CTFishTalk.com: Housatonic River - Shelton 02/07 - Connecticut River Reports ( CT River Reports ) - A Community Built for Connecticut Fisherman.

PECo · Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT

Since NWDarkcloud (aka Bob) has started tearing down his boat, The Way More Better, he returned the Humminbird 798ci HD SI that I lent to him. I couldn't wait to get rid of the crunchy old Garmin Fishfinder 85 that was mounted on my boat, The Other Woman, Too, so I wasted no time and swapped them out. Very Happy

Of course, that meant we had to go test it, so we headed down to Shelton, even though the weather forecast was very marginal. It called for air temperatures in the low 20s and winds up to six miles per hour. We got on the ramp at the Sunnyside Boat Launch Facility at 7:30 am. A couple of cars were parked off to the side in the lot, but we were the only boaters there. I still don't have a Safe Boater Certificate (in fact, the one-day course for which I signed up at Cabela's this weekend was cancelled due to Nemo Mad

), so Bob was the designated boat pilot. He got into the boat and, as I backed my Jeep and the trailer down the ramp to launch him into the river, I saw a look of shock and panic on his face as the boat flew off the back of the trailer, three feet short of the water's edge. Shocked

After one second of "Oh, sheisse!" and Bob yelled that he was okay, I couldn't help but laugh at my stupidity. Laughing

Lemme 'splain, Lucy. Wink

Bob has always told me that when launching a boat, you should NOT unhook the boat from the trailer UNTIL AFTER the boat is almost all the way into the water. However, his boat trailer has roller bunks on it, unlike mine, which has carpeted bunks. I figured that I'd never have to worry about my boat flying off of my trailer, because it has never moved as easily as Bob's boat moves on his trailer. In fact, only two days earlier, I had launched TurtleKiss (aka Kira) into the river exactly the same way with no issues. However, what I didn't anticipate is that when you go boating in sub-freezing weather only two days after soaking your carpeted bunks, the bunks freeze solid into super slick ice. Luckily, the boat didn't come completely off of the trailer and the motor was up. Plus, the fish finder's side imaging transducer is mounted higher than the bottom of the keel, so it escaped unscathed. Phew! Rolling Eyes

After I winched the boat partially back onto the trailer, I took a photo of the frozen bunks:

And after I finished winching the boat completely onto the trailer and attached the safety chain, I took a photo of the back of the keel:

Yeap, that's Bob's disdainful look. He's thinking, "I told you so, DUMBA$$!" Laughing

Luckily, although the keel was a little bit dinged up, the welds held and there were no cracks in the hull. Phew, again! Rolling Eyes

After I successfully launched Bob into the river and parked the Jeep, he picked me up at the ramp and we headed upriver toward Two Mile Island. Check this out:

Whoo hoo!

We both started throwing Pearl White five inch Gulp! Jerk Shads on white/redeye 3/8 ounce round jigheads. About an hour after we launched, while we were fishing the area at the mouth of the cove on the downriver side of the island, another boat motored past us and up into the cove:

As you can see, the ice that extended to the mouth of the cove only two days earlier had retreated halfway back into the cove. 20 minutes later, a couple of kayakers paddled up:

Yeap, those are REAL men! I finally got to thank Blue Kayak Fisherman (aka Rich) for giving me and mep21 (aka Mark) a couple of heavier jigheads to use out there last month. Hey, Rich! Very Happy

:

And, now, back to the fishing report! Although we marked some big schools of fish, we could not get them to bite. At all. Crying or Very sad

High tide was at 9:04 am and low tide at 4:09 pm, so we caught the slack high tide. As the "not catching of fish" went on, the wind rose out of the north. If it didn't hit a steady 10 miles per hour, it came close. Freakin' meteorologists! Six miles per hour, my a$$! Mad

I know that Bob was very cold. A week earlier, he had almost severed the middle finger on his left hand. He didn't want to talk about it, but gave me this piece of advice: Never, ever, flip off a five year old girl! Laughing

As a result, he had a dozen stitches and an aluminum splint on his finger, which sucked the heat out of his hand, despite the glove he forced onto it. Truth be told, I started to shiver a little bit and never came close to getting the burst of warmth that catching a fish gives you. Bob, however, managed to boat one:

Do you see the smug look on his face? Although he'd tell you he hooked it in the mouth, that would be true only if a schoolie striper's mouth extended all the way up to its dorsal fin. Rolling Eyes

Anyway, although I realize that I'm a total wussie girl after watching Rich and his buddy paddle all over the place with frozen teabags, the siren's song of the prospect of hot food at Smokin' with Chris called to me. And when the trolling motor ran out of power, I knew that I was done. Bob put up a brave face ("I'll stay out as long as you want. Really!"), but I know that he was ready to go, too. Wink

We headed back to the ramp at 11:30 am, after spending less than four hours on the water. Yeap, I know that the water was just starting to flow and the bite probably would have picked up, but, like I said, I'm a total wussie girl. Laughing

When we got to the ramp, we saw that we'd have to clear some ice from it before putting out:

As always, the Sloppy Ribs at Smokin' with Chris were awesome, as was the side of Mac and Cheese. Although I worried that my trolling motor battery was shot, when I got home and plugged in the onboard charger, I discovered that the positive wire for the trolling motor had jarred loose from the battery terminal, probably when the boat hit the asphalt. Hopefully, I've gotten a full charge in it. Now, all that I need is some better than marginal weather, so I can go test it. Very Happy

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Michael · Joined: 28 Jan 2012 Posts: 3823 Location: Bridgeport

Don't be a wussie girl. You've gotta brave it up Phil!

NWDarkcloud · Joined: 23 Apr 2012 Posts: 474

Well I would never say I told ya so .....might think it but would never say it Rolling Eyes

....I was just sitting there when the boat slammed the hardtop I thought to myself (Dam the tide gos out fast here ! Laughing

) . Well truth be told I had a short launch myself at Batterson park a few years back.
Now my pre-launch check list go's plug the bung..check the safty chain..catch rope hoohed to boat ..motor up and Oh ya did you know the boat will float with the tie-downs to the trailer still on? I learned everything on my list the hard way over many years of fishing . The silly things we over-look when in a rush to hit the water , but its all good as long as nobodys bleeding the boat still floats and theres no guyz with a Badge tapping on your shoulder.

As allways Phil I had a great time thanks for the call...lunch at smoke'in with Cris was rockin well worth the stop .
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Redneckangler · Joined: 05 May 2012 Posts: 851 Location: Meriden, CT

Look at the bright side, at least there weren't 20 people waiting to launch while you put on your demo. Laughing

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PECo · Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT

DirtyDawg10 · Joined: 27 May 2009 Posts: 2238 Location: Granby, CT

Yikes! Glad to hear the boat and Bob are OK.

PECo · Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT

fishfinder · Joined: 19 Jun 2011 Posts: 1672 Location: Naugatuck, Ct.

That would really suck if it screwed up the boat. Glad everything worked out.
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