A No tow

Posted by Greybeard on Sep 23rd, 2009 in Fishing, Local, News and weather | Comments Off

This afternoon we decided to try a quick troll of the river to see if any Salmon had started showing up (No).   In the process we ran across a good sized cruiser stalled on the corner of the river.  (around 26-27 ft)

The fellows in the cruiser called me over and asked for a tow back to their dock.   Being somewhat of a decent pirate,  I agreed to try.   NOTE:  my river trolling boat is the 17ft aluminum “Alaskan”.   We tied on a rope and quickly learned that a small light boat,  doesn’t have much luck towing a large heavy boat.  (They had about 10 people on the cruiser)   As soon as the rope tightened, my boat would quickly slew sideways toward the bank.  We tried rigging it a couple of ways,  but the river just wasn’t wide enough.

We untied and offered a ride for help,  but they all stayed on the boat.   A little later I saw them being towed by a boat of nearly the same size.   We had suggested they call BoatUS,  but I guess none of them were members.   BoatUS offers a great deal on towing in the Great Lakes,   for about 59 bucks,  your covered for a year.    Seems pretty cheap,  if you’re the guy with the dead boat.

Pt. Lookout to Pt. AuGres mini report

Posted by Greybeard on Sep 11th, 2009 in Fishing, Local, News and weather | 1 comment

Busy day today.   The dog and I took the SportCraft out into the Bay for a ride.   I packed a lunch and planned on a slow fish scouting ride.   The wave forcast was 0 to 1 feet.   Typically,  the actual waves were more like 3.5 to 4 feet!    We could plow into the waves at about 8 mph (without pounding the boat).  At that speed,  on about every third wave  the anchor pulpit would dip below the next oncoming wave and spray would fly up and over the boat.  (a lot of windsheild wiper time)   Roxie, (my German Shorthair), wasn’t crazy about that action,  so after a short run into the waves, (out to 25 ft of water),  I spun around and idled down to flow with the waves.   With the waves at our stern is was relatively smooth,  and I was able to eat my lunch and watch the fishfinder for a bit.  We saw hundreds of small fish on the screen.   About half near the surface, (which could have been bubbles),  and the other half near the bottom, (most likely true fish).   There was nothing large enough to consider fishing for in that wave action,  but it was a nice ride.  After about a mile or so,  we were nearing Pt. AuGres,  so I pulled around and headed back through the rough, far enough north of the river mouth  to quarter the waves back in.  ( Quartering in, was an interesting 25 mph, side slewing ride,  as we angled up over one wave,  then slide down the side of another.)   All in all,  it probably wasn’t one of Roxie’s favorite boat rides,   but,  I did get a chance to learn a bit more about handling the boat in rough water.

Getting back to land well fed,  I decided to head out to the gun club to practice a little bit for the upcoming Turkey Shoot.   We shoot clays, with shotguns,  and paper targets with .22’s.  I normally do the rifle shoot.   Five shots from the standing position, 50 yards,  no support,  highest score per round wins a small prize.     Some folks might think this sounds easy…   I say come out and try it.   You walk downrange and back, to hang your targets,  then step right up to the shooting line.   Only those in the best of shape haven’t raised their pulse a little bit.  No matter how talented you are at keeping the sight on the bullseye,  there’s always that pulse bounce to deal with,  not to mention the possibility of a breeze.

Considering that I haven’t shot much this year,  my practice session went pretty well.  I decided to try my old Ruger 10/22,  with the 2.5x Weaver scope.  I was able to shoot 47 out of 50 points a few times.   In past experience 47 points has a pretty good chance of winning the round.  We’ll see how it goes.

I also used the opportunity to pop of a couple of dozen rounds out of my carry gun,  (Glock 36, .45 cal.)   That went fine also,   the first paper plate taking 12 rounds into a 7 inch circle,  and the second taking 11 rounds into a 6 inch circle, (with one stringer opening it up to 9 inches).  All at 15 yards.

Boating, Shooting,  and time with the dog,  all in the same day.  Not a bad day at all.

Beautiful week of days

Posted by Greybeard on Sep 7th, 2009 in Local | Comments Off

Labor Day today!   Since I’m retired,  the holiday weekend isn’t as noticable as it was when I was working,  but,  we’ve had incredible weather.   We’ve been on the Bay everyday for the last 5 days.    That’s the longest string of boating weather we’ve had this year!!  The temperatures have been plenty warm enough to play on the sand bars,   and the waves calm enough for those who want to fish, though the fish don’t seem to be co-operating.

I feel for our friends, who have to return to work tomorrow,  and know that the time to pull the boats is growing nearer,   but this was a Labor Day weekend to remember.

Point of Interest for boaters on Saginaw Bay

Posted by Greybeard on Sep 1st, 2009 in Fishing, Local | Comments Off

I posted a while back about the nastiness of putting ethanol in marine gasoline,  and of the many types of damage that it can cause.

As a good point of information,   the marine gas pump at the AuGres Yacht Club Store,  Does Not pump ethanol!!  Though I suppose I hadn’t previously noticed it,  it’s clearly marked “NO ETHANOL”. 

If you buy gas there,  please thank them for that favor.

Frost Warning in Effect

Posted by Greybeard on Aug 30th, 2009 in Local, News and weather | Comments Off

Yep,  AUGUST 30TH! and we’ve got  a stinking FROST warning posted!