While this blog is intended to document my kayak fishing adventures, at times you will find that I do cheat a bit and take a stinkpot out. In 2010, my beautiful bride decided that we needed a new addition to the family and set her course to make that addition. Was it the dog? Well yes, she did get a dog then too but that is not what I was referring to. What she wanted to add to the family was a powerboat. She researched and found a great deal on a 2004 Bayliner 192CU. The Bayliner (named the Oh! Boat) is about 19' in length, has a beam of 7'7", and sports a 135 Mercruiser Alpha 1. The WOT speed on the boat is ~40mph. This boat can haul ass. :)
We had taken the boat out a few times in 2010 but as with many boats, it needed maintenance and we were slackers in getting the trim cylinders fixed in 2011 so it sat in the driveway longing to be used.
A few weeks ago we got off our butts and took the boat to Jordan Point Marina and had Justin take a look at it and fix it. On a side note, if you ever need boat repairs, go see Justin. This guy is top notch. Great pricing, quick service, friendly and knows customer service. Anyway, along with getting the trim fixed, we also purchased a much more road worthy trailer for the boat.
To go along with our newfound appreciation for power boating, I decided to jump the curve and get my USCG Boaters Licence. You all can rest assured that I passed the test with flying colors so the waterways are not more dangerous with me on them!
This weekend we decided to take the boat out for it's maiden voyage of 2012. We researched where we would go and decided to launch from Osborne Landing in eastern Henrico County. This was our first time launching from Osborne and I can say that it is a great facility. There are 6 boat ramps, lots of additional dock areas to tie your boat off while you get your truck parked, and nice bathroom facilities.
We headed up river towards Richmond and stopped off a mile or so up river in an area that looked fishy. We anchored and tried our luck. The fish did not want to cooperate there, although it was a nice stretch of river. Rebecca was not content staying in the boat so she took a spot on the transom trying to get the fish to bite at anything she threw their way.
After striking out, we headed up river. Rebecca captured me making my best cheesy captains pose as we ventured west.
We finally made it to downtown Richmond and anchored up by Southern States. I was able to hook into a decent sized Hickory Shad that we quickly turned into bait for what we hoped would be some sizable Blue Catfish. That would be the only fish for a while. At one point, I did get the worlds smallest White Perch to take my hook and while he proved to be quite a fight, I bested him as I landed all 3.5 inches of him in the boat.
After a while of soaking some cut shad, one rod finally went off and the fight was on. While it wasn't my best cat ever, it was nice to get something a little bit bigger on the boat. Forgetting my ruler and scale at in the truck, I could only estimate the size of the fish. I estimated it in the mid 20" range. Maybe upper mid 20's.
That would be all the fish for the day. Though we did not slay the fish, it was a great day on the water and it was nice to get the boat out and slimed up a little.
Getting the boat home was a bit more of an ordeal. We had to make some adjustments to the trailer that we only noticed after we got the boat on it the first time. We decided to use this trip as a way to make the adjustments as the boat would be in the water and we could adjust the length of the boat stop. This went well except for the frustration of having to load the boat on and off the trailer a few times to insure we got it to the right location.
By the time we got home, it was dark and this made our already difficult driveway even more difficult. Having gotten the boat half way down the driveway, I made the critical mistake of cutting too hard and one of my truck tires fell off the driveway and into the grass. Well, as luck would have it we were stuck. Expletives rang out from behind my truck's steering wheel and at that point all I wanted was a shower and a beer. After many failed attempts to extricate the truck and boat, we called it and sent for the troops via a phone call to AAA.
Within 30 minutes, the tow truck was there and the driver was the best tow truck driver I have ever encountered. He was pleasant and assured me that this was nothing and he'd have us extricated in short order. He was right. He winched the truck out of it's trench and got everything lined up and good to go. To take it a step farther, he handed me his flashlight and said "Point this where you want the boat". He hopped into the driver seat of the truck and after about 10 attempts he got the boat to it's rightful home. After doing so, he made the astute observation that "Hey man, your driveway is not the easiest to navigate!!!"
Well the day was over, the shower was taken and the beer was cracked open. Except for the troubling end of the day, the day was awesome. We had the boat on the water for about 5 hours and had a blast running up the river and catching a few fish. I can't wait to take it out again!
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