Big-O Posted October 16, 2008 Posted October 16, 2008 Was in the Hospital for a while recently and since I couldn't fish, I decided to write about one of my many fishing adventures that was very memorable.... Hope you enjoy the read. Best laid plans Back in the late 70's, my best friend Jerry and I would take long weekends and drive from Texas to North Central Florida for some of our favorite bass fishing adventures. On one particular outing, we were fishing a 500 acre lake near Tallahassee. My boat of choice was an 8 ft Bass Buster (small pontoon rig) with a 60 lb. thrust 24 volt hand control trolling motor. These two pieces of equipment were my most trusty servants and had taken care of Jerry and I on many previous adventures so we knew them well. In those days we were impulsive, just grabbing up gear and heading out without regards to anything including weather conditions etc., JUST FISH. When we arrived at the lake for this excursion, conditions couldn't have been better, literally no wind and we could cross the widest and longest part of the lake with ease to get to our favorite area. Oh yeah, this plan is coming together. Our preference was night fishing and by last evening's light, we were sitting in perfect position to start the smackdown and "WOW", what a smackdown it was. The big 'uns were feeding heavy on our 10 inch worms and a 7 inch TX-rigged Uncle Josh pork rind eel rigged on a 4/0 wire-clip weedless hook. By midnight, we had boated and released as many as 30 fish between 5 and 12 lbs. "And it was on!" A real night to remember was in the making. About 12:30 a.m., it seemed the wind started blowing a little, but hardly noticeable to us because our plan was too good and we were on the sheltered end of the lake where there was a huge stand of pine trees along the bank and an entire wall of extra large cypress trees between us and the shoreline. We're gonna hammer these big fish until daylight. No sooner had we toasted Coca-Cola's, being full of confidence for our obvious good fortune then suddenly CRACK - a huge pine on the shoreline snapped in half and came crashing down thru the cypress trees within 30 ft. of our small 2-man craft. Limbs and branches from the many trees in its path were broken and falling all around us. "Wow", Jerry said, "the wind must be getting up a little". This my friends was an understatement, we were so keyed up from wailing on these huge fish, we failed to actually take note of what was really happening around us. As we glanced back across the lake, we noticed that there was a war taking place out there. In the moonlight, it looked as if portions of the lake were exploding from beneath the surface up into the air and almost hid the appearance of waves or swells. Very different from anything I had ever seen. Time to change our plan..... "Ahoy Mate, hoist the anchor", wisely or unwisely I had decided to make a run for it, to try to get back to the truck by following as close to the shoreline as possible just in case we get into bigger trouble. Within moments the trolling motor is on high and we're running with a slight cross wind at our back, staying between the swells and I swear you could ski behind us we were moving so fast. Then CRASH, the entire boat lifted and bucked over a submerged stump and jumped several feet to the right while the trolling motor ripped from the bow. The tremendous cross wind immediately took control of the boat, blowing us helplessly toward the warring center of the lake. My instant thought was "Ohhh ^$%& this is gonna be a ride.... As if things couldn't get worse, within seconds my trusty friend "the trolling motor" came blasting out of the water and started flailing around wildly, buzzing at us from all directions. "IT WAS STILL ON and IN HIGH GEAR" securely attached to the batteries that were firmly fastened under my seat base. Our most dependable friend had become a demon. This gave us cause to take even more drastic measures. We must now focus on performing an exorcism in the midst of the battle. I immediately started struggling to detach the hard fastened leads while dodging the slasher. Since the boat was on a free course and the trolling motor was porpoising and flailing directly behind me, Jerry knew that he couldn't move toward me to help for fear of capsizing. "So I was the Chosen One". Thankfully I had a knife and a pair of pliers close at hand and was able to cut loose the battery cover straps quickly and immediately after removing the two positive leads, the thrasher died and had become like an anchor dragging behind which was quickly pulled back into the boat. Time for yet another plan. I grabbed our small paddle and tried my best to rudder and direct our course to avoid being swamped. We were now far from the sheltered shore line and entering the area where the water explosions were described earlier. Our description was absolutely correct, there were massive waves and swells all running together with huge amounts of water shooting straight up out of the lake and thrown in all directions. I remember it like it was moments ago. As I did my best to steer our helpless little craft with the tiny paddle Jerry yelled, "Hey Big O! the trolling motor bracket is okay, the clamps just came loose". Whoo-Hooo..All is forgiven and our dear and reliable friend was immediately remounted and leads reattached. She was back to life and giving her best to guide our little rig through the turbulence and toward the safety of the distant shoreline. Although far away, things are looking up. The further we went the rougher it got and the waves and swells were growing to enormous sizes. Jerry was never the type who could take extremely rough water conditions and sometimes got a little woozy when things really started rockin'. By this time, he had thrown up twice and was now in the dry heaves stages. Desperately he yelled with all seriousness, "Do you think we're gonna make it?" and I yelled back Hell yeah, and we're just now getting to the good part. All of my time was committed to steering and avoiding capsizing and Jerry was busy bailing water from the boat. We're getting beat up but we're not beaten. Neither of us remember exactly when the rain started but by the time we were able to make out the approaching shoreline it was raining sideways and blasting at our backs. But that's okay, it was driving us ever closer to safety. The span of time that it took for us to complete this wild trek across the lake was probably 30 minutes, but seemed like two hours and finally, we were there blowing through the shallow lilly field then surfing up on shore and slamming to an abrupt halt. We both sprawled out onto the sand laying flat on our backs while waving our arms and making muddy sand angels. "We made it". After loading everything in the back of the truck and driving 30 minutes through the wind and monsoon rain conditions, we found a hotel with the lights on. Over this time period we had discussed and relived each of the twist and turns that took place in order to basically survive the ordeal. Like drowning dogs we trudged our way in the front door of the hotel and the night clerk said Wow, we weren't expecting any business during the Hurricane! We inquired back, HURRICANE? And he said Yeah man, this is Hurricane Frederick, it's a Category 4. After a few hours of sleep we found a small restaurant that was also braving the storm and open for breakfast. After ordering our coffee we sat down and Jerry said the most memorable words from the entire trip, he peered over his cup of coffee and asked, Didn't we catch a 12 pounder last night? Now that's an adventure. Big O www.ragetail.com Quote
Super User Fishing Rhino Posted October 16, 2008 Super User Posted October 16, 2008 Great story. Sounds more like you were on the ocean. Hope you're back to fishin' again. Your story is one of life's important lessons. It is important to make memories. For each of us, there will come a time when we will no longer be able to pursue those things we enjoy. The more time we spend doing those things today, the more memories we will have to sustain us near the end of our lives. It's much better to remember what was, than to dream about what might have been. Quote
Super User Sam Posted October 17, 2008 Super User Posted October 17, 2008 I guess this is why we check the weather before venturing out. Was this adventure before cable TV or the internet? Quote
-HAWK- Posted October 17, 2008 Posted October 17, 2008 I guess this is why we check the weather before venturing out. Was this adventure before cable TV or the internet? Well it was in the late 70's... Anyway awesome story, it reminds me of a trip I just recently had on a local lake. The storm part, not the part about actually catching fish. ;D Quote
Super User firefightn15 Posted October 17, 2008 Super User Posted October 17, 2008 The Perfect Storm! Only with a much better ending. Big O, that was a read worthy of a published short story. I like the part about the exorcism, nice touch. Quote
Super User roadwarrior Posted October 17, 2008 Super User Posted October 17, 2008 Wow! Great post. 8-) Quote
mattm Posted October 17, 2008 Posted October 17, 2008 I hope you are feeling better. That is a great story. Sounds like you guys got a little lucky. Looking back on it now are there any obvious signs of an approaching storm that should of keyed you in? Quote
Still a Bigbuckifan Posted October 17, 2008 Posted October 17, 2008 Great story. Im glad you came out of this unharmed or we would not have had regetail baits. Quote
rondef Posted October 17, 2008 Posted October 17, 2008 Big O that sounds like one adventure filled trip, geat story. Quote
Certified Public Angler Posted October 18, 2008 Posted October 18, 2008 oh man, epic adventure! I love reading stuff like this, the unique trips are always the best. Quote
Mrs. Matstone Posted October 18, 2008 Posted October 18, 2008 Great story, really enjoyed it. The most excitement that I've had while fishing lately was having to be pulled out of the mud by the park service so they could check my license. I guess I took one step a little too far out. Those guys thought it was pretty funny though. Quote
Big-O Posted October 18, 2008 Author Posted October 18, 2008 Rhino, I'm still on the mend and doing fine thankyou, will be back rockin' on the waves soon. Sam, 30 yrs ago I don't think I ever listened to the Radio for a forecast and not even sure my radio worked...I had an 8 track tape player for the tunes though.. ;D Hawk, When we're lucky enough to be where the fish are just prior to the storm they're usually excited but I wouldn't go thru that again. Firefightn15, exorcism was exactly what I was thinking about when I had to turn my back and try to disconnect the leads. Mattm, No lightening or thunder preceded the storm but looking back on things, the strength of the wind was definitely on a steady increase for several hours prior to the ordeal. We were in a protected area and too engrossed in the bite to even notice what was coming. Today, I call it "Young and Careless". Mother Nature is a wonderful teacher if we lack understanding but she has no patience with ignorance.... I'm not quite as brave or inconsiderate any more. Big O Quote
moondog Posted October 23, 2008 Posted October 23, 2008 great story, sounds like it was tough times there for awhile. glad you made it through and for sure one to remember. have you fished there since? Quote
IMPY03 Posted October 23, 2008 Posted October 23, 2008 Great story! I lol'd at the exorcisim part, it reminded me of the bill dance blooper where his TM came loose. Quote
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