Do we have bad days on the water?

[GamblerFL]

You ever think you had a bad day on the lake?

Monday evening it was over-cast and the lake I fish seems to really pick up when it looks like rain. Since the boat was already in the water, I figured I would give it a shot. I loaded the boat up and turned the key. All I got was a click. I pulled the cowling off and found that the starter bolt had worked itself out a little and it had the ground wire loose. I made several turns on the bolt and she fired right up. I took off out across the lake and decided to use a spinner bait up against some branches in the water. I was working the spinner right at the surface. After a few cast I saw a nice swirl and had the spinner grabbed.I set the hook and to my surprise a roughly 4 to 5 pounder came up and threw the lure. I couldn't believe it so of course a threw several more time with no hits. I started working down the shore a little further and had another nice hit, that I missed. Over the first 30 minutes of fishing, I lost 4 fish. I figured I would cut across an area that is about 200 yards wide and fish the side of an island. On the way over I picked up and threw a rattle trap. I had a hit but it felt like something bumped it but didn't grab it. A few more cast later and I had a hit like no other. Just about pulled the rod out of my hand. Before I knew it I hear a noise like a fire-cracker and my line snapped right at the reel. I hurried to tie on another rattle-trap. In my hurrying, I pulled the line and tied on and got a back-lash I couldn't get out. I grabbed another rod and tied on a rattle-trap just as it started raining. I packed up and took off. About 3/4 of the way back, running pretty fast, the motor dies down. Being that I have a Gambler I ended up with about a 3 foot wake right over the back of the boat. I got the motor fired up but only ran a very short way before she stopped again. (ended up being a fuel pump) I put the trolling motor down (now in a pretty good rain) and headed home. I pulled up to the boat dock and grabbed the handle to pull the motor up and the rope broke. I grabbed a 4-way screw driver to release the pin and the bit fell off into the water. I flipped it over and finally got the motor up now it was pouring down rain. I tied up and grabbed everything and headed to the house. I was soaked, missed 5 fish, lost a new rattle-trap, lost part of the screw driver, broke the trolling motor rope, didn't know at the time if the motor was blowing up and was pretty mad. I changed into something dry and sat down fuming. I turned on the tv while thinking of all the things that had happened and still pretty mad. The first thing on tv was about a 21 year old soldier that was killed over in Iraq. As I sat there I realized how lucky I was to be in a position to have had the problems I had!

[abelfisher]

Amen, Gambler!

[Sam]

If you don't mind, I am going to copy and post your story in my American Legion monthly newsletter.  I guess, as they say, a bad day fishing is better than a good day at the office.  And yes, we are so fortunate to live in the greatest country in the world and to have the time and resources to go fishing.  It is a sorry situation when certain people bash and put down our military and the pursuit of spreading freedom to everyone around the world so one day you and I can enjoy hearing about bass fishing from others all over the globe.

[squid]

Because I am not happy at my Job, and I was being shot at when I was over there in 90-91, I do not believe you can ever have a bad day on the lake.  

They are all lessons on the lake, whether you caught a fish or a cold.  It is a lesson learned.

[GamblerFL]

If you don't mind, I am going to copy and post your story in my American Legion monthly newsletter. I guess, as they say, a bad day fishing is better than a good day at the office. And yes, we are so fortunate to live in the greatest country in the world and to have the time and resources to go fishing. It is a sorry situation when certain people bash and put down our military and the pursuit of spreading freedom to everyone around the world so one day you and I can enjoy hearing about bass fishing from others all over the globe.

Sam, feel free to use it...

[Fisher of Men]

Gambler,

I could not agree more about that putting things in perspective.  I don't know if I've had as many things go wrong at one time, but I did lose the sheer pin out of the trolling motor (the only motor) on my jonboat Friday.   I lifted it out of the water to clean some weeds out of it.  I took off the wing nut, very carefully placing it and the washer on the boat seat careful not to drop it into the water.  I've done this numerous times before and the pin has never moved.  I cleaned the grass off, and very carefully re-assembled the prop and wing nut, not noticing that the pin was gone.  When I had trouble tightening the wing nut, I knew what was wrong.  Fortunately, I put the paddle in the boat that day.  After paddling against a 15-20 mph South wind, I got to a part of the small lake where I could walk around the rest of the way.  I called a buddy to borrow a spare motor and within 30 minutes, we were back on the water.  I was pretty mad at myself for #1- Not having a spare pin, #2- Not bringing my pliers (I could have clipped a 5/0 hook and used it as a pin- maybe) and #3- being stupid enough to work on this over the water, but after awhile, I let it go and was able to enjoy the rest of my day.

Thanks for your post.  It helps us all understand how blessed we are to be able to get on the water, whether or not we catch fish. -Fisher

[Fatdaddy150]

Thanks for the post this should help us all feel pretty good about having a bad day! I feel for the young soldiers parents!!!