Jmax's and CCSM's misadventures......We had a great day...why you ask...well we are not dead, hurt and we are still in one piece. Yes, today was a day I will never forget. I have never launched out of Sullivan's and James has been there only once. We missed the turn to 41, had to go down to the next one and turn around. Then we missed the landing all togather on 41, went all the way down until we saw the fireworks on 24 and had to turn around and back track. Finally got there and made it with little time to spare. Went about 30 miles more then needed. Next thing, we did get launched well and started off well but on the way down going around 70 MPH I thought I was about at Bennets lake and hung to the left. MAJOR WRONG IDEA!!!!! Next thing I know we are in about a foot of water going 70 with moss and trees laying all around us!!! emoEek I wondered why no one was with us anymore!!!!! emoEek I realized if I came off plain we would still be there now. Just as I realized what was going on a huge tree materialized right in front of us out of the darkness!!! AHHHH!!!!!!! I turned the boat towards the main channel still going 70 and prayed that there was nothing in front of us and we must have gone thru about a foot of water or less with an unreal amount of stuff there and only bumped a couple things. emoAngel emoWorthy God was looking out for us. Got down where I wanted to be with white knuckles and shaking but in tact. emoVomit Started fishing and fairly quickly CCSM says he has a good one. Rod doubled and I get the net, a 4 lber comes into the boat. emoThumbsup Then CCSM makes another cast and all I hear is, SPLASH!!! I turn around and see CCSM looking at where the splash was and he was empty handed. The rod he said had snapped and the recoil caused him to loose his grip. $160 dollar rod and reel sank to the bottom. Next thing my spook looked like a car battery fell on it, I set the hook and nothing. Throw back over there and this time no splash, just a big whirl pool and the spook goes under. emoEek Set the hook and the line just takes off. Drag screaming, there is no turning her. She rips the line like a mower through the grass and the line just mowed it down. With about 20 lbs of grass it stops. I start trolling towards it and you guessed it...she was gone. emoMad We must have missed about another five good bass through out the day and just could not get our act togather. About nine I check the fish and my live well pumps are not working. emoDoh CCSM goes up front and I start taking stuff apart in the back. One of the pumps is fried, melted and spent. emoDoh I take the top off to look at it and learned that when you do this on the water,...well water cushes into the boat. Looked like I struck oil!!! emoHoppingmad Got it back on and stopped the water coming in. Finally was able to get the other one to work after changing some fuses. emoSmile We managed several more bass but not one keeper in the bunch. Out of time we make it back to the landing and was amazed to look over what we had gone through that morning and you just would not believe it. There was so much stuff where we had gone through I would have never thought we could have done that. Back at the landing it was a relief to get the day over and still be complete. As we were leaving CCSM said,"Do you think we should say a prayer that nothing else happens?" I laughed and said I think we will be O.K. now. I barely got it out and James screams, "LOOK OUT!" I slam on the breaks and back up quickly...a guy that was not watching was backing down and we almost got clobbered. emoGoofy I stopped and honestly said a prayer that we got home. emoAngel This is one trip I will not forget. emoGrouphug Jmax
. All of a sudden I see all these stick ups go flying right by me and I feel the prop hitting some stuff and then I see out of the darkness this big log / brush pile right in our face emoEek . Jim started turning toward the river and the Ranger just starting skipping to the right. Well the pucker factor was pretty high let me tell you, but the good Lord above was watching out for us emoAngel and Jim's driving and decision to not come off plane was perfect emoWorthy and we somehow made it thru. When we came back up for the weighin I couldn't believe the area we had run thru. Losing the rod and reel was a minor thing compared to what could have happened. Congrats to the WetWillie and dec1. I hope to fish another event soon (but without all the problems) emoThumbsup.
