It was a bad weekend for boaters.

An angler in a 12’ jon boat was found far at sea two days after he pushed off from a St. Augustine, Florida, boat ramp and headed out the inlet to fish at 4 a.m.

An explosion at a gas dock in California killed two women and injured several others.

And head of the N.Y. branch of the publishing group that owns the rights to Harry Potter died off Italy’s Amalfi coast when a motorboat her family had chartered crashed into a 100’ white sailboat in broad daylight.

All of these events could easily have been avoided—but hindsight is always more accurate than oversight, of course.

The Florida Rescue

The search for the Florida boater came to a dramatic end when the U.S. Coast Guard found him drifting 12 miles off Jacksonville Beach — in a boat that was largely underwater, as shown in Coast Guard video.

Charles Gregory, 25, was rescued Saturday, nearly two days after he launched from the Lighthouse Park Boat Ramp late Thursday to go fishing for bull reds at the inlet—something he had done frequently in the past. Read more

Anyone wanting to get a close-up look at lake sturgeon or learn more about what goes into rearing this unique fish species is encouraged to take advantage of free hatchery tours at the Black River facility Saturday, Aug. 26. Tours will run from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the facility, located northwest of Onaway.

“Visitors will see 3-month-old lake sturgeon currently in the hatchery and learn about early life history, as well as how we can all play a role to keep this species healthy in our waters,” said Tim Cwalinski, Northern Lake Huron Unit supervisor with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

Researchers from the DNR and Michigan State University will be on hand to talk about lake sturgeon biology, early life history and current research. Sturgeon for Tomorrow representatives will discuss restoration work to improve sturgeon spawning habitat, sturgeon conservation and outreach programming.

The hatchery is located in Cheboygan County on the Upper Black River adjacent to the Kleber Dam. From M-68 2 miles west of Onaway, take Black River Road (F-05) north to Twin School Road, then west a little over 3 miles to the hatchery which is on the north side of the road just before the dam. Read more

Nebraska Game and Parks biologists are investigating the extent of a fish die-off along the Platte and Loup rivers near Columbus and downstream, as well as along the Loup Power Canal.

Multiple species of dead fish were documented along the waterways July 28, but more are expected to perish as hot and dry conditions persist and water levels decline.

Extreme heat has led to water temperatures measuring over 90 degrees in shallow stretches of these rivers in recent days and is the likely cause of the die-offs.

It is hoped cooler temperatures in the forecast will reduce additional effects.

The “Next Big Thing” in recreational powerboats is apparently the Scandinavian or Nordic style, sort of a modern Viking longboat, with high freeboard, vertical or reversed bow, sharp deadrise or “V” at the transom and lots of power based on the new class of jumbo outboards. Most also have a double-stepped bottom and a relatively narrow beam, tapered in more of linear shape than the typical broad-beamed USA design.

The boats are distinguished by lots of speed for a given amount of horsepower, great fuel economy and also by an impressive ability to zip smoothly through waves that would knock your teeth out in a conventional hull.

Most also have “modular” design, which means you can opt for anything from no seats at all to enough seats to turn the boat into a commuter bus. And most have bunks for at least two tucked into the console, as well as some sort of head arrangement. Pilothouse designs, with air conditioning, are also typical on the larger models, 25’ and up.

The boats were mostly a thing in Europe until the last couple of years, but now at least two U.S. firms are building models in the genre. Wellcraft’s 355 and Mastercraft’s Aviara line are both in this playbook—you’d never know they are U.S.A. built had the companies not ‘fessed up. Read more

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is advising anglers that full fishing closures and hoot-owl restrictions will be in effect starting July 26 on portions of some rivers and creeks in western and southwestern Montana. Full fishing closures prohibit all fishing. Hoot-owl restrictions close all fishing daily from 2 p.m. to midnight. The restrictions will stay in effect until conditions improve. Read more

Trolling motors are everywhere in fishboats these days, from the stern of canoes and jon boats to the bow of kayaks, bass boats and flats boats. In the last few years, jumbo motors are even showing up on offshore fishing boats—really big offshore fishing boats.

These are all 36-volt motors and all produce 100 pounds of thrust or more at full power.

The Rhodan HD GPS Anchor model is available with shaft lengths to 108”, winning the “mine’s longer” race over the Minn Kota Riptide Terrova, which is available with up to a 100” shaft. These should be long enough to reach the water from the bow of your 53’ Hatteras if you want. (Most of these motors go on the front of fast center console boats in the 25’ to 40’ range and are used to position the boats via “spot-locking” GPS over grouper and snapper reefs, in lieu of messing with all that anchor rope.)

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