# Salt Fork



## fishingjunkie (Aug 25, 2009)

Gotta share my experience with others so here goes. My boyfriend and I bought a boat on Thursday from a close friend of his. On the way home we hear a loud clanking and get out to check things out. Can't see anything wrong and we continue down the road. The noise has stopped. 

On Friday the guy that sold us the boat invites himself along to go fishing. He suggests Salt Fork because he goes several times a year with his family. Spur of the moment trip. We were able to rent a cabin for one night at a small discount. (Still expensive IMO.) We arrive at dusk and find we are at the end of a cul de sac right by the water. We quickly grab our rods since we have about 20 minutes until full dark. On the third cast one of us catch a LM around 12 inches. Three most casts another LM about the same size. Then a third. The water is muddy, but the friend is saying it's always that way. We're pretty excited to fish in the morning at that point.

We get up and hit the marina by 5:30 am. Get the boat loaded and get ready to launch and guess what? No keys. At home on top the TV. The buddy tells us he can start the boat with fillet knife, but of course we don't have one because we fillet our catch after we return home. We go on a quest to find a bait shop open that has knives. Pass several that open at 8am. REALLY??? On a weekend? Finally find one that sells cheap knock offs. Turn on the ignition only to hear click-click-click! Dead battery. The friend says "oh yeah that battery is over 10 years old and I think my nephew was playing in the boat the other night and might have left some things turned on." 

I go back in the shop and buy a new battery. Now mind you we have a brand new marine battery at home that we just bought for the trolling motor for our small 12' fishing boat. We switch out the batteries and it starts right up. It's only about 6:30 am so we still have some good fishing time left. I'm thinking things are looking up and we'll be okay.

Well, I come back out of the bait shop from paying for the battery and picking up some worms to see my BF, his friend and a stranger kneeling down looking at the tire on the trailer. Turns out the clacking we heard was the loss of a bearing. All I can think of is we drove almost two hours sometimes at 85 mph the night before with that boat and trailer! 

Call a mechanic that the shop owner recommeded. It will be 90 minutes before he opens, but we can bring it in. We decide to launch the boat and get it off the trailer in case it does blow apart. We're only a mile from the ramp and we have 90 minutes we can fish. In the first 10 minutes the BF catches a nice white bass and we're relaxing a little bit. 

At 9am the friend volunteers to take the trailer to the shop and lets us continue to fish. Ten minutes later he calls to tell us the trailer wheel has locked up and he's stuck on the side of the road, but the mechanic has agreed to bring out at flat bed and take the trailer back to his shop. Oh yeah...there's a security lock on the trailer and know where the key is? You got it...at home on top the TV. LOL

Had to hack saw off the lock. Due to driving the trailer so long it wore grooves in the axle so the mechanic does a patch job to get us back home. We continue to fish through the heat of the day for lack of anything better to do while the mechanic is working. No bites. Nothing.

The trailer is ready around 2pm so we decide to stick around for the evening bite. We fished until full dark and on the final trip in while trolling the BF catches a 10 inch walleye baby and I catch a decent crappie. The BF insisted we keep the white bass and crappie. It's the most expensive catch we ever caught!

I'm thankful that no one was hurt and we didn't damage the boat, motor or trailer. We both can't wait to return to the water after a thorough inspection of the boat and trailer now that we know how little both were apparently maintained. No more spur of the moment long distance trips either. And we will never forget the keys again!!!! 

BTW, I can say I don't know how impressed I was fishing this lake. It was definitely beautiful, very scenic, but seemed more geared towards recreational boating than fishing. No wonder I couldn't find any information on this lake on this forum before we left.


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## JignPig Guide (Aug 3, 2007)

Wow! Sounds like a great time... *NOT!*
That beats my 20-minute wait at the dock (on one guy). And I'm pretty sure it beats my towing of two seperate broken down boats on the lake (Salt Fork) last weekend.
Yea, I towed two break-downs in on Salt Fork last weekend. And waited 20-minutes at the dock on one dude. But still, I couldn't see leaving people stranded on the water. And I just can't let myself get too upset by someone elses incompetence at the ramp. It just aint worth it.
I really only got around to fishing about three or four hours on Salt Fork all weekend. I only hooked up once. But she was a biggun', and I lost her within' 3-seconds of hooking-up.
But still it was a pretty nice weekend camping trip.

Better luck next time...


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## TClark (Apr 20, 2007)

WOW, it's SO refreshing to learn I'm not the only one this stuff happens to.
My favorite saying is, "who didn't Know that?"


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## dugworm (May 23, 2008)

Plenty of information on Salt Fork...you just have to look. :G


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## fishngolf (Jul 18, 2009)

This stuff happens, just have to be happy no one got hurt from the wheel falling off, and a repair guy was close to fix trailer..other times some weekends go great. (like mine at Salt Fort last week : )


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## puterdude (Jan 27, 2006)

Glad no one was hurt and no really bad damage but while reading it all I was quite amused as it sounded like a chapter out of Misfit's book of misadventures.
Give the lake some visits as it's worth it as you've seen already.


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## river runt (Apr 10, 2004)

been there done that....there is two good days as a boat owner....the day you buy it..and the day you sell it...


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## Skarfer (Jan 27, 2006)

Dang - you drove for 2 hours to get to Salt Fork? From Massillon??? AND hit 85 part of the way??? Did you get LOST? Sheesh.....that's an hours drive tops. I know - we used to have a camper down there right near the Morning Glory ramps..........

If you need to get your trailer fixed the right way - head up to Akron and go to Friese Welding and Trailer.......it's close to portage lakes on Main St. They worked on my trailer and did an awesome/quick job.


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## Carver (Jan 20, 2010)

It is a shame your "friend" sold you guys a boat that was so poorly maintained. He could have at least checked the wheel bearings like you should every spring and made sure the batteries were charged. You might want to check out the motor also. Who knows the last time the lower unit oil was changed or the spark plugs changed out.


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## Skarfer (Jan 27, 2006)

I'll pipe in also - and suggest you change the water impeller (along with the seals/gaskets) also.......those should be changed at least every other year - as the fins start to warp and could effect your water intake.


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## fishingjunkie (Aug 25, 2009)

Yeah, he's not my friend.  I thought the same thing and appreciate the words of advice. I'm positive that nothing has been maintained on this boat since the guy bought it three years ago. Strong clue was when we had to clean out over a bag load of beer cans from the storage spaces including the live well. *shaking head*

Skarfer, I might have unintentionally exaggerated the drive time, but I know it took us quite awhile. We had a couple of stops along the way so I'm sure that didn't help. However, unfortuantely, the REST of the account is totally true!!!! lol Needless to say we have had a blast with the boat and (knock on wood) no more mishaps.

Does anyone know of a reputable marina that would inspect the motor without overcharging us?


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## pikeguy (Jan 28, 2009)

Fishingjunkie, try Norton Marine, on the corner of Manchester and State roads. 330-644-5020. They have been in business for a long time. Not too far from Massillon either.


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## Skarfer (Jan 27, 2006)

I take my boat - this one and my last to Maston's Marine, 1855 Kenyon Ave NW, Massillon, OH. Tel: 330-833-6811. Rick does an awesome job and is a hell of a nice guy too.

Kenyon is right out Lincoln way - up over the viaduct, stay to the right at DQ and head out.........past J&J Motors and Kenyon is on the right. Mastons is about 1/2 mile on the left. Can't miss it.


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## fishingjunkie (Aug 25, 2009)

Thanks! appreciate the recommendations!


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