Almost that time !

Rods and reels ready to go!

Well the weather here in Colorado has been unseasonably warm so the ice is gone or going off many of the mountain lakes. I spent the other night cleaning and lubricating equipment. I'll load new line on all the reels tonight and my fishing gear and tackle should be all ready! The 69 Sea ray is ready to roll,( other than registration ) but the 59 Glass magic is another story. The drive shaft from the power head to the lower unit was worn so bad the splines just kept slipping last time I had her out. Almost didn't make it back to the dock! It could have been worse. I was thinking the shift fork or gears in the lower unit were trashed. Pleasant surprise when I found them in great shape. It's getting harder to find parts for this old 1959 Johnson 75 horsepower outboard so I find myself having to repair or make a lot of parts. I took the old shaft over to Les Wagner at Wagner's welding / prop shop and had him weld where the spline was wasted on the shaft. As usual, excellent workmanship from Les. Man, that guy can lay a beautiful bead! I then dropped it of to Frank at Pro Machine who is re machining the welded end of the shaft and manufacturing a new coupler which was really toast! Now he promised me it would be done Monday the 26th. Only time will tell, but man I'm really ready! Greg sold his boat so we'll probably need mine more than ever. I've got some down riggers to install on the 59 but I want to make the mounts and every thing removable so if I,m not using them there's not a bunch of shit hanging all over the boat. I repainted the fenders on the trailer and did some touch up on the boat herself. They get scratched and nicked no mater how careful you try to be. Then there's people that don't think or don't give a shit about other peoples property. I love the assholes that will walk through the mud then climb all over your boat with their shoes full of dirt and shit. There goes that paint job! Things will have to change this year. With the price of fuel going no where but up, it's gonna be, " Cash or gas, nobody rides for free ."