Maiden Voyage

Anyone that knows me is aware of my fondness for inside jokes. So when we finally were able to buy a boat earlier this year, of course, we'd name it something that wouldn't be funny to anyone but our little family. Caden ultimately came up with the name, but I think we're all in agreement that it's the greatest. Our boat is "The Sea-Liquor". Really excited about the possibilities, and hoping that it will be easier to get my boys to go with me. 

Didn't get too early of a start, mostly because Deli stayed up late trying to get a paper done so she could go. Hitched up and headed out, stopping at the local gas station to fill up. Once the truck and boat were gassed up, the truck didn't want to stay started. It seems like if a vehicle is going to have issues, it will always show up when you're about to take a drive for fun. We headed back home to trade out vehicles and were soon on our way, only a little later than we were hoping for. 

I haven't been fishing in a boat for quite a while, so there was a little trepidation about launching and getting it started. Not big things, but a lot of little things that I could easily screw up. Everything went better than expected and after we picked Deli up (someone has to drive the truck and trailer off the ramp) we were out on the open water! 

It felt good to finally be able to try the boat and having it perform flawlessly put a lot of my fears to rest. I decided to try out the trolling motor and get fishing while Deli and the kids were more concerned about getting lunch. It didn't take long before we needed to get the top up and re-apply the sunscreen on a warm and sunny afternoon. 

We had several hits before I finally connected with a nice 18" rainbow to get the skunk off. We kept having more hits than hook-ups, but I managed another decent bow before the wind kicked up. We were mixing it up switching between trolling and drifting while casting our lures. Atley tried a fly and bubble with no luck, but when Caden borrowed his rod he quickly tied into a couple of feisty little bows. 

Not to be outdone, Atley finished out our day with a little bow of his own caught on a lure. A little joyride around the lake to teach everyone how to drive the boat and we called it a day. They dropped me off to go get the truck and trailer and Atley drove the boat onto the trailer like a pro. We're making a list of things we'd like to have with us next time as well as some upgrades to dream about, but overall I think the maiden voyage of the Sea-Liquor was a raging success.

Hope you're as lucky,

Kidder