I love going fishing Pre-holiday.....

[Push&Pull]

Figured I'd get a jump on the holiday mad house down here, so I took the boat out solo yesterday. Mid-week and pre-holiday was great. At just daybreak and no-one at the ramp. And totally isolated on the water. After trolling for acouple of hours without much luck, I found a pallet floating about 30 miles out in almost flat calm conditions and it was loaded with fish. So many, I had a hard time getting my hook past all the feeding frenzied smaller stuff and into the mouths of the dolphin.

I finally got it figured out and started hitting some really large schoolie dolphin using whole ballyhoo and casting it out past the bait stealers. What a rush. Nice bulls on light spinning tackle.

With the pole in one hand and the gaff in the other (quite a clown act, I might add), I brought them in still pretty green and they turned the deck into a bloody mess. Got my share of cuts and jabs just trying to remove the hooks. Solo fishing is tough. Still, I managed to limit on dolphin and while it took me quite awhile, I managed to do it without any other boats showing up to horn in. Gotta love Mid-week.

After adding a couple of nice sized Tripletail in the box and some bait stealers (jacks) (to grind later for chum) I finally bid farewell to the floating pallet and set back to trolling. Weather stayed great most of the day and I had a blast.

Got back after dark and was so tired, I just hit the sack. So now I get to clean the boat solo too.......Oh well, it was worth it.

Got a selfie stick and still playing around with taking pics using it.

 

[Push&Pull]

PS.....I think my next project is going to add my washdown pump and hose.

 

[NCangler]

The boat looks excellent Capt. Bill, especially with the bloody deck and Mahi on ice. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Push&Pull]

That's the last time I leave dried blood on the decks overnight.......Took me 5 hours to get her all cleaned up. The Roplene cleans up easy as pie......it's the starboard material that is a bear to get the blood and guts stains off.

No question about it now, I doing the washdown pump before the next trip.

 

[djnolan]

Nice work. I would have been happy to fly down for the day to join you. I think they call it HO'ing (Helping Out).

PM me for my email address and cell number.

 

[Shallowminded]

PS.....I think my next project is going to add my washdown pump and hose.

With all of the mods you have done, I am embarrassed for you that you haven't gotten to this one yet.

Beautiful day out there Capt.! I thought I would beat the rush too and it was beautiful inshore for about an hour until they turned the wind machine on. I am surprised they didn't throw up small craft warnings because when I got back around the island to the sound the waves were about all my little 170cc could handle. I didn't feel like I was boating so much as surfing! Looks like the winds will keep me on the dock all weekend.

Tonight you get to reward yourself with some of that tasty fish!!

 

[mr300s]

LOL I was thinking the same thing on the mods only I figured you would have two, one for a back up LOL. Awesome photos and story as always.

I have one on my boat and it is pretty a awesome tool to have and use when the time is right, mine uses the bait well pump which has plenty of pressure, I am sure that its factory installed ...

 

[djnolan]

I have a washdown pump on my 190, too, and it is very handy. On the 190 it is a separate pump from the livewell pump. However they are wired so you can only use one of them at a time since they use the same pickup.

Another thing is an el-cheapo plastic spray nozzle and hose fittings are better than metal due to corrosion.

 

[Push&Pull]

I am more than just embarrassed.......I have had the Shurflo 60psi Washdown pump for a few years now collecting dust in my projects box. Just haven't got around to installing it yet. Never could decide on type of hose and where to stow it.......

I got a hose on order now, and as usual, it's not a typical washdown hose. I'll throw some pics up when I get it installed.

 

[Push&Pull]

UPDATE:

Better late than never.......Finally got the washdown installed. (and solved the "how to stow the hose" issue too).

I picked up a very cool retractable hose reel that is designed for marine use. Comes with 16 feet of hose and all stainless steel components. - http://www.glendinningprods.com/products/hosemaster/176-model-s

I did have to make my own mounting brackets due to where and how I wanted it mounted. (very tight space). I used a Rule "livewell-washdown type pump way back when I installed the livewell, so I already had the second intake pickup port. Just tied into the livewell's thru hull port and routed the hose to the washdown pump and then to the reel. Wired it up with a simple push-pull switch on the bulkhead right near the hose and recessed a "consealed screws" deckplate to finish it off. The pump puts out 5gpm at 60psi, so should do nicely. Bye bye bloody decks......

Added some pics of the install.

 

[mr300s]

Very Cool Awesome job, I actually thought I saw a piece of dirt in your boat but then realized it must be a flaw in the photo

 

[glehav]

i like push&pulls life preserver ring he has in the same compartment as his washdown

 

[Push&Pull]

i like push&pulls life preserver ring he has in the same compartment as his washdown

beats hangin' it over the side....... (it snaps onto a five gal bucket)

 

[mr300s]

beats hangin' it over the side....... (it snaps onto a five gal bucket)

I bet that would be a big seller off the grid in Alaska

 

[Push&Pull]

Follow up on washdown : Took the boat to the ramp to check out the washdown install before screwing & sealing down the deck. It wouldn't pick up prime.......played with it for an hour.....checked all the hose connections, o-rings, fittings etc......nothing. Finally took the livewell motor module off the pump housing (very cool feature, by the way) and........nothing....nada....no water coming in. The seacock was fine, so I stuck a long screwdriver down thru the pump housing and seacock and the pickup was completely clogged by a "mud dauber's" (wasp) nest. Go figure. Cleaned it out and snapped the livewell motor back on and it worked perfectly.

Thought I was losing it there for awhile.......

 

[Harper]

Follow up on washdown : Took the boat to the ramp to check out the washdown install before screwing & sealing down the deck. It wouldn't pick up prime.......played with it for an hour.....checked all the hose connections, o-rings, fittings etc......nothing. Finally took the livewell motor module off the pump housing (very cool feature, by the way) and........nothing....nada....no water coming in. The seacock was fine, so I stuck a long screwdriver down thru the pump housing and seacock and the pickup was completely clogged by a "mud dauber's" (wasp) nest. Go figure. Cleaned it out and snapped the livewell motor back on and it worked perfectly.

Thought I was losing it there for awhile.......

Those dang mud daubers get into every little hole on my boat, the dashboard drains especially.

 

[glehav]

i put tape over my exhaust port and water port on my motor because of them would hate to have motor problem because of a bug.......

 

[Push&Pull]

i put tape over my exhaust port and water port on my motor because of them would hate to have motor problem because of a bug.......

Good tip......I think I will follow suit....

The thing is.....with my aging and forgetful mind.....I just gotta remember to remove the tape.....

 

[Push&Pull]

Those dang mud daubers get into every little hole on my boat, the dashboard drains especially.

So true......I keep a long zip tie on my dash just to constantly clean out the drains......

 

[Harper]

Good tip......I think I will follow suit....

The thing is.....with my aging and forgetful mind.....I just gotta remember to remove the tape.....

I had the same thought at my age....so I use small plugs with a piece of ribbon attached. I know you're also a pilot, and you know I got the idea from similar items on our planes, like the flag on the pitot tube cover. I'll take all the reminders I can get. It doesn't have to say, "Remove before flight." Just being obvious is enough.