How long a wait at the landing?

[zelek]

It's been maybe 10 years since I've been on the river in the spring. I remember it took about 2 1/2 hours to get in at Frontier one weekend morning the last time I went. If I were to come up tomorrow or Thurs. could I not reasonably expect to be in the water sooner?? Assuming I arrive at the landing early that is. Thanks!

[ILLIFIED]

It took us about an hour on Sat AM at 8:30. This was before Clementson was open enough for me to feel comfortable dropping in. I'm pretty sure Clementson is open now and that should alleviate some of the bottleneck. Depending on what time you arrive, I would definitely expect that you got in the water sooner.

[brmuskie]

From my experience people in general are better at the landing than they were 10 years ago. everyone gets their boat ready before they get to the ramp - push the boat off and get off the ramp is how a lot of people do it now. It goes pretty quick except for the guys who need to try and start their motor still on the trailer, those guys still clog things up a bit but it is getting better.

[goose89]

It goes pretty quick except for the guys who need to try and start their motor still on the trailer, those guys still clog things up a bit but it is getting better.

When do you suggest we start our motors??

[Fredd]

Just push off and start it. You will be able to troll ashore if you have problems (unless you don't have a trolling motor, but I am guessing someone would offer you assistance in this case). People playing with their motors while on the trailer waste a lot of time. They have a right to do so but would help the common good if they implemented another practice. Just my two cents......happy fishing!

[goose89]

People playing with their motors while on the trailer waste a lot of time.

Playing with and starting are two different things. If I take up too much time to get my motor running before I slip off the bunks, well, I apologize. My face is cringing thinking about the potential clusterducks if everyone just pushed off, crossed their fingers, and scurried to get their TM's down and up before breaking off the shafts when getting to shore.

I think we should have had our motors running and ready to go before getting up there. Yes, watching folks with dead batteries and bad gas is frustrating. But, I don't think starting your motor up while still on the trailer is to be frowned upon.

[goose89]

It goes pretty quick except for the guys who need to try and start their motor still on the trailer, those guys still clog things up a bit but it is getting better.

I think I know what brmuskie was trying to say after re-reading. The folks that are starting their motors up for the first time this season, often TRY to start for a while, before getting it started, or finding out it won't start. Frustrating for the unfortunate boat owner and everyone behind.

It pays off to have our motors running and have confidence that they'll start before heading up, for sure.

If your motor starts easily, getting it started as your slipping into the water and easing off the trailer is the way to go, IMO.

[jwmiller33]

When the line of rigs waiting to launch is longer than 10 or so, I agree with Fred that you should just float off the trailer and let the truck pull out so the next guy can go.

My favorite is watching the guys try and start their motor while the prop isn't even underwater and wonder why it is smoking.

[Eyewitness]

Feel like I need to chime in here....As an owner of a 20 ft rig with a very large motor (225 DFI), there is no way I'm gonna off load the first time of the season without making sure my motor fires over and starts. To winterize it, the fuel is shut off and run out completely and it takes a minute to get it fired. That being said, if I was to wear down my battery because it's cold out and takes a few cranks to get it going, I certainly don't want the boat in the water and off the trailer at that point, as there is no way I'm going to crank it on to a bunk trailer on a steep ramp. I think there is a common sense line in the sand that says "have your ducks in a row when you hit the landing", but a little patience on everyones part goes a long way.

As an example, when it came time to load up at the end of the day, I waited for a half hour plus like everyone else and watched a lot of frustrated people trying to get their boats on straight, etc...I loaded in under 30 seconds and had my boat out of the water. I got accalades from two guys standing there about how fast I was. Then I took another 30 seconds to attach my boat buckles and some jerk in a Ranger yells at me for taking another 30 seconds to tie my boat down. A couple years ago I probably would have responded, but I let it go. It just wasn't worth ruining my day over...The point is, no matter what you do you can't please everybody.

[Fredd]

I agree that you need to have your primer bulb firmed and everything ready to rock when you hit the water. I will even dry fire my boat before the first launch to make sure that it is ready for the season. I think that most people have confidence in their equipment, so pushing off should not be too scary. If it is, you may need to do some maintenance or fixing. I personally could not run a boat that I did not trust, and I have operated some very old vessels in my lifetime. When I am at the landing, I am always thinking about the guy behind me and how I can keep things moving. Most fisherman are like this as well I believe. Look out for one another, help each other at the landings and with rides to and from the landing and good fishing all!!

[TruthWalleyes]

Feel like I need to chime in here....As an owner of a 20 ft rig with a very large motor (225 DFI), there is no way I'm gonna off load the first time of the season without making sure my motor fires over and starts. To winterize it, the fuel is shut off and run out completely and it takes a minute to get it fired. That being said, if I was to wear down my battery because it's cold out and takes a few cranks to get it going, I certainly don't want the boat in the water and off the trailer at that point, as there is no way I'm going to crank it on to a bunk trailer on a steep ramp. I think there is a common sense line in the sand that says "have your ducks in a row when you hit the landing", but a little patience on everyones part goes a long way.

As an example, when it came time to load up at the end of the day, I waited for a half hour plus like everyone else and watched a lot of frustrated people trying to get their boats on straight, etc...I loaded in under 30 seconds and had my boat out of the water. I got accalades from two guys standing there about how fast I was. Then I took another 30 seconds to attach my boat buckles and some jerk in a Ranger yells at me for taking another 30 seconds to tie my boat down. A couple years ago I probably would have responded, but I let it go. It just wasn't worth ruining my day over...The point is, no matter what you do you can't please everybody.

Pretty sure that whether it be a 10' boat or a 20' boat with a BIG Motor That you can start that baby up in the driveway with water hose hooked up to the motor.

First time my motor starts is not at the lake

[Fredd]

Eye, I understand each situation is personal and can see where you are coming from. I might ask, would you reload your boat if it didn't fire right up or try to work on it while in the water? If so (keep it in the water), would you pull along shore/ice to work on it (remember, you might have to wait an hour or two to get back to the landing to relaunch) and how long would you work while on the trailer before pulling it off to the side? Rainy is unique in that the waiting line is usually longer that what we deal with at any other point/place in the year. All the more reason to expedite our procedures and have our ducks in a row. It sounds like you have things figured out but others may not and I just wanted to "plant" some other seeds of thought.

[Swimmer]

I truly believe some people have no clue about access etiquette. Not always their fault. Several factors: the rookie factor -- realize they need to go fast, but the pressure is on and mistakes are made; bad upbringing -- Dad did it this way, so I will too; equipment age/condition -- no explanation needed; and the very occasional arse hole who dallies as a matter of practice. I sure there are some I missed.

As far as starting your motor on the trailer. Yes. If it takes a minute to start, I'll survive (considering it might take the same amount of time to begin operating a trolling motor). I think having the best boat control is paramount at a crowded access.

So I guess my point is to allow a little patience. Believe it or not, not everybody has new 20 foot rig that he fishes 3 times a week. I harken back to 20 years ago when we'd pull out the lawn chairs and 12 pack to watch the opening day access comedy. Still possible today...but in my opinion, it's gotten a lot smoother.

[Opie]

Hey, no picking on us Ranger guys. We all know you tin boys have glass jealousy hidden inside of you .

Dean Thorn

[Rodbldr4fun]

Patience is important in a situation like the Rainy in spring. Most of us have had unexpected problems. But, it is incumbent on all of us to make sure the motor starts BEFORE hitting the ramp. As was said above, we can get the motor going with a hose; even a garbage can with water will do the job. It isn't that tough. When I travel all the way to Rainy River, I want to be sure my motor is running before I leave. I don't want to spend the money and my time to find my motor won't run when I hit the river.

[Swimmer]

And as someone mentioned, you can dry start your motor. If it runs for 5 seconds, you can be pretty sure it will run when you hit the water.

[brmuskie]

Sorry to ruffle some feathers - it doesn't seem like any of you guys are the ones that I am worried about. The ones that annoy me are the ones that take more than 5 minutes to TRY and start their motor on the trailer while nobody else can launch. My point is that if you are having problems or if the motor hasn't run yet - unload it and work on it in the river.

Personally - I run mine with a garden hose before I leave my driveway every spring. I am not driving up there without knowing for sure there are no problems starting my motor.

[bignet]

Why anyone would drive anywhere fro 2 to 8 hrs to fish with a boat they dont know will even start is just nuts but you know what they say you cant fix stupid you just have to try and be polite and you can even offer some help to try and move things along

[JakeJ_Mn]

We all want to get in and get fishing. I always run my motors before leaving from home. BUT - I DO start my motor before pushing off the trailer. If for some unknown reason it didn't start and I needed to work on it - I would rather pull it out right then and wait another turn. I bring waders and have helped plenty of boaters in and out.

It sometimes frustrating waiting to launch or land, but I'm quite sure we all have had some problems over the years.

[ac777]

When I was up last weekend, the vidas access wasn't a bad wait at all. And I didn't have the greatest trip up with the axle on my boat trailer breaking, and I had to go home and get another trailer to pull it up there with. That trailer didn't have a winch, but thankfully at he access, every time we loaded up out of the water a couple guys offered to hel seeing we didn't have a winch, and it was only my wife and I. Otherwise we would have had to take the motor off and everything out of the boat to get it on the trailer, which would of held up the landing. Overall Id say people were willing to help each other out, and were very courteous.

[iceranger792]

I work @ a marina and i gotta say 9 times outta 10 Problems hit cause they were in a HURRY!!! I've seen guys pull their boats out with the motor still trimmed down I even seen a guy jump in and free dive to save his boat from sinkin cause of the forgotten plug! I've seen em launch with the strap still on and drown they're boat...Seen em rip cleats right off boats cause they forgot to unhook the safety chain.. I've even seen an overloaded boat go under after the 1st wave 10' from the dock...Seen NUMEROUS guys fall off the dock while getting in/out of their boats atleast 10 times(5 of those times it was my co-worker

And all these problems could of been prevented! This is how i do it;

#1-Remove trailer strap(s)

#2-Load boat

#3-Get ropes ready

#4-Trim motor up

#5-Check for lifejackets

#6-Pre-fire motor(i run mine in a 5 gal bucket of water for 5 min before leaving home, or when waiting to launch)

#7-Back trailer down until bow is @ the waterline then unhook wench and/or safety chain.

#10-Almost forgot, CHECK PLUG!!!

#11-When you start hearing LOTS of Loud Cussing thats usually a good indicator that someone needs help loading.

Take your time(not your Sweet A** time) and remember to BE SAFE! People can and DO get hurt before they even get out on the water so dont be one of em

[findergameandfish]

great points!!! I think the fish will still be there also? I think people are in way too much of a hurry.?

[3andadog]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I was told by the guy that services my boat that a garden hose won't supply enough water to big motors. I will err on the side of caution here since I can't afford a new motor. My motor has never had cranked more then a few seconds before it's started either even in real cold weather so I feel pretty good about that.

Of course I really don't want to be the guy clogging a ramp either

[Eyewitness]

TRUTHWALLEYES, some of us work long hours and don't have the time to pull the boat out and run it with muffs before leaving home. This trip is typically a last second, the ramps are open, let's go type trip. Heck, with the weather what it's been, I hadn't even thought about opening up my outside spigots on the house yet....

FRED, been doing the Rainy for many years and have seen it all...lol

As I run a fairly new boat, my confidence is high that things are going to run just fine, but it's too big a boat to not be under power with when my trailer leaves the ramp without it. I'd pull it before launching it to find that out.....

SWIMMER, dry starting ANY outboard is a bad idea. Even for 5 seconds. I have some marine mechanic back ground, so when I say this, it's not an opinion. Impellers are made of soft rubber, dry starting your motor takes a lot of life out of them and is a no, no. To each his own, but being someone with 25K motor, it's not happening in my camp. Just think about it.... 2000 RPM's / 60 sec = 33 rev's per second x 5 seconds = 167 revs of nice soft dry rubber on the inside of your nice dry tight fitting aluminum pump housing. Combine that with tolerances that are even tighter than normal with very cold conditions, and it makes it even worse.

OPEY, considering how many nice fish I put you on in my "tin boat", I know you appreciate it more than you let on....lol

As Mavrick said in Top Gun, "no I'll let you be MY Wing Man any time"!

Hahaha........ Tomorrow isn't going to come fast enough.

To anyone reading this that's going to be up this weekend, I'll be the guy with the Pirate Flag on the back of my White Lund with the Ranger guy beside me netting my fish......:)

[jwmiller33]

Eye, were you up last weekend? I think I saw your pirate flag...

I dont know about you guys but if I was having motor issues, I'd still putz around with my trolling motor close to the landing and fish for the day. I wouldn't scrap an entire weekend fishing trip just because the big motor wont start while on the trailer. It's not like there are any boat repair shops open at 7 am on a Sat/Sun in Birchdale, MN. I keep tools and everything in my boat, so if it is fixable at the landing, it is fixable on the water (I've taken my prop off to get line off the shaft and changed spark plugs on the water before). I wouldn't make the 6 hr drive to and from Rainy with a motor that might not work.

If each guy at the landing took an extra 60 seconds to fire up the motor and monkey around with stuff while on the trailer, well, when your waiting behind 30 other rigs to launch (which can happen), well that's a half hr out of your fishing time during prime timebecause other guys are coming to the landing not prepared. This is in addition to the 10 minute walk from where you park back to the landing (conservative estimate). That's already on top of the 1-2 minutes per boat to launch as it is, maybe even more with the guys that forget to take straps off etc until its their turn to launch. Before you know it, the prime morning bite is already over.

If I had 25k invested in just my motor, I would definitely have enough confidence that I can float off the trailer and have it start, if not, I'd rethink my investment strategy . Like I said, I don't know what you could do at the landing that you couldn't do on the water as far as fixes. I certainly wouldn't head home and scrap a fishing trip just because the motor doesnt start on the trailer. Its probably either flooded or cold blooded (unless you have bigger problems), and in the meantime, I am going to get a line wet and putz around with the trolling motor (unless the batteries are dead which is your fault)

With that said, just get up earlier and be the first to the landing and you won't have to wait on anyone but yourself. I just hope we can all move as fast as possible on the ramps and use our best judgement so we can make the wait time as short as possible for everyone out there. Last weekend I was earlier enough to the launch each day that I only waited 5 minutes on Fri and didnt wait at all on Saturday. The early bird gets the worm

[Effie07]

iceranger adn eyewitness,

? for the two of you with your marine mechanic background. I was taught that starting a motor dry on the trailer would not only cause premature seal failure but also ruin the water pump over time. Any truth to that?

[jwmiller33]

Ya I'd never start my motor without muffs or the lower unit under water. Either way can be done in ten min in the garage and can give you peace of mind to push off the trailer and get everyone fishing faster

[smb1]

There is no problem using a garden hose with "big" engines, at least not any made in the last decade or so. Running big engines in saltwater, we flush the engines after every use by attaching a hose either to the ports on newer engines or muffs for older ones.

[Grubstake]

If you have time to fart around on the internet you have time to start your motor at home.

[Eyewitness]

JW, yea that was me out there....Heading up again tomorrow after work. Hoping the forks hold tight till at least Sat....keep yer fingers crossed!

I do understand your viewpoint, however the day I can't take a whole 2 minutes to load or unload my boat is never gonna come. In my eyes that that is not unreasonable. I believe it's the folks that back to the ramp, get in position, and then start unstrapping, loading stuff from truck to boat, yada, yada, yada, that could have been doing that while they waited that cause most of the hold up. It only takes a half dozen in a line of 50 to add to the wait. However it's just part of life....I think I have mellowed in my old age and just plain expect that it is going to take time to get in and out plain and simple. It's just not worth getting wired about. If you don't want to miss the prime time window then be there at 6AM, if your not there till 6:30 or 7AM, then expect that for every five minutes your late you'll wait an additional 10-15 minutes to get on the water. Same goes for pulling out...

To me this is a special deal that I think we should all just consider ourselves really fortunate to still be doing. I'd rather look at it positively and celebrate the good time with all my fishing bretheran that are lucky enough to share the experience...If ya see me out there, take the time to say say hi.

I'll be fishing Pinewood and west. Good luck out there!