BigBendFishing.Net

After fixing the tail lights on the trailer, I had to go and put the boat in the water Sunday afternoon around 2:30. It had started raining on the way down, so I pulled in at Wakulla station and dawned the foul weather gear head to toe. When I arrived down at the lighthouse pool, the MAN and his watercraft were at the dock checking folks as they were coming in. I launched in a dead low tide in a steady rain, and there were only a hand full of other hard-core fishermen still on the water. The rain only stopped for about five minutes the entire time I was fishing. Pulled 6 sheephead off the wreck , of those 3 keepers. Caught tons of small black seabass. Ran east past the lighthouse to check for trout. Picked off one short. The rain and the wind picked up again so I called it a day. Back on the trailer at 6:00pm.

Some time on the way back inside the refuge, I lost my PVC push pole. I apparently forgot to secure it properly after pulling the boat out of the water. Keep an eye out for it...It's white schedule 40 about 10 1/2 foot long and has a "T" on one end. The boat ramp was the last place I saw it.

Got a free wash down by the heavy rain on the way back to town. It may be a long time before I get to go fishing again, my honey-do list has grown too long to be ignored so it's back to the list again...

Nice report mj. But danged if you ain't gonna have to loose that honey-doo list. I thought you just got your house fixed up from 1 of the storms?

Good report MJ!! nice use of the smilie!!

The house is fixed, but in my wife's words, "THE BACK YARD LOOKS LIKE A DEMILITARIZED ZONE ".... my response...
I've got alot of work to do, and at least 50 tons of wood on the ground in the back yard.

Bummer on the push pole!

I mowed on Saturday to mulch down the leaves and sticks and then spread some rye seed on the hard slab of clay out back. But after Sunday's rain the yard's a mess and seed is no where to be seen.

Mother nature wins again.

Bummer on the rye seed.... Yesterday I went ahead and picked up the parts (from Lowes) and have already built a replacement push-pole so I am ready to hit the water as soon as the hiney-do list gets some chores knocked off....

Wednesday were headed to the house in Goergia where I'll get the other laundry list I mentioned in my reply to topic, "Whats yall's Thanksgiving plans?": http://www.bigbendfishing.net/phpbb/vie ... &&start=15

MJ,

Hows tha PVC push pole work? I have thought about that since I'm too cheap to buy a real one and don't have the trolling motor yet. It seems like it would get heavy after a while.

A PVC push-pole is one of the most useful pieces of equipment on my boat. I can use it to "push-off" or "reach out and "hook on" to the dock, vessel or any structure. In shallow waters I can use it to push the boat along "push-pole" The "T" on the end of the pole keeps it from being sucked too far down into muddy bottoms. I recommend using 2" schedule 40 PVC. It is strong yet flexible, and it floats.

(You will need 3 caps, 1 "T" and a few short pieces to fill the "T"- the PVC primer/cleaner and glue all available at Lowes or Home Depot for a total of $14.)

Here's my new pole....

Looks good, about how long would you say it needs to be for a 20' boat. If I get some time this weekend maybe I'll try to make me one.

I really coulda used one last time we went to the light house. I forgot to give the gas tank a good shake after pouring in the oil. The motor fired up got me off the trailer but died right in the middle of the canal. The wind almost pushed me right down the canal and out to sea . So as I drifted by my party waiting at the dock I threw out the anchor and draged the boat over to the side of the canal. The motor eventually got some gas instead of pure oil and we were off, but a push pole would have been handy at the time.

note to self dont forget to thoroughly mix gas and oil together, outboards don't like to run on gobs of oil.

Larger PVC also makes great chum dispensers. I use the larger corrugated pvc they use for drain fields and cement a cap in the bottom. Then use a screw cap for the top drilling a hole in the middle to thread the rope through. Then drill some extra holes and Wha La, cheap chum dispenser.

All you need is about 10'-12'

Any longer and it becomes a storage issue...

One more useful thing about this PVC push pole......
While I was up in spring creek 11/26 in deeper waters, I discovered that it could also be used as a paddle in deeper water. I was able to effectively maneuver the boat using it like a long oar or paddle. I found this utility from a PVC pole rather strange.