Northwest Fishing Reports

I really wanted to post a nice little fishing report on Lake Erie tonight, But thats not going to happen.

what IS going to get posted is a fast story on how a simple shake down cruise on a new boat can turn bad fast, even if ones laughing the whole time.

Awhile back I bought a 12 foot fiberglass row boat for a the big sum of 39 bucks, I knew the stern needed the wood replaced, along with the wood trim along the outside (the trim was pretty much dirt at this point). Hull was a unpleasant shade of green/black due to the oh so nice moss/mold everything outside grows around here, but she cleaned up nice and white(ish) with a light scrubbing with a industrial scrubber pad (hey I'm a chef, those pads work wonders on a lot of things)... anyway after flipping the boat upside down once to many times I heard a nice crack come from the inside, turns out that the flooring needed work as well, not a big surprise due to the rest of the wood being bad...however I have not seen Mahogany rotten before, now I have...

So today after a few days of rain and my vacation time running out I slapped a fast and dirty floor together out of some plywood we had and a pair of 6 foot 2X3's (odd sized stuff Lowies sells) and she was looking pretty good for a eyeball job that took all of an hour... slapped a transom up and tossed my new Minn kota into the back of the pickup, stole the batt from my car(I'll put it back I swear) and headed out to the lake to see how she does. Got there and theres a few boats on the far side, one guy on the bank by the ramp tossing a surface lure for bass..I backed into the lake and shoved the boat out, at this time the only place I have I can tie a rope onto her is about halfway back so it looks odd to say the least, but she is floating and no waters rushing in (so far so good).

Now I'm not a small guy by anyones look, so I'm more worried at this time about getting her off the gravel and out far enough to drop in the motor..easier than I thought..get out a few yards from the docks and decide to fish by that side since I've never once put a line in it..start mucking about and decide to sit on a 5 gallon bucket (no seats yet) and again..so far so good...then I hear this gurgling sound and it hits me...there are two small holes about 1/2 in diameter roughly where I thought the water line wood be, I of course in my hurry, forgot about them until the water came into the boat. So whats a guy to do?..well I went to turn around and thats all it took...I was swimming with the fishes(well I never did see any fish, but hey)...hit the surface and theres my boat slowly heading away...swimmings like riding a bike I guess (its been years) but i caught her and reached up and hit the reverse on the motor and head to shore.. the whole time thinking "You are such a moron" and then I hear the guy on the beach yelling out to see if I was ok (nice that there are people out there that cares) and I yell back, yeap..fine outside of being embarrassed (then I notice theres now three people on that bank) and they asked if I had my life jacket on..well I did, and lets just say a fat guy finding one that fits is a pretty tough thing to do in its own rights.

I get to the bank, sit on a rock a few minutes kicking myself, hell I know better than to move fast in a unknown boat like that. And then they ask if I'm ok again...that gave me a chuckle as here I sat trying to untangle some line from the motor and kicking myself and they were waiting for me to show up ok. All in all a fun day, a bit wet but hey...nothing lost, and a lot learned... I'm just glad I didn't take my 7 year old out on the first trip, that would have scared me a bit since he isn't a good swimmer yet. I'm sure once he gets home from his girl friends place he'll get a good laugh from it.

Oh yeah..the things I learned...

1: Patch ALL the holes dummy
2: tie a rope to yourself to the boat, just in case
3: Put the wallet in a water proof bag (wet cash anyone?)
4: no matter how wide a boat is, a fat boy like me can STILL make it rock
5: even though it seemed like a good idea to take the batt from the truck(just in case), leave it there.
6: PATCH THE BLOODY HOLES!!!!!

:joker: Thats funny! Brings back old memories.

Funny,...I remeber the 1st time I bought a boat,..14'MFG,..hurried so fast to put it in the water I forgot to put the plug in! Water rushed in so fast,..had to pull back out of the water,..luckily my son was there,..he's 24 so he was able to help me get it out and empty it,..lol,..talk about a moron,..lol,..glad your safe though!

Funny story! I am glad you can laugh about it now and that things didn't go further south (i.e. the bottom of the lake). I think we have all been there to some degree or another.

Better luck next time!!

did you catch anything?










just joking

That's a funny story.

I'd be careful about number 2 on your list though, tying yourself off to the boat is not a good idea - if it goes down, and you can't get the rope off in time - you're going with it.

Been there done that with my 8' Livingston "the supposedly unsinkable boat".I proved them wrong .It was me at 300 lbs,my buddy at 165 lbs,my Honda 7.5 hp motor,gas tank ,ice chest and fishing gear.We take off the dock at Lk Stevens and were 2'' off the water line.One lil boat came by with a lil wake and we get swamped.boat motor gear and us are now 2 feet under the surface.I rowed back to the dock.All they saw rowing was our heads and necks.

*LOL* caught my hat..it was happily floating away once I got some of the water out and a bit off of me....as for tieing off, the boats a little 12 foot fiberglass and wood job that will be getting some of that closed cell spray in foam...pretty sure I'll sink faster than it.

The oddest part is that right next to the ramp is a boat that sank, you can see it and its not that deep...I can't help but wonder why no one has pulled it out, outside of its just a small row boat looking thing.