prepare mooring for winter
 

this is my first year dealing with a mooring, how does one prepare a mooring for the winter, not ready to do yet, but want to be prepared

Really the only thing to do is decide how you are going to mark it. Most do the typical Clorox bottle, tie a rope to it and let the chain sink. Attach a bottle to the top and call it a day.

I always preferred to get a long rope, tie it off the chain and tie the other end off to a tree on shore. This makes retrieval easy and you don't have the risk of someone running over your bottle with a snowmobile or the ice shearing it off.

Remove Chain and Hardware
 

Our mooring is in shallow water, so we remove all the hardware down to the eye-bolt in the rock. I think this might reduce corrosion of the galvanized parts. I have heard of people who then coat the hardware in motor oil, but we just keep ours in the shed.

The only tricky thing is getting the heavy chain back to shore. I tie a rope to it, then swim back to shore, then pull the chain back. The first time I tried to swim with the chain, I nearly drowned!

see also...
 

See also this brief thread on the topic.
http://www.winnipesaukee.com/forums/...read.php?t=480

I prefer not to leave anything floating over the winter due to concerns of icebergs carrying it away or spring fishermen getting tangled in something floating just below the surface. Easy solution like codeman suggested to remove the ball and pull a rope/chain to shallow water for retrieval in the spring. No swimming required.

Another "Trick"

Seal the cap of a Clorox bottle with glue then string the mooring line through the handle and leave it 12-15" below the surface.

The good news is that given the Lake levels this year, the Lake won't/ can't go down much more to expose the Clorox bottle

In the spring, fish it up with a boat hook and Voila !

Wow really? We still have the normal fall depletion to continue. Without more precipitation to make up for the current low levels, why wouldn't it go down more? :) LOL

Anyone want to wager on how much lower it may or may not go? ;)

Take a look at the 2001 levels on Bizer...A LOT more!!

Dan

Sealing the cap isn't really necessary, as the downward pull on the handle will keep the jug inverted to trap the air in it. Also, if you do use this method, you'll have to let water into the jug a little at a time, checking in between to see where the jug settles down below the surface. It will sink until the buoyancy of the jug equals the weight of chain not resting on the bottom. I'd go for more than 15" down, as you don't want it hit by the prop of a fishing boat trolling in close to shore next spring (that happened to me). Also, you may have to let a bit more water into the jug each fall to compensate for corrosion losses on the chain. Finally, I prefer to use an empty, well rinsed red/orange laundry detergent jug, rather than a Clorox bottle. The heavier plastic strikes me as being less fragile, and perhaps easier to see for retrieval in the spring.