Posted By:
MUTTLEY
Guest
Cobscook Bay 01-30-2006 15:26
Mostly Sunny, No Precipitation – 30-34 Degrees – Open Water
Went out Saturday 28Jan2006, called the station at 0400 and found out the temp was already 32 deg and only 6 kts gusts, grabbed my CBR and headed out…what an end for the year. Shot 3 old squaws, saw many more, Bucky(CBR pup)finished his first year, wished I could have shot a few more for him š . Finished the day winterizing the boat, couldn’t have asked for a better day…time for fishing the hardwater, had between 10 and 12 inches of ice on “The Lake” sunday, not a great start, few pearch, but its still early.
Posted By:
Andrew-White
Field Editor
WINTERIZING YOUR BOAT 01-27-2006 11:50
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Well the temps have been low which is good for the ice and the wheather mild for the most part. As I said in my last post I am all done for the season. I just wanted to hit on winterizing your boat and trailer for the long winter ahead. People may not put much thought into this simple procedure but it can save you hundreds of $ in the long run. If you store your boat inside your garage (unheated) or outside a fuel stabilizer is a must. I use Store And Start or the NAPA brand. Top your tank off and put the reccomended amount in. Then run your engine with a pair of muffs for about 10 min or so making sure to get it up to temp. After that you want to spray a fogging oil into each carb until the engine stalls out. Make sure you get it into each carb before it stalls out. Now pull the kill switch off and pull each spark plug out and spary about 5 seconds worth of fogging oil into each cylinder. Now crank the engine over several times. Make sure to spray the threads of each plug and then install the plugs. Now for the lower unit, drain out all the oil making note of any water or metal flecks in the oil. Fill the lower unit back up from the bottom plug until it comes out the top and then install the top plug and then the bottem plug this prevents air pockets from forming which can toast you lower uint. If you have a bit of water coming out, the seal on the shaft could be worn out or the washer on the fill and drain plugs could be worn or missing. As for metal flecks that means you have even bigger gearing problems. Check your shifting linkage and make some adjustments if needed. Next you want to grease all zerc fittings and spray your power head lightly with WD-40 or a corosion blocker. If you use your engine in the salt make sure it is flush and washed down super good. As for your trailer, give each bearing a good bit of grease and if you realy want to, pull the tire and hub off and inspect the bearings. I like to do this in the Spring when it’s warmer. Lastly I will lean a piece of plywood up against each tire to keep off the snow and ice. You can also put jack stands under the trailer to help prevent flat spots on the tires. For larger boats, DO NOT keep your engine trimmed up if it is stored out side. Why? Well if water is trapped in the exhaust housing it can freeze and crack your lower unint! For smaller engines this applies to. My 15 hp comes off and goes in my shed on a stand. One thing I forgot to mention is to pull your prop off and gease the splines. Now all of this work does not take that long and a bit of maintanence goes a long way! When fishing season comes you can bet that everything will work poperly. Just my 2 cents. One last thing. For engines with remote steering making sure your wheel is amdships. If it is turned one way or another your stering ram will most likely be seized up come Spring. Make sure you lube all your steering components!!. Also if you have a secondary filter (outside your tank, on bigger boats) drain out the sediment bowl and possibly change your filter. One les thing to do in the Spring.
Andrew White
VFE Maine
[Edited By Andrew-White on 2006-01-27 11:51]
[Edited By Andrew-White on 2006-01-28 19:42]
Posted By:
Andrew-White
Field Editor
01-20-2006 15:08
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Well I am officialy done hunting for the 2005-2006 season. The wheather was nice every time I was working and crappy when I was off so I took advantage of the warmer wheather yesterday and winterized my engine and buttoned up the boat. Over all it was a better season than last year. I judge this by the # of times I went and secondly how well I did. Hunted ducks 6 days out of the season, shooting my limit of sea ducks on the second trip and baging my first drake wood duck which will be on the wall by the Fall. Now I just hope the ice stays so I can fish the lake by my house more than I did last year. So far I have caught more than last season. I will post an ice fishing report from time to time. I have found one link www.iceshanty.com. This covers many states and will keep one busy on the computer for a while.
Later
Andrew White
VFE Maine
Posted By:
seaduc
Magazine Subscriber
casco bay 01-04-2006 16:14
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 30-34 Degrees – Open Water
went out monday seaducking with flylineguide out of durham maine we hunted out of his 21 bankes goliath what a day we all had our limits of eiders scooters oldsqaw saw tons of birds can wait to go back
Posted By:
Andrew-White
Field Editor
01-02-2006 10:28
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Well now that I am back at work in front of a working computer I wiil just say that I have not been hunting since the black powder season. If my work shcedule coperates with the wheather or vise versa than I will go sea duckin. I just remembered that my boat needs to be registered ($30) and also my truck ($95) and if I want to ride my snow macnine around that will cost $35. Where does it end. December is an expensive month. If anyone likes to read and wants a good book I have just finished reading “Ones Mans Wilderness” and “Panther” (hunting dog short stories). Just started reading “The Legnadary Fox” by Oscar Cronk. I’m not a trapper but those of you who are I’d reccomend it! So ya, a lot of reading and no hunting. I ended up going down to mother in law’s a few days early. Her father had a big heart attack the a week before Christmas and managed to survive well enough to not tell anyone until the next afternoon. Ended up having triple bypass, He is 80 years old and takes no pills! The day after the surgery I went to see him, told him he looked good (looked white as a gohst and his hands were really swollen and was shaking from all the pain killers) So he told me I was full of sh!t. All in all it turned out to be a good holiday season all around. All for now.
Andrew White
VFE Maine
Posted By:
DuckDoc
Guest
stonington,me 12-07-2005 09:59
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hunted the 1,2,3 ofDec. Had a great time. Hunted with Sugarwing Outfitters. Great guides.4 man limits of eiders everyday.Also 4 banded birds taken-3hens/1drake.Definetly a trip i would do again.
Posted By:
Andrew-White
Field Editor
NONE 12-05-2005 20:03
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No hunting this weekend. The marine forcast was elcrapo..20-30 kts gusts up to 45 kts seas 5′-7′. Was in the mood for some sea ducking. Maybe Wednesday, will have to check wheather and tides. Ended up putting deck furniture and all my other junk up for the winter. Built an a frame for the boat to keep snow and ice out so it would be ready for action. Hope to make it up to Merrymeeting one last time. These cold temps should start to ice it up if it continues. Took my muzzle loader out for a walk the other day and saw lots of sign in an area I have never hunted before, always a good sign. No sightings though. I may go out one more time to justify the $15 license. Yes a license in another little baggy. No more stamp and $5 more. Why do they keep changing things? Also got 2 more tags which I don’t understand? The only situation you may fill more than one tag is in an expanded archery WMD and when you have drawn an extra any deer tag. Oh well. Have enough venison in the freezer until next year.
Later
Posted By:
Andrew-White
Field Editor
Port Clyde 11-26-2005 13:20
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 35-40 Degrees
Took a trip up to Port Clyde this AM. Saw 3 hunters pulling there Lund out of the water by the general store. I talked to them and found out it was a little slow along the ledges with a combo of bad shooting by all. They managed a few drake eiders. On our way back to Boothbay I spotted a duck boat up against a rock ledge. There were lots of larger rafts of eiders and smaller groups of scoter (Surfies) and some oldsquw. The mergansers have also shown up. I forgot to mention that about 3 weeks ago I have been spotting some buffle heads in the little coves and smaller ponds in the boothbay area. The wheather was perfect for sea ducking today. Seas were calm with a 3-4′ swell spaced apart and about a 5 knot wind. The temp was also pleasant thanks to the sun. All for now. Need a fix of sea ducking. Hopefully Tuesday depending on the wheather.
Posted By:
Andrew-White
Field Editor
Falmouth/Cumberland area 11-25-2005 06:31
Cloudy, Accumulating Snow – 25-30 Degrees – Ice
Well I managed to get out Thursday morning and hunt till 0745. No sign and now deer what so ever. The snow picked up mid morning and then changed to rain or sleet depending on where you were. It moved through rather quickly. While stuffing my face with food it looked very nice out, sunny, light wind and a bit warmer. I’d imagine the deer were probably out and about. Won’t be able to get out his weekend but will for the black powder season. No ducks.
Posted By:
Andrew-White
Field Editor
11-22-2005 17:14
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On another note I stoped into Cronk’s in Wiscasset on my way home last Friday. I wanted to try some of this pee in a bottle. Tried it once years ago but figured I’d give it another try. Well all I can say is leave your wallet at home. Just walk in and start talking to Oscar Cronk for about 10 min. By the time you leave you will smell like every kind of critter pee they sell!!!!!!!!!!!
