# Making The Big Decision



## Fishing Dj (Aug 11, 2012)

I have always been a fisherman but it seems to cut off about Mid-late September as hunting kicks in but managed a few fall crappie trips now and then. 
As I've gotten older it seems harder to find the time to break away for them but want to do it more. 
How many of you fall crappie guys have the dilemma of whether or not to close the boat up for the winter or hold out to the last minute just in case that "perfect crappie day" happens?


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## Lewzer (Apr 5, 2004)

Not a whole lot to do to “close up” the boat for the year. 
Oil change and lower unit oil change. 
That being said I’ll take to boat out in a heartbeat with the right weather, above freezing, and no salt on the roads. Kayak too.


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## chaunc (Apr 11, 2004)

I’m not a hunter. Never have been. I fish out of my boat until there’s a layer of ice on the lake. If you have an inboard that’s different. They don’t drain their water as well as an outboard so there’s a greater chance of them freezing and damaging the motor. The good crappie bite will last all winter. Get out and enjoy it.


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## fade2black24 (Jul 11, 2020)

As someone on here said yesterday, "I fish until my lure bounces off the water. Then I just drill a hole in it and keep fishing."


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## Evinrude58 (Apr 13, 2011)

*
fade2black24
Registered*
Joined 4 mo ago
45 Posts
#4 • 7 h ago
As someone on here said yesterday, "I fish until my lure bounces off the water. Then I just drill a hole in it and keep fishing."
I actually have fished off a bridge dropping a 2 pound weight on a rope to bust a hole in the ice so I could fish until the ice was thick enough to walk on.


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## crappiedude (Mar 12, 2006)

I was a hunter until 2018 and I fought the dilemma of being torn between fishing or hunting. Most years I would bow hunt until Thanksgiving and the start splitting my time equally between the woods and water. I don't believe I've ever winterized my boat and fish until ice forces me off the water. I do always change my lower unit oil before it gets too cold just in case water got in there. Some of my best days of the year are just before ice.


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## chaunc (Apr 11, 2004)

Good day yesterday. Fish were shallow. Jig and bobber, 5 foot down. Quietest day I’ve had on the lake in a good while. Not another boat in sight. Just relaxed and hammered the slabs.


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## bustedrod (May 13, 2015)

nice... perch and crappy yum my fav


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## fade2black24 (Jul 11, 2020)

Nice bunch of slabs right there!


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