Took my oldest boy out with me yesterday afternoon for our maiden voyage in the new to us 16' Misty River boat. We decided to hit the welland river due to it being my first time launching the boat and wasnt about to get into the shenanigans at St Cath game and fish ramp. Pulled in, 4 jet skis coming out, a boat just launched and one pulled in right behind us. Great... looking for a quiet launch for a first time and its busy, either way we drove the 40 mins we were getting her in the water. Launch the boat without to much trouble or so I thought. I went through my pre-launch checklist had everything ready for a speedy launch and to get out of the way, prepared my boy (hes 12) for what he needs to do while i move the truck and trailer to pull the boat to other side of the dock out of the way etc.. backed down the ramp first shot all excited and ready to go! Forgot to put the plug in... DOH! Only realized that after i had moved the truck off the ramp and came running back down as the boat was taking on water. Quickly jumped in put the plug in and hit the bilge pump whew! crisis averted.. or so I thought. Trying to start the engine could not get it to turn over.. again panicking as these really patient guys were waiting i throw the trolling motor in and move out of the way. Were off but motor still not turning over, trying to keep my patience about me as im cursing under my breath trying to figure out whats wrong, my boy walks over and asks " what does this switch do?" apparently they had flipped the kill switch on the motor when they were playing in the boat prior to us getting ready to go. Sure enough flip the switch and off we go! Thank god! a little embarasing to say the least but we got her out and running great! The fishing on the other hand not so good. In all my pre check lists I forgot the Tackle box in the truck, the net, pliers, and basically anything we may have needed to fish. Destined to not be a complete bust we fished with what we had rigged on from last time out which was a small spinner bait for me and a chartuse tube on a jig. Managed 1 perch off the jig and that was all. We did have quite a blast just cruising around the river and figuring out how the fish finder worked, the trolling motor etc and just exploring. All in all a good day out for a first time. Props to the guys that were behind us waiting to launch as they were awesome and didnt seem bothered at all! I atleast worked out some of the kinks as to what to do for next time and am sure glad I didnt try a busier launch. Will throw some pictures up after, once i figure out how to get them from my phone to the laptop.
If any of you see us on the water don't hesitate to stop and chat! or any tips / tricks always welcome. I don't plan on hitting lake O until I can master the slower launches first! cheers!
