"12 feet of Happiness" or "If You Live in OR, You May As Well Be a Redneck"

This craziness started a while ago (how long?  Ages ago!)  

Bill, as we all know, is a BASS fisherman with a big fancy BASS boat that will only touch water that is connected to boat ramps with docks attached.  The big fancy BASS boat has been to a number of lakes that do have fish (BASS) in them which only he has the skill to catch.  When I go with him, the first hour is fun fishing, the second hour you will find me reading a book until Bill yells, "Fish on!" then down goes the book and up comes the pole.  The rest of the day follows this cycle.

Working at ODOT I followed all the salmon and steelhead fishing stories from the guys with interest and the trout stories from Chris.  Salmon and steelhead are caught in the river.... no boat ramps, no docks! During the last month I let it be known that I was looking for an aluminum fishing boat, 14 - 16 ft. in length with a 10 HP motor.  

Jeanette was the first one who came up with one and I was too slow to follow it up.  Never realizing how hard these boats are to find used I missed out on that deal.  So when Jacob called this morning to tell me he had found one at a garage sale, we didn't waste any time.  Besides we were going to town today anyway.

These are really redneck Oregonian boats.... ugly to look at and no redeeming qualities. It is a type of boat "that I wouldn't be caught dead in".

So...this is what we found!

 Isn't it the most sorry looking thing you have ever seen?

But did I get a deal on it.... won't tell you what it was going for but I got it for $100 less!  The guy (age 83) swears it doesn't leak and the motor worked two years ago (mmmm).  

The other exciting part is that I (who have never trailed anything in my life) drove it home - all of 10 miles.  

 Bill's BASS boat does look better on a trailer but this one just screams FUN, FUN, FUN.

It did come with some pretty nifty spare goodies.

 Don't ask and I won't be forced to make up a story.

Maybe this really means that the motor doesn't work.

Can't wait to get back from CA and try this out.  First trip is down to Twin Forks or Twin Rivers or whatever it is called for some small mouth bass fishing that are guranteed to be catchable.  But I'm still bringing a book with me.

You are probably wondering where is my picture?  My smile was too wide to fit in a picture.

Happy Fishing!