CTF name: thefinaltimeout Real name: William W. Stevens, Jr. Year born: 1961 Current city: Griswold, CT (soon to be Selden, Maine in 5 years) Hometown: Griswold, CT Family members:Wife Linda, Daughter Harley, Son Davidson Occupation: Carpenter (Electric Boat: 33 years)
1. What’s the meaning behind your screen name, “thefinaltimeout”? My dad bought a 27-foot Searay Sundancer about 18 years ago and brought it from Groton, CT to MooseHead Lake, Maine where he and my mom lived at the time on Hartfords Point. The name of the boat was TIME OUT. My family and I used the boat on the lake I think more than my parents did. One day, I had my daughter Harley about 20 miles up the lake (she was 6 at the time ). I pulled the keys out threw them on the floor and grabbed a drink. I told her that this was a test and she had to drive the boat back home. She did. I told her that if this were an emergency when she hit the cove, shut the motor down and beach it.
Anyway, I loved that boat and name, and when I got my next bass boat I named it Time Out Two. Well after three years with that boat I ordered my Tracker PT 185 in 2005 and named it The Final Time out knowing this was the first and last new boat I would ever own. That is where the my CTF name came from.
2. You’ve shared some awesome vehicle and boat restoration projects on the site. How did you get into working with your hands? I grew up in Griswold at the house next door to where I live now. We had a horse farm and were always working on something. But when I was 16, I blew the clutch in my 1968 GMC pickup. My dad’s friend said he would help get it back on the road. Little did I know that his help was going to be sitting on a stool drinking coffee and telling me what to do. It took all weekend for me to get it finished but it WAS HANDS ON. By the time I was 20 I had built two different show vans, both of which I placed in a national van show and won trophies.
Since then I worked in the Model Shop at Electric Boat (EB) for 15 years building full scale wooden subs, which taught me a lot about wood working.
As far as the glass etching goes, I paid a ton of money to get my vans etched back in the day. Finally about 20 years ago I started doing it myself. Since then I have etched just about anything you can think of. The vehicles and boats that we have done are cool and just a way to pay for my place in Maine.
3. What are your day-to-day duties likes as a carpenter for Electric Boat? What are some of the types of projects you've worked on during your 33 years there? For the first six years at EB, I was on the staging crew and we also did all the blocking for the subs coming into dry dock. Then I spent fifteen years in the Model Shop building full-scale subs out of wood, which was a cool job. But like many things, it changes with the times and now everything that we did is now generated in 3D on computers. For the last 12 years I have been back out in the yard and have gone from running a CNC Router to doing inspection on different things that I can not talk about.
"Yellowjacket"
4. What does Mrs. "thefinaltimeout" think of all of your projects? She is glad to see me out in the shop spending time with Davidson and friends instead of being out bowling ( I am a 1976 United States National Duckpin Champion ) and being in dart leagues, which I used to do a lot back in the day.
Working on "RubberDaddy's" boat.
5.You’ve shared some of the progress on your property in Maine. What led you to building up in Maine? Tell us about some of the benefits about living in Maine. Do you plan to retire there? Maine is THE BEST PLACE ON EARTH as far as I am concerned. My parents live in Greenville on MooseHead Lake and I have friends that live Palamaro, and more friends next to my place in Selden. My plan was to buy something in lower Maine, but while we were debating on what to do the prices were going up and it was getting more populated year by year. My buddy Mike, who lives in Selden, made us an offer on a piece next to him .. and for you guys who have seen the post know the rest.
As far as the benefits, well let me tell you this – LIFE IN THE SLOW LANE. People are so laid back and friendly in the area that I can not even explain it. My wife tells me that when I am up there I am a totally different person. Instead of paying $5,500 in taxes a year in CT, my taxes when everything is finished up there should run about $725 a year. As far as retiring, my plan is 55 and done. I am on the five-year plan. House finished. Garage finished. Bunkhouse finished. Then time to relax, enjoy life, fish and have a bunch of you guys up to ENJOY the finer things in life, LOL.
6. Your son is into the outdoors and got his first deer last fall. What are some of the most memorable moments you have shared with your son in the outdoors? Well, both my kids were introduced to the outdoors at an early age. One time at the DEP trout pond in Central Village, Harley hooked about a 10-pound trout and while I was holding on to her waist with her reeling in. I look at David, who was about 4 at the time, and he is in the water up to his knees with a fish on. Harley lost the fish about three feet from shore, but that was something I will always remember.
As far as memorable moments with the boy, there are a few, including he first bass he caught all by himself on Glasco pond with a shiner. I saw the fish jump as a bird was flying over some lily pads. I told him to cast in that direction. He did and the bobber went down. He got his first largemouth. It was 14.5 inches long. We put it in the livewell and about ten minutes later when he went to check it out, there was the darn bird in the well, LOL. I had the fish mounted for him and it is on his wall today. He was about 6 at the time.
For a more recent memory I would have to say it was when we did a Maine river trip up by our house. He hooked in to a Maine Smallie going 4.6 pounds. The look on his face was priceless as that fish was pulling the Crawdad all over the place for a good five minutes. That fish is also getting mounted.
7. What is the significance of your kid's names? When the wife and I were picking out names for our first child, she wanted to use the name Rose after her mother. I came up with Harley Rose. We were going to use David Allen for a boy after my brother who passed away when I was six. Well, we had a girl first so it was Harley Rose for her. Then four years later came the boy, so we changed things from David Allen to Davidson. We just thought is would be different and cool.
8. What is your history with motorcycles? As far as me and bikes, I rode many years ago but had a NEED FOR SPEED. I lost a few friends because of it, so no more bikes. It was bad enough that I got busted drag racing more than a few times back in the day. Between the wife and the kids, I have calmed down somewhat.
9. How long have you been into fishing, and what got you into? I have been fishing since I was three. My dad does not hunt or fish, but my grandfather did, so he was the one who got me into it. I live in Griswold and have done so most of my live. I had my own boat on Hopeville Pond since I was nine years old. All we did EVERYDAY during summer vacation when I was a kid was fish whether it was Hopeville in a boat, or riding our bikes to Pachaug /Ashland or Glasco, WE FISHED.
10. What is your most memorable fishing experience? That is a hard one, but I guess it would be a tourney I was in with a bunch of guys from work. It was a night tourney at Beach Pond. One of the guys who was fishing was a loud mouth jerk who won the RI Classic a few weeks before. Anyway, with about ten minutes left to fish that night I cast a black worm up to a rock ledge and WHAM, FISH ON! It ended up being a 6.4-pound largemouth, which gave me and my partner first place and lunker for the night. The loudmouth saw the fish, dumped his bag, and left without talking to anyone. He took a pounding at work for weeks.
11. What is your favorite kind of fishing? My number one fishing is freshwater bass fishing for both large and smallmouth. I also started getting back into trout fishing last season, mostly because of the TAZ rod. I had a lot of fun stocking the freezer at the same time. Now that I gave up the saltwater boat, I do not get out salt water as much as I would like too. But with the help of some CTF guys, we did get out a few times last season and had a great time.
Maine trout.
12. What’s your biggest largemouth bass? Where, when and how did you catch it? The biggest that I have gotten into the boat and weighed was caught in Maine back in 2006 on Toad Pond. It was 6.14 pounds. But I do not think that was my biggest. About 12 years ago I was fishing with a good friend Bob Gag (R.I.P Bob - Joe G’s cousin ) on lake X out of a canoe with live frogs when I got a hit from hell. After a long fight, I finally got the fish and a ton of weeds to the gunnel. As I was removing the weeds I saw the fish’s mouth just in time to see my hook come unbuttoned and the fish disappear back into the water. Not sure how big it was, but its mouth was huge and I know there have been a few 10-pounders caught there.
Bill in his shop with "Ol Blue Balls"
13. Do you have a dream fishing trip or destination you’ve like to visit? There are a few when the time comes. One would be to hook up with Joe G. and Walt and go on the trip that they have done in Mexico. The other thing that I want to do when I get to Maine on a full time basis is to explore all the water up there, which will keep me busy for the rest of my lifetime with all the spots there.
14. Do you have any fish-that-got-away stories that still haunt you? One that comes to mind was a BIG striper that I had on a few years back in the rip off the Race. We were using leadcore and drifting fresh squid into the rip. It had been a good day when my pole was hit HARD. I had the fish on for the best fight I ever had. I got it to within about 20 feet from the boat only to see it jump and spit the damn hook. Oh, well that’s why they call it fishing and not catching, LOL.
15. What are some of the reactions you’ve gotten from others regarding all of your tattoos, including your CTF tattoo? That’s a heck of a question. Some of the bosses at EB did not like me flipping them the lower lip which has F--- OFF on it. Back when I started getting my ink in 1979, it was kind of taboo not like it is today. I think the funniest reactions were with the kids’ parents when I was coaching in little league. We would start the seasons practices when it was a little cold out, so I had a long sleeve shirt on. And a few weeks later, I showed up with a tank top on. Some of them and the kids would try not to stare. It was funny as hell. As far as the CTF tat, everyone likes it. A few CTFers think I am nuts for doing it, but this site means a lot to me. I have met people on here that will be friends for life.
16. What is the toughest thing you’ve had to overcome in your life? Tough question, but I guess I would have too say losing my brother David at the age of six. I saw what it did to my parents. And then the crap that I put them through during my teens was not much better. Thank GOD with all I had done including two marriages and divorces and the partying that I met my wife of 24 years Linda, because without her I am not sure what life would be like today
17. What are you most proud of in your life? That ones easy. My kids. Harley is graduating from UCONN this year with a 3.4 grade point average and hoping to work at Mystic Seaport full time. Davidson has been accepted to the University of Maine, Oreno for next year. And it looks like he may be starting his own business with the help of a fellow CTFer. More on that when the time comes. The kid is a hard worker and will do good in life.
18. When not involved in fishing and your projects, what do you enjoy doing? Spending time with the family and thinking about the next project, whether here in my shop or the next step at the place in Maine.
19. What are some of your favorite bands/musicians? I like classic rock. My first concert was KISS at the Providence Civic Center in ‘76 Some bands I have seen are: Queen / Bob Segar / Frampton / Who / ZZ Top / Styx / Led Zepplin / Billy Joel / Hager / Cheap Trick / Elton John / Journey / Heart / Eagles / 38 Special. I wish I still had all the T-shirts I had then. On a side note, I will say that my buddy Mike and I had a blast with O BASS playing for us last summer up in Maine. It was a good night.
Some of the CTF crew at Bill's.
20. What are some of your favorite experiences as a result of being a member of ctfisherman.com? There are a ton of good times that I have had because of this site. Building boats with Med and crew. Mike G’s truck. Roxe’s boat. The Game Dinners (BEST EVER). All the bass events at my place. The blackfish event, and the list can go on. But there was the one night while working on Med’s boat that we all ended shaving our heads. My poor dog was running for cover and I know Med’s wife was not impressed when he got home that night.
2009 CTF Game Dinner.
21. What is one of the most valuable fishing tips you have learned from fishing with a fellow CTF member? I will not say who said this or told me this but he will know it was him when he reads this: You need to SLOW DOWN and think about your surroundings. Enjoy the fishing for what it is and appreciate what you are doing. Never take it for granted because it could be gone tomorrow.
22. You received a lot of votes for 2011 ctfisherman.com Member of the Year. How do you feel about that? I feel honored for all the votes. Like I said, this site is a big part of my everyday life. I have made lifelong friends here. I have enjoyed posting all the projects and have had a bunch of people tell me that they enjoy seeing the Maine camp progression. When it is done, I am sure a lot of you guys will end up fishing up there. Also, I enjoy helping out some of the guys who have questions about doing things themselves.
23. What are your fishing plans for 2012? FISH / FISH /FISH. I know that with the good times that we had with the CTF events lst year, I will be doing more this upcoming season. Plus, I plan on doing the BlackFish Bash again this season. Besides that, I want to spend as much time as I can in Maine working on the place and fishing when ever I can. Time will tell.
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