While fishing/boating?Are you willing to share?
My most recent was the bolt stuck in the carb. Not real scary but it's all I got now.
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While fishing/boating?Are you willing to share?
My most recent was the bolt stuck in the carb. Not real scary but it's all I got now.
Probably about the scariest moment I have had in a boat is when I was fishing offshore with a buddy from work for the first time. We had left the rig and were about 2 miles from the rig when his motor quit. He is a very good "car" mechanic so I didn't worry at first but then he said he didn't have any tools to work on the motor! I was shocked. Pretty helpless feeling being stranded out in the big "blue"! I have been run out of the water fishing the marsh by lightening but I have never felt more helpless than that moment offshore oh and that was my first trip with him and I have never made another with him. lol
i was catfishing in the mighty red river. we had had lots of rain and i was new to catfishing. i anchored down in a pretty swift current, only problem was i anchored pointing down stream. when i got ready to move locations, the water was so swift hitting my transom, i had trouble pulling the boat up stream to retreive my anchor. so i decided to crank the outborad and hook a hard right, flip a U, and just drive up stream. when i eased on the throttle to make my U turn, the whole back of my boat went under water. the top of my outboard was out of sight. i panicked and just cut the anchor rope. it was all i could do to get my little 60hp motor to push my boat back to the launch. i pulled my plug when i got it on the trailer and waster ran out for prolly 15 minutes. i was a little rattled, but i learned always to anchor pointing up stream from then on out.
doc :)
Ran a sand bank in pigeon once. Like to never got the boat out. Had to get out of the boat. For you folks that don't know me. I'm a chicken. Figured i was stuck and no one would find me. Live n learn.
Swift current is one of the most dangerous and scary things there is. So much power in all that moving water. Glad things worked out for you.Quote:
Originally Posted by docwaldo
Stumps! (and rocks)As many times as Ive knocked into one--- it still scares the mess out of me! The scariest was the time up north in my 20' Inboard Fish & Ski. I was navigating upstream chasing walleye on the Spokane Arm tributary of the Columbia river. Water was low and had a good bit of current, I drifted out of the main channel and got into ROCKS! Not gravel, but big ol boulders. A stump is relatively soft and has a little give and results in a dull thud...Rocks make you feel like you just lost the entire underside of your boat and all your fillings! Ended up with just a little bend in the prob blade tips. Managed to get it 12 miles back to the truck. Wasnt a very pleasant experience...
Mocassin in the pirogue once AND getting sucked under some branches dragging a flat boat up river in 30 degree weather at night………long story.
I had the family (Carolyn and both boys) fishing on the Red River during high water. The river had a very swift current but we where on the pontoon barge. We anchored at the end of a rock jetty in the swift water with the bow facing into the current. We was fishing of the side of the jetty in the eddy catching those small whole eating size catfish as fast as you could bait and throw into the hole. A very large tree came down the river in the current and a fork in the trunk hung the anchor rope and got under the pontoons circling on the rope. The tree was beating on the pontoons and kicking the barge onto the side to where water would come over the floor and almost turn the barge upside down. It threw CAROLYN and both boys down on the floor and almost into the water. I managed to get to the front to the anchor rope and tried to get my knife to cut thr rope but because I was trying to hang on to stay on the barge and cut the rope the knife got knocked out oh my hand and into the river. I could not get the rope loose and the log stayed under the barge forever then it finally broke loose and went on downstream. When I saw that everyone was ok just scared really bad we just there and tried the gather ourselves thanking the good lord for taking care of us. When I got the barge back on the trailer I looked under it and both pontoons was dented and banged up real bad, and one side was almost completely broke off.
The good LORD sure took care of us that day and taught me two great lessons.
first don't get on the river in high water and swift currents no matter how good the fish are biting
and if I anchor a boat I tie off with a slice knot and a log tail so I can get it loose if I have to.
the best part was I called tracker and they told me where to carry the barge for repair, then the replaced a pontoon and fixed the barge at no cost to me.
Heck...I'm glad ya'll are ok....that water is dangerous....be safe....
My scariest was having a steering cable break at about 40 mph, but only slightly scarier than when I ran on a sand bar going 50 mph. But let me tell you about one friend. Two stories. First, he hit something under the surface going about 30 mph. His suzuki 140 kicked until the prop was straight up and he thought it was coming in the boat. Lucky it fell back over, but broke off the boat and was hanging by a cable. It could not be saved. Second and most scary. He was surf fishing at Elmer's Island near Grand Isle. The under tow got him. He washed out in to the gulf and his family did not miss him for a while as they were playing and walking the beach. He fought for his life trying to swim towards shore but was steady getting out, to the point of almost losing sight of the beach. He had one of those styrofoam ring nets and was about to just hang on and give up. Then the miracle happened. He saw a fishing boat far away. He started yelling and trying to wave, but his arms were so tired he hardly could. He saw the guy in the boat head to the console and was about to start the boat. At the last second the guy in the boat stopped and looked around, thinking he heard something. He took out binoculars and some how spotted my friend. He cranked up and headed to him. When he got to him, he swears the older man said to him"where you swimming to son, the rigs". He could not pull himself in the boat. The man helped him in and ran him back to the beach, nearly 7 miles.He told him, he was one sound from probably never being seen again. He had been in the water about an hour and a half. His wife and kids were frantic. ALL worked out thanks to God blessing him with a strangers help. By the way, his 2 incidents happened a couple weeks apart. Sorry so long, but thought it worth telling. Danny
Danny, that undertow will get you in a hurry. They tell you the best thing to do is just swim parallel to the bank until you get out of it but that is alot easier to say than to do. Your natural instinct is to swim to the closest land you can find. Thanks for the stories.
Trial run on a 21' Trisonic boat a buddy and I rebuilt. The motor overheated on the maiden voyage almost 1 mile from the Earl G. Williamson launch on Caddo lake. I ended up swimming back to the launch after dark to get a tow. The ranger at the park started talking about a large gator they had seen earlier in the day.
I was running in the Atchafalaya near Cow Island in my 15' flat and as soon as I started going across one of those big eddies I hit a submerged tree, I mean a huge submerged tree, I ran up on it, full speed and when it hit the lower unit of my motor it jarred me to the front of the boat. all the while my motor had gotten kicked sideways, STILL RUNNING FULL THROTTLE mind you, fighting to get to the back of my boat while doing circles and taking on water in the middle of the Atchafalaya. When I finally got to the back of my boat and shut to motor off I just sat there and floated downstream and laying flat on the bottom of my boat with water still in it.
Just a reminder, those silly little kill switch lanyard that you attach to yourself could come in handy in such a situation. I run with mine 95 + percent of the time but have caught myself forgetting now and again. I started a new habit lately, when I unhook it from my vest strap I hang it on the steering wheel. That way I'm reminded to attach it again.
"gene"
Very good advice, Mr. Gene. Thanks for sharing your wisdom with us.Quote:
Originally Posted by PawPaw "gene"
I was on the bow of a Jon boat setting a hoop net on the Mississippi river in about 15 ft of water, the boat was drifting back with the current applying the tension to set the anchor and feed out the net one hoop at a time from my hands. I was down to the next to the last hoop when the net caught on a speed lace on my boot. My buddy was at the helm but was kinda drifted off not watching that close. The pressure of the boat drifting back in the swift current and me trying to free my boot...well before my buddy figured out between my hollering what was happening and throttled the motor up to relieve the pressure...I pert near went off the front. If I had ...that net would have took me straight to the bottom and in all that murky water and confusion I doubt i would have got out of it or pulled my boot in time. It all happened a lot faster than I make it sound.
I didn't wear no speed lace boots no more when setting nets.
Yall aint gonna believe this...:yikes
Went catfishing on lake o the pines with a wealthy east texas rancher when I was younger.
He let me use one of his expensive rods but warned me about taking good care of it.
Soon I had a fish on but he was pulling so hard and the waves and I lost my balance and
was literally yanked out of the boat by this huge powerful fish. I held on, not going to let anything happen to
the rod until this fish pulled me all the way to the bottom of the lake! Then he went in this old car that was on the bottom and the worst part is he rolled the window up on the rod tip!
Now that is funny. Since I'm from Texas, I'm just gonna laugh and keep on walkin'. Attachment 218917Quote:
Originally Posted by green shiner
Give shiner another beer to bring him back to reality.
"gene"
and I thought there for a moment that you was going to say the headlights were on.........oh wait, that was another story...Quote:
Originally Posted by green shiner
My scariest day of fishing was February 18th 2012, it was late in the day and we had about 15 crappie. We were fishing the Little Red River out from Bald Knob AR and decided to run back up the river to try one more spot before calling it a day. We were the only ones on the river at that point. The water was 43 degrees, the air temp was around 45 with a 15 to 20 mph wind, we were in 20+ feet of water. This particular boat has an inboard jet drive and with the chop on the water from the wind it began to get rough. At about 20 mph the bounce from the rough water caused my reverse bucket to come unlocked and fall down which threw the boat into reverse, this in turn forced the back of the boat up out of the water, but the forward momentum drove the front of the boat under water. In an instant the boat rolled over and began to sink. We got the life jackets out and laid across them and began to breast stroke toward the bank that the truck was on. We only had about 40 yards or so to go to get to the bank but quickly hypothermia began to set in and our arms and muscles began to become ridged, and it became almost impossible to swim. My best friend who was a little closer to the bank made it. I on the other hand I tried to grab a tree limb and catch my breath, I felt like I had run a marathon I was breathing so hard. But when I tried to reach up to grab the limb, I couldn't lift my arms up, and my life jacket floated off and I was in serious trouble. By now I can't move my arms enough to swim any more and the water is at my lower lip. I hollered at my friend that I was in trouble and he looked around, and God's grace found a straight limb just long enough, 15 feet, to reach me if he walked back into the river up to his chest. Once out of the water I collapsed on the bank but my friend wouldn't let me stay down and forced me to try to keep moving, the pain in my back and legs from the hypothermia was excruciating just to move. But I got up and started to try to get up the river levy. It was over a mile back to the truck and being wet and with the wind chill it was extremely cold, but we made it back to the truck. It seemed like it took days to get warm again and cough up the water droplets we sucked into our lungs while trying to swim. We should all wear or life jackets at all times. I recovered the boat 3 weeks later with most of our fishing stuff still in it and had it running within 30 minutes and it's still going today. And I fixed the reverse bucket though. On a side note my best friend who saved my life, was just recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. I wish there was something I could do to save his.
I've sunk a boat or two, got my motor hung in a hollow log in the middle of a swamp at dark, run out of gas and/or spun a prop while exploring miles from the beaten path, and hit something at 4:30 in the morning that poked a whole the size of my finger in the hull (pulled the plug and ran hard 15 minutes back to the landing letting water out as fast as it was coming in). However, the only time I can say I got truly scared in a boat was Friday afternoon. On the way to the duck camp, running a narrow bayou lined with Roseau canes, I came around a hairpin with my gatortail on step. In the middle of the turn I met up with a center console fishing boat. He shut down, I cut hard right and let off the throttle, keeping enough throttle to try to turn. I had the boat turning, but listing so baddly I figured I'd sink when I hit him. I straightened up and let off at the last minute and braced for impact. His momentum carried him just enough as I cruised by him. I bet I missed his transom by less than 6"! We almost hit each going 25! I caught my breath, made sure my dad was still breathing, politely asked the guy to next time stay on his side of the bayou and made my way to the camp... Close call!
Bleedingduck that was close. Here we have many canals to fish with each one having many side canals. I see boats come around those corners on step like they are the only ones in the world. I've made it a habit of getting off step at most intersection and the others I slow to barely stay on step (15 mph) until I see all is clear. It's a wonder we haven't had more accidents. A while back someone came around a blind corner only to run into a work boat at WOT. Don't know if he survived but he was critical after the accident.
"gene"
I had never been to the "ski course" at Henderson so one day decided to check it out.......since it was my first time to be in those narrow canals I was idling with my big motor slowly and watching the depth finder every now & then....I had just entered an "S" curve and a young guy in a big bass boat coming from the opposite direction came flying at me wide open.....all I remember is the fright on his face as he was fighting the steering wheel.....as I was going very slow, all I could do was steer right into the hydrilla and speed up......I kept waiting on the contact but somehow we missed each other.....the other guy never checked up....I decided I didn't need to go to the "ski course" after all........I did have my life jacket on....with the kill switch attached........
do you always attach your kill switch to life jacket?Quote:
Originally Posted by prefers shiners
sometimes I put mine in a loop around my wrist. its a lot easier to put on and off.
I clip mine to my life jacket which I never take off while I'm in the boat. Easy on easy off, but it works great as I've stood up a few times without disconnecting it and BAM, the motor stops.
"gene"
yes....always to life jacket....it is too short to do the wrist thing and turn the steering wheel.....maybe if you have a tiller that would work....Quote:
Originally Posted by green shiner
PPG.....my guess is that all of us have done that.....and on cool days the jacket keeps you warm......
pawpaw, there was an accident at Rockafeller earlier this year, a few months ago if that, where a boat collided with a work boat and one of the guys died and I think the others were brought to a hospital, didn't here if they made it or not but I think they came out ok. I ALWAYS slow down for blind corners also!Quote:
Originally Posted by PawPaw "gene"
Quote:
Originally Posted by PawPaw "gene"
I agree, the crazy thing is that even though my motor doesnt meet the requirements for legally having to have a kill switch, I have one sitting in my dry box with intentions of putting it on for about a year now. I need to make it a point to get it completed.