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Well, this is the big week. After fishing the holiday Sunday and Monday, Barhopp’R I was to join BarHopp’R II at Outboard Motor Connection and receive her new Yamaha 200. The plan was to get the Yamaha 150 off BarHopp’R I and on to BarHopp’R II, and get it up and running first, to make sure that I had at least my backup boat working. What’s that saying about the best laid plans?
Sunday, my old friends Bob and Carol Bass were over from St. Cloud to fish while on an abbreviated vacation. Bob and Carol are more fun than the law allows, and they’re wonderful people. Bob isn’t really the fisherman of the family; Carol is. She’s been fishing since she was a little girl, and she’s damned good at it. Seems like everything that comes out of Bob’s mouth is funny. Carol is a card, too, and still a great looking gal at fifty something.
We caught plenty of bait at Foster’s Point, and were off to the races. I figured we had a pretty good shot at getting a lot of reds on the flats even though the wind was pretty brisk from the east. I did a lot of shiner chumming, moving, and chumming, but was never able to get the intense bite going that I wanted. We did get steady action, though, and wound up with around a dozen redfish, 1 snook, and a jack in the boat, and missed quite a few to boot. It was great to spend the day with Bob and Carol again.
Monday, I was supposed to fish with Michael Fox, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Problem was, I didn’t realize when I booked the trip that it was one of the busiest holiday weekends of the year. It’s a terrible day to be out there trying to catch a fish. Unfortunately, the type of calendar I have to use for booking trips doesn’t show the holidays, and this one snuck up on me. So, I called Michael Sunday night, and advised him that I thought it would be prudent to let me find him another guide that could fish him during the week. My main concern, after all, is the quality of the trip for my customers, and I thought this would help insure a much better trip than I could produce on the holiday Monday. Michael consulted with his group, and agreed, and I arranged for Capt. Kevin Holley to fish them Tuesday.
From there the boat went to the shop with a Friday deadline. I had promised to be at the Florida Sportsman show to help my friend David Arcemant of Gulf Coast Anglers Association with the show. I hate not being able to fulfill an obligation, but as the week unfolded, it became apparent that I was going to have to be in town Saturday to pick up my boat. Difficulties with BarHopp’R II and lots of interruptions had put Craig behind on the work. He was reasonably sure he could have the boat ready by Saturday, but couldn’t tell me what time. I had to be on standby. The worse part of this was that after a long round with GTE information finally yielded a telephone number for the Tampa Fairgrounds, a recorded message told me that the phone wasn’t answered on the weekends. I had no way to contact David and tell him what was going on. He’s probably thinking the worst of me right now.
Well, as it turned out, it was late afternoon before the boat was smoke-tested and ready for pickup. Craig was beaming at me as he said, “That baby flies. I took it up to 5,000 for just a second to make sure the carbs were OK, and that baby flies!” But, I knew it would be a while before I could see how she would fly, because I had to do a four hour break-in period. It was too late in the day for it now, so I would have to do it Sunday, and miss the second day of the show.
I knew this slow boat ride would be the kind my wife and daughter would love, so I invited them to join me for the break-in run Sunday. Four long hours at idle speed. We idled all the way up to the north end of Sarasota Bay and back down to the 10th Street ramp. I clicked my 4.0 hours about a quarter mile from the ramp, brought the boat up on a very quick plane, and was thrilled at the way it felt. The motor was crisp and strong, with power to spare. I could tell it was going to be like a new boat all over again, just like it had been when I went from the 110 to the Yamaha 150. It was sweet. Craig Wildasin at Outboard Motor Connection builds a great motor.
And, how ‘bout this folks! Even though he’d run into unexpected difficulties with this whole deal, Craig stuck to his original price of $100 net to do the trade and swapping. He and I both knew he’d do well with the 115 Yamaha Salt Series he was getting from me, and sure enough, he had it sold and ready to deliver when I picked up my boat. He got a good price for it as I had expected, as it was practically new.
So, that’s how it went. The boats are ready with their new motors and I’m ready for a full week next week.
If you have any questions or comments, or you'd like to book a trip, please email me at capt@barhoppr.com.
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