Probably Too Old and Too Weak For a Big Boat??

[Jonathan P. Kring]

Invited my brother and his wife down for lunch so he could show me a few things about the boat I bought from him. I gave my 14ft. aluminum boat with 10hp. motor (Which I could handle) to one of my sons. Now I've got a 17 1/2 Ft. 40hp to contend with. Haven't made it to the water yet and I'm already thinking I'm too old and probably too weak both physically and mentally to contend with it. It looks good sitting in my garage though! My wife would say "boys and their toys.

[robert ellis]

Now wait on that note, aren't you like 6'8" I seen your pic you sure don't look old to me, sell that 17 ft. and buy a 12ft with a 6 hp motor! Never give an inch! Paul Newman

[Jonathan P. Kring]

Used to be 6'4. Have shrunk to 6'3". If I ever got rid of this one, my wife would say no more. It might just be like a viking funeral when I finally take it out. I may just go down with the ship. (I hope it's not on fire)

[john elder]

but Jon...the good news is that now HAVE to go buy a new bigger truck to haul it around!

[Midway Tommy D]

How about this Lakeside cabin or house, launch in the spring, walk to the dock .. get in and go 'til just before freeze up ... or all year down south, and enjoy. When you can't bend over any more you can just roll off the dock into the boat it doesn't take too much strength to untie, push off and retie, then crawl out when yer done. You can almost buy a lakeside place these days for the price of some of those new trucks and a guy sure doesn't want to waste the use a good fishing outfit

Tom

[Jonathan P. Kring]

Tom: That's how I got the boat in the first place. My brother had a place on a lake worth probably 300,000. He'd put it in every spring, it would sit on the lake all summer, in the fall he'd take it to the ramp pull it a mile back to his place and that was it. The place finally got to be too much for him in his mid 70's and he sold it last fall. Then enter the dummy, "Me". Those famous words, I'll buy your boat if you want to sell it. I can't afford a place on a lake.

John: The 2004 Silverado will have to pull it or bust. When I was pulling it home the day after Thanksgiving, realizing this pulls a lot harder than the small boat, I think I had my first revelation of error. Then came the 1000 plus for the Park-it 360 to move it up and down the drive and it's been down hill from there. The other day, my Granddaughter saw it and said "Papaw you really need to clean those seats. Since it sat in the water all summer, they were covered with black mold when I got it. I had removed them , scoured them with a brush and scouring powder and spent quite awhile getting them to where they are at now. 100% better than they were. I figured well, she will make some lucky man a good wife someday! I would post some pics of the crappie lights my brother made for it, but that's another old age thing. As they say, getting old ain't for sissys.

[Jonathan P. Kring]

Finally got the boat to water 8/29/13. Noticed when I got to the launch site one of the Bearing Buddie Bra's was gone. When I got home, closer inspection revealed both Whole Bearing Buddies were gone from the hubs. Haven't figured that one out yet! After we got it figured out, the boat worked great.

[robert ellis]

Thanks for the share Jon! that boat moves well! I'm sure you Pal stirred up the fish in the pond! Hang on to it for when I come visit!

[Jonathan P. Kring]

Since you won't come to Frankfort, I'm not going to hold my breath that you will come for a visit. I will be checking the lightening bolts though to see if you step off sometime. P.S. Good thing you visited Yosemite when you did, there may not be anything left of it. (I'm guessing from your comments you saw the video on Facebook)

[Reel Geezer]

Come on, Jon. I'm older than you, my boat's bigger than yours, and my fishing partner's curlier than anyone you can find. Man up and go fishing.
This boat launches from broken down river ramps over 100 times a year, and backs into my garage when we're done. It keeps you young.

[Jonathan P. Kring]

If I had fishing like you've got there would be more incentive to do it. I'd make it work out there. You've got fishing like I've never seen before. It makes me salivate every year when I see the pictures. I'm probably not strong enough to reel in fish as big as you guys catch. It is good to see the pics. and know real fishermen do exist. And to top it off, a dog that likes to fish with you too.
How long is your boat?

[RAM]

Solution: Wade fish. Actions no longer necessary:

1) Winter storage of boat (anytime storage of boat)
2) Maintenance of boat and gas for boat motor, which also needs maintenance
3) Gas for boat motor, new battery for trolling motor on occasion
4) Insurance
5) Effort of attaching trailer with boat to truck
6) Launching after careful backing up and hopefully not losing trailer and boat in the lake or river
7) Parking truck after launching and hoping trailer won't be stolen while fishing, Phil
Remounting boat on hopefully not-stolen backed-up trailer after fishing, usually done when tired
9) Buying bigger truck (as suggested above) for hauling boat when small truck proves inadequate (more insurance)
10) Maintenance on big truck
11) More gas needed for big truck
12) Penance for cursing during times of dealing high wind while out in boat
13) Wife's constant complaining about expense and very presence of boat
14) Frustration and expense of trying to sell boat to satisfy wife, to be followed by complaining about something else you take up, like wade fishing.

Hey! To each his own jollies!
Bad Bob

[Reel Geezer]

Jon: My current boat is an 18' G3 John boat. That motor is a 90 hp, which becomes a 65 with its jet engine.

BB: come on! Those might have been nice suggestions when you or I were 30 years younger, but there is no way I'm wading the Snake River anymore. I shudder when I think of the old days when I waded chest deep out to islands in the Snake. I still do wade the lake out front, but I quit that when the weeds start getting thick. It's hard enough moving 3' of water, but when you're trying to push the water and a mass of hydrilla and smartweed it's too much for this ole man.

And since the ramp on the lake is 3 miles down the road and the river is 6-13 miles south, gas expenses are something I can tolerate. And with the locks now on my trailer it would even take Houdini a couple of hours to get my trailer.

[Jonathan P. Kring]

As my youngest son told me, the two happiest days in a boat owners life are the day he buys it and the day he sells it. Bad Bob: I see lots of familiar things in your analogy, but when you see Reel Geezer haulin in
those world class "Smallies" that relieves a lot of the pain of boat ownership. At least I'm now down to one boat, 600 fishing reels, about 8 harmonicas, 50 carved wooden monks, and a few other collections. Still only one wife to complain about it all!

[Brian F.]

Nice boat John, the bow reminds me of the sampans we used to have a lot of around here. They were great sea going boats so wondered if yours was originally used in a bay or the ocean.

Geeze, that's a fishing machine...and the boat's pretty sharp looking too.

[Midway Tommy D]

Jon,

My dad is 83 and still gets his '80 16' Lund Pro Angler tiller steer out on trips to MN & Lake Stockton now and again. You gotta toughin' up a little. Maybe take up some Ultimate Fighting to get back into shape.

BB,

Sounds like your next step is to just fish the Sports Show trout tanks in Jan-Feb.

Tom

[RAM]

Actually, my next step is to watch guys fish the trout tanks!
BB

[Jonathan P. Kring]

Brian: The guy who originally bought the boat before my brother had it, was going to use it on Lake Michigan. He decided it was not big enough for that and he sold it. My brother used it on an inland lake. Not sure I could catch any in the trout tanks. I'm usually more of a fisher than a catcher. My days of being an ultimate fighter were never were and never will be. Hey Brian: If you go through Photobucket can you post a short video on here?

[Jonathan P. Kring]

Ok, hopefully if you click on this pic. you can see a video of the boat in action. I have a friend who is a Methodist Minister. He lives on what was several years ago one of the largest pay lakes around.
He has started a Sunday evening outreach called "The Fishing Church". Attend a 45 min. service and get two hours of free catch and release fishing in his lake. He is driving my boat. "The Fishing
Church" has been featured in articles by The Associated Press all over the country including Alaska.

[john elder]

Ha! That looks like a '57 runabout with 25 horse johnson that i used to run all over Rocky Fork Lake in my yoot! Caught lots of fish and pulled lots of skiers with that boat!...

[Jonathan P. Kring]

It's a 1990 Sea-Nymph 17 1/2 Ft. 40 hp Johnson motor.

[Don Champion]

John - way back when I used to have a '56 runabout with a 30 hp Johnson on it. It would really take some rough water. Now I've got a 17' Ranger with a 115 hp Merc.