New Pontoon Boat Hits the Water

Late this afternoon I finally got the new pontoon boat onto the water at nearby Spring Lake. Thanks to Kay Lynne for going along and taking the photo of the momentous event.

The boat is made by the Creek company, popular manufacturer of pontoon boats, float tubes and a zillion fishing accessories. I got it online and on sale at Cabela’s for a ridiculously low price. So, with the money I saved, I decided to get an electric trolling motor and a marine battery (both also on sale). Does anyone pay full retail anymore? The question I’m avoiding is how much I had to spend to get all those great sale prices.

We can at least pronounce the maiden voyage a success as far as the nautical aspects are concerned. The fishing part of it was not as achieving, but I was only out for an hour or so. I marked quite a few fish at 10’ or so in the 12’ – 15’ water depth range, but none chose to taste my tempting power bait offerings. Not even my new Scotty pole holder bolted to the front rail could shake the skunk off.

Thankfully, I had saved my portable, battery-operated fish finder that I bought many years ago when I didn’t own a boat and was just renting them. A set of new “C” batteries and it revived perfectly. A fish finder may show you where the fish are, but unfortunately you've still gotta catch em!

I’m glad to get the “test run” out of the way, and it feels good that everything works as it should. Hopefully I’ll get some serious fishing in this next week with my cousin Joel who has a neat, new inflatable Sea Eagle boat and troller. I’m thinking we’ll knock em dead at a hot lake just south of here, which will remain our secret for now.

Fishing Lakes Abound and the Season Is Here (Weather Notwithstanding)

Earlier this evening Kay Lynne and I took a drive around the new area in which we live – the southeast burbs of Seattle. Or, at least that was ostensibly what it was.

In my head was a route that I knew would take us past a beautiful park (which she likes) but also would get us to three lakes that are in a cluster about 15 minutes away from our home. All had reported good trout fishing in the last week.

The first body of water we stopped at was Lake Devine, a 72-acre beauty out in the country just past city limits. It is a gorgeous setting with a country club and high-end homes along much of its shore. As we drove on, we saw several fishermen hauling in their catches from today's efforts on the water at Shady Lake, a tiny, 21-acre portage that holds cutthroat trout as well as rainbows. The season at this lake just opened yesterday. Several nice limits were noted with the largest fish about 16” best I could tell.

The last stop was at Spring Lake, just to the east of the other two. This is where I shot the photo above. It’s also a beautiful setting, and I’ve decided to try either Spring Lake or Shady Lake on Saturday morning when I plan to give my new pontoon boat and electric troller its inaugural fishing test.

Though it was still chilly and rainy today, Saturday is forecast to be sunny and a welcome 70-degrees. I never cease to be amazed at the sheer beauty of this State -- and most of it permeates the areas in which we live.