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Why aren't you boating? (A place to brag or vent)

Saw a vid the other day…Tahoe now has over 700”, second highest year on record, parts of the sierras are at all time record levels.

Pretty good blizzard coming my way here in The Black Hills, supposed to get a max of 30” from 1800 hrs tonight through Wednesday at 1800 hrs. That storm could be coming your way @biffdotorg …. I hear that the two closest lakes to me still have 20” of ice on them.
Yup, same storm. The line runs from Sioux Falls to Duluth, and everything North and West of that line is gonna get shelled. We have been running lakes with a bit of slush on top from all the snow, but I am positive there is still at least 2.5' of ice still on it. I bottomed my auger at 36" a few weeks ago. So I'm sure we lost some ice.
 
Here is a short 70 seconds you will never get back in your life. It's a quick sampling of 40f and bluebird skies! I will take this any day over 95 and humid! As I always preach, we appreciate seasons more when they are taken away from us!

 
Just enjoying the great Spring weather!


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cause I had to catch up on some jobs for other people and take a break from pulling the stbd engine...

yeah yeah i know there is some porosity in the center on each side... but hey the new skeg had some crapo in the aluminum.... wasn't worth grinding out and putting another bead on it... i got other things to do and this was a freeby for a friend who needed it fixed... it will look better after another 10 years in the salt water...

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Well, The lake is still locked up with ice, but our bay is opening up and my landing was thawed. So I had to take my project boat out. I could not stare at it in my shop any longer.

I was lucky the wind didn't shift, as the ice may have locked me in on the other side of the bay. The ice was 3-4" thick honeycomb. I sat out there for about an hour and tested all my electronics and got my first sunburn on Friday! It was a good day in Minnesota!

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Well, The lake is still locked up with ice, but our bay is opening up and my landing was thawed. So I had to take my project boat out. I could not stare at it in my shop any longer.

I was lucky the wind didn't shift, as the ice may have locked me in on the other side of the bay. The ice was 3-4" thick honeycomb. I sat out there for about an hour and tested all my electronics and got my first sunburn on Friday! It was a good day in Minnesota!

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Great looking boat. I have been looking for something similar as a project boat. There are a couple of small lakes in the area that I wouldn't mind exploring and fishing, and would silly dropping the Yamaha in, even if I could get it off the trailer and the small ramp.
 
Great looking boat. I have been looking for something similar as a project boat. There are a couple of small lakes in the area that I wouldn't mind exploring and fishing, and would silly dropping the Yamaha in, even if I could get it off the trailer and the small ramp.

Thanks, I thought I had shared this project. Last September I came back from Vegas with enough poker winnings to buy a project boat. My wife knew I wanted a walleye boat, but boat prices being so crazy, she didn't think it would happen. And the first photo shows here obvious lack of entheusiasm. Needless to say, I had not shared any photos or status, as I wanted to be sure it floated and the motors both ran. I am happy to say it is all good.

This late 80's yar craft was in a storage building with no floor, carpet, fuel tank was pulled. It had been pressure tested, and included seats, carpet plumbing etc, I just needed to assemble it. Just.....

So, plumbed the fuel tank, new sender, gauge, floor, carpet, seat bases, bilge and livewell pumps, running lights courtesy lights. Minn Kota needed a refurbished pedal. Wiring from end to end, bus bars, power switch, breaker, motor well got bed liner, stereo system, door latches, water drains, transducer mount board. All of this and I had yet to crank the motor.

Needless to say, I was giggling when I actually got it in the water and got the motor running off the freshly plumbed tank and it pissed water like a boss. It will take some high speed cruises to work the seafoam through the system, but I think it will be a walleye machine. I installed my livescope pole last night and am ready for crappie central till the walleye season comes!

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Yup, it's that time of year. We got what Minnesotan's call a Skiff of snow. We are 29f and see our first of the white stuff. To the West, Northern ND got hit pretty good with an inch in Fargo to up over a foot in some areas to the NW.

We won't see above freezing temps for the next 4-5 days. And damn those leaves fell after I had them all cleaned up.

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5" of good clear ice does make it for difficult boating. But it was good to get out and be sure my Livescope was working. Walleyes this weekend on the main lake hopefully!

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There is some ice here but I suspect it will retreat with tge warm temps we will have the next few days.
 
There is some ice here but I suspect it will retreat with tge warm temps we will have the next few days.

We had ice in the creek on Black Friday, but I know it'll be a bit before it's too stiff to boat on. Now, it's too low to launch without a mud motor.
 
I was planning to go out yesterday to get Stabil run thru the fuel system but ended up watching the grandkids. @biffdotorg thanks for allowing Texas to import some Minnesota snow so we could have a tubing run. It was a nice addition to the neighborhood Christmas party. Although it did contradict the 'crickets chirping' 74 degree evening.20231208_185200.jpg
 
I was planning to go out yesterday to get Stabil run thru the fuel system but ended up watching the grandkids. @biffdotorg thanks for allowing Texas to import some Minnesota snow so we could have a tubing run. It was a nice addition to the neighborhood Christmas party. Although it did contradict the 'crickets chirping' 74 degree evening.View attachment 212431
I know all about that...I've been absent a lot from the forum lately (as in the last 11 months) as we've been the primary day care for our grandson. He does like boating, but going out with a baby is a lot of work! On the bright side dear daughter did get a job at Duke University Hospital as a CNA, so she's joined the world of productive humans. Still not self sufficient, but you take the wins when you can!

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7" of ice this weekend. Woke up to 9f this morning. That means we should have plenty of ice to put the big house out this coming weekend!

Good to be catching walleye again!

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Some old school pics from back in my day on Lake Erie. Best eating fish you will find. The advantage of growing up in a charter captain family. Anytime I make it back to Ohio and find all you can eat walleye, it’s a loss for the restaurant.
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