That Time of Year

New steps

Living up north we have to deal with 2 times of the year that keep us grounded!  The time from about October 15th to December 1st and from the middle of March to May 1st.   Well unfortunately we got hit on both end this year with ice fishing.  We didn't have solid ice until after Christmas (usually after Thanksgiving) and at this time the ice is coming off the lakes pretty fast.  This is because of the relatively warm winter, there wasn't much ice thickness and the weather has really warmed up early this year.  With what I see, it looks like most of the big lakes will be ice free by April 10th and looking at the latest date opener can be, it should make for a fabulous fishing opener.  That's ok because it should give me time to get everything ready as I am a pretty fussy when it comes to my boat.  I just picked it up from Frankie's on Wednesday as it had a couple of recalls related to the motor. My previous post of January 27th showed a new set of trailer steps that I got to make it easier to get in and out of the boat. Well, Mark from Ezee Steps looked at the pictures I sent of the original installation and decided that he should redesign the middle step which originally was a step that the Rangertrail already had come with.  He had been thinking about this for a while and after some discussion he made it and sent it to me.  What an improvement, it looks great and it definitely helps in the getting in and out of the boat.  I did run into a problem a week ago Saturday when I dropped my boat off at Frankie's, on my way to Birchwood, WI.  If you see to the left off the top step there is a rather tall grab pole attached, which really makes it easy to get in and out.  However before one pulls the boat out of the garage, one has to make sure that the garage door is high enough, unfortunately I did not do this when I left for Frankie's and the top of the grab pole hit the door.  Of course I didn't even notice ti until I heard the pole hit the floor when the force broke off the u bolts holding it to the trailer.........Uffda!!  Anyway I did order new stainless U bolts and got it fixed, had to bend the garage door back so it would shut, no worse for wear but still reminds me of all the stupid stuff I do!  I do love the steps however and it should make life easier, now I just have to find someone who can tighten my door lift assist springs so the door goes all the way up when I open it.  I am lucky I didn't cause anymore damage than I did.

Party fishing boat.

On Saturday I head to Long Beach, California to attend the annual APEC conference which usually occurs in March.  For the last 4 years there is a group of us that usually gets together to fish on the saturday or Sunday before the conference starts on Monday.  It all started in 2011 when we had a APEC in Fort Worth, Texas, I met Joe Stanfield, Jim Cox in Corpus Christi, Texas to fish reds in the saltwater marshes.  That was a blast and in 2014 we followed that up with our trip to Louisiana then last year in Charleston, South Carolina.  Although the Gulf and Atlantic coast fishing is better this time of year than in Southern California, that isn't the point.  It's to get out with my friends and do something different!  Looking at the various websites what seems to be hitting is mostly bottom fish, Rockfish, Red Snapper, and I see a few lingcod mixed it.   Because of our late start and location, we are down a few guys so instead of doing a 6 pack charter it's easier and cheaper to just do a 3/4 day party fishing boat.  At $60/guy we'll see how it goes but it is something I have never done before so that in itself will be fun!  This year it will be Joe, Jim, and I again and hopefully I will have some pictures and big fish tales to report.

Lake Minnetonka's ice officially went out today, the second earliest in since they kept records.  This should bode well for the rest of the lakes in Minnesota, Mille Lacs is starting to pull away from the edges although the cooler weather predicted for this weekend should slow things down however the ice fishing is about finished.  I have already put my stuff away for the year and as you see am working on the boat as I have about 6 weeks to get everything ready.  That sounds like a long time but  I can assure you it dissappears fast!  The Northwest Sportsshow begins in 2 weeks and I am really like going to that show.