Most Embarising Moment on the Water

[fishfordollars]

Everyone has a good story or two. I will start with mine and everyone else jump in and let's hear it.

I was fishing a state top 6 tournament many years ago with one of my buddies. It was the first weekend of June and a very raw, wet, and unusually cold for the time of year with high winds and 4-5 ft. rollers. I had a rod come out of my hand on a hookset and as I was reaching for it I went in. Since I was in my buddy's boat I had no extra clothes. I got back in the boat, striped off everything and was standing in the front drying off with a towel. There were several boats very close to us and I started borrowing clothes from several members of our club. A pair of pants here and a shirt there. I had gathered up enough clothes to put on, but was not dry enough to put them on without getting them wet so I continued to dry myself off while standing in the front of the boat. All I needed was a jacket. There was another boat about thirty yards from us that had taken in everything and I hit the TM over toward them to see if they had a jacket I could borrow. They did, but it happened to be a two women team that was bundled up due to the weather that was fishing the same tournament. They loaned me a jacket and needless to say they were in an earlier flight at weighin so everyone knew the story before we arrived. I was totally embarressed and took tons of grief that afternoon.

There was one other instance happen to me with no clothes and other people that is posted under the boat ramp thread if you would like to read it. That's where I got the idea for this thread after posting it. Let's hear the stories.

[simplejoe]

YEP, my moment was on the article located in the boat section also,

good Idea fishfordollars withthis thread

[Aaron]

There seems to be a trend here.

you + no clothes @ the lake

My most emerassing moment is when I was bluegill fishing with my buddy and I hooked inot a nice LM on my UL.  I proceeded to lose that fish in front of a group of guys fishing in a bass tournament.  Then there is the countless times I have sent lures flying into the surrounding foilage trying to show off my ability to cast with my BC.

[jivey]

Mine wasn't that embarassing, more of a right of passage if you know our fishing group. After getting a jig hung up on the back of a pontoon boat tied up to a dock, we moved over to it. As I was trying to free my jig, I had one foot on the bow of the boat and one foot on the pontoon. : Well my buddy hits the troll motor in the opposite direction thinking I had freed my bait, I hadn't. I had a slight moment of hesitation trying to decide if I wanted to be stranded on the back of someones pontoon or get back on the boat. (I have no idea why I didn't just immediately jump back onto the boat.)

So before I know it, I am like mid splits between these boats and I am about to go in. I look to the pontoon and see a ladder that is folded up hanging from the back. In a last ditch effort I grab onto the ladder and leap towards the pontoon. The part of the ladder I manage to grab is just folded up and connected to nothing, so it falls into the lake along with me, my rod and my $125 oakleys >. I am trying to get my friend to take my rod so I can get my glasses (They had fallen off my head and were sinking) but he was laughing so hard he wasn't listening.

We dove for 15 minutes looking for my glasses (10-12 feet deep) but never found them, I suspect there still there. My favorite part of this story is that it has happened to each one of the three of us fishing buddies at some point and each story is hilarious and a completely different situation. ;D ;D

[Still a Bigbuckifan]

Mine happens every time I go out. ;D  ;D

[Shad_Master]

I actually have three stories, but don't have time to share them right now - but I did want to let you know that my club has created a special award that is given out "when earned" called the Human Bobber Award.  I have two of them on my wall at home and will tell the stories later.

[George Welcome]

A boat failure that wasn't

Granpa, his son, and grandson out for a professional guided tour of the lake. The guide, (me) goes to start the big motor, but it's a no go.

After several negative attempts we get a hour and a half tow to the ramp. A twenty foot boat doesn't go on a trailer easy without power so an attempt was made to get her started once again. As I turned the key my eyes looked down to see the lanyard sitting on the deck.

Once replaced the motor started instantly.

It seems the grandson was playing and had pulled the lanyard off. However, the professional, (me) didn't follow the abc's of troubleshooting a non-starting engine. These customers remind me every year now before leaving the ramp, to check the safety switch.

[RichardE]

Early spring in AL.

While fishing a crankbait near some rip-rap and bridge, I cast along the bank and had a fish slam the bait. As I fought it to the boat I realized it had a little more attitude than a bass. As it finally came near boat, I saw a 30 lb cat fish. The issue was that he ate my favorite crankbait and I did not want to risk losing it.

My net was in storage so I had to dig it out. Finally had it in my hand but had to extend the handle. While pushing the handle forward, the fish lunged towards the front of the boat, I went with him, as I headed for the front deck, I lost my balance, pushed the net head off the handle, knocked my cap off the right side of the boat. Fell in on the left side.

Nice kids on jet a ski came by, daddy's little angels...

Fish ran in the TM, cut the line. Saved the handle to the dip net though. My first thought was where is my cell phone. ;D

Swam around to the rear of the boat and used the recested boarding ladder.       ( they can really save your life you know)

A pass through the area with sonar showed the depth was 5 feet, could have walked out.

A day on the lake, in my world.

[iamjoe2]

well its not ON the water seeing as how i dont have a boat but its BY  the water...

possibly the worst way to loose a fish,

so im  shore fishing at a local pond, and in on the bank where theres about a 4 foot drop between me and the water with trees on either side me, so i try to cast under an overhanging tree, great cast but its hanging oversome tree limbs, no big deal just reel in and try again

as i reel in, about 5 feet from shore BOOM! fish on.

so now ive got a problem, between me and the fish is a bush/small tree with my line hanging over it i reel in and the fish(nice size too) is just sitting there hanging from the tree, just out of reach,

it hangs there kicking and screaming ans i try to force it out of the tree and finnaly throws the hook....

it sucked so bad...

[kms399]

I was picking up the boat at the launch and I was trying to hurry because there were like 3 other boat waiting to come in. I pulled the boat as far as I could with the tow rope and I winched it up the rest of the way, by the way I never set that pin that stops the winch from spinning backwards, the boat wasn't quite centered so I lifted really hard on the front of the boat to slide it over and when I did the handle on the winch spun backwards and smacked me right in the seeds. I d**n near fell in the water it hurt so bad.

and last week I pulled the boat up with the tow rope but the boat got stuck half way up, I couldn't reach it to push it back and try again so i stood on the tongue of the trailer and kind of leapt to a cross beam but when I did the boat some how freed up and when I landed and reached out for the boat to stop myself it moved like nothing and I fell right in the lake.

last one. I pushed the boat out so I could pull it up with the tow rope and when I went to pull it back in the clip popped out and the boat kept drifting, I had to swim to catch it.

[Evan Pease]

My grandpa and I were just pulling up to shore in our 9 foot BassHound that we usually beach then jump out and pull it up on shore a little. Well I was on the side doing something with my rods and my grandpa jumps onto shore and sends me flying out in the water. There were some guys at the ramp that found it pretty funny :

[txbass1]

Had two great solo trips to Lake Conroe during the spawn. Convinced a buddy to go with me on the third weekend. We pull up to one of the only free public ramps (freakin' line of boats waiting to go in) on the lake @ 5:00am...........he backs me down and the d**n boat will not come off the trailer!!!! Boat buckles still attached, gotta love it. He pulls me out 30 feet, I release the boat buckles, and get back in the seat....As he is backing me down the ramp the lower unit starts bouncing off the concrete....never raised the motor when he pulled me out. All of this is going on with about 20 guys waiting on their truck drivers to park, fellas casting for crappie bait etc. WOW!

[Eddie Munster]

My most embarrassing moment was bass (LMB/SMB) fishing in the Monongahelia (sp?) River on the South Side of Pittsburgh, PA with my brothers. I was fishing a spinner and hooked something BIG. I yelled for my brothers to help if they could. They dropped their rods and came flying over to me.

Side to side the 'fish' fought, but steadily came in. The river was a little choppy that day so it added to the fight. Low and behold I'd hooked the handle of a bucket someone had tossed in the river. Man did my brothers give me a ribbing after that. Still a great fight though.  

[grimlin]

This post made me miss muddy....His story had me laughing so hard i was in tears.

[Bassnbrett101]

One day I was out prefishing for a club tourny (there was another guy from my club there or else I'd never admit this).  I forgot to put the plug in my boat.  It was when I first got my boat so I was still new to the pre-launch routine.  My grandpap dropped me in and after he started driving up to the parking lot I realized what I did.  I desperately tried to call his cell phone to get him to come down with the trailer, he had it turned off.  Luckily the other guy in my club just launched his boat so he let me pull on his trailer to put the plug in.

By the time my grandpap came down he never realized what happened and I had to tell him.  I said, "why do you have a cell phone if its never on?"  He replied, "The cell phone isnt for when people need to call me its for when I need to call THEM."

So of course at the tourny the guys teased me pretty good and for that years dwayne award I got a "Don't forget the plug" sign to hang on my rear view mirror.

Speaking of dwayne awards, here's a good one.  My dad really had to urinate and there wasn't a public restroom at the launch ramp.  So he did what anyone else would do, he found a tree and used that.  The guy living across from the launch ramp didnt take to kindly to this so he came out and made a ruckus saying that his wife was home and he didnt like the fact that another guy was "urinating" so close to his home (mind you that he was like 100 yards away and my dad was facing the opposite direction).  The guys in the club shook their fists and said, "if you can see him from that far away he must be mighty proud of himself!"

Turns out the guy called the police on us and the policeman went over to the wrong guy and asked him if he was urinating in the bushes.  The guy he walked over to was an undercover narcotics agent, a state cop.  He flashed his badge to the local police over and said, "I wasnt the person in question but there was nothing wrong with what he did.  There isn't a public restroom and he couldn't be seen."  With that the policman pretty much put his tail between his legs and said the guy was a crazy vietnam veteran who complains about anything.

We still talk about that one to this day.

[Sam]

I must be living right as I have never had a major problem.

Of course there is the time I forgot to put the plug in the boat when my wife and I went out on the James River for a picnic and she can't swim so you can understand the yelling and screaming when the boat started to sink.

Ran back to the dock and put a plug in her, the boat - not the wife, and we had a nice time on the water that evening.

[fishfordollars]

I must be living right as I have never had a major problem.

Of course there is the time I forgot to put the plug in the boat when my wife and I went out on the James River for a picnic and she can't swim so you can understand the yelling and screaming when the boat started to sink.

Ran back to the dock and put a plug in her, the boat - not the wife, and we had a nice time on the water that evening.

So glad you cleared that up.

[Crashsector]

I've only recently gotten back into the hobby, so not too much time for a good embarassing moment. My worst probably involves a dark launch ramp, a possibly bored WSSC official (lake cop) waiting on two idiots to come back in the dark, his headlights, and two botched attempts to recover my brother's boat. Like I said, those trailer bumpers bend right back into place...