i recently finished a two day training class put on by the 100th Meridian http://100thmeridian. org at lake Mead, Nevada (this was second class i’ve taken) and while i have been one of many voices of clean and dry for a while i was amazed at how devastating these fresh water mussels are. These things will get in your intakes and motors and will destroy the motor. i am now better equipped to not only inspect my boat but to help others on what to look for, where to look and why.
Here is my own inspection process I do on my boat each and every time i go to a lake. By doing this i’m not only am taking care of my boat i am decontaminating my boat and insuring i’m not transporting anything to the next lake i’m going to fish.
When I get on the water i let my livewells fill whether or not i’m fun fishing or practicing for a tournament. once the livewells are filled i treat the water with Catch and release whether i intend to put fish in the livewells or not. This product will disinfect my livewell system. Catch and release kills Quagga Mussel larvae! if you don’t see Catch and release in your favorite tackle store ask them to order some. it is by far the best livewell treatment on the market for the fish and for killing Quagga.
When I’m done for the day and trailer my boat i check the trailer bunks to make sure i don’t have any vegetation on them. i open my live well drain, pull out of the water and look at the parking lot trying to find a place that has some slope. if you park your tow vehicle facing uphill you can get better drainage, it will drain on a flat surface but it will do better on an incline.
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I then tilt my motor all the way down and let it drain. i pull the bilge plug and drain it. i have a ranger Z521 and the screens in the livewells come out very easily so i remove them and set them on the deck to dry out, if you put fish in your livewell these screens will catch any scales, crawdad or shad parts regurgitated by the fish. as all the draining is going on i wipe down my boat with Peregrine 250 Boat Cleaner. The Peregrine 250 does a great job of getting water spots off and cleans and waxes very well and Peregrine Waterdog can kills any veligars (Quagga Mussel larvae) that could be on and in your boat.
When I’m done wiping down the boat with a cleaner/wax, i raise the motor and lower it again to get whatever water may be left. i wipe out my livewells being careful to get all crawdad, shad parts and any fish scales that might be in there. i clean the screens, spray them with Peregrine Waterdog and wrap them