I'm set and ready..... I tied fresh {2 hook} Cooper rigs on 6 of my rods, sharpened the #5 circle hooks on my jug lines, and tied up some crappie rigs with snelled Aberdeen hooks to catch brim for live / cut bait while waiting on some good cat bites. I'm also setting out a couple of minnow traps in a near by pond this evening so I can grab up some fresh live bait on my way to the lake in the morning. Hopefully I'll catch enough to set my first round of jug lines before tossing the throw net for shad. If not..... I'll just use hot dogs and shrimp for the first round. I'm thinking of putting in at Union Grove on Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir if I can even get to a boat ramp. Anyone that's been out in that neck of the woods have any observations / recommendations? I have been looking and I cant find any info on if the boat ramps are under water from all of the rain or not..... The reports I have seen so far range between the local lakes being from 2 to 8 feet high..... I have not been out to the lakes myself yet, so it's just a guess for me.

Any updates on Belton or Stillhouse boat ramps and or fishing for cats in either lake would be greatly appreciated.

Steve Bob

Note to anyone interested: I spoke to Army Corps of Engineers and they said that Union grove is open for normal operations and only the swimming area is closed. That and the boat ramps are all open on Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir. They also said that the lake is only up a little bit since they opened the flood gates on the dam and started draining the lake early this time.

Now I am pumped. I just came in from throwing my cast net in the driveway.... LOL!!!!!

Here she is about an hour before the first trip to the lake.



I put her in the lake and she started leaking pretty bad. Bad enough that in about 5 minutes she had about 4 gallons of water inside. It appears that the gentleman that sold it to me made some pop rivet repairs (Looks like holes from a transducer mount that was removed) that I did not see at first and of course they were well hidden by what appears to be JB Weld and paint. The problem is that he did not seal the rivets. So there were 2 small jets of water shooting into the boat looking like a couple of mini fire hoses just below the water line. They look to me like a simple fix but it ruined an otherwise nice day on the water. As for the repairs I removed the rivets, soldered the holes, and I'll epoxy over that. Once the epoxy sets I'll semi fill the hull with water to see if I missed anything. I'll take her back out tomorrow to see if I was able to get everything. I wish I lived closer to a lake 1 1/2 hours is a long round trip just to test for leaks. But in the long run it will be worth it. I hope....

On the other side of the coin, the lake is lovely and the water is clear. I could see the bottom at about 30 feet deep. It looks to be up maybe 1 to 2 feet from where it was before the extended rain event.

I'm looking forward to trying again tomorrow.

SB

Hope it works out better for you this go around!

After closer inspection the transom is cracked and appears to have been repaired shade tree style. So I can't even see how far the crack goes. Every leak I patch or repair I make shows me 3 more. I got took on this POS. But it was my fault for not going over it better.

Anyone know where I can buy a "new" 14' - 16' jon or v hull aluminum boat for a 20 hp tiller motor (just the hull)? Every dealer anywhere near me (within 100 miles) tell me either no can do or maybe November to February time frame. With an extreme emphasis on maybe. Heck they cant even tell me where to find a good used boat.

Sorry to hear this.

Don’t give up though. Unless it’s structural there has to be some way to jury rig it. Pop rivet or even bolt angle iron on corners and flat stock on surfaces and it may sound redneck (of which I claim) but gorilla tape is awesome.

She’s a utility boat, not a beauty queen.

Tommar, I'm not such a prude that I would be opposed to scratched paint or a few minor dents and I know that it's a utility boat. But in my opinion it shouldn't have to look like a mix between a Mad Max and Jeff Foxworthy movie. I do draw the line on Flex Steel and duct tape repairs on a boat, even if I am a born again redneck which I am. Trust me the guy that owned it before me did more than his share of JB Weld and pop rivets repair work. I'm a 100% disabled veteran with a host of medical issues that preclude me physically from doing some of the things that truly need to be done to it. The most important thing to me is safety and peace of mind and after seeing what I have today..... This boat is not safe. I do have an idea though. If you like, I'll let you have the hull for it's recycled aluminum value, complete with title. Heck..... I'll even throw in a roll of Gorilla tape and a small bag of pop rivets. If the repairs are as simple as you make them out to be, I'm sure you could at minimum quadruple your investment..

All joking aside..... The motor and trailer were well worth my original purchase price. And a new or lightly used boat would last longer, cost less in the long run, and give me more peace of mind than relying on the weakest link repair job you recommend. Thank you for your opinion and if I was 30 years younger / healthier I honestly might have taken your advise more seriously.

Be well
SB

https://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/boa/d/addison-jon-boat/7327633924.html

Man that sucks! Keep your eye on Craigslist for old boats. I’ve bought a ton of used boats over the years and the #1 most important thing is to test drive it and ride it hard and long across the entire lake and back before I ever make any deals. You’d be surprised at how many don’t cut the mustard...

I hate to hear stuff like this. You've been waiting a long time to get that thing in the water now only to be completely disappointed. I would like to have a word with the miscreant that sold it to you knowing full well it was not water tight. I think the availability of boats of any kind is going to be an issue for a while yet. I hope it's like ammo and production is going to start increasing and as more new ones are bought more used ones will show up on the market.

So no Mad Max/Jeff Foxworthy look huh?

I’ll be up that way the first week of July and will have some time to spare. I’d be happy to help you move the motors and other equipment from one hull to another of you have one by then and need a hand.

That one El Gato posted looks pretty nice!

Hey bud . I’m in the same boat 🤣 literally . My job boat takes on some water but hey for 500 bucks for a boat , title , motor , trolling motor , trailer . Can’t beat it I love it ! Just think of it as a free live well 🤣🤣 or you can throw a billage pump in there .

Every time you fix a leak there’s another it’s annoying . Don’t let it beat you up !

It’s come along way these are mostly early pics . But when something breaks I fix it as far as cosmetics go it’s uglier than sin but Your fishing not trying to win a boat modeling contest .