Fishing the Ecofona
Posted: September 21st, 2009, 8:56 am
OK this may be a little long winded so bear with me. The day started at 5am getting up to take the wife to the airport. Flying out to Nevada on business. Had to go back to the house to feed the crtters as they did not want to be up for the early flight.
This was my first ever trip out of the Ecofina. I normally go out of the Aucilla but the tide was so low I could not get the boat off the trailer. This should have been a tip not to go to the Ecofina but I could not fish last weekend and I had just gotten my boat back from Porters and wanted to see how it ran.
I got to the boat ramp and unloaded. I ran into another boat that was launching at the same time. I asked if they knew the river and could I follow them. No problem he says and off we go. Did not run 1/4 mile and hit bottom. Thank god it was just mud. I asked my guide at this point how much water his boat drafted, 6 inches he says. I let them go and idled the rest of the way out. Finally get out to some water to let the boat run, at last!!! Runs up good but after 1/2 mile starts dropping RPM's up and down 800 or so each way. Determined to make this trip work I tried everything I could to make the boat run well enough to go out but to no avail. I fished around close for a couple of hours and caught shorts. Had enough at this time so we turn SW and run. Boat starts acting up again. Ran to 10 feet of water and shut down. Dropped anchor and opened a beer. Might as well drink at this point. Discourged I put out two rods fishing bottom for trout. For the next two hours I caught fish as fast as I could get the rods back in the water. Haul one in and then out it out jig the one that was down already and haul in another. All in all I can't tell you how many I caught but it was all I wanted. Has my limit of nice trout and threw in two sharks for good measure. Dropped the boat back off at Porters this mourning and Waivel is going to look at it. Kind of fun poking at them for a change.
This was my first ever trip out of the Ecofina. I normally go out of the Aucilla but the tide was so low I could not get the boat off the trailer. This should have been a tip not to go to the Ecofina but I could not fish last weekend and I had just gotten my boat back from Porters and wanted to see how it ran.
I got to the boat ramp and unloaded. I ran into another boat that was launching at the same time. I asked if they knew the river and could I follow them. No problem he says and off we go. Did not run 1/4 mile and hit bottom. Thank god it was just mud. I asked my guide at this point how much water his boat drafted, 6 inches he says. I let them go and idled the rest of the way out. Finally get out to some water to let the boat run, at last!!! Runs up good but after 1/2 mile starts dropping RPM's up and down 800 or so each way. Determined to make this trip work I tried everything I could to make the boat run well enough to go out but to no avail. I fished around close for a couple of hours and caught shorts. Had enough at this time so we turn SW and run. Boat starts acting up again. Ran to 10 feet of water and shut down. Dropped anchor and opened a beer. Might as well drink at this point. Discourged I put out two rods fishing bottom for trout. For the next two hours I caught fish as fast as I could get the rods back in the water. Haul one in and then out it out jig the one that was down already and haul in another. All in all I can't tell you how many I caught but it was all I wanted. Has my limit of nice trout and threw in two sharks for good measure. Dropped the boat back off at Porters this mourning and Waivel is going to look at it. Kind of fun poking at them for a change.
