The Fish Box

  Wisconsin Fish-Box Install

Flying out to Wisconsin from Cape Cod to install a fish-box might seem a tad eccentric to some. Two By Sea is a Buzzards Bay 33 owned by Rue and Vickie Leitzke, who are both very serious about their fishing and the equipment they use.  As a result, Two By Sea is the most fishy of the Buzzards Bay fleet.  She’s equipped with Scotty powered down riggers, Lee Top Gun outriggers, cockpit engine controls, cockpit mounted fish finder, and an artfully done custom Fillet Table / Rod Holder / Secondary Anchor Holder combination unit designed and built by Rue and his go to machinist and designer, Romey.  Rue’s company, Pivot Point, located in Hustisford, WI, is a leading manufacturer of non-threaded fasteners, and they are good at what they do. Pivot Point is fully ISO compliant, and their business controls and process mapping is something I greatly admire.  I frequently consult with Rue about our business.  Multihull Development is on a pathway of similar process control and mapping, with the ultimate goal of becoming ISO compliant.

Before now, when the Leitzke’s would land a fish, they would flip up the fillet table, open the cooler lid underneath, and drop the fish in place.  Rue wanted to improve on this with an in-sole fish-box underneath the starboard cockpit hatch.  Of coarse nothing is simple.  Two By Sea is a multifunction fishing ANDcruising boat. Rue wanted to be able to remove the fish-box and still have the hatch seal because when he is just cruising her the space below the cockpit hatches is ideal storage.  This necessitated a secondary gutter system be built beneath the existing hatch gutter.  Also, Rue wanted the fish-box to drain overboard, and yet be removable without having to disconnect the plumbing.  This would require some kind of slip fitting for the overboard plumbing, and perfect alignment, with zero room for error.  So the installation of this fish-box system would be as critical as the construction.  And so I am headed to Wisconsin

With the molded parts previously sent out there, I flew into Green Bay, WI at about 11am and am met by Rue in a new Ford F150.  Knowing Rue for a Big C conservative, and remembering he was driving a GMC truck the last time I was out here, I said, “Government Motors”? His answer was just as short, “Yup”.  People vote first with their wallets.

We arrive at the boat in Door County, and we immediately get to work.  I wanted the worst of the work done ASAP, so I grabbed the grinder, scuffed up the fiberglass, and we have the secondary gutter bonded in that afternoon.  The next day was more of a running around day, having dropped in the fish-box to get some precise measures for the custom plumbing.  Romey, Rue’s aforementioned machinist wizard, flew up to Sister Bay (Romey is an amateur pilot), to meet us for lunch and receive his latest assignment. 

The next day Romey had the completed fittings back to us and we were ready to complete the installation and see if this thing worked as I designed it to. 

A couple hours later, with thru-hulls installed and the plumbing completed, it was time to test.   I am laying on my back in the Lazarette, with a flashlight in mouth as Rue drops the fish-box in place…..and it’s a perfect fit.  The fish-box is easy to pull out, it drains overboard, and it keeps the mechanical underneath it dry.  A big sigh of relief is felt all around.  I was confident, but until it works, you never really know.  Of almost equal importance (to me anyway), we finished a day early, so I get to go Salmon fishing tomorrow morning and try to put some fish in that box.

Rising out of bed at 0345 hrs, I try to be helpful and bring any remaining gear down to the boat.  By 0430 we’re off, running a smooth 22 knot’s; with Two By Sea totally ignoring the 2 foot chop.  This morning’s destination is just around the northern tip of the peninsula, in the waters known as “Death’s Door”, named as a result of all the lives lost from the myriad of ships wrecked here, as the conditions can change mighty fast.  I wonder what some of those seaman would think of the equipment and technology that we are using today and what they would have thought of our speedy Buzzards Bay, a vessel that shares nothing with the old ships, except a common mission: be fast, be safe, and be economical, and catch fish.

A half our later and we’re on the spot, putting lines in the water.  We aim for a 6 line troll, but as the third line is set, the fish start hitting.  This isn’t fishing, this is catching.  And it’s the same thing for the next 30 minutes, with 5 Salmon landed and 1 Lake Trout.  And then we lost the bite, with the consensus being that we just didn’t start early enough.  I thought it was early enough, but it’s hard to argue with a half empty fish box.  The fish-box worked great though, and Rue was really happy with the improvement to his cockpit. 

The Rue must be commended, as Two By Sea is just so well set-up for taking Salmon and Walleye.  All tasks are performed with minimal effort, with all gear naturally at hand, yet without clutter.  With the cockpit engine controls and auto-pilot remote, keeping the boat on the spot and at a precise is easy, even when fishing short handed. 

Our trip back to the dock was a great reminder of what our boats do best and why it is important.  The wind had been building to a steady 20: 25 mph, and the seas were running 4: 5’s footers with an occasional 6 or 7 thrown in for fun.  Two By Sea did her usual Buzzards Bay thing, “tip toeing through the waves” as one Buzzards Bay owner calls it. Rue kept Two By Sea at a steady 18 knot’s on auto-pilot, and though the boat went up and down with the waves, there was not a hint of pounding, no sudden movements, and nothing to get excited about.  And that’s what our Buzzards Bay series do best….create non-events out of conditions that would either scare or at the very least make highly uncomfortable the crew of an average boat.  So instead of having great morning fishing with a slow, hell-ride back to the dock, we had a great day of fishing, with a quick and straight forward ride back to the dock.  We arrived back home in pretty much the same amount of time it took to run out, despite the vastly deteriorated conditions.  Rue hauled out the fish, and I scrubbed down Two By Sea, something I’ve been wanting to do since I arrived. 

We often receive inquiries about the fish ability of our Buzzards Bay’s.  Well, the Leitzke family is our most serious fishing owners, and theirTwo By Sea is supremely fishable.  Everyone who has fished her, including local charter captains say she is among the best platform they have every fished from.  That sounds like quite a statement, but do the facts support it?  What vessels in this size range has her combination of stability, ride comfort, speed, cockpit size, single level floor from helm to transom gunwale, and maneuverability?  What builder of vessels in this size range offer complete customization which allowed Rue and Vickie to tailor Two By Sea to their exact requirements?  The Buzzards Bay series is truly a most able fishing platform. 

I love trips like this, as it is such a great reminder of the versatility of our boats, and the varied interests of their owners.  Whether you are looking to cruise inshore or offshore, if you are interested in seeing new places or just fishing new waters, we would welcome the opportunity to talk boats with you, and show you what a Buzzards Bay can do for your kind of boating. And we have existing owners you can talk with, like the Leitzke family.