Fishing Report: Garibaldi Bottom Fishing...Finally Apr 7th

Went to Garibaldi with my friend Chad Wednesday morning. Launched about 7 a.m. to a very nice ocean. Dropped 4 crab pots and made the trip south about 9 miles to Three Arches. The wind kicked up so I put my kicker down to control our drift. It would not start! Not only that it would not tilt back up. I get real anxious when motors/electric things do not work. We continued fishing, while I assessed the situation.
The main motor was running fine, but did not want to go back with my kicker in the down position. After a bit, tried to tilt the kicker up, and it went up, all the way, now not to touch it! Things getting a little better, but still have one motor, no back up, and 9 miles to go. Fished for a while longer, then picked up the pots, only 5 keeper crab for 4 pots, not good. Also, the wind had kicked up and the ocean was rough. Well, at least we returned safely, with no further issues.

We only managed two keeper ling cod, Chad caught both, on large 9" root beer colored grubs. I caught two black sea bass.

Diagnosing the problem...I had my boat in to have an electric crab pot puller installed. To do this, the shop added the wires to my battery. No one did anything wrong, there was some minor corrosion on the positive battery post and wire rings, and the crab pot puller worked as it should, when I tried it in the driveway. After scrubbing with a wire brush, problem solved. Before we went, I was really thinking I should do a "shake down" trip, just to make sure no issues, but did not. I do have a very expensive marine battery, which I keep on a trickle charger, and keep the boat inside.

Next time, shake down trip before I start my fishing season, especially if anything with the motors, or electrical has been touched for any reason. Just happy kicker went up, main motor worked correctly, and we left the fishing area early to avoid the increasing winds.

Now to plan the next trip.