When do you putaway the boat?

When do most people throw their boats in storage?

That question has a zillion answers I would guess.

Cabin people…..when they close the cabin.
Tubers / jet ski people……when kids start school.
Hunters…..when hunting starts.
Hard core guys…..never, the river is close by.

The answer is when you either don’t have time to use it or don’t want to fight the weather.

Trying to gauge the fall buying season. Feel the closer to snow flying the more prices drop bc they don’t want to deal with storing it over winter. Most guys I know are about middle late September. Curious to others.

Cabin people, kids schools, very good stuff didn’t factor in.

mine gets winterized about a week before ice up

Never the boat is always ready to go from January to January as said above Pool 4 is always open. Cannot remember a time I have ever winterized a boat.

I actually just a post of a old friend putting his away for the season yesterday.
The last two years my boat has not went to storage. Living a little further out of the cities now I’m not sure that it will be used all winter but it won’t sit very long.

I don’t. I keep mine in my garage that never gets to freezing. Last year I fished from my boat up till Dec 23 and was back on the water in early March. If I had put it in storage I would have missed out on some fantastic fishing.
I guess if you don’t plan to use yours now is as good as any time, but in my opinion the best fishing of the year is still a couple months away

I think “most” will be in storage no later than the 20th of October or soon thereafter.

Went to launch one year but the lake was frozen-one problem with putting away late is some shops will stop winterizing past a certain date-would that get me to put away my rig sooner? Nope.

Tom P. wrote:

Never the boat is always ready to go from January to January as said above Pool 4 is always open. Cannot remember a time I have ever winterized a boat.

X2 and genoa Lock 8

its always a guessing game for me as to when the weather gets close to freezing and gauging how busy the marinas are for winterizing. I store my boat outside so i cant afford to risk damaging it by failing to winterize in time. Im usually around halloween give or take a few weeks depending on the weather. I know i miss out on some great fishing but until i get heated storage thats what ill do. I spend time hunting in the fall and will fish from shore too

nhamm wrote:

When do most people throw their boats in storage?

NEVER ! Pool 4 baby …

I’m waiting for this boat I want to go down to $2500. When I buy it I’ll let you know when I put away for the winter. and I do have a Helix 5 that should fit right in the old spot.
BTW – I have that job coming up in Cologne in a couple weeks, I’ll call you this week.

bigstorm wrote:

mine gets winterized about a week before ice up

Well when do you know when that’ll be anymore? Frost/freeze in September…open water in December?
I try to put it to bed by end of October. Maybe an early ice this year?

Eelpoutguy wrote:

I’m waiting for this boat I want to go down to $2500. When I buy it I’ll let you know when I put away for the winter. and I do have a Helix 5 that should fit right in the old spot.
BTW – I have that job coming up in Cologne in a couple weeks, I’ll call you this week.

Well, when should I expect pickup, Helix included

I see why people just trade in at the dealer’s. So much less hassle.

Mine is always ready in the garage, but the last 3 years they haven’t been used after mid-September. That’s what friends with river rigs are for.

Call you tomorrow.

I usually put mine away and pull out the sled after Halloween

Never winterized one of my boats. I love pool 4 in the winter. The scenery is awesome and the bite is usually good for a nice meal.

If I’m only fishing bass, I will winterize once water temps get below 48 degrees. If I do some Muskie fishing I will go lower depending on my schedule. Lower than that I start thinking about soft water on the Gulf of Mexico.

Sometime between Halloween and Thanksgiving, usually closer to Thanksgiving.

Kyhl wrote:

Sometime between Halloween and Thanksgiving, usually closer to Thanksgiving.

Around here that would be a good time to get it serviced so cold starting problems aren’t an issue.

The week before Thanksgiving.

After I am done fishing..

I am it in all year long. Late fall/early winter is my favorite time to be on the river.

crappie55369 wrote:

I store my boat outside so i cant afford to risk damaging it by failing to winterize in time.

I don’t store mine outside, but it isn’t in a heated garage and it get used every month of the year.

Just make sure you drain the lower unit well and there is no water in livewells. Monthly usage through winter also helps. No need to keep it in heated garage for winter use.

Joel VandeKrol wrote:

After I am done fishing..

I am it in all year long. Late fall/early winter is my favorite time to be on the river.

X2…. I will put mine in our warehouse at work for a month or two when there is too much ice to break out of the launch. Usually we get a week or two of fishing in December on the Mississippi. If we are lucky we can get out every month of the year. January is usually the coldest but by feb and march we are back at it. Turkey day to Xmas can be some of the best walleye fishing of the year!

Start shopping now.

Anyone who is selling will be aware that any time after August 1 is living on borrowed time. In April-June guys are jacked up beyond belief and will pay anything for used boats. After July 4, the number of guys who want a boat and don’t already have it dwindles. And so does the enthusiasm to buy vs “I’ll just wait until next year.”

Any time after August 1 is a good time to buy. You may not hit the low point as far as prices, but a good deal shouldn’t be that hard to find.

Yes, you can get some great deals late in the season, but you also have to be willing to gamble because you may not find what you want and then you’ll be looking next April-May when everybody else is.

Grouse

If it’s staying in the garage…never..Pool 4 baby, if going to storage, sometime in November..depends on the weather.

Mine goes into winterized mid May and stuck in storage. It comes out late October and back to cabin in South Dakota on Thanksgiving weekend, ready to fish all winter…

I think this should be flagged as an inappropriate topic.