Attempted Fishing with Vicky, Greg, and Steve....6/28/2024

So....

While I was waiting at Mazurik's for my crew to arrive, I had already gotten the boat ready to go. I was looking forward to fishing with Vicky, Greg, and Steve, because they are all retired ODNR and WaterCraft officers, and Vicky was friends with my late ex-husband, Rick LaCourse.

Anyway...while I was waiting, I had stepped up on the trailer fender, to reach for something in the cubby hole in front of the steering wheel. When I stepped down, my foot caught the edge of the concrete and the grass, and twisted my ankle pretty bad...down I went...right as they were pulling in. They saw it all...lol

They got out of the truck and asked if I was okay. I said I would be in a few minutes. I have to tell you though, it hurt really bad, and I was cursing under my breath, hoping I didn't do any serious damage.  The pain subsided enough to get the boat launched, and we headed out.

Then, as we headed out into the rough morning water, the Hunmminbird at the dash lost power, and I had no GPS, or sonar.  I had an issue with it the last trip out, but it worked once we got to our spot the other day. I checked the connections when I got home, and everything was tight. So, I thought it would at least turn on when we got out to the area I was headed to, and work like it did the other day.  Well, it turned on for about two minutes, and then went off for good.

"We're going to have to fish on faith, I guess. We're out here, we might as well, see if we can catch something, since you wanted to learn how to set these Off Shore boards." They were game.

We caught 4 sheephead and three small walleye, before I said, "I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to call this trip over. My ankle is starting to throb, and I can't charge you a full price without working electronics to make this trip the best it can be". They were good with going back in, because it was rough, and they couldn't stand up in the boat.  Steve learned what he wanted to learn in the short time we spent out there, so had no problem going back in.

To make a long story short...after checking the fuse, which was good, I thought I was going to have to change the power cord, so I ran to BPS to get one. Matt Wieland came over this afternoon with a power checker thingy, and found that the original cord still had power to it, so it had to be the connector.  I had checked it yesterday, but while it appeared to be in the right spot, correctly...it wasn't. Matt readjusted it, and cured the problem, making it a tighter fit, and making this fiasco a cheap and easy fix. Thanks Matt!!

My ankle is on the mend, and feeling a little better now that it has had ice on it, and a couple of ibuprofin were swallowed, so I think after a good night's rest, it will be fine.

I don't have any trips scheduled for the weekend, and tomorrow looks like crap anyway, so no loss there.  My Monday and Tuesday trip was a couple coming from Iowa, but emailed me last night to let me know they can't make it, due to all the flooding happening out there right now, and that more rain is on the way. They are going to try again next June.

So, I won't be back out until the 3rd and 4th with a couple fellas from MN. :)

Stay tuned...

Capt Juls