Boat Clean-Up After the Fishing Trip

Adler

Adler

Well-Known Member
Hi all,

This is my second year with a boat now and I find that the clean-up and put away of the boat and all the gear after a trip feels a lot like returning home after a long weekend of camping, even if only out for a day on the boat. I'm rinsing the boat and trailer down, some of the gear, returning hooks/weights etc to the proper box, flushing engines with fresh water etc. It's gotten easier with each trip, and I'm trying to do as much while on the boat in terms of organizational methods to make it go faster (and getting my family involved), but I figure some of you more experienced boaters have tricks of your own, so thought I'd put the question out there - what is your boat cleaning routine and tricks to make it go faster? Also, what kind of things do you have to do every trip - flush any motor with fresh water? Rinse rods and reals?

I also have recently acquired an anchoring system, and would like to know how I should be cleaning/storing that. Just let the rope dry, rinse it with fresh water, lay it out for thorough drying, or just leave it in the large container?

I apologize if this has been covered in other threads, I did the search and didn't see anything like it in the first few pages. Appreciate the insight!

Adler
 
I have been slowing getting more organized. This seems to help a lot lol. If one is organized there is less stuff to have to put away etc. My boat is all raw aluminum with a full cabin and door. I just wash her down and that's it. I do some pre washdown stuff out on the water on the way in that saves some time as well like washing the decks etc. with the raw water washdown then the rods and reels etc. with fresh water. I can then put the rods and reels in the cabin before washing the whole boat down.

I usually rinse my engines every trip but after a long weekend and getting home late etc. it isn't always done. I will use salt away if I leave them for a couple of days. I also don't always deal with any fish right away at the end of a long trip or day and will make sure they are well iced and drained and deal with them the next day (all fish are bled, gilled, and gutted on board which saves time as well). Some of this stuff takes the pressure off upon returning. Any tackle used on a trip goes in a bin above the back cabinet and is rinsed the same day but put away the next day or so after it is dry.
 
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yup feels the same as camping lol.

flush and spray down everything everytime. only thing I found that helps in taking a small pail 4l icecream works good. and throwing all used tackle in as gear is getting switched out. nothing gets put back in tackle box.

I find even rinsing asap, my boat looks like its getting grimy i can see waterline etc. do people wax there boats? or use a soap?
 
Hey FS this is what I do, I use to hate cleaning/rinsing my boat especially at the end of a long day or weekend but I think key things are to be organized in your cleanup, have everything ready to go as much as you can, and do it the same way every time.
I keep my muffs and a spray nozzle in my splash well, I keep a 5 gallon bucket at the side of my house ready to go for my kicker motor, while on my boat when I am done fishing I put all of my used tackle in a small 2 gallon container I keep on board and I try to organize as much as I can, I remove all garbage at boat launch as soon as I have pulled my boat out and cleared the launch area and put it in the garbage can at the launch. As soon as I get home I start filling my 5 gallon bucket and drop the kicker in it and fire it up, while its fired up I remove blankets, coolers etc from boat and put them away and put my rods and anything else on board that needs a rinse on the flat surfaces at the back of my Boat above the splash well, I then grab the hose and rinse the inside of my boat and the rods and fill the small bucket with water that has all my tackle in it, keeping an eye on the 5 gallon bucket water level, as soon as I'm done rinsing the inside of the boat and gear I top up the 5 gallon one last time and then hook the muffs up to my big motor and fire it up i then put everything either inside my house or stored in the boat, then shutdown the kicker empty the bucket unhitch my boat from my truck, shut off big motor put muffs and sprayer back in splash well and push boat into storage area. I have it down to a tee and its really not so bad, I can clean it up and rinse it and have it put away in 15 minutes or so in the worst condition possible.
I use car wash on it every once in a while on a nice day or when I want to give my boat a little extra love or else if I am taking it to the lake I usually use car wash and a car wash brush and give the whole thing a good scrub down, we do water sports so in and out of boat in bare feet etc its nice to have the boat nice and clean for that. I just use whatever is on sale at crappy tire and it works well for me, I've never waxed my boat and never would, and if you saw my boat you'd see why LOL
 
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haha my boat is the same , i am a little more concerned with the tackle and gear fist off, i lay everything against the fence and rinse it really good, downriggers need to be rinsed really good, rods,net,brutus puller, traps,then i try n get the trailer tongue as high in the air as i can , and rinse the floor really good down into the bilge with drain plug out. then of course rinse both outboards, the kicker i put in a garbage can with the hose clamped to side of garbage can and leave the hose running, it is amazing how much crap comes out of it so leaving the hose running is good to get as much fresh water thru it as i can.My big motor is still blown up but have found a parts motor and the rebuilding will begin this week.
 
I come home and let the wife take care of the clean up....Much easier that way. Those who know me know this is true. She normally has a martini and a bucket of soapy water ready when it get home. But now days its just soapy water...
 
fish stalker said:
yup feels the same as camping lol.

flush and spray down everything everytime. only thing I found that helps in taking a small pail 4l icecream works good. and throwing all used tackle in as gear is getting switched out. nothing gets put back in tackle box.

I find even rinsing asap, my boat looks like its getting grimy i can see waterline etc. do people wax there boats? or use a soap?
Click to expand...


I do the same thing. I keep an ice cream bucket full of fresh water on the boat and as gear is changed out it goes into the bucket. I use a lot of blued hooks so this goes a long way towards preventing the hooks from rusting up.
When I get home, the rods and downriggers get the freshwater hosedown treatment. The boat usually gets done the next day. Out comes the soapy water and the boat gets a good scrubdown. The coolers and fish hold get the bleach treatment as well. Usually, to do the boat and coolers takes no more than an hour and a half.
Dave
 
I dont know if im weird, but i actually enjoy scrubbing my boat down after a trip, I always freshwater rinse everything as indicated above, run the outboards for 5-10 mins to get fresh water through them, and rinse and dry my tackle. I am a little OCD with it actually, but it pays off as you can feel confident next time you go out that everythings taken care of correctly. I found that the more you do it, the quicker you get at it, and its just part of fishing. This is the first year ive kept my boat in the water and plan on pulling it out to scrub the hull and put another coat of wax on the upper decks.

cheers
sudsy
 
Yes...that is weird , Sudsy..

I hate it myself.......but I do it anyway.

If there is a hose at the marina, I will flush hull and trailer off as soon as it comes out of the water.
If not I do that right away when I get home...no matter how I feel.

Next day....wash EVERYTHING....and flush engines.


My only buggaboo is :-......when I'm on the water I tend to put spoons and hoochies I just took off, in a big pile inside a container.......and when I get home I have a big ball of crap to untangle and wash......

Fishing is the easy part......it's all the other stuff you have to do that is work........:p
 
sudsy said:
I dont know if im weird, but i actually enjoy scrubbing my boat down after a trip, I always freshwater rinse everything as indicated above, run the outboards for 5-10 mins to get fresh water through them, and rinse and dry my tackle. I am a little OCD with it actually, but it pays off as you can feel confident next time you go out that everythings taken care of correctly. I found that the more you do it, the quicker you get at it, and its just part of fishing. This is the first year ive kept my boat in the water and plan on pulling it out to scrub the hull and put another coat of wax on the upper decks.

cheers
sudsy
Click to expand...

Good post Sudsy. Every year I take better and better care of my gal. I hear you on the confidence thing. That is a major driving factor for me.
 
just re coil leaders before throwing in bucket and put a twist tie on to lessen tangle. I usually throw on the floor of boat (gently lol) or seat and get rods down with new gear then when not in hurry coil up and twist and throw in bucket incase I want it again or for nontangle.

how long you guys flushing motor for? I thought it just needs a min!?
 
fish stalker said:
just re coil leaders before throwing in bucket and put a twist tie on to lessen tangle. I usually throw on the floor of boat (gently lol) or seat and get rods down with new gear then when not in hurry coil up and twist and throw in bucket incase I want it again or for nontangle.

how long you guys flushing motor for? I thought it just needs a min!?
Click to expand...

I usually go about 5 mins. a motor.
 
Yamaha say flush theirs for 10 mins,
Might be overkill but that's from the manual
 
I flush the big motor on a fairly high idle so it goes faster, thermostat opens pretty quick. I'm set up to flush kicker and main at the same time. While they're running out comes the pressure washer, I find this is quicker than the brush and soapy water also. That is my routine anyway, I do tend to get kinda wet washing the inside but it turns out nice and clean.
 
Organization and practice. You will get faster. I start with flushing the motors and while that is happening I pull out rods, riggers etc. for the rinse. Terminal tackle is left to air dry overnight with the Plano boxes beside them . I do the boat and gear right away after a trip. Up here the winds do blow and so if all it takes is hooking up the boat, we get out more often.

If the Fish Goddess has smiled on us by the time I've done the boat, SWMBO has the cleaning and packing of the catch well under way. ;)
 
Not sure what year they started adding the direct hose conection to the cooling system, but for those who have it, do you fire up your engine with that connected or just let water pass through the system with hose pressure. I have heard it's a bad idea to run engine but curious to hear what others have to say.
 
I always flush both engines and give a rinse down of boat and especially trailer with fresh water. Then rods and downriggers. 90% of the time it's the same day but there are those days when it's late and I push it off for the night.
 
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