Initial Thoughts Upon the F.U.C.K.ing New Boat

I've been out about 3 times so far, twice to the Nock and once to Towhee. The catch rate hasnt been to phenomenal as of yet, but it's still early in the season, the water temps are cold, but warming slowly but surely, and the fish will be starting to become more active as they do. As for the F.U.C.K.ing boat itself, everything runs as it should, I think in the somewhat distant but near future, I will switch to a trolling motor with autopilot, as it woold give me more of my attention to fishing, than to maneouvering the boat to keep it in a straight line, especially in the wind. The console is a great option, but it's drawback is that there is less deckspace, and when I have all my stuff on board, it seems to get a little tight on space, with the pfd's, the net, the boat hook, the anchor, spare clothes, lunch kit with my water and snacks (prevents dehydration and keeps me in my obvious tip top physical state), whatever tackle boxes I have on deck etc etc. And having 5 or 6 rods close at hand doesnt make the space situation any easier to deal with. Why 5 or 6 rods you ask? You can only use them one at a time you say? Well, each rod has its own particular purpose. A crankbait rod, a spinnerbait/topwater rod, a senko/worm rod, a dropshot rod, a jig rod, an ultralight rod for crappie and perch, and when I'm on the Nock, and a striper rod, on the chance that I see them feeding actively. All are rigged with my choice of lures for the day. So when I need it, I can just pick i tup, instead of re rigging or re tying. I'm sure over time, I'll figure out a good system for everything, but until then, it's just trial and error until they find their spots. I also have to really make an effort to remember my pee cup, it would make that part of on the water time much easier, much easierthan leaning overboard, trying to keep your balance so as to avoid taking a premature soaking in both human AND fish wee wee.

No Such Thing As A Bad Day's Fishing

A spur of the moment decision on Monday morning (sunshine sickness) resulted in my calling off work to go fishing at the Nock. As my friend and co worker El Barto so insightfully brought up later, it was bad for my karma to do so.
I got the boat to the ramp area, and was doing my usual (if you can can the second time ever 'usual') thing to prepare it for the water, ie: putting the seats in, mounting the fishfinders, putting my rods in etc. While I was doing this, two guys came over who were fishing off the docks when I first arrived and we started talking, somewhat distracting me from my task. They left, and I drove the down to the ramp, and backed it into the water to launch it. I got out of the truck and started towards the boat, and I heard a little burble, bubble, burble coming from the back of the boat. Needless to say, I had forgotten to put in the drain plug. I pulled out the boat, and emptied the smll amount of water that had gotten in, and made a mental note to put the drain plugs somewhere more noticeable next time.
Anyways, on the water it didnt get much better, hence the bad karma. The only piscine contact I had all day was right at the start. I cast my trusty crappie crankbait into a brushpile, and as I was wearing my polarized oakleys, I could see a decent fish go for the bait. well, I was eager beaver and set the hook too early, and ended up hooking a nice twigfish. Then the wind picked up. I'm still not too proficient at boat control using the trolling motor, and so half my attention was on that, and half on my casting. My first mishap I cast the crappie crankbait into some brush in about 1 foot of water. So, of course having forgotten my boat hook at home (more bad karma) having used it to reach for the bungee cords under my boat to tie down the sexy new boat cover, I had to use my net to pole over to the sticker bush and extract the lure from the middle of it. A few prickles later and some swearing, I was back to fishing. I move to another area, I cast, my lure again goes into some trees. I pull on it to get it back/out. I comes back at 80 mph, misses my head by about 4 feet, and the ensuing trail of sufix braided fishing line proceeds to get wound around me, another rod I had sitting on the deck, the console, and the reel on the rod I was using. I take a minute to look up from the untangling, and the wind had pushed the boat so that the trolling motor was pulling me straight to shore, and the shore was fast approaching. I drop the rod and line, and hit the foot control of the motor to turn, so the boat started doing circles in the middle of this cove. Also, the lure was still in the water, and I had to practically dive to pull it out before it and the line got wound around the trolling motor. Needless to say, I was frustrated and pissed, and the wind wasnt helping matters. A couple of more episodes like that followed, and after 6 hours of fruitless fishing, I gave it up, and headed in. As bad as it all sounds, I still wouldn't trade a day like that on the water for a good day at work anyday. (no offence to Team Kennedy and co-workers.)
(Above image of a Ictalurus punctatus captured in 2005 at Lake Galena by the Supreme Overlord)

Feeling Up My New Girl at the Nock

The virginal voyage of the new F.U.C.K.ing boat was a complete success. I had no difficulty putting her in the water, getting her started, or running her where I needed to go. I began the day at the Nock by just tooling around, getting the feel of her, and seeing that everything worked right. I felt like a 15 year old kid feeling up his first girlfriend, as I was a little nervous, and a little awkward in my boat handling. It was especially apparent when I tried out the trolling motor for the first time. I was all over the place, if anyone was watching, they surely had to assume I was drunk. After figuring out, like feeling up a chick for the first time, that subtlety was the key, my boat handling was much better. I spent alot of time just marking different spots for future reference that I thought would come in handy once the bite starts to heat up with the rise in water temperature. When I decided to fish in earnest, I moved away from deep water and into shallower bays and flats, where I proceeded to break in my boat by catching a really beautiful esox niger. I was fishing my crappie lookalike crankbait through the weed beds as they were a few degrees warmer than the surrounding water, and voila, the fish practically caught itself. it was a pretty short fight, but very welcome. When I lifted it out of the water for the first time, the sunshine hit it right, and I have to say, it was probably the most beautiful fish I've ever caught. The greens in the link pattern were almost luminescent they were so bright, and the pattern itself was very defined. I took a few pictures of it, when I get the film developed, I hope they do the vibrant colors justice. I weighed it, 3.5 lbs on my digital scale, and then let it go, a perfect example of CPR (catch, photo, release) in action. After that, my day was made, and I played around a bit more and experimented, and caught another esox niger, this time a little guy, and a decent micropterus salmoides, at 2.2 lbs.
I got the F.U.C.K.ing boat onto the trailer with no problems, and took her home, where I backed her into my "hard to access driveway on main thoroughfare" with no problems.
All in all, a great day, though I didn't accomplish one thing I had planned to, which was take some sexy centerfold pics of my new toy to show whomever visits this blog. That will have to wait for next time. And the naming of the shrew is still up in the air.
(Above image of a captured and released emerald bejeweled esox niger.)

F.U.C.K. or "Fishing Unit of Considerable Karma"

Admiral's log; Stardate 0309.730
In two days, Saturday morning to be exact, I will finally put the
"Fishing Unit of Considerable Karma" (or F.U.C.K. for short) in the water, and she still has no name. I will have to break a bottle of MOLSON Canadian brew upon her bow as per tradition and good luck. Tommorrow morning will be spent at Cabela's getting a few very neccessary items, and the afternoon will be spent toying with and messing around on the F.U.C.K.ing boat, doing last minute prep work: ie mounting the fire extinguisher etc. I dont think one can be too prepared in terms of safety, especially when the lack of safety will entail the unlucky person to becoming fish food, instead of the fish becoming the food.
Whoever coined the term "B.O.A.T.=break out another thousand" was a visionary and utterly truthful individual. The F.U.C.K.ing boat cost me bookoo bones, and just getting all the neccessary extraneous parephenalia and assorted peripheral items is adding up to be another K. Im having to become a free agent at work and leave Team Kennedy (ChristPunchers forever) and turn to the specialized crew to make the extra bones to pay for this increasingly expensive habit. As my wife so truly put it, this summer her marital status will in essence be "married but single" (still married enough to "christen" the F.U.C.K.ing boat though hehe.)
I just hope that this spring, summer and fall will be a good one weather wise, I'll have to offer up a few scandanavian vodkas up to Thor and whomever else is in charge of the weather. God knows that if I offered a polish vodka up, the polsi gods would make a real mess of it.
As for the naming of the boat, I was either going to name it after the wife, ie: Miss Kim, or after a goddess of the sea. It's a sexy boat, as my wife is, but the name "Miss Kim" lacks the neccessary attitude that both she and the F.U.C.K.ing boat possess. As for the goddesses of the sea idea, my ideas are:
a)
Eos (Greek) - Goddess of the Dawn, Mother of the West Wind
b)Tiamat (Mesopotamian) - In Babylonian myths, Tiamat is a huge, bloated female dragon that personifies the saltwater ocean, the water of Chaos. She is also the primordial mother of all that exists, including the gods themselves
c)One of the Valkyries (Norse) - The Valkyries ("Choosers of the Slain") are beautiful young women, mounted upon winged horses and armed with helmets and spears. Some of the Valyries are Brynhildr, Göll, Göndul, Gudr, Gunn, Herfjoturr, Hildr, Hladgunnr, Hlokk, Hrist, Sigrdrifa, Sigrún, and Svafa.
d)Aegle (Greek) - (renowned as the most beautiful of the Naiads) The Naiads were nymphs of bodies of fresh water. The Naiads presided over rivers, streams, brooks, springs, fountains, lakes, ponds, wells, and marshes. The Naiad was intimately connected to her body of water and her very existence seems to have depended on it. If a stream dried up, its Naiad expired. The waters over which Naiads presided were thought to be endowed with inspirational, medicinal, or prophetic powers. Thus the Naiads were frequently worshipped by the ancient Greeks in association with divinities of fertility and growth.
Im kind of leaning towards Aegle, or Eos.
(Above image of the Overlord at the Nock with another fine specimen of Micropterus salmoides)

Stratagems and Fanciful Thinking

The future is wide open. Last year was the first year I was able to fish on the water courtesy of a few friends in Pennsylvania, and a few things came to light almost immediately. Firstly, to be successful fishing the lakes in the area, especially the Nock, you must be flexible, and be able to discern patterns of fish movement, and their relation to water temperature and weather conditions. Secondly, I got a little frustrated by not being the 'captain of the ship' so to speak. One friend in general was stuck in the 'pound the shoreline' mode, even in the face of obvious signs that different tactics were neccessary, obvious signs like no bites, no hits, no fish etc. This first year as the Admiral and Supreme Avenging Overlord of the "Bass and Other Desirable Fish Species Expeditionary Catch and Release Force", my first priority will be to get the lay of the land, so to speak, to do alot of guerilla-style fishing, hit and run tactics with the aim of finding prime habitat and locations of the enemy, unhindered by restrictions of superior officers, as it were.

The main target species are the Northern Black Bass, other wise known as the Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides), and the Smallmouth Bass (Micropterus dolomieui), with secondary but no less welcome species like the Tiger (Esox lucius x Esox masquinongy)
and Pure Muskellunge (Esox masquinongy) , the Chain Pickerel (Esox niger) , the Walleye (Stizostedion vitreum), the Striped Bass (Morone saxatilis), the Striped Bass Hybrid (Morone saxatilis x Morone chrysops), and the Channel Catfish (Ictalurus punctatus).

(Above image of The Admiral himself at the Nock, with a 4.5 lb Largemouth Bass)

Dryland Training

And so the journey begins, or should I say continues, having previously existed outside the digital medium, but begins is an accurate enough term to describe the more public documentation that will follow on this blog. As of this moment, I have a brand spanking new 16 ft War Eagle 648 LDV sitting in the none too adequate shelter of my driveway, just begging to be taken out and fished. I plan to, beginning this very upcoming weekend. I spent a ton of time and effort getting this boat the way I want it, rigged for maximum hardcore fishability, maximum trickout factor, and maximum enjoyability for me, which, in the end, is what it boils down to. Pictures will be posted when I finally get some taken of the boat, (hopefully a new digital camera is in the works in the somewhat near future). I will show some pictures of past piscine conquests in the next few days.

Anyways, to make this initial blog entry somewhat less longwinded than it very easily end up, I just spent bookoo bucks registering my boat and trailer this past weekend, and still have to make a hopefully not too expensive trip up to Cabela's for some additional but very neccessary items for the boat, to make it fully usable when I take it out. My dryland training this week before I actually hit the h2O this weekend (rain or shine) consists of respooling a couple of reels, assembling everything I need for the boat, making a checklist for at the launch ramp, and most importantly, finding a suitable pee cup, you know one of the highest rates of fishermen drowning is falling overboard when leaning over the gunwale to take a piss. Besides, I dont really want to spray any friendly fire on my boat due to some unforseen wind shift hehe.

(Above image of the Supreme Avenging Overlord himself conducting night operations at the Nock, acquired target: 4.3lb Largemouth Bass.)