Group: Newbies
Posts: 9
Member No.: 20782
Joined: December 15, 2024
Bought my 1st trolling boat this summer after going out on a buddy’s boat and fighting a couple kings for the 1st time. I was hooked with the 1st drag screaming run. I Was a river and small lake bass fly fishing angler before going out with him. After stepping on his boat I haven’t been in a river or small lake at all. I turned into a full blown big lake trolling junkie. My wife’s looks and my bank account balance says it all!!!
Not even a week later I found this boat, trailer and outboard 2 hours away. Picked up the package the less then the trailer is worth! the previous owner was having issues with the motor not starting as it should and quitting on him. I also learned His father bought this wilker new from the London factory and between health issues and being told by a “ marine mechanic” that a cylinder had low compression he decided to sell it. He turned away buyers that said they only wanted the trailer.
After a long phone conversation and learning about the boat and some fishing stories being swapped, I made him a offer on the package and a promise that the boat would be in the water and fish on the deck before the season ended. I’m a farm equipment mechanic so I was not concerned about having to do motor work or a rebuild if needed.
Within 5 min of getting home I had the cover off the motor, new battery connected and the compression tester in each hole. Couldn’t believe what I saw… 130 psi in all 3 cylinders!!! So I put some fresh plugs in, filled the tank with fresh 93 octane and mixed in some oil just in case the oil injection was not working. (I don’t trust oil injection systems) And hooked the hose to the muffs, crossed my fingers and turned the key
After a few attempts of cranking the engine over and some sputter it came to life but died within 10 seconds I Started wiggling the harness were it comes through the cutout in the splash well. And then saw the culprit… from the harness rubbing every time the motor is turned on the fibreglass. Fixed the 2 bad wires that had been arching. Hit the ignition and she fired right up, no choke, and idled at 800 rpm with no coughing or vibrations It went into forward and reverse with no grinding and revved up no no hesitation. Awesome!!!
Took it to a lake within 5 min of home Motor ran great and not a drop of water in the bilge. So the same day it came home it was in water.
Can’t have a salmon boat without down riggers right? Bought a used set of electric Scotty’s and visited Watsons to get some spoons, couple rods, and the must haves to start fishing.
Called up a buddy and headed to Owen sound. This was about 2 weeks before the derby.
After some frustrating moments setting a down rigger rod for the 1st time especially when cranking the rod down Anyone watching us get set up likely had a few laughs and might have learned a few new words!
After 30 min of watching rod tips and marking fish with no hits I decided to troll add some turns instead of going straight. On the second turn the outside rod fires!
when I came to netting we put on another newbie show. But eventually got it in the net! A 12 lb king! Caught 1 more king that night also. Very successful 1st trip in the boat!!! Before the Owen sound derby I added a kicker and a fish hawk x4 to the boat I can officially say I might have a salmon fishing addiction.
During the derby I had a buddy on the boat every day and it was very productive. Especially opening Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with literally no wind and hot temps we made the trip to vails point
And it was well worth the fuel cost. Friday we landed 2 salmon and 2 lakers. Nothing board worthy but good for a couple lures at the tent. Saturday was non stop action. We landed another 2-3 salmon in the 12-15lbs range, but they went for multiple runs. These silver bullets had bright pink meat and was the best salmon I have ever had.
The laker bite was ridiculous this trip also. We had 2 laker doubles and landed at least 10 lake trout. Kept our limit rest went back. We did loose 3-4 fish. One of the ones we lost would easily have been a board fish if not the winner
My buddy was fighting it and brought it up twice and each time it hit the surface it dived down to bottom peeling 200 feet of line On the 3rd attempt he made the fatal mistake of lifting the rod tip when it was 10 feet from then boat. It rolled 3 Times and the hook flew towards us… The thought crossed my mind to jump in after it!
Sunday was a couple more kings and a rainbow. The rest of the week was not as productive when the weather and winds changed.
I apologize for the very long post, however I wanted to share my experience with getting my boat the goodluck that came with it. the fish gods definitely blessed my boat this year!
I sent the previous owner lots of pics of our trips and he was very happy seeing his families boat in the lake again and catching many fish.
And yes I’m currently experiencing withdrawals due to not being able to get out on the lake. Can’t wait till spring!
This post has been edited by OSscreaminchrome on Dec 16, 2024 - 12:42 pm
Group: Members
Posts: 3397
Member No.: 10648
Joined: January 17, 2016
Welcome to the most expensive Ontario fishing you can do....lol......A lot of us know and experienced it....You did very well with your setup and did great in the derby......Hooked.....hell yeah....Salmon are the bomb. The best fighting fis in Ontario. So easy to get hooked......enjoy......enjoy......enjoy.......tight lines bro., great report.
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My Trolling Addiction, 1st season trolling for kings
