On your marks. Get set. GO!!!
We are now fully equipped, ready, and eager to get started fishing for 2024. The trailer just got new tires. The Pilot just got new tires. My tackle boxes are all sorted and arranged by body of water. The weather is starting to cooperate. The batteries in the boat are all charged up. The only thing on my punchlist is to start the engine in the driveway. I usually like to do this before I head out for the first time for the season.
The winter was very mild. A quick survey of the boat showed that a few of my mice repellent packages were broken open and the contents spilled out. This shows there was some mouse activity over the winter, but the electronic systems are all working so I don’t think they got into the wiring.
Not much has changed on the boat for this season. Same electronics. Same engine. Same mooring equipment. I did get a nice pair of binoculars at the end of last season. They are Steiners and I have wanted a pair for 40 years. Looking forward to employing them this season. We usually use them for spotting eagles in the late afternoon or for finding their nests when we hear the eaglets crying for their suppah.
I did a LOT of research through YouTube videos and other materials to find out the best strategies for using all the new lures I bought over the winter. The key this year is to concentrated on the bottom more and to be more patient. In years past I focused more on finding fish than catching fish. This caused me to move around a lot before giving any potential habitat a good working over. I hope that the “run and gun” methods I have used in the past will be augmented by the more methodical approaches of using ned rigs, dropshots, and jigs. Jigs have always eluded me as an option probably because I didn’t have confidence in them and I didn’t stick with them long enough to develop any technique or experience.
If things go right, my first outing for the year will be on Saturday, April 27, 2024 up to the Gardner Sportsmen’s Club on the Cobbosseecontee Stream in Gardner. Wish me luck!
Live long and prosper. 