Pool 4 winter boat preparation

OK, for all you pool 4 winter guys, what do you do to get your boat ready for winter on the water? I was thinking about plugging up the live well drains and pumps somehow. Anything else I should keep in mind?

It’s that time of the year, isn’t it?

Don’t use your livewell. Plug the drain, dump a bucket or two of water in the well and your keepers will last all day.

Keep your batteries fully charged.

Make sure your lights work, and please use them. Even yesterday, there were too many guys out there after sunset with no lights.

Take the lifejackets off the back of the chairs and wear them.

Drain the motor well after pulling out for the day.

Happy winter fishing!

Ditto on the lights. I headed in just before dark and found out my front lights didn’t work… note to self, check them before heading out when I know I’m gong to use them.

Plugs for drain/inlet holes.
most hardware stores will cary various sizes of plugs. The same style most of us have in our boats (expanding rubber) they should be in the slide out tray racks.

A few other reminders that are not don’t apply to the boat. Drain your trailers when pulling them out of the water. I like to have a bucket of sand and salt just in case. Unfortunately not all ramps are kept like Everts’ ramps.

Don’t forget patients.

FDR

Quote:

---

A few other reminders that are not don’t apply to the boat. Drain your trailers when pulling them out of the water. I like to have a bucket of sand and salt just in case. Unfortunately not all ramps are kept like Everts’ ramps.

Don’t forget patients.

FDR

---

I’ll be new to this cold weather stuff this year. You say drain your trailer..?? Do you mean pull out just enough for the water to drain off then pull er on out? I’ve ran into iced up ramps while duck hunting so I would think fishing would be the same.

I saw a guy last year down there that only had 2 wheel drive and it took him awhile to get up the incline and that was late fall. This will be my first year fishing down there during the winter.

put the big boat away and use a smaller boat. Lighter weight so you can pull it out easier on a slick ramp or manhandle it on the trailer if it didnt get loaded straight. Plus thers no well or bilge pump to worry about. Say a 14’V with a 15hp tiller.

Even with low flow always have a backup motor-kicker, electric, or both. Have a solid anchor for if poop hits the fan in the wrong area-and have a sharp knife for cutting the rope readily available (if you are utilizing an anchor)- in the event of a submerged ice chunk, or tree, or pepie would happen to drift into your stuck anchor.