I would get off the water and fix it for the next tournament. Safety first. Without looking at it no one can tell you what is wrong.

He said he had one fish. Is the tournament winnings big enough to pay for recovery and repair cost if he sinks his boat?

Exactly

Sounds like you probably have a thru hull fitting or a hose leaking. Definitely head back to ramp and keep a close eye on it. You never know when the bilge pump is going to fail so I wouldn't risk my boat once I knew it had a serious leak and it sounds like that is exactly what you have.

Well I got a good stringer so far. The leak has slowed down to none at one point then started leaking again. I knew it wasn't bad enough to sink me, I've been keeping a sharp eye on the water intake and its minimal now but I did start fishing closer to the ramp. Only 2 more hours left and I'll start digging into the issue. I believe it's a live well issue.

Rock on! Worry with it later!

put the livewell on recirc and stop pumping, probably the issue.


Don't sink, you'll make people named Ricky look stupid if you sink a boat to try and catch a few fish.

Regards,
-Richard(Ricky to my friends)

I'm going w bad live well drain hose...

So here is a question from this retired Coast Guardsman who spent many years searching for and sometimes rescuing, sometimes recovering, boaters: DO YOU HAVE YOUR LIFE JACKET ON?

If there are gators In that lake I think I would head back to the ramp.

Are your plugs in at the bottom of your livewells?

I just talked to some guy named Bill. He said to tell you
"Here's your sign".

So with all that drama did you find the problem? And what did your sack of fish weigh?

I would think about a 2" hole drilled thru the bottom of the boat would be enough to let the water out

What kind of tournament fisherman takes the time to write a post like this on TFF? If he doesn't know his boat any better than this he doesn't need to be fishing. I call BS on this one.