What's Biting
I'll periodically post fishing reports that could be of interest to you in planning your trip to Lake Palestine.
Check this page often for updates.
Article, 30 Nov
Updated: Sun Dec 3, 2017
Article, 30 Nov. One of the more disappointing sights on any lake, river, or bay in the early Spring is a boater, often with friends or family, launching for the first time after 3, 4, or 5 months of having the boat "put up for the Winter", and the motor won't start. There they are , at the boat ramp, sometimes with the boat off of the trailer and floating away from the dock already, and it won't start, or won't keep running.The usual problem is often described as "old gas", or "bad battery", or "water in the gas".Here are a few suggestions to prepare your boat for that period when you aren't going to be using your boat for awhile.First, the gas. Fuel, whether it is straight gas for a four-stroke or an injected two-stroke, or mixed gas and oil for a two-stroke, has two tendencies that work against you. One is that gasoline will tend to break down with non-use, especially if the gas tank is left still and not shaken. This causes some of the gas to be less volatile and not vaporize or light off as easily. Another tendency of gasoline is to absorb water, especially the fuels that have alcohol added.Both of these can be countered by some fuel additives. One of the more popular locally is Stab-bil Storage, but there are several other brands available. Some are made for addition to either unmixed gas or gas that has had oil added to it, and some say specifically to not add to fuel that has alcohol in it, so read the label before purchase to get the product for your engine.There are also products that are designed to "dry" gas in the tank, that is, absorb water, but this doesn't remove the water, often just simply moves it to the bottom of the tank, where it can cause problems if the tank is ever run close to empty. A better solution for water in the gas is to fill the tank, with a storage additive mixed in, before the boat is put away for a few months. This minimizes the empty space in the tank where water vapor can condense.Second, the batteries. The best solution is to have the batteries on a charger that is always connected, one of the "smart" chargers that can read the batteries' charge and can adjust or stop the charging to maintain the batteries at 12 volts. An alternate method is to use a regular charger and set up a charging schedule, plugging it in and connecting to the batteries once a week for one day at the minimum charge level.Two further suggestions. One, get a set of "earmuffs" for the motor, an inexpensive device that lets you connect a garden hose to the outboard so that it can be run at your house without having to be stuck into a water tank. Two, when you get to the ramp for that first launch in a long time, keep the boat connected to the trailer until the motor has been started and shows that it is going to run properly.I'll repeat these last two suggestions next March.
Newer Fishing Reports
If you're interested, you can see what the conditions on Lake Palestine were like on:
Older Fishing Reports
If you're interested, you can see what the conditions on Lake Palestine were like on:
