Pre-season Preparation

[JimBuck]

Like many of you....I am spending my nights after work in the garage, sitting in the boat preparing/imagining things for this upcoming season. A thought came to mind last night while in the garage...."What do the thousands of other fisherman do to prepare the boat for the upcoming season?" I became curious about this after going through my mental checklist a hundred times over asking myself "Did I miss anything?" So, fellow FM'ers...what do you do to your boat in preparation for a good season on the water? Any seasoned veterans want to spill those tips on preventative maintenance to some of us who are a little "greener" on the water?

[blarkey]

Check your wheel bearings

[Musky_Madness]

Grease up the reels clean the rods, clean the finder screens, charge the batteries, check your ropes, make sure you have safety tools like a hook removal kit and some hand sanitizer...never know what may happen! Most importantly daydream about all the fish you'll be bringing in and the sunshine beating down on you!

[Tom7227]

Make sure the trailer is properly licensed and the lights work. If things really get slow give some thought to putting a little paint on the trailer so it doesn't look like it belongs to the Clampets.

When does the boat license expire - no, go look and see.

PFD's and fire extinguisher up to snuff? Did the mice eat holes in anything?

Do the boat lights work?

Are all the screws and bolts tight on the boat?

Do you have a safety chain on the outboard so when you hit the rocks and is ripped from the transrom it doesn't sink?

Do you have a lock on the outboard so it doesn't disappear while you're stopping for dinner?

Extra in-line fuses of various sizes?

Which pocket is your fishing license in?

What do you do when your cell phone falls in the water when you bend over to tighten the plug?

Is the plug anywhere close to where it belongs?

Do you have bail money?

[fishin58]

A License, I hope I remember after work!!

[JimBuck]

Nice tips....the safety chain from the outboard to the transom is a great idea. I have a question regarding trailer lights. I bought a new set of the Optronics LED tail lights to install on the boat trailer. While installing and testing the new lights everything worked fine except for the running lights themselves...the running lights would not stay lit when no other action is happening (turn signal, brakes, reverse etc.) Does anyone have an idea as to what may be going on here? A thought came to mind about the configuration of the wires in the plug from the trailer and the configuration of the wires on the trailer itself. I did notice another yellow wire in the new setup? Any help would be appreciated....good luck everyone!

[The_Duckslayer]

Jim, don't know if I got your question right but if the tail lights do not work check at the vehicle connection to make sure that there is juice there first. A lot of vehicles have a seperate fuse for trailer running lights. Hope that helps. Take care and N Joy the Hunt././Jimbo

[JimBuck]

Ok. So, for the sake of my own clarity and sanity let me make sure I understand. I may have a fuse that is solely responsible for the running lights on the trailer? Meaning that the rest of the operations of the lights (turn signal, flashers, reverse etc.) all run off something seperate than my running lights? I have a 97 GMC Jimmy if that helps. I'm at work so I can't check with a volt meter but the fuse suggestion makes sense. Thanks for the prompt response Jimbo!

-Craig