  We tossed in our lines and BAM! we started catching fish!  I caught a couple of small Redfish, and Dale caught a keeper Black Drum!  This was our first Black Drum!  We were excited!  He caught another small drum and a small redfish...and just as fast as it started, it ended...we didn't catch any more fish...

I watch tons of videos from pros and great fisher-people, and one consistent theme is that if you are in a spot for over 20 minutes and not getting bites, you need to move to a new spot.  So we moved to a new spot...and...nothing...we moved around a couple more times...and...nothing...But at least we were catching some fish again!

We've also been told that "catching" here during the colder months can be difficult...so I don't feel bad at all...I've talked to people here who have "fished" here all their lives and still don't "catch" much.  I know we'll do better when we come back in October for next winter season...the boat is all set up, we know more techniques, we know more about the behavior of our target fish...

All I can say is...our next season is going to be epic!!

Here's a pic of Dale with his Black Drum...it looks really small in the picture, but it's almost 16"...