Tuesdays Tips - Getting the Boat and Trailer Ready This Spring

Even though there's likely to be a bunch more winter before it's done, before you know it spring will arrive. Sometime in the next couple of months you'll want to get the boat ready for next summer's float trips. Here is list of what to go through when getting your boat ready as well as some ideas for how to keep it in better shape for down the road. We are assuming that the boat is stored outside. If yours is not then some of these are not applicable.

Checklist for getting the rig ready:

1) Remove your cover. As soon as weather permits you should completely wash the winter grime off of your cover and let it sun dry. Best is to hang the cover on your fence when washing and drying.

2) check your trailer hitch. Make sure that hitch is clean and lock assembly moves freely from the lock to unlock position. Grease the hitch (best way is to sit until you tow it first time. put grease on trailer ball and then hook up trailer.)

3) Check tire pressures, including spare. If a trailer has sat over winter the tire pressure is likely low.

4) Check condition of tires and tread. Now is the time to find out you need new tires and get them, not on the road to Carseland. Tread should be 9/32 depth on tread with no cupping (uneven wear patterns). **if you notice cracks on the side of your tires this is called weather checking. It is caused by too low of tire pressure and extreme temperature variation like you see in the winter. On a trailer tire, this likely won't lead to failure but keep an eye on them that it doesn't get a lot worse. Next year make sure the tire pressure is up before you store it.

**if you are getting strange, uneven, or premature wear on your trailer tires the likely culprit is the axle and/or alignment. Standen's in Calgary can fix you up .

5) Make sure hubs are greased. This should be done after every three or four uses through the season. If you don't have Bearing Buddies, get them. Hand greasing bearings really sucks. At this time, make sure there isn't any grease on the back side (axle side) of the hub in quantity. If there is it means you have a seal failure and it should be replaced.

6) Hook up to vehicle and check all lights. **This is the time to get them all working. Now is the time to get that grease in the trailer hitch as well. And while you're at it, check to make sure you're trailer hitch is adjusted properly. With the trailer hitched up, lift up on the trailer, if there is any movement of the trailer hitch on the ball (you'll feel it and hear the clunk) then you need to adjust the hitch.

7) Since you're hooked up, make sure that trailer rollers are in good shape. Also, check your trailer bunks. Over time the carpet material wears out on the bunks. Now is the time to take care of that. Running for a season with a bad bunk or roller can severely damage the bottom of your boat

8) Check your anchor rope. They do wear out over time. Make sure that your anchor release works properly and the connection assembly (clevis) on your anchor works ok. Nothing worse than getting to a boat launch first time of the year and you can't get your anchor installed.

9) Check storage and seat storage. Now is the perfect time to get organized. And also a great time to find that junk you left under a seat last October and get rid of it.

10) Check seat operation and seat pads. Make sure they swivel like they're supposed to. Check seat pads for cracks or wear. A little trick to keep your seat pads lasting longer is to clean them and then spray with 303 protectant (available at Canadian Tire). Do this in the spring and your seats will stay way nicer. If you do have a crack in a seat pad the best way to address it is to put Aquaseal on the crack or tear. This will delay having to replace for a season or two.

And if you used the 303 to start they likely wouldn't have cracked.

11) Check any trim (black edge trim on Clackacraft gunnels, rubber trim on boxes and gunnels on Hyde, etc.) Some of these items become loose or worn over time. Half an hour with some contact cement will keep your boat in a lot better condition when it come to edge trim, etc.

12) Once all of this is done it's time to wash the boat completely. The place to do this is at a car wash. The high pressure wands are the very best way to clean a boat. Kick the boat off the trailer just enough so that water will drain (rear drain holes). Completely spray clean inside of boat and then do outside. If you have built up dirt or staining, use a product called Spray Nine. Just spray it on the area, scrub with a brush, and then high pressure wash. Makes it look like new.

For the outside of boats that have the "scum line stain", you can use another product, called Black Streak Remover. It is sold at RV dealerships and is used on fibreglass sided RVs. Works great on boats.

**To keep your boat clean and not get staining and those scum stains on the outside is really easy. Power wash your boat inside and out after every use. That night, not the next day. Also, if you use car wax on the outside of the boat when you do the spring cleaning (after you wash it) the scum washes off easier.

NOW GO FISHING!

Boat Accessories

Getting your boat ready for spring? Need some new, or extra drain plugs? What about that boat strap? We have them here.

Saturday Seminar - April 2

This week's seminar:

Everything Driftboats

Kelly Robertson shows us tips on setting up a driftboat,taking care of it, how to row it, 

and river/boat launch courtesy.

All seminars start at 10:00 am and will end between 11:00 and noon. There is no charge and no pre-registration required. Simply drop by the shop and enjoy the seminar.

Getting Along At The Boat Launch and on the River!

Last summer I saw the most grumbling and general conflict I have ever seen in and around the boat launches on the Bow. In particular, during the busiest times of early July it seemed every second day I witnessed some sort of "to-do" at one of the boat launches.

To keep your day more enjoyable, here are a few suggestions when fishing the Bow:

1) If you are launching a boat, use the open parking area to get your boat ready for launch, prepare gear, etc. Once everything is ready you can launch your boat quickly and not plug up the launch ramp.

2) The same idea holds true when taking off the river. If you load your boat on the trailer and pull up to the open parking areas to put away gear, strap your boat, etc. it will mean less congestion at the ramp and less chance of someone getting grumpy.

3) One thing I see on the river a fair bit is when a few boats get clumped together in a short stretch. I've seen (and been there myself) people get frustrated at the congestion. Not being able to cross when they want, being too close, etc. If this happens, take 5 or 10 minutes and pull in. Let the hoards move past, you'll be able to continue on more relaxed, and you might be surprised at what you find in those minutes you're pulled in along the bank.

4) The good old "cut-off"! When you pull out or start to cross the river in a drift boat check upstream. Don't yank across the river and start fishing 100 feet in front of another boat. The extra minute it takes to wait and let the boat pass, and then pull in behind, makes for everybody staying happy.

5) If a bank angler or angler out of their drift boat is fishing from foot, pull away from that bank. There have been lots of arguments/discussions about how to handle this. My thought on this is move when and where you will have NO effect on the bank angler. Give them a little space. I don't mean pull all the way to the other side but pull away far enough to not affect his/her success or enjoyment in any way. And for the bank angler, be reasonable, a drift boat 80 or 90 feet out from you is not in your effective zone.

6) The up versus down argument! For as long as I can remember, the etiquette of fishing was based on fishing upstream. When fishing upstream, if you encountered another angler you gave way as a courtesy, not moving above unless invited to do so. Spey rods have changed this a little bit. Spey casters often work downstream, swinging flies. Not a big deal until they encounter an angler fishing upstream. I'll probably get into trouble for this but my thoughts on this are that the angler fishing downstream should exit the stream so as not to adversely the affect the other angler in any way, move below, and continue on fishing downstream.

7) Last, but not least, if you want to enjoy your day to its fullest, try and think how your actions would sit with you if someone else were doing it. If something would negatively affect your day, or tick you off, why would you do it.

** Note: These are personal thoughts after spending the last 30 plus years drifting the Bow. As it's gotten busier, it's sometimes easy for us to get into little spats and get annoyed. There are people using drift boats on the Bow today have never been told or shown how to operate one with courtesy. The manufacturers don't tell you what ticks people off at boat launches, etc.
A few little courtesies can go along way.

And before anyone broaches the subject, the program applies to guides no less, or more, than others. They don't have any more right to the resource than anyone else. The only difference is they make their living from it. All the more reason for them to act with courtesy and professionalism.