While most of those north of the Mason Dixon Line (I’m just a hair below it) are freezing their behinds off, there is a group of us prepping to head south for our annual trek to Florida.  In the past we’ve done the Big O, Kissimmee, Headwaters and some of them 3 or 4 times.  Most recently, Headwaters has been the destination of choice.  We’ve stayed at Roland’s on Okeechobee, Guy Harvey’s on Kissimmee but we found a neat place on Headwaters that is on a farm, 1/2 mile from the access road to the ramp and behind electronic security gate.  Normally we take my fishing partners Ranger but he is in the process of selling it and moving all sorts of gear over to his new boat, a 2026 Vexus.  We are going to pick it up in Flippin Arkansas the end of February.  So my boat, which we use as the local ride, has been called into service for this years Florida trip.  That means it’s time to go over it with a fine tooth comb before we leave.  First order of business, my console keypad has been acting up.  Rangers start with a push button code.  All of the other boat functions are on the same keypad like livewells, lights, fuel gage (2 separate 26 gallon tanks) and some accessory switches.  I called Ranger and the replacement updated console touchpad has to be installed with a new touchpad on the bow and a new “Brain Box” that the touchpads feed into.  Let’s just say it wasn’t cheap.  Load tested all my batteries and although still performing, they were weak.  3 new wet cells and 1 AGM installed.  Trailer checked out ok, hubs and tires are good.  A little up there in age but lots of tread. I carry a spare hub as well.  Stay tuned.  I’ll report back after the trip.  

Pick me up some spotted cow on your way back.

 

Oh wait.  Wrong trip.

From the frozen North in NH, enjoy your fishing trip!!! And congrats on maintaining your beautiful boat. So many people ignore maintaining their boat until the inevitable creeps up. Tight lines to you!!!

Enjoy your trip and be safe.

15 hours ago, TOXIC said:

While most of those north of the Mason Dixon Line (I’m just a hair below it) are freezing their behinds off, there is a group of us prepping to head south for our annual trek to Florida.  In the past we’ve done the Big O, Kissimmee, Headwaters and some of them 3 or 4 times.  Most recently, Headwaters has been the destination of choice.  We’ve stayed at Roland’s on Okeechobee, Guy Harvey’s on Kissimmee but we found a neat place on Headwaters that is on a farm, 1/2 mile from the access road to the ramp and behind electronic security gate.  Normally we take my fishing partners Ranger but he is in the process of selling it and moving all sorts of gear over to his new boat, a 2026 Vexus.  We are going to pick it up in Flippin Arkansas the end of February.  So my boat, which we use as the local ride, has been called into service for this years Florida trip.  That means it’s time to go over it with a fine tooth comb before we leave.  First order of business, my console keypad has been acting up.  Rangers start with a push button code.  All of the other boat functions are on the same keypad like livewells, lights, fuel gage (2 separate 26 gallon tanks) and some accessory switches.  I called Ranger and the replacement updated console touchpad has to be installed with a new touchpad on the bow and a new “Brain Box” that the touchpads feed into.  Let’s just say it wasn’t cheap.  Load tested all my batteries and although still performing, they were weak.  3 new wet cells and 1 AGM installed.  Trailer checked out ok, hubs and tires are good.  A little up there in age but lots of tread. I carry a spare hub as well.  Stay tuned.  I’ll report back after the trip.  

If your partner is getting the new VXS20 or 21, you are going to be in envy of the looks and especially the ride.  The Vexus plant is 10 minutes from my house.

15 hours ago, gim said:

Pick me up some spotted cow on your way back.

 

Oh wait.  Wrong trip.

Spotted Cow is only in Wisconsin;  good brew.

I'm excited for you, Buddy. And it's admirable that crossing and dotting all your boat's t's and i's. I think it's wonderful to go south in the thick of winter. It cuts the winter in half. Good fishing!

I don't blame you one bit! I moved my boat South as well! From north Florida to central Florida until spring for the same reason. Just too cold up north. North Florida that is!

 

And it sounds like you found some great places to enjoy fishing too! Hope you catch a bunch of fish!

 

I'm heading South this coming Sunday to do the same for a few days. Temps should be in mid 70's.

3 hours ago, Tackleholic said:

If your partner is getting the new VXS20 or 21, you are going to be in envy of the looks and especially the ride.  The Vexus plant is 10 minutes from my house.

Yes he is and to keep the costs down, he is moving a lot of the upgrades he made to his current boat power poles, Move tm, lithiums, electronics) over to the new one.  

 

4 hours ago, RLinNH said:

From the frozen North in NH, enjoy your fishing trip!!! And congrats on maintaining your beautiful boat. So many people ignore maintaining their boat until the inevitable creeps up. Tight lines to you!!!

Thanks, my boat due to its age, was always deemed the “local” boat and although it made trips to Wisconsin in the past, it’s been a few years.  Im going to do an article for Yamamoto’s Inside Line online ezine about maintenance for those of us who choose to keep our older boats.  

 

 

27 minutes ago, Swamp Girl said:

I'm excited for you, Buddy. And it's admirable that crossing and dotting all your boat's t's and i's. I think it's wonderful to go south in the thick of winter. It cuts the winter in half. Good fishing!

Now that I’m retired I get so much more pleasure from these trips than I do from the day to day trips.  Make no mistake, I still love fishing but I can now add a new perspective to it.  

Have fun! Ask them for an ignition and a metal key, it ain’t that hard to turn one 😂 

That's great!  I'm jealous.  I've got 8.5 more years till I retire and then I'm planning on taking an annual February trip to Florida.  I do research every once in a while.  Rodman Reservoir, the St John, and the surrounding lakes keep drawing my attention.  

8 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

Have fun! Ask them for an ignition and a metal key, it ain’t that hard to turn one 😂 

I have a keyed ignition that plugs into the keypad wiring if it fails.  It will not operate any of the other functions though.  Main concern is my 2 bilge pumps.  

 

8 hours ago, Junk Fisherman said:

That's great!  I'm jealous.  I've got 8.5 more years till I retire and then I'm planning on taking an annual February trip to Florida.  I do research every once in a while.  Rodman Reservoir, the St John, and the surrounding lakes keep drawing my attention.  

I lived in Jacksonville on the St Johns for a couple of years for my job and had a house with a dock.  I fished some tournaments on the river.  Also got to fish Rodman, Harris Chain and Toho as well as some small no name lakes.  I like Florida.  We’ve considered moving there and we have relatives who live on Crescent beach in St Augustine but after 5 years in retirement, we’re leaning more to snowbird it rather than buy into it.  

8 hours ago, TOXIC said:

 

 

I lived in Jacksonville on the St Johns for a couple of years for my job and had a house with a dock.  I fished some tournaments on the river.  Also got to fish Rodman, Harris Chain and Toho as well as some small no name lakes.  I like Florida.  We’ve considered moving there and we have relatives who live on Crescent beach in St Augustine but after 5 years in retirement, we’re leaning more to snowbird it rather than buy into it.  

 

We'll have to chat in the future.  You can steer me in the right direction.  Good luck on your trip!

I’m in southwest Florida. I wish I could join you for a day! Have a great trip!

Well, even though the trailer tires on the boat had good tread left, they were 8 years old. Don't want to be changing a tire when I could be fishing. Baby's got a new set of shoes. Let me just add, there's not too many tire shops who want to work on boat trailers. I had to go to a small independent shop. I watched them start to finish and they did a great job. I did have to stop them from jacking the trailer up by the axles (torsion bar axles can be damaged) but otherwise they did a great job. Pulled tires, buffed rim edge, new valve stems, balanced and mounted. Used an impact to tighten lugs but came back over all of them with a torque wrench.