10-11-12 Trip

[Dollar Bill]

Finally talked my brother in law to go fishing with me today! He gets ate up with bow hunting this time of year whereas I wait till a little later to get that going... What a great day to be on the lake! Not too hot or cold, a breeze without a gale, low skies with a falling barometer... Perfect. And the bass agreed. Put in at the camp ground ramp at Cedar Ridge and didn't get more than a couple of miles away. Started with a buzz bait and a crank and the crank produced pretty good. I really thought the topwater should be working so I pulled out a spook and it worked all day. Must have caught 25 or so. Also caught several on the crank and a wacky worm too. Several keepers were caught. As we pulled up to our last bank of the day, about 1pm, I noticed an electrical smell. Then caught the sight of smoke coming from under the motor cowling... Uh oh. Got the fire extinguisher out and lifted the cowling off and sure enough it was smoking, hot then some flames! Sprayed it a few blasts with no real effect. Panicked and started drowning it with minnow buckets full of water. Made it worse. Finally hit it again with the extinguisher and it went out.... We were up past Adams branch and had quite a haul to get back. Luckily the wind was blowing in a favorable direction. Still, the trolling batteries gave out about 1/4 of the way back. I had two paddles and we used them to get almost to the ramp before a boat finally saw us and gave us a tow. Could have been much worse. Hopefully it's just some burned wiring. Bottom line, great day fishing, they were on the bank and hungry... So, be prepared, be careful and it will all come out in the end OK... By the way, the water color in that part of the lake was perfect... About 2 to 3 ft of visability with a good green color.

[murphdog]

Sounds like an exciting day all around. Glad you caught some fish before the fire. Hope everything turns out ok with the boat.

[fishinwrench]

Voltage regulator fire. Has your tach been acting up lately?

[Dollar Bill]

My trip before the fire I did have two unexplained alarms, one overheating and one low oil. Neither one was true... Both were short in length and never reoccured. I haven't noticed the tach bouncing or anything but i may have missed something. Just the 2nd time in two years Ive had someone in the boat with me. Timing is everything, I sure needed his paddle (and am sure glad I have two of them in the boat!)

[Dollar Bill]

Good call wrench... Lower voltage regulator was all burned up. My buddy at work is a genious and he put in 2 new units and fixed the wiring all back up and he's fishing in it tonight!