Last time I ran my boat was Dec 19. Motor had been making some weird noises, so I took it to Hanckels and got the bad news that one side of the exhaust port had corroded through the sidewall of the block(!) I keep meticulous care of my boat and motor (always flushed, often with salt away, etc). Some googling revealed that it is a Yamaha manufacturing defect (bad metal in the casting I guess) and I was one of the unlucky ones to get it. No amount of flushing would prevent. Anyway, boat still under warranty and the good folks at Hanckel and Yamaha fixed me up pronto. I figured while the boat was out it was a good time to get my trolling motor overhauled. It had been sounding like a dying goose when turning it So, off to Charleston Marine where Brian and co got me fixed up with a new gearbox and bushings. Lastly, off to Charleston Trailer where my brakes were getting rusty and after a full overhaul and Maggie and Rod got my trailer as good as new… All this to say, I haven’t been fishing this year yet and also wanted to call out and thank these local business people who I support and recommend highly.
So, Ralph and I hit the brackish and it was such a good feeling to be on the water again. Water temps were 54-56F and the main river was quite dirty. Big, big outgoing tide. We started carrying a new product in our shop, the Slick Lure. It’s a soft plastic glide/twitch bait with a big profile. And weedless, which is a game changer for where we fish. TBH it kind of goes against what we preach which is to scale down lures in winter to match the hatch. But, the fish were all over it. It goes to show you that there is always something new to learn. Super fun to fish because they hit it like a hard bait which means they slam it. Even 15" trout were choking it. We were both really impressed with this lure. I was able to get my first Release Over 20 trout of the year on it too (pictured)
I now have confidence in it and it will be in my box going forward.
A really fun day to fish and I’m stoked to be on the water with pretty much everything refurbished. See you out there!
Thats what im talking about! Very nice! We went Sat and got a cold-wet-windbuned goose egg. I go when can more than when I want to haha. Anyhow, glad you got your maintenance taken care of and even better news having the engine under warranty! That would have sucked.
Thanks for the report!
The trout bite should pick up as the water starts to warm again, right?
Trout bite should get increasingly good up to the first spawn in April/May. I feel like it was really good yesterday and that was a surprise given all the rain we have had recently.
With the 1/8 oz hook shown it sinks maybe 1.5 ft / sec, so we worked it really slow. A jerk or pop or two then let it glide down. There was no question when it got struck
Nice trout. Adam and I have got rigged up with the Slick Lure Jrs. Waiting for a day when it’s not blowing 20 mph.
I was able to get out briefly last Thursday. Water temp was around 58. Fished the incoming with a bass buddy that had never caught a redfish on an artificial. Got that one off his bucket list. Nothing big but managed four trout and three reds. All of his came off an Eye Strike Texas Eye with a pearl colored zmantwister tail.
I actually caught two trout on a crappie rod ( st Croix) with an 1/8 oz jig head and a little Bobby Garland Pile Driver in “Electric Chicken”
Fun fight in colder water.
Glad to hear you have everything taken care of prior to better weather ahead. Nice report and please to hear you and Mr Phillips are on the water again. Guess I need to add an additional plastic to my attack box. I have not been on the much this year but the season is upon us. See you soon
So, off to Charleston Marine where Brian and co got me fixed up with a new gearbox and bushings. Lastly, off to Charleston Trailer where my brakes were getting rusty and after a full overhaul and Maggie and Rod got my trailer as good as new… All this to say, I haven’t been fishing this year yet and also wanted to call out and thank these local business people who I support and recommend highly.
And that first trout looks like a good one