Keeping Busy between New Years and Splash - What do you do?

[Fishtales]

Wondering what folks to do keep busy while their boat is wrapped away and the excitement of new years has passed.

I had some free time today. Got a little bored so spent today working on tackle....
- Re hooked 8 umbrella rigs (shads and squid) and a bunch of tube and worm set-ups. All set for spring.
- Went through all the tackle, replacing hooks added new additions to the tackle boxes, retired some items and generally put things in order. Tackle is ready to go.
- Sharpened all my knives and oiled up all the pliers and small moving tools. Some of the larger items were a bit sticky from the salt water and air.
- Inspected and cleaned the pfds.

Stuff I plan to do while I pine away waiting for spring....
- Rotate my spinning and boat rods/reels through an inspection and reconditioning. I usually re-line 1/3 of them each year and inspect/lube the reels. I've been using mostly green braid and mono on the spinners for the past few years with good success. For the trolling boat rods I mix them up (monel wire, leadcore, hi-vis and mono).
- Review the safety items, first aid kits and ditch bags. Will remove all cabin fabric, gentle wash and hang to dry. Need to update any spring cleaning and wax products so I'm ready to go.

As for boating items added:
- A couple of Danco knives and (4) pliers .
- A Seadeck anti fatigue mat.
- A Steiner 7X30 binoculars.
- Waiting on my new enclosure from A&J Canvas.
- All the Ring Free I'll need for next summer.

Always looking for some small things to do to pass some time.....

 

[Heyspike]

Boat show in NY in 2 weeks, big Internet search for my Seafarer. Reading up on 4 stroke problems. Learning about ox66's and watching some George Poveromo on you tube.

 

[Ky Grady]

Replace port side wiper motor
Send injectors off to be cleaned and reassemble the motor
Service motor, oil, plugs, tstats, impeller, gear grease, fuel filters and separator
Order new fuel tank and make road trip to pick up
Go to the motherland, Greenville NC, and tour Grady-White factory while on fuel tank road trip
Replumb water tank, had to cut 14 year old lines to remove to get fuel tank out
Charleston SC boat show in 3 weeks, excuse to go catfish and look at new boats

I'm sure I'll find some more odds and ends to do and that I forgot I wanted to do.

 

[Uncle Joe]

I build fishing rods

 

[Fishtales]

Those look sharp. Nice job. I assume for trolling or heavy jigging?

 

[Seafarer228G]

I enjoy watching Florida Sportsman Project Dreamboat.

 

[Willy-C]

I trade a fishing pole for a gun in between seasons. Sept 30 ends our freshwater salmon and lake trout, Oct 1st is opening day for rabbit season till Mar 31st, Salmon Laker season starts Apr 1st. Six months of spoon dragging.......Six months of bunny chasing..... ;-)

 

[Legend]

Not much this year, couple of cushions being made at a local shop, just bought fishing, tuna and lobster permits and a trip to the boat show in February.

 

[SirGrady226]

Setting up the boat with new retractable outriggers.

 

[Ky Grady]

Setting up the boat with new retractable outriggers.

View attachment 6255

Taco gunnel mounts?

 

[Uncle Joe]

Those look sharp. Nice job. I assume for trolling or heavy jigging?

Thanks......those are really stand-up tuna rods. We will troll a little with them and drift baits for tuna and shark.

 

[SirGrady226]

Taco gunnel mounts?

Yes, ditching the old fixed aluminum units that came with the boat. I can run multiple lines on these, then retract them and not have to deal with 15 footers when not in use.

 

[Ky Grady]

Mine came with the gunnel plates and the inserts, I just bought the 15' retractable poles for them. For my limited saltwater trips, these will work fine for me.

 

[SirGrady226]

Mine came with the gunnel plates and the inserts, I just bought the 15' retractable poles for them. For my limited saltwater trips, these will work fine for me.

View attachment 6256View attachment 6257View attachment 6258

Yep, got the Taco kit too.

 

[Fishtales]

I put the taco GS270s (hardtop) with the retractable poles. Taco has a nice set up: wedge plates to account for hardtop rolloff to keep the mounts verticle, backing plates, caddies to keep the rigging tied down when not in use/when you store the poles and decent instructions and tips for the install. Hope your install goes well. Only tips I have: Consider using phenolic isolation washers between the mounts and bolts if different materials, use SS hardware with nylock nuts and split washers, seal any exposed wood from holes you cut/drill well before installing and obviously caulk the mounts to eliminate water intrusion. You probably don't require, but on hard tops use phenolic/plastic tube spacers in the mounting hole locations to provide extra crush protection. Good luck with install - fun project.

 

[Rustygaff]

Brought my F300 lower unit into the basement to replace the water pump. Can't do much more up here in New England this time of year until the boat shows begin their run.

 

[drbatts]

My winter projects are as follows:
add sat radio/weather
add additional led spreader lights
add an additional transom rod holder
build fishing rod holder for in the cabin rod storage
build/mount large cutting board on rear fish box lid
This will being addition to the normal fishing rod/reel and gear cleaning and maintenance. I'm also sure some other issues will come up that will be fixed before she gets splashed int he spring too.