Fishing With Friends And Our Growing Fleet
When Darrell and I bought our 12ft Alumacraft boat last year, I realized that it was going to be difficult to bring other people fishing with us. With only three bench seats and the middle being used as a table for our tackle and other gear, there wasn’t much room to fit anyone else in there. It’s possible to take a third person out – but we have to alter our way of ‘organizing’ the boat and there’s less room for maneuvering.
The problem with this is that we really like to take other people fishing. While I love spending every fishing trip with Darrell, it’s nice to get other people exposed to the sport, and just get them out for a fun day on the water while catching up.
Our budget limited the chances of buying a bigger boat, but we decided another 12ft aluminum boat would fit the bill perfectly. Since we already had two of almost everything needed to outfit a small boat, it seemed like a logical step. We did some searching on Kijiji (again, my absolute favorite place to spend money), but time and again Darrell mentioned that what he really wanted was old 12ft Springbok aluminum boat, just like the one he grew up using that belonged to his grandparents.
Well, as usual, Darrell got his wish and we now own that exact 12ft Springbok.
The Springbok.
I was a little skeptical about its condition when we brought it home. It hadn’t seen water in a few years and despite Darrell’s assurance that there was only a small leak, I knew I would keep the baling bucket close to me on our first outing.
Darrell picked the Springbok up mid-week and since we planned to take some friends out on the Sunday, we had to get the boat in the water on the Saturday for a test outing. I was eager to make sure that I wouldn’t be forcing anyone to swim back to shore. I had arranged to take our friends out on Fairy Lake so it made sense to head there for the test and to do some scouting.
With the threat of thunderstorms and a bunch of rain gear packed, we arrived at Fairy Lake just as it started to rain and the wind picked up. It didn’t take long to pass over and we ended up with a great evening to be on the water.
The Springbok survived the first test – it made it from the ramp to the dock to pick me up. However, it was only a few minutes before I noticed my shoes were getting wet and I realized I had better move items around so the spare clothes stayed dry. It was a strange feeling for me to see all that water on the bottom of the boat as the Alumacraft stays dry all day long.
It’s really hard to see the water in this picture, but I felt the need to take this to remind myself why my feet were wet.
It took some time to establish a pattern that day, and for the first hour all we caught were sunfish. It’s hard to mind catching them when you’re using ultralight gear and they’re fighting like a much bigger smallmouth bass. Eventually we located the crappie, caught a few, and just observed many others. We felt fairly certain we knew where the fish would be the next day.
The Springbok passed the test, albeit with more water in the boat than I would have liked. There was quite the splash when we flipped the boat over and emptied it out. Darrell says that’s what little, used aluminum boats are like and I’ve been spoiled by the pristine nature of our first boat. Overall, the Springbok handled well, was comfortable to ride in, and got us to the best fishing holes. We were ready for Sunday!
I have to admit that I had been waiting for Sunday for some time. We were taking my friend, we’ll call her “K”, and her boyfriend, we’ll call him “M”, out fishing. I grew up with K and always considered her to be like another sister. She was overseas for many years and we kept in touch through Facebook, where she would often tell me how much M liked fishing and I promised that we would take them out once they were both in Canada. When I picked them up that Sunday, I was thrilled to see how excited M was to spend a day on the water, especially out in the boat.
Two boats means Darrell and I have to split up and fish out of different boats. There was no way I was giving up my Alumacraft so I claimed it for myself and K, while Darrell and M headed out in the Springbok.
Fitting in some fishing while continuing our conversation.
Looks like someone was enjoying the day.
It was a brutally hot day on the water and the fish were extremely reluctant to bite. I couldn’t blame them. We were able to find fish, but the heat held them motionless. I desperately wanted M to catch some fish and watched as Darrell handed him our go-to micro nymphs, and later changed it up to our favorite sunfish rig. I wish I gotten a picture of M with a crappie. K doesn’t fish but she insisted she was happy just to be out there, and we had a lot of catching up to do. In all, we each caught a few fish and had a great day on the water together. I can’t wait to take them out again.
Picking up a second boat turned out to be great idea and I can’t wait to be able to take more people out and let them experience this passion I call fishing. I’ll admit that it was even nice to spend the day driving the boat, since I normally make Darrell drive so I can have a nap at some point. By driving, I was able to choose where and how I wanted to fish. That was pretty great.
So here’s to our growing fleet and the ability to have great days on the water with our friends. What a wonderful thing! So, who wants to go fishing?
argosgirl
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