Finally got the boat out. Should have stayed home.

What a frick'in day. Now that summer is almost over I finally got the boat up to Erie this morning. I should have stayed home. They say any day fishing is better than being at work. That is up for debate. I was by myself so I usually leave out a few feet on the winch, walk down the trailer, unhitch, grab the rope and walk it over to the dock. Well today the winch strap snapped and the boat went floating on it's own. Luckily, it floated to the other dock so I didn't have to swim, I just tied it up. After I parked the truck, I walked down and jumped into the boat and into about 4 inches of water in the bottom of it. I forgot to put the plug in. Well, that was a first. It took the bilge about 10 minutes to pump that out. Well, it was time to hit the open water, I came out of the harbor and hit the gas. It purred like a slug, My 90HP Evinrude was hitting a whopping 7MPH. I either have a fuel line sucking air or the carbs are going to need rebuilt. I have a kicker so I proceeded undaunted. I got a few miles out and managed to boat two nice walleye in about a half hour. Then the waves started building. I was in 2- 4 footers and decided it was best to head in. It took awhile but I made it in with minor frustration with my motor. I put the trailer in the water, tied the broken strap on the boat and winched that baby home. I pulled out to the staging area and as the final kick in the butt, my tiedown strap also snapped. Good grief, somedays I should just stay in bed. Walleye for dinner tonight though.

Very sorry for your trouble, but that just sounds like another day of fishing for me. If it wasn’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all. At least you brought home some supper!

Don't feel bad my buddy and I twice in a row launched the boat with the plug out. And we fish together every week most of the year......jk

Yep..Not nearly as bad as the man and wife team I saw this year. I was at the ramp waiting to launch. I'm not quite sure why the first attempt was scrapped. So the man tells the lady who is driving something. I think it was more like "When I tell you to hit the brakes babe hit'em hard"..But I wasn't at the window to hear the instructions..So..She's up the ramp 50-75feet and starts going back towards the water at a pretty good clip..well this strap comes off the trailer and tied to the boat..So the guy hollers for her to stop!!!..The guy doesn't want the strap to get under the trailer tire and cause damage to whatever the strap is tied to in the boat..Anyways she doesn't know about the strap..And hits the brakes hard alright.thinking she had the boat already in the water..(Maybe)Their 50-60 thousand dollar fiberglass Nitro boat is now on the concrete boat ramp just a few inches from the water..

A Sunday afternoon at the boat ramp is cheap entertainment!

very true on lake Winnipesaukee also .

You just have to go about every other day or so to keep bugs worked out so they don’t all pile up at once on you.

Sounds about like every outing with my dad as a kid. Don’t recall a day out on the boat that something didn’t go wrong.

I fished Deer Creek Lake a couple of weeks ago with a friend of mine. When we went to pull out, we saw 6 emergency vehicles and about 40 people blocking the docks. We pulled up into the queue of boats and after about 20 minutes, a game warden, on a boat came over and told us that the docks were closed because someone had backed their truck and trailer into the lake. He said that it was probably going to be a couple more hours before the dock opened, so we should have one person drive the truck to the other end of the lake, to another dock and the other drive the boat. I talked to one of the divers on the way to the truck and he told me the truck that sunk was 114 feet from shore in 30 some feet of water.

That truck owner should have stayed home.

Keith

Boat ramps are cheap entertainment. I seen a guy and his wife put in a little 16 ft. open alum boat.
She undone her side of the hole down straps but he did not. The boat was still hook on one side to the trailer, he back into deep water and the boat flipped over and dumped every thing would that was not hooked down. Some floated and some sank. You could not help but smile.

A fella's got to do that every now and then just to remind him he's human, eh? Seems like the only time I pull that stunt is when my wife's along.

If you've never launched a boat without putting the plug in you haven't been boating long.

A bilge needs a good rinsing every now and then, that's my explanation to my wife when I forget the plug every 2-3 seasons.

Ya gotta pay your dues.

Can't make memories, parked in the garage.

And here I thought you were gonna say that you didn't catch any fish.

At least you didn't attacked by yellow jackets!!! And you did catch fish.

Always like the look on everyones face after we are all in the boat and someone says "Somebody put the plug in right"? Been there done that.

Yep..Yellow jackets!!!!...Yikes....About this time last year yellow jackets ruled the landscape..I'm really great full that Finster found "Tarus SC" it put a whoppin on them..And it puts a whoppin on red and black ants..Ah what A nice summer it's it's been..Thanks again Finster!!!

I think I had a yellow jackets nest in the boat under the decking by the gas tank when I started to re-carpet this summer. I just put the plug in one night before a good rain and drowned them out. Plug.... yea..... plug...….

You're welcome and you still owe me a dollar.

Well you could have had to swim & got skunked. Frustrating though with motor problems.

Figured it out with the motor I think. I pulled the cover and one of the spark plug wires was ripped off from the latch being moved to lock down the cover. Now, I'm no boat mechanic but I would think the motor will run better on all 4 cylinders instead of only 3. I'll replace the wires and give it a shot. Something tells me that was the problem! Oddly enough, it didn't run like it was missing yesterday. It just didn't have squat for power. Not that I could have fixed it in 4' chop anyway.

Well you launched the boat and did not drown the truck in the process. I think you are well ahead of the game.

If you forget the plug, as we all have done, just drive the boat with the plug out for a bit. Gravity will force the water to the rear, and suction will clear the water out the drain hole quickly.

Boat- noun: hole in the water you pour money into.

Mike

Not at 7 mph it won't .. you can play that game till it sinks. If you can't get it close to plane you are screwed.
Anyway I think you did just fine for a fresh water puddle jumper.

Could have been worse.

Well I hope he got a plug!

B - break
O - out
A - another
T - thousand.

Earlier this spring I pulled the boat out of storage. As I alway do once I got the boat parked at thome I pull the reciever. I pulled the pin and my wife asked me to help with something. Walked away and came back. Truck door was opened so I shut it and went back inside. Next day we were heading to the lake. I open the truck and looked and did not see my receiver. Wlaked around back and there it was so i hooked the boat up. Got down the road and lost the trailer from the truck. Luckly the emergency brake worked and all I got was a smaill dent in the tailgate of the truck. Could have been disastrous as I was going 55 mph and heading into a tight curve in the road.

I know a guy that bought a new bass tracker. He though he'd save money and drive out and pick it up in MO himself. Driving home they were going to go by the lake and him and his buddy decided to take it for a spin before they got home. So he launched his brand new boat for the first time, tied it to the dock, parked, and saw someone they knew in the lot on the way back and started talking. When they made it down to the boat the whole stern was under water. No plug. Brand new boat day 1. That story always makes me laugh a little.