08/23/2026
Fishing is fun they say.... fishing is relaxing they say... fishing is a great stress reliever they say....
Well Saturday, August 1st during a morning salmon charter I have issues due to operator error with my 9.9 hp kicker motor and had to cut my morning charter short and cancel my afternoon trip.
Dropped my boat off at my mechanic who determined the problem and ordered the needed parts which were to arrive August 6 or 7th just in time to fix my motor before my trip up north to Horwood Lake Lodge on August 9th. One part we needed was not in stock at the parts distributor, but we found 1 in Ontario at a marine dealer, luckily only a 1.5-hour drive from my house, so I went and picked that up. Friday, August 7th ..... the parts arrive!!!! except one.... it was now not arriving until Monday.... the day after I leave with my boat up north. 😞 So my mechanic removes the lower unit of my 9.9 hp motor, so he can work on it when the part arrives and I am up north.
So Sunday, August 9th I head up to the Timmins area towing the Starcraft without a working kicker motor, but no worries I could troll with my Minn Kota Ulterra and my new LiTime lithium batteries, which worked awesome and gave me plenty of battery power for trolling and using spot lock to jig.
A few days later mid-week up at Horwood Lake Lodge... my electric trolling motor stops working. 😞 Looks like we might be renting a boat from the lodge to use the rest of the week. Luckily a little electrical work on the lake and at the dock on some loose wire connections and a Google search on how to reset my Ulterra and it was fixed and we are back in the game.
Thursday, August 13th returning from fishing the far end of Horwood Lake, about a 40-mile round trip, we hit a barely floating log a couple hundred meters from the lodge.... damaging my prop.... no big deal I have a spare. 🙂 But the impact also damaged the skeg on my lower unit. 😞 So not wanting to "press my luck" we decide to head home from Horwood Lake on the Friday morning a day early. 😞
Now my 9.9 ho kicker is fixed and back together, my 150 hp Optimax engine is without a lower unit, as the skeg gets repaired.
But on a good note, the boat is at my marine canvas shop getting my new custom travel cover made this week coming.
I have some not fishing business and family stuff the next couple weeks, but I should be back up and chasing fish in a couple weeks.... unless I decide to quit fishing and take up golf or pickleball. LOL
