Some of you may remember that I bought a 330 and 331 on eBay last fall, and after cleaning and lubing them, I bought an Ugly Stick Elite for the 331.
Well, today I finally got the chance to use the 331 on the St. Lawrence River, and I picked up this nice 18-inch smallie. Those of you who have battled a smallie in current like this will know they can give quite a tussle. This one did not disappoint, but eventually the 331 won out.
Just thought you like to see it...
TJ
Nice reel, nice fish! Congrats!
Sweet! Nice fat one! I have a 330 that I've been using for light saltwater.
Nice bass !!
Nice catch TJ! I agree...pound for pound...nothing pulls like a big smallie or hybrid striper from current. At least where I fish that is. 8)
The 330 can hold its own, too.
Picked up this 24-inch walleye with it a couple of hours ago. Only reason I'm not still out there is the thunderstorms on the horizon...
;)
Mmm! Fish for supper !!
331 with out a doubt one of my favs. I'm all for catch & release most of the time. Except when it's a legal size walleye... Jeff
Quote from: Rivverrat on August 06, 2019, 09:37:38 PM
331 with out a doubt one of my favs. I'm all for catch & release most of the time. Except when it's a legal size walleye... Jeff
He'll be filleted and joining the bass and others in the freezer, to be enjoyed this winter.
When Lent comes around, a lot of folks look for the best fish fry place. At my house, that's right in my kitchen!
Thanks for showing us TJ, nothing like doing up a reel, then catch nice fish with it, cheers Don.
After the thunderstorms passed, we went back out and this is what I caught in a little under two hours.
There's two smallies, 14 ad 16 inches, and two walleyes, 19 and 22 inches. On the NY side of the river, bass are legal at 12 inches, and walleyes at 18. That gave me my daily limit for the walleyes.
I used my original 331 to catch these, the 331 I've owned for a bit over 45 years.
Nice fish!
This is making me miss freshwater fishing.
Nice catch !!
Not only good reels, but apparently lucky ones as well!
Frank
One more, and I'll stop boring everybody.
Caught these two yesterday morning. The little one is 14 inches. The bigger one measures 19 inches, and my notoriously unreliable tackle box scale says it's a bit short of 5 pounds.
Biggest bass I've ever caught. Used my old, reliable 331 once again to catch both of these. Still my favorite reel, even after trying the other two.
BTW, the motor on the boat? A 1956 15HP Johnson, still going strong. Was a gift, 10 years ago. Set up, old, rotted rodent nest inside the cowl. Wrong size prop, worn clutch dog. No tank. Some TLC, a couple of new parts, a conversion from pressure tank to fuel pump, and it was good to go.
Quote from: TJAndrews on August 08, 2019, 04:41:10 PM
One more, and I'll stop boring everybody.
No, keep going, please ;D
Yeah, don't stop now, I think you're on a roll !! I have that Johnson's little brother....a '56 ,5 and a half horse !
Well done, TJ!
Quote from: Decker on August 08, 2019, 05:37:35 PM
Quote from: TJAndrews on August 08, 2019, 04:41:10 PM
One more, and I'll stop boring everybody.
No, keep going, please ;D
Well, if you say so...
This morning's catch. 13.5, 14, 1nd 15 inch bass, with a 23.75 inch walleye. All caught with the same lure, on my old reliable 331 outfit.
This is our last full day here this year. We get to fish for 2-3 hours in the morning, then have to get packed up and out.
Some of you may have heard about high water and flooding conditions along the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River. I can tell you, it's true.
The first photo is of the dock we use, last year, when the water was low. The next one shows the same dock this year, or what's left of it. And the third shows the temporary dock we get to use this year. It's had one section fastened on top of another to get it above water. (Rats. Messed that up. The photos are in the reverse order.)
And this is after the water level has gone down about 8 inches from its peak, back in June.
TJ, thanks very much for sharing. I gather you are ending your vacation there. What a beautiful spot, and fish aplenty!
No!! Dont you stop posting your wonderful pics !
I love that old boat. I love all boats... cept for sail boats... Jeff
Quote from: Rivverrat on August 09, 2019, 09:45:09 PM
No!! Dont you stop posting your wonderful pics !
I love that old boat. I love all boats... cept for sail boats... Jeff
You may have created a monster...
Both of the boats tied to the above docks are mine. These photos (older) show a closer look of the one I usually use, all set up to go. This boat originally belonged to my mother. She bought it in 1963, using money she had made working part-time as a waitress. She and I spent many, many hours fishing together in that boat. I took it as part of my inheritance when she passed away 10 years ago. I didn't get the big Johnson until that same year. We had used a 9.5hp Johnson on it for years.
That should provide a wonderfully pleasant ride with it's chine & bow lines. Much better than the utility Jon Boats so prevalent now days... Jeff
Great thread! thanks for posting Andrew, love the pics and the stories...keep them coming.
Sal
TJ, you are rocking it brother...please keep the pictures coming! Bill
Sorry about not getting back to this before now. When I got back home from our vacation Life intervened, as it often does, and took up a lot of my time. When I wasn't too busy to post I was too tired. But I have more free time now, and can pick things back up again. Please bear with me as I wander off the topic of Quick reels once more. I promise it will be worth it...
Quote from: TJAndrews on August 09, 2019, 10:14:20 PM
These photos (older) show a closer look of the one I usually use, all set up to go. This boat originally belonged to my mother. She bought it in 1963, using money she had made working part-time as a waitress. She and I spent many, many hours fishing together in that boat. I took it as part of my inheritance when she passed away 10 years ago. I didn't get the big Johnson until that same year. We had used a 9.5hp Johnson on it for years.
That old boat has hundreds of stories it could tell, but I'll tell just two of the best ones from the early years:
As I said, Mom bought the boat with money she made as a part time waitress. It was a used boat, but hadn't been used much, so she got a good deal. The story the dealer told her was that it had been purchased new by a big guy, who put a big motor on the back and then took it out on Oneida Lake, with just him in it. Most of you probably don't know about Oneida, but it has a well-deserved reputation of getting very rough almost without warning, and apparently this guy got caught in one of those times. After getting off the lake, he immediately went back to the dealer and returned the boat for a bigger one.
The story had the ring of truth to it, because the transom showed where only one motor had been attached. And I can confirm now, because I'm a heavy guy, and the 15HP motor I have on the back is only 2 HP below the limit on the capacity plate that used to be there. And it WAS very scary and uncomfortable at first, until I redistributed some weight and added some shimming under the seat so I sit higher. Put a hydrofoil on the motor to keep the front end from picking up when not on plane, too. My Dad had strengthened the transom too, and the reason why brings me to the second story...
Mom had had the boat for four years. We were at the St. Lawrence for the fifth time in what was to become an annual trip for the next 50+ years. The camp we rented back then came with an aluminum boat, and we brought ours, giving the family two boats to use. It was the last night of the trip, and there was a bad storm predicted. There was limited dock space, so to keep the boats from pounding into each other, we pulled ours out, turned it upside down and tied it to a tree, to "protect" it from harm.
Well, you can guess what happened. The severe storm came up after dark, with heavy rain, lightning, and high winds. The next morning we looked out and there was our boat, still tied to the tree, with the uprooted tree resting on top of it, right across the second seat from the back. The boat had been crushed almost flat at that point, and once the tree was removed we had to put the boat on the trailer upside down and backwards to get it home again.
Mom of course was devastated, but being the kind of farm girl she was, she rose to the occasion, and took the boat to a marine repair shop in Syracuse to see what they had to say. After looking it over, the guy said to Mom, "We can fix it, but it'll cost more than the boat will be worth." Mom thought a moment, then asked, "Well, how much would it be?" The guy mentioned a figure. Mom then asked, "Do you mean that you have a comparable boat here that you'll sell me for that price?" "No, but..." Mom said, "Fix the boat."
She taught me a lesson that day: Ya gotta know what's important when deciding what to do. She knew the real value of the boat was what it was worth to her, not to others.
Somehow, the aluminum in the boat had not been torn by the tree, so that made the repair easier. They removed the seats, then used a big press to restore the general shape of the hull, using hammers to finish up. Then they put the seats back in, and tested for leaks by filling the inside with water. Every single rivet in the hull had been strained, and it had more leaks than places that didn't. Rather than replace all the rivets, they tried a different solution: sealer paint on the hull. That took care of the leaks, but they warned us that we would have to keep track, and reseal periodically. I'm sure they expected us to give up on it as not worth the trouble after a few years, and come back to buy yet another boat.
Well, the joke's on them. It's still going strong. It's had several coats of paint, as expected. We discovered the transom had been weakened when we finally graduated to a motor bigger than 5HP, but Dad designed a re-enforcement for it using a 2x4. The marine plywood inside the transom finally rotted 10 years ago, and I replaced it with some white oak from the sawmill just down the road, making sure to retain Dad's addition. It's as strong now as it was when it was built. Maybe stronger.
So that boat doesn't owe me a dime. I'd say it's the other way around - I owe the boat a great deal more than has been put into it.
Lots of good memories go with that boat !
Super story. Good read.
Frank
This is my Mom, in her glory. She was 77 at the time of this photo, and had made "Catch of the Week" in the local paper. Again. Second time in what was to be a total of four. (Submission information in this clipping is no longer valid. The paper re-organized a couple of years later.) Most of the submitted photos were taken on shore, but I took this one with her sitting in her usual spot in the front of her boat. And as was true more times than I like to admit, that day I didn't do much but run the motor, net her fish, and take this photo.
And I wouldn't have had it any other way.
Beautiful pic!...I would be proud as well.
I'm sure the Boss will make it photo of the month, very nice...
Sal
People give me some strange looks when they see me browsing through the nail polish display at the local Walmart. But hey, if it worked for her, there's no reason why it shouldn't work for me..
;D
great post TJ and thanks for the pics, one lovely lady, great memories, keep well cheers Don.
"Family Fishing" memories....best kind !
Is it wrong that today, on the first full day of Winter, I'm dreaming of this rather than of a White Christmas?
No Way ! My Son & I always hit the hot water out let of the power plant Christmas eve or New Years Day... Jeff
Awesome thread I love the bit about the lure used painted with nail polish I may have some nail polish in my tackle bag for painting spinner blades and lures when need be glad I'm not the only one.
Thank you for sharing!
Andy