Freshwater Fishing 3/30/14

Today I had a few hours to kill while the wife and kids were at a birthday party. Instead of heading to the salt, I hit the lake a block from my house because it was a bit windy and rainy. This lake is not very big and not deep, it used to be an old cranberry bog. The depth is around 3-4' and once it warms up it's full of weeds. I also don't fish to much freshwater as this lake usually holds small pickerel, largemouth, sunnies, and crappies.

I trolled a Rapala F11 in silver to the corner of the lake I wanted to fish. Right away I hooked a small bass I didn't even bother to measure. He barely fought but it was probably due to the colder water.

After an uneventful half hour I moved closer to the corner and the line came tight. At first I thought I had a big pickerel and it was pulling some drag pretty good. I got it closer and saw the bigger body and realized it was a nice large mouth. I was able to flip her in the yak and grab her with my fish grips. She was pushing just over 19 1/2" and was my biggest bass yet. Also the biggest I have seen or heard out of this lake. Snapped some pics and released her back in the cold water. As she swam off she covered me in a cool shower of water but it felt good to get a bass this big. Especially from a small Jersey lake.

I managed two small pickerel on the way back to the truck.

Pretty good rainy day if you ask me!

Heroes on the Water at Paddlesports Show

Friday, March 28th, I had the pleasure of meeting up with fellow fisherman Bob "Scrapes" to setup up and man the HOWNJ booth at the Paddlesports 2014 show. Setting up was a breeze and even got some new monitors from Matt "Yakchum" to loop his 2013 recap video. Show was great and lot of kayaks, SUPs, outfitters, and everything in between. Spent a lot of time at the Hobie Booth and me and Chris "foot" even helped sell a kayak or two for them! We signed up lots of Heroes(vets) and volunteers and spoke to some new people and hopefully we can fish together this season. Thanks to Jersey Paddler for donation the booth space for HOWNJ.

DIY Evolve/Torqeedo Test

Finally got around to testing the homemade motor. Conditions were great, no wind and a shallow lake.




I did two tests. One with the battery in the front hatch and the other with the battery in the crate in the rear well behind me. With the battery upfront it pushed more water and had a lower speed. Behind me I went faster and rode almost like without it.

Here are the top speeds

Battery in front hatch: Low 1.75-2.25 MPH / High 3-3.25 MPH
Battery in crate : Low 2.25-2.5 MPH / High 3.5-4 MPH

Old But New Trailer

I had a contractor buddy who was doing work in Lavallette, NJ and a customer had a waverunner and trailer she wanted gone. Both had submerged in Hurricane Sandy and needed lots of work. The waverunner did not work and I didn't want it so I put an ad on craigslist for a free waverunner and an hour later it was gone.

The trailer has a lot of rust and most of the bolts and nuts were seized on. I had to use some brute force and a sawzall for most of them. A few cans of Instant Galvanize later the frame was looking good. Some new LED lights, tongue jack, tires, and coupler and it is as good as new. Right now I have my Outback on it but plan on making it a tandem to trailer a PA14 and Outback together and also have supports in the middle for when I trailer my Outback alone. I will update when I get down that road.

"Danqeedo" DIY/Homemade Evolve/Torqeedo - Step by Step

I have been toying around for a while of the idea of a homemade DIY Torqeedo Style motor for my Hobie Outback. I am a dealer for many brands of trolling motors and settled on a Watersnake ASP T24 Trolling Motor. It has  24# thrust motor which is plenty to push around a Outback after a long day of fishing or for trolling. I plan on using a Hobie plug that came with the kayak and mounting the motor through that. I will be posting pics and step by step instructions as I progress.

Parts List: 

Hobie OEM Plug

Watersnake ASP T24 Trolling Motor

Seadog 1" Rail Fitting 90-D

4 - SS Pan Head 1/4"x1" Self Tapping Screws

2 - SS Pan Head #10x1/2" Self Tapping Screws

Small Tube Marine Silicone (Boatlife)

3 - Ancor Heat Shrink Butt Connectors 14-16 Gauge (blue)

Tools: drill, drill bits, various screw drives, wire strippers, heat gun

Trolling motor straight out of the box

 Assembled motor

 I started by unscrewing the 4 screws holding the handle assembly together

 Removed terminals and made not of their proper location. Also cut the alligator clips off

Complete motor disassembled with transom bracket removed. Ready to be measured and cut.

1" hole cut on the top and bottom of the Hobie plug

Test fit 

Plug filled with waterproof foam for strength. The foam takes 12 hours to fully cure. I am leaving it 24 hours to be safe. 

Well the foam I used didn't cure inside the plug. When I went to drill the hole out it was just mush inside and got all over everything. I had to wipe down everything with acetone and clean it all up. So I did not go with foam.

I used a SeaDog 1" Deck Fitting for a boat railing I had on the shelf at the shop. It fits perfectly in the plug and the tube fits right in it. I measured and marked the location and used the set screws to hold the tube and keep it from sliding and twisting in the plug. It also gave the whole assembly a lot more supports because it hold the tube a few inches up into the plug. Cost is around $12 bucks or so. If you cannot find one message me and I can get you one.

Fitting installed on the tube and pushed into the hole in the plug. Held in place with four 1/4" x 1" SS Self Tapping screws. I also added a bead of marine silicone between the fitting and plug.

Test fit into the Mirage Drive Hole

I reused the clamp that came with the motor to support the top of the shaft. I also cut the tube down a total  of 9" from the top.

Cut wires to length and crimped on Ancor heat shrink connectors. They shrink and are adhesive lined. If you cannot find them let me know and I can get them for you.

Crimped connectors

Heat shrunk

Completed motor.

Motor is complete. Now for some testing for best location of the battery. Once I get that installed I will post the pics and steps. As soon as I get a test run I will get some stats and videos up of the motor in action.

Any questions feel free to post them in the comments here and I will answer them.

More to follow. Please check back and subscribe via email on the top right of this page.

Is It Spring Yet!?!?

Finally a day that feels like springtime. My buddy John, Scrapes, and myself launched at first light this morning. The temp was 46 degrees and no wind made for a beautiful morning. Water temps were 50-51 and ended up warming up to 55 by 9:30am even with the sun still hiding behind the clouds. I tossed bubblegum & white zooms, storm shads, trolled an umbrella rig and everything else I had in my box and only managed two schoolies. John landed two bass and lost a few and Scrapes lost a fish at the boat. All in all it was a great day to be out and better then being at work. Hope to hit it again after this storm passes through over the next few days.

Off to work on my DIY Torqeedo!

John's first fish of 2014!

Beautiful day on the creek