First Bass Tourney

I went on my first bass tournament down in Potomac. I didn't know what to expect since the lottery paired me up with Tom, the club president. I woke up at 2:30am to meet the guys at 3:15am. I felt kinda small seeing all the glass boats with at least 150HP motors; meanwhile I've got a dinky tin boat with a puny 25 horses. These guys are hardcore! Tom said I was going to freeze my ass off going 50 to 60mph in 45deg weather. Well we got down there at about 6am and launched from Smallwood Park. Everyone seemed pretty nice with no attitude at all. This day would be my first time for many things; 1st time in a tournament bass boat, 1st MD bass, and 1st VA bass. Going out to our first spot, we were going 50mph. The ride was rougher than I expected, but I didn't feel cold at all. Tom was following Mike and Paul around. I guess Mike and Tom go back a ways and are real close friends. We were fishing at this one spot on the VA side that had over 50 boats fishing the same area. Tom was getting pissed because everyone was catching fish but us. He caught one keeper and I caught 2 shorts. Finally we moved to another spot on the MD side. On the way, we were going 60mph. The ride was very rough and a few times we were airborne. The ride was so rough that my nuts were bouncing on the seat, which was nauseating. I lost my cap too while trying to hold on with my hands full; I was trying to hold a net, a bottle of Gatorade, and my sunglasses. Tom caught another keeper and I caught another short. Finally at the weigh in, most everyone caught 1 to 2 bass. But Mike and Paul caught a total of 9 fish in the last hour and a half. Tom was pissed off that he didn't have the patience to hangout.
Getting home I couldn't stop thinking about the day and I can't wait to get back out in a boat. I've bought more lures and a 5.1:1 MH baitcast combo. I'm looking at tourney bass boats and figuring out how to get the most speed out of my boat. I think what I may have to do is fix up my boat and trade up. I guess I'm onto my next obsession. One last thing; don't pass up wearing sunscreen on a boat!

More holes

I took out my pressure washer today and started to spray my boat. The boat was so encrusted in mud that I couldn't get all the mud off. Not sure if Sears repaired my washer right or what, but I could still rub mud off with my thumb in some places after I was done. Washing the boat uncovered more holes in the bow. I'll look at the bottom sometime later. This weekend is pretty busy. My son is in the little league parade tomorrow and I'm supposed to take him to his first game on Sunday. Supposed to be great weather next week so I'll work some more on the boat. In the meantime, I might order Cabela's Aluminum Boat Patch. Might be easier to use than the Marine-Tex, maybe better overall.

Leaks

Well, after two full days of rain I was psyched to get working on the boat again. Last time for some reason, I put the drain plug back in and forgot to take it back out. Anyway, with all the rain the boat filled up with water. This was a good thing, because it exposed a number of leaks on the bottom. Looking at it closer it looks like the boat had a lot of bad patching done to it. The leaks aren't too bad, some are loose rivets, and some are pinholes, 5 in all.


Now that my pressure washer is back from the shop, I'm going to wash'er down and see what else is hidden. BTW, if you don't, you really should winterize your pressure washer for the winter. This was the first year I didn't do it and it turned out to be the coldest winter in 10 years! The pump valves went on it and cost me about half what I paid for the washer in the first place.

while i'm waiting for the deadliest catch premiere

Some other things I want to tell you about...

While tearing apart my boat I needed a specialized tool to take out the livewells. This would be in the form of a spanner wrench, which I probably will never use again once I get the livewell tanks back in. This tool costs about $30 at Sears.com. So I found one on eBay and saved $20.

Once I got the livewells/seats out I realized the deck was divided from the front and rear; probably the only way to get a 9ft continuous deck. This is great news. All I have to do is just take out the rear 4ft to gain full access to all the stuff under the deck. I'm expecting the seat mounting plate hardware will need to be replaced. I tried to take out the bolts but I think the nuts, or whatever is holding the bolt in, is rusted thru. Once I take out the rear deck I'll find out.

The other thing I found is the chair pedestal doesn't fit in the forward mount. I'm gonna have to open it up somehow. What's annoying is that it's on the forward deck which is longer and more of a PITA to replace if I can't open up the hole.

The Homecoming

So I actually got my boat home on Mar 27. It has been in the shop since the 7th having work done on the motor and trailer. This whole thing has been one surprise after another. I'm used to the way cars are handled; same day service and the labor rate is not $100/hr! I swear, if I could help it, no one else will ever work on my boat; I'm impatient and just not that rich!

When I got it home I nearly got run over by my own boat. So I planned on driving it halfway up the driveway, unhitch it, and finesse it into my garage. My wife was busy and my 5 y/o son was eager to help. So I had him take the tire chocks out with me ready to push the boat up the driveway. Well, gravity works! The boat pushed me back so hard that it pushed me out of my shoes and I ended up fighting the boat all the way down the driveway in my socks! I ended up just having the boat sit in my driveway because it won't fit in my garage afterall.

I kinda felt overwhelmed after having the time to look over the boat more closely. I found holes in the transom and I think the guy I bought it from tried to patch them up with Marine-Tex-White, which is the wrong version for aluminum. There are a lot of holes, like about 10! Carpeting needed to be replaced and the electrical is mess! I really didn't know where to begin. Also needs to be painted. ugh!!!

So I figure to get this riverworthy I'd have to patch the transom, make sense of the electrical, put new carpeting down, and paint the front end enough to get my registration stickers on. On second thought, forget painting. I'll do that next year.

Hi everyone!
Just got a new (to me) boat and fixing it up in time to hit the summer bass! I really want to have this boat with me when I go to my inlaws lakehouse in TN. Tennessee has got to be the bass capital, at least in the US.

More to come, plus pics of the boat as it progresses to a bass huntin' machine!