Ok guys and gals lets hear them, tell us your most embarrassing fishing moment or moments. I know we all have them. Pictures would be greatly appeciated I'm sure lol.

Heres mine: Wife and I, accompanied by my aunt, uncle, and cousin went fishing @ 18th St. Pier Before Ike. I had kept reeling in my line little by little through about a 30 minute period. Without reaizing I had already reeled in my line to where it was hanging beside the pier. Since I hadnt gotten a bite I decided to reel in my line. When I got my rod I yanked it for some reason and BOOM! I had a big bite. I yelled out NET!!(I dont know what in Gods name made me yell that but I did) Everyone on the pier decides to come and look... My hook was caught on the pier.. No fish lmao

Hmmm noone else has a story?? I find that hard to believe.

I was at Texoma fishin at the damn on the Texas side. It was extremely packed that day below the damn, especially right around "my hole". I opened up my tackle bag and opened one of my utility boxes and spilled a whole case of split shots. I crouched down to pick them all up when all of a sudden, I feel a sharp pain and a HUGE tug on top of my head. I had been hooked by a big ol' 2 ounce pencile popper by some careless fisherman.

I knew he was fishin there and I told him, "hey can you watch out for a sec. cuz I spilled some tackle and I'm right behind you picking it up." He even replyed with a "yea no problem."

Anyway, I got hooked real bad and they had to call the paramedics and I got stiched up real good. I still have a scar on top of my head from that day. It was over 15 years ago, and I still shiver at the thought of happenings of that day.

To this day, I don't bother picking up splitshots if I spill them around surf rod heaving fisherman!

OK- I'm a flyfishing guide here in Montana. I had a client who was dressed up with every accoutrament known to flyfishing. He looked like he had stepped out of an Orvis catalog. Ya'all know the type.Anyway, we had stopped for lunch earlier and the client developed a case of the bubbly guts. I pulled the boat to the bank where he took off for the bushes with tp in hand. A little bit later he returned to the boat and hopped into the back. We continued floating down the river when the odor started to drift forward. His partner said "Frank, did you [censored] in you waders?" Frank said no. I turned around to add my two cents. Frank turned around also and I noticed that Frank had his landing net on a lanyard hanging from the back of his vest. Inside the net was a big ol brown log and a big ol wad of tp. Frank had crapped in his net and not realized it. Needless to say he was a little embarrassed

wow @ i got snagged that sounds like it freakin hurt, at least he didnt cast you into the water ey??

Llama i read yours 5 minutes ago and i cant stop laughing.. jus imagining the look on his face when he saw was in his net. lmao

So there I was on the boat ramp of Lake Houston about to fire up a borrowed boat. I had invited my wife's friend and her husband along. I go to start the engine and....I had left the keys at home...an hour drive away. So we get a late start... About 5 hrs later, 0 fish to our name, we are unloading gear from the boat into the truck and I am jumping down from the side railing on the boat to the cement when I feel a sharp tug at my groin. As my weight carries me down toward the ground, the fishing rod bends with pressure, but the handle is stuck somewhere in the boat. A top water lure with 2 treble hooks had embedded its way into my crotch and penetrated my jewels! So there I was, on my tip toes to relieve a bit of pressure, screaming at my buddy to come aid me. He gets to me and I'm bent over and he's trying to get the 2 treble hooks our of my sweet spot...the parking lot was rolling with laughter. I finally had to resort to taking off my board shorts to untangle the treble hooks. Not a good day in my fishing diary.

The usual sauna steam-room summer, Sheldon Reservoir on Houston's east side. In my semi v hull, navy-gray 10' plastic pond boat, Minn kota rigged, named 'er "FishBoat", painted on the stern in neon green, goin' big-time I tell ya.
Trolling motor been burblin' and gurglin' me around and through all the lily pads, cattails and such, I believe over the back of a gator or two, and eye-to-eye with at least one cottonmouth originally minding his own business, getting a suntan atop a log.
I had 2 little homemade anchors, one for each end of the boat to keep from swinging around so much, a lesson borne of experience from so many ol' boss bass dragging my little boat around, violating the no wake zone.

Well, this one time I had been unable to lift the stern anchor out from the mud or weeds or moby sea monster that had it stuck down there. So I raise about halfway up into one of those obscene looking crouches and make with a kung-fu shout and a mighty heave, and next thing I know is that I don't know. Don't know where the h*** I am, why am I sopping wet, why am I holding this rope, why is the boat seat rocking around in the water.....

I vaguely recollect a mighty KER-BLAM and a torrent of watter cascading down upon me, really no big deal since it seems I am in the water anyway. After a considerable thrashing about, windmilling arms, spitting up water, headshaking water from my ears, I begin to put A and B together and come up with C. I had forgotten (somebody elses fault I'm sure) to replace the screw holding the seat down to the base, and the seat had come up with me in a less than graceful position, depositing me head first into the drink.
Anyway, after a few minutes of getting my **** together, and finally realizing that I am in only about 4 ft of water, it dawns on me to take a quick furtive look around and see if anybody might have seen my little escapade.

And after my brain starts actually functioning again, it dawns on me to take a GOOD look around and get an idea of WHAT might have seen the events that transpired, with me still fumbling and stumbling around on the muddy lake bottom.
Remember, all the granddaddy gators and cottonmouths had already been awakened, along with God knows what other carnivores and semi prehistoric critters all ganged up and just waiting on the next biscuit and gravy stuffed goody to cluelessly happen along.

I can guarantee you in all certainty, you have never, ever seen a half crippled old fat man move so fast in all your born days.
In one jump and roll I was back over the side of that little boat, and soon on my way back to the ramp to leave that day behind me.
One of these years I may go out in the back yard and sit again in my little boat for a while, drink a cup of coffee, read a fishing magazine.......

Not embarrasing for me, but funny...

Early 80's I was guiding on Toledo, early summer. Man and wife clients, we are fishing the grass in Housen bay. Wifey declares she's bored and will lay on back deck to read her book.

Now, if you've been there you know the Air Force trains over the lake...

Hubby and I are on the front deck when an A10 flies low over us, then immediately does a 180 and flies REALLY low over us..you felt the jet fuel when he passed. DANG...we look back and wifey is down to her birthday suit getting a sun tan. Hubby hollers at her, "Put your clothes on, you're scaring the fish!!!""

1962 in Puget Sound salmon fishing with My uncle, Dad, brother and cousin. No one was catching anything when I hooked and landed a big one. 3 foot long shark! Biggest thing I had ever caught. I was so proud of that fish. Asked my uncle what to do with it. He grabbed it out of my hands, slit it throat, cut the leader, and tossed it overboard. One man's prize if another mans junk.
Ok I was surprised, embarassed, and a little bit po'd. But to my uncle is was just a junk fish that ate salmon.

lol, wow these are all great reading,, keepem comin

If you wear Hodgman waders and have had to go # 2, then you surely went on the shoulder straps if you did not attach them to the inside of the waders upon dropping trow. I thought of this when reading the above post. Just this last weekend, I was with a lady and her son from cub scouts whom I know pretty well in my boat in Hunstville when the trolling motor would not come up with the string so I stepped on the front of the bracket to relieve the pressure and weight shifted, and I went for a swim. Probably 5 other boaters, and I just deployed the ladder, crawled back in and took a bow!!!! Last, had a ex girlfreind do the ol WOT near the trailer in the water and it looked like a can opener went to work on the side of my Dodge truck, dozen or so people around too. I asked her if she took a stupid pill that morning and that was our last truck ride together, but she did pay for the truck repair.

lmao

Hmmm. Maybe not the most embarrassing but certainly the most worrisome. I was fishing in the Boliver pocket on the break side and got hung. Hung? There's nothing out there to get hung on. I've fished this area for years. It seemed to give a little and finally started to move in so I yelled at my girlfriend to bring me the net just in case. Try to imagine my suprise when I finally reeled it in close enough to see a red plaid shirt rolling in the waves, black hair swirling around,complete with the shirt arm going back and forth. After the ringing in my ears subsided a little after my girlfriend screamed, (I had no idea she could walk, let alone run on water), I asked where the phone was so we could call 911.
But something didn't look right.
I reached down and....
It was a red plaid shirt all right, with just enough trash plastic washed into it to catch some sand and seaweed to fill it out.
Took three months before my girlfriend would wade with me again.
Took the shirt of course. Wore it for three years after I washed it. Cotton seemed to really soften up in the sand.

holy [censored] i thought u were gunna say u reeled in a body lol,, geez, damn u actually wore the shirt?? hahaha crazy

I am not going to go to detail on mine but lets just that it involved 3 Barbacoa tacos for breakfast and being stuck on St. Joes Island.

When I took my girlfriend and buddies to the lease to fish some ponds, and she out fished me with a little zebco barbie pole. The good news is now she always likes to fish with me... my defense would be i was busy tieing her knots and de-hooking her bass

lolol, well at least she likes fishin now!

yes it is lol, we all havem tho, s@#t happens

As a young kid I was able to go on fishng trips with my dad for free when he went with a particular boat Captain on the Chesapeake bay because I functioned for the Captain as crew. Was a great gig. Pulled up to the bait scow one day and rather than than tie up, I would just stand with one foot on each boat and one hand holding the rail of each boat. Well, the boats started to drift apart and being young and stupid I didn't let go of one of the boats. A semi set of splits later I was in the salt water between the boats. Made for a bad day as I had no dry clothes. wrapped myself up in jackets and towels while clothes dried in the breeze. Clothes with dried salt water on them are scratchy to say the least.

Well, I guess I could tell you the day I got my first ear piercing.
My friend and I took his nephew out on the Trinity river, (nothing like introducing the young ones to the sport, huh?)
After showing him the proper way to cast, he was doing well, but not hitting the targets.
The trick at the time was to cast a large, heavy Rattle-Trap and hit a tree with it, then giving it slack so the lure would sink close by the tree where the bass were hanging out. The young lad was getting frustrated because if you cast by the tree and retrieved it, no hits, and he couldn't hit the trees.
So getting mad, he reared back and let fly with a powerful swing, catching me first on the side of the head, then ripping my hat off my head.

The hat and lure hit the tree.

After congratulating him on his aim, we suggested that he not get mad and try it again. So he reeled in my soggy hat and prepared to do battle again.
My friend told me what happened next, because I don't remember really what happened. All I remember is the kid reared back again, then saying he was caught on something behind him. It was then that I seemed to remember that a person is not usually able to see the back of his own ear. I had no idea an ear could stretch that much. It did however, remind me of my mothers advice to make sure I washed behind my ears.
After assuring him that he had indeed not caught a 'lunker', I gently persuaded him (yeah, right) to put the rod down and try to help me stuanch the blood flow. After a quick snip of the pliers, and removal of the barb, followed by the removal of the hook from my ear lobe, and I was back to trying to run over him with the boat after I threw him out.
All in all though, it turned out to be a fair day. We caught a few fish with family and friends, I now have a hole in my ear that I can get a 4" ring in just like those guys you see in Africa in National Geographic, we only spun the prop on the motor after hitting a submerged log hard enough that instead of being stuck, we could limp in after 4 hours. and after dodging the boat so many times that I tried to run him over with, my friends nephew is now an Olympic swimmer.
Can't wait to go again!

lol nice piercing

I don't have one about myself but I do have one about my dad.

I remember this one fishing trip many years ago with my dad on our boat in West Galveston Bay during the winter. We were drift fishing and we ended up in a shallow area and got stuck and we couldn't get the boat out. We were stuck on an oyster reef. Confederate Reef by South Deer Island I think.

Anyways we tried pushing the boat off with a push pole but we couldn't get it out. And I remember this guy in a small boat offering to help but said he wanted $200 or some high amount that my dad did not want to pay and the guy wanted money because he said he could possibly damage his lower unit from towing our boat out from the reef.

I was probably about 12 years old at the time so this is about 20 years ago. So out of frustration my dad gets in the water about knee deep. And I remember him saying the water was so cold.

So anyways little by little my dad gets the boat out from the reef and as he is pushing the boat to deeper water he slips or something and falls a little more than waist deep in water. And this water is pretty cold too. Then he manages to climb into the boat and falls all soaking wet and shivering. By this time he is pretty mad and cold too.

So we get back to the boat ramp and he can't find an extra change of clothes in the truck. But I brought an extra change of clothes. He forgot his. So I let him borrow mine and of course they are WAY too small for him but he manages to put on some sweats I had brought and a T-shirt.

The sweat pants only went to a little below his knee and looked tight on him. And the T-shirt he put on of mine barely fit and was super tight !! It was something for him to wear at least but he looked really funny in my clothes till we got home and he was able to change into his clothes.

hahaha i can just imagine it now lol, hey at least he got the boat free!!

Yeah, he did get the boat free pretty quick. I remember we tried the push pole and I think we tried throwing an anchor too but nothing helped. So he just got so frustrated and desperate that he jumped in that cold water to get the boat free.

so would he of still of put ur extra clothes on if you were say 2 sizes smaller?? lol

While wade fishing at Sea Wolf park my flounders keep jumping out, like mullet, of my live well because I always forget to tie it. Also my waders filled up with water with all the wakes and I didnt know until I really had to go piss when I was out of the water I looked like a 400lbs man. My straps were so tight with the weight of the water I could not snap them off, so I had to roll on the ground with my fishing gear in my hands to get some of it out. People were passing looking at me wondering what I was doing!

'Nuff Said!

This didn't happen when fishing the ocean, but my dad found it fun as could be.

One day many years ago my Dad and I were on our way to Lake Fork. He had never been and I was lucky enough to come along on his first trip. Well, halfway there, the sun is starting to rise, and out of no where, a bumblebee comes flying into the trucks open window on my side. I completely wig out as this huge thing is flying around and landing on me. I'm screaming and hopping around in the cab of the truck, fighting off this insane bee, while my dad is crying from laughter. I finally got him low and stomped on him for about a minute straight. When I caught my breath I look over at my dad and he is actually pulling over on the shoulder of the road because he is laughing so hard. To this day, he still laughs at my encounter with an east Texas bumblebee!

You really took the bleeding heart Rat-L-Trap seriously! LOL

i have never been so cold and wet in my life as one April day at Lake Alan Henry --my friend and had bought a small skiff boat 15 hp tiller--pulled up to the ramp and let him out--not being able to see the small trailer he was cross way at teh dock--some one really let him have it and as i was pulling the boat on the trailer he was a litle too deep--and waved him to mive up--he went to the top--wind blowing into the ramp and my big but in the back we went dow right at the ramp---i swam out with the anchor in hand with about 20 people watching not helping--finally some JET Skiers came to my rescue and pulled the boat in by hand upside down--lost some equip and phines but no bigge--the worst was the game warden and deputy came to our room and was going to give me a ticket for not reporting a accedent---i had the book and it stated --you have to report a incedent of 500 dollars or more --by then i had the 15 hp Merc running in a barrel--no damage---it was really agervating to be so cold and wet and only the JET SKIERS offerd to help

sorry for the above spelling --my granddaughter is in my lap--

tumbleweed ya woulda heard me laughin 4m my truck if i was passing by lol jk...

kool piercing coorslightkid

bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz @ rofd-ff-engineer :p

Up in KC I used to fish for catfish from the bank, and we would use surf (10-12 foot) fishing rods and with 2 oz weights to get the bait out there as far as we could. I knew of no other way to fish.

20 years ago, I came to Tx and was invited on a bass fishing trip with a couple of new friends on one of their boats. I show up with my 12ft surf rods to a largemouth fishing trip; rigged with a 2oz slip rig, 30lb test, and ready to kick some butt.

My two new buddies busted out, laughing their arses off when they saw my TWO 12 foot surf poles loading into the bass boat.

I still get reminded today everytime we talk fishing, starting off with "hey Dave, remember when dumb-arse brought the surf....."

lol @ tim,,, thats too funny

One night back in the 70's my dad and I were fishing Kickapoo creek. We had a lantern tied off to a tree when something hit the tree and the lantern went in the water. ( 18ft or so deep ). Well fishing with no light wasn't going to work, so in we go. The next night with another lantern, fishing the same spot, the rope burned and that lantern went in. The following weekend our neighbor went with us, fishing the same spot, with a chain holding the lantern, my dad hooked a big ole crappie. When we got it to the boat, it ended up being our lantern. The neighbor asked my dad " were you using a minnow ", he responded " yea, but they like shrimp better" Our neighbor felt foolish, and we still egg him about that night.

llololol

anyone got anymore???

more painful then embarrassing to me..when i was younger, id say 6 or 7, my parents and i went down to port O'Connor to do some surf fishing, i was using a zebco push button reel. well first cast of the day, the line didnt release all the way, it was just enough for it to come all they way back around and bury that 2" hook up to the line in the back of my knee.

my dad pulled it out right there on the beach, my mom was screaming and crying, as was i. definitely not something i would like to experience again.

I have 2

When i was a kid i used to ride a bike to a lake after school, on weekends and sometimes while skipping classes. Over 1 of the hills on this 1 mile trek was a house that had a St Bernard who really must not have liked bikes, cause he would always run out after us. Eventually we got a routine where my friend and i would be really quiet near the top of the hill before the dog and then haul butt past him before he could get up. Once my friend took off 1st, rods sitting sideways across his handlebars, then i too took off, not remembering i just got a new 10 speed that was much faster than the old bike, i flew past him with what felt like 40 mph when i felt a sharp pain and could hear his drag going like crazy. I had buried his top water rapala in my stomach as i passed. Later he ask why i didnt stop, i reminded him of the dog.


Years ago i had a friend who wanted to go catfishing at night on the Mighty Miss near St Louis. When very early morning came we got hungry and decided to cross the river to a cafe that opens early for fisherman and duck hunters. We was in an 18' river john with a 90, on a very dark night when we see a barge about a mile up river, him not wanting to face the 3' waves decides to open it up and beat the barge, me never liking to run at night has my eyes peeled for anything in front of us. We was about 3/4 way across when i turned around to ask what the foamy looking water was, he said im not sure about 10 seconds before he put that boat about 15' up on a 40' wide sand bar. after picking ourselves up off the floor and letting the knees stop shaking we tried to raise the motor to take the boat back the short way, no doing and it was too heavy to drag. We were lucky enough to have a log that was drifted against the sand bar that we used under the boat to move forward. As daylight came and we was about 3 feet from being in the water people came buy and ask if we needed help, while laughing at the 40' of drag marks in the sand.

funny!

One fine late afternoon day on East Galveston Bay back in the early 80s, my dad and I were anchored out at Hannah's reef. As usual, there were other boats around. Weather was sunny with a light chop, typical summer weather. We were probably listening to the Astros on the radio or something like that.

A bass boat, probably a Ranger or Skeeter, you know the kind, pulls up and anchors about 100 yards away. A few minutes go by, and I notice that its sitting pretty low in the water. About 10 minutes later the slight chop is sending crashing waves over the side, and that bass boat is full of water, sitting on the reef, which was only about 2 feet deep at that point.

We pull up to render aid and the ol boys that owned the boat were cussing up a storm, standing in the bay, trying to decide who forgot to put the plug in the bilge. Their deep cycle batteries were sparking and smoking, rods, beer cans, ice chests, and tackle boxes were washing all around the front of the boat. By then the wind had kicked up and waves were crashing over the boat and outboard.

I can't remember who ended up towing them in or giving them a ride back to the dock, but I do remember how good I felt that I was on a "unsinkable" Boston Whaler that day.

hahaa, well at least yall tried to help

Yeppers.

Glad to find out I'm not the only one to [censored] on my strap.

It really sucks when it gets in the velcro.

I got one for you!

A few years ago a buddy of mine and I were wade fishing the powerplant release at Lavon in April for sandbass and hybrids. We each had very close to our limit of sandies and we decided to check our stringer. We were in chest high water wadefishing mind you. I pulled up my stringer and it was all good! My buddy lifts up his stringer and it was all good, until we noticed something wiggling on the end of his stringer.....IT WAS A DAMN SNAKE feeding on his stringer of fish! It must have at least 4-5 feet long and pretty darn fat! He dropped his stringer, dropped his rod, took off his wading belt with his stringer on it, and took off running for the shore. I took off running in a different direction and found myself neck high in water with water running into my wading suite! It took me awhile to take off my suite and walk back to shore with all my gear and waders in my hand, in nothing but my boxers.

We never did find out what kind of snake it was, and nor did we ever find his wading belt, stringer and rod n reel. We haven't been wading up there since. haha

lol damn i wish i coulda seen his face when he seen that snake going at his stringer

he was PISSED! He had just lost a loomis rod and certate reel, and a stringer full of sandbass!

yea ida been pissed too, but ey at least he aint get bit by that thing whatever it was

I have a couple that I’ll share.

Me and some friends were fishing East Matagorda early in the morning…. Like 3am with green lights on top of a reef. It was February and it had drizzled off and on. Not a whole lot of catching going on between the 4 of us fishing. I get a good hit and set the hook. Got a nice trout about 3-4 lbs, big fat female. I get her to the side of the boat, get her in my hands. Its dark and I’m trying to look at everything that’s going on. Everyone get excited when they see this fish and start moving around. Boat rocks a little and I go to step back to catch my balance cause I still have the rod in one hand and fish in the other.

My heel hits the gunwale on this low sided bay boat as I stepped back. Hands are full so I can’t grab nothing and the next thing I know I’m headed backwards into the water. My buddies said they had never seen someone jump in and out of a boat so fast in their life. That water was chilly, thank god I had my 2 piece rain suit on cause only my boot filled up with water. That was the only legal fish we had all day.

Me my dad and my uncle were headed up the lower Neches in January one year. We were in a 21 ft deck boat, Big heavy boat. I was young, only about 16. My uncle said he knew the channel and it would be no problem to head up to the GSU power plant outlet. Well he’s running on a plane and said something about the steering not feeling right… That’s was probably cause the skeg was runnin through the mud. The tide was out and then next thing I know is we were just plum stuck in the mud. I mean bearly and inch of water we were in. So long story short. 2 grown me and a kid strip down to their drawers and over the side we go and pushing like there’s not tomorrow. That was some cold deep mud. Water an inch deep, mud to your huevos. COLD. We finally got the boat to the edge of the channel where it would float and made our way up the channel.

But wait, it wasn’t over yet! The channel changed sides as we went around a bend…. You guessed it, on the mud again. Back down to my drawers with my dad and uncle and back into the cold mud. I’m glad there was a good end to this cause we ended up catching limits of reds and several large black drum. I even caught a TPWD tagged redfish from Rockport and we were next to Port Aurthur. I don’t fish much with my uncle anymore

hahaha gd ones.

ttt

TTT

Hi all, I am a new boy to your forum and was enjoying the tales. I live in the Uk we were fishing from a small boat of the east cost, we had not been catching much when I suddenly found my rod going mad. After a long time trying to bring what we thought was the catch of the day to the surface it finally came to the top, I had managed to lift the anchor, shock and horror we had drifted way down the coast.

It tok os an hour against the tide to get back to our launch site, and I was constantly reminded at the club after that about the clunker i nearly caught.

Some great stories guys. I have a few but they are all freshwater:

One time we were launching my johnboat in a private lake. We put everything in the boat…. fishing poles, tackle boxes, battery, trolling motor, ice chest, and put the plug in. The usual routine is back the trailer down until the truck tires are at a certain spot then climb out onto the tongue and finish pushing the boat to the end of the trailer. Then climb in the boat from the trailer so you don’t get your feet wet or muddy. Backed down and started to climb out on the trailer and something didn’t look right. The back of the boat not floating and was under the water a little. Didn’t undo the tie down straps!!!

Another time we were anchoring over a crappie hole. I was watching the fish finder and GPS and my buddy Doug was on the bow waiting for my call to drop anchor. When I felt we were right on the spot I gave the cue to drop anchor. I heard a big “cur plunk” and I said “you could have been a little more stealthy dropping anchor” “gonna scare the crappie”. I got no response from Doug and he was quiet as could be. I noticed the boat was still drifting and looked up to see him frozen and staring over the bow. He had tied like a 5 foot piece of rope to the anchor, thinking he was tying to the big pile of rope in the front of the boat.

Last one. We were crappie fishing at Gibbon’s creek and ready to head in. We untied from a tree and I made sure to pull the minnow bucket in and stow it away. Day before, by accident I had taken the minnow bucket for a 30mph ride dragging beside the boat. Then I headed to the boat ramp not going real fast. When I idled back for the no wake zone something wasn’t right. No one pulled the anchor we had off the stern and we drug it all the way back. Luckily it was a small anchor and no damage was done.

Oh great stuff... I don't quite feel so bad now...yet...

My "fond" fishing memories started at a very young age. I'll start back as far as I can remember. We were going Floundering in Late Nov/Early Dec and I was ~6yrs old, Dad had a flatbottom Jonboat with a 20hp Johnson, we launched out of the Port A municipal ramp and ran up the ICW almost to the Lighthouse, I was so happy to get to go Floundering with dad, I had a "small" pair of waders that swallowed me and wearing a pair of dad's old shoes over the stocking feet. This was back when we still used foil over 3/4 of the lantern to Flounder, this comes into play later... Dad lit my lantern and handed it to me with the instruction: No matter what, don't drop the lantern in the water. Well... the water was murky & we had less than knee deep (on Dad, about crotch deep on me) visibility and we were trudging along toward the lighthouse with Dad dragging the boat, we walked about 5 min trying to get to the grass in hopes the water would clear up when I step into a Stoner hole, down I went and WOWZA that water was cold! I managed to stand up and spitting seawater with waders full and the glass shattered on the lantern and had gone swimming. amongst the laughter Dad & Uncle helped me in the boat, we had a 1/2 plastic barrel to put the Flounder in so I crcawled down in the barrel to get out of the wind and Dad gave me an old army wool blanket to cover with, About 20 minutes later when they finally gathered their composure he looked over and said "All I heard was a scream and a splash, I looked over and you were trying your best to keep the lantern above water, all I could see was the Arm & lantern!"

Then the trip got better.....

We crossed the ICW to the back side of St Joe, I stayed in my barrel and was watching while they trudged along until we finally gave up ~1am. We started heading back, They didn't have very good spotlights back then... So were cruising along just barely on a plane and dad kept wildly swinging the spotlight around like he was looking for a landmark, heck I even knew where we were... then I heard him say to my Uncle "Somewhere around here is an old shrimpboat that the cabin roof sticks up during low tide... BAMMMMM..... found it. I got thrown out of my barrel into the front floorboard, Uncle got thrown from the middle seat over the front and into the water. There wer were, on the coastal edge of the ICW with out Jonboat high & dry on the roof of the sunken shrimpboat...

Fortunately it was a Jonboat and it was light enough for them to push it back into the water, the bow was a little krinkled but didn't leak. Once we calmed down and got our nerves back, then we laughed hysterically. Dad ensured us that there were no more obstacles left between us & the Harbor.

More to follow...

We fished alot when I was growing up...

I had been on many Trotline/Throwline catfishing trips with Dad and at the ripe young age of 12 I had it ALL figured out...

Dad had already taught me how to run the 7.5hp Evinrude in the San Antonio river hear Charco, so we were going to Mathis Lake, down near the dam to catch some big flatheads. Dad backed the trailer down and I anxiously mounted the motor and connected the fuel line, couple cranks and It fired right up like it was supposed to do, Dad unhooks the front and I pop it into reverse and gun it... Notice ^ Mounted... not tighten the screws... I twisted the handle and the most amazing thing happened... The prop jumped out of the water and the motor took off... without the boat attached... I'm still not sure to this day if it was fear or lack of common sense but I sure wasn't going to let go of that handle! SPLASH.... Fortunately for me the sudden dunking of the motor ended the combustion process because I remember the lower unit hitting my leg before I let go!

As I gathered my bearings my dad was holding the bowline and laying on the dock screaming with laughter... so were quite a few other people in the vicinity. Of course, after I assured them that I was OK, the laughter continued...

Luckily I was only in about 6' of water, we recovered the motor, pulled the spark plug, pulled the cord a couple times, re-assembled & about 20 pulls later it started back up. We ended up having a really good trip after that... Lesson learned, make sure the screws are really tight...

lol, good stuff

TTT

Well... once I learned this fine lesson and my Dad gained a bit more trust in my Boatmanship, I was allowed to use the boat on my own...
I was about ~14 at the time and living in Skidmore, Had this bright Idea that my buddy and I were going to run a trotline in Corrigan Creek on his grandfather's place... We set up camp and all is well, seined up some perch out of the tank and away we went. We had set a trotline along an undercut creek bank where I suspected a big flattie was hiding under...

The next morning we were collecting our bounty of some nice 5-7lb Channels and when I eased the Jonboat up to the trotline I could see it tugging and started getting excited. My Buddy was my "Lineman" in the front and I hadn't taken his lack of experience into consideration... Well, He grabbed the line and started working down to the 1st hook where we had a big cat, he was tussling and yelling, I was trying to hold the boat steady and he was freaking out, Finally I told him to drop the line and we switched places, Once again, I hadn't taken into consideration his lack of experience and "assumed" he knew how to run the boat... bad idea...

I told him to ease me back up to the line, fortunately the overgrown monkeygrass cushioned our wide open impact into the bank...

I manage to grab the line and screamed at him to get me the F outta here and BACK up... poor guy couldn't handle the stress, threw it into reverse & gunned it... Fortunately the creek was only ~20ft wide at this point when we went sailing into a fallen tree of branches, This was when I discovered the true intent of a kill switch attached to your wrist! The Yellowjackets were quite hasty to express their anger with the interuption of their nice summer morning

So we took a moment to reflect upon the series of misfortunate events and I go over the basics with him and he eases me back up to the line, I'm working my way down & struggling with the fish... unfortunately not paying attention to what the "Captian" was doing... In his keen observations he was trying to replicate my 6yrs of boat operation experience and had put the motor in reverse again and forgot that minor detail. Now, I was fighting the trotline and fish and the boat being in reverse and his full attention was on what I was doing...

Well... I was trying to get my hand under this 35lb Blues gillplate since we didn't have a net and I realized the boat was dragging us backward, I yelled at him to get me some slack on the line... Well, he guns is again. I had already gotten under the gillplate & had a firm grip that I didn't plan on letting go... SPLASH... over the front I went, Fortunately I stood up and the water was only chest deep... once I regained my bearings and still had a firm grasp on the fish, he had already pulled the ripcord and was standing up watching me, With some extremely colorful language I politely informed him to PADDLE back to me!

That was the last time I had the joy of being the Lineman and getting to land the fish... Some strange reason I just had a psychological stigma of letting somebody else run the boat...

I was stationed at Ft Lee, VA and lived on a Houseboat. We also had a 14' Johnboat with a lil 15 Mariner. Some buddies & I from work had gone down the river and set some lines and were catching nice 5-6lb Blues & Channels on the lines, 1 point where the 2 Rivers came together we dropped anchor (Cinderblock) on a shallow sandbar and were nightfishing, Man it was cold... we started noticing frost forming on the seats but we were catching fish, We decided to pull ashore to build a fire and we went to the Water treatment training facility down on the river, the Army had set up a real nice beach with 2-3" round smooth riverstones, this comes into play later...
We scrounged up some dry driftwood and made a small fire so we could warm up and hung out about an hour, about 1am we decided we would run the lines 1 more time & call it a night. Well, you see slimy moss likes to grow on these smooth flat flatstones... I got in back and started up the motor, the other guys loaded up and our Lineman was pushing us off, just as he tried to transition into the boat he lost his footing, granted the water where he fell was ~4" deep but with the slick rocks and the ice cold water he was floundering around trying to stand up and managed to finally get on dry land... amongst the hysterical laughter I managed to get back to him, several of us shared 1 of our layers of clothing to get him something dry & we made a bee line back to the house...

Somebody else's turn... I feel like I'm telling on myself too much...

More to come later

hahaha, i dnt think anyone minds lol TTT

If anybody can relate... please feel free to chime in also

My Buddy Chris & I were fishing the headwaters of Belton Lake on the Leon River at Iron Bridge park. There is a real nice primitive campground and a Boat ramp that was high & dry from the drought, It was Late Feb 2007 and after a harsh winter and Hunting Season the fishing bug had really hit hard, especially when we had a few consecutive clear days in the high 60's/Low 70's so we decided to plan a fishing excursion.
Our Fishing Excursions don't only consist of throwing a couple rods in the boat & grabbing bait on the lake as we go, these are major expeditions, multiple vehicles, grocery lists, boats, campers, tents, enough wood for an Aggie Bonfire, sustinance for 3 weeks, even if we only plan on a 3 day trip...
The weather had turned considerable sour between the time we began the planning phase and the time the execution actually occurred, at night it was dropping into the high 30's and the daytime was barely sneaking over 50.
Well, the water was down ~16ft that year and there was roughly 50yds of waist high weeds from the end of the Boat ramp to the water's edge. Launching the boat consisted of a good 4WD vehicle and backing the boat off the riverbank. Fortunatly we were using a 14' Jonboat with my lil 15hp Mariner, good for the "Skinny waters". The 1st afternoon we established camp that somewhat resembled an army outpost and by the time we got around to setting out throwlines we only managed to get 1/2 dozen set out. The following morning we picked up a couple nice Blues & Channels and that evening we were going to extend our set further up the "River" that more resembled a large creek.

We ran across a couple shallow spots where I had to lift the motor & coast over fallen trees, snake thru some shallow spots all the way setting lines in deep holes, undercut banks etc. Eventually we came to a huge fallen Willow across the river that we couldn't pass. Judging from the terrain of the bank, we were in a deep hole and I spied a perfect "tying branch" right in the center... this is where the mighty powers of observation combined with a Pint of Vodka don't really mix... This branch hanging down about shoulder high (when standing) split... the branch that protruded upwardly had fresh spring buds sprouting, the branch hanging down was obviously dry with parts of bark fallen off... So I holler at Chris, my Lineman... Grab the INSIDE of the "Y" to tie off... this is where it went south... Chris is roughly a foot shorter than I am, so he had to reach a little higher than I would have... and as soon as he stood up I had a vision of the future and premonition that it was about to get ugly and I started chuckling, well... chuckle turned to laughter when he grabbed the low hanging "End of the Y" and I was doing my best to compose myself when he started losing his balance and pushing the front of the boat while holding onto the dead branch... and then it happened... *SNAP* ... Chris & a 4' section of tree went swimming... well, the water was still in the lower 40's, when he came up the 1st time he still had both hands on the branch and was trying everything he could to stand on water and put the branch back in the tree! Just as he was about to go under he decided to abandon the branch and grab the boat instead! We helped him back in the boat and I called back to camp to have them throw some more logs on the fire and turn the heater on in the Camper... well, they knew... Chris went swimming again!
So I volunteer my Carhart to him and as expeditiously as I can safely get up back to camp we go. Chris is looking sorta popsicle-ish and cursing the whole way, I get him back to camp and help him up to the Pop-up Camper, I throw him some dry clothes and he was stripping out of his wet clothes... Just as I stepped out I mentioned loudly for him to close the curtains on the Big Bay window... As I walked over toward the fire I could see his glowing white hiney semi-distorted through the somewhat transparent plastic "window" and threw a comment in his direction to the effect of "Wow, guess the water was cold"... his Wife, innocently sitting snuggly by the fire with the same view the rest of us had said out loud "No, It wasn't the water..." We burst into laughing as he came out of the camper stating that the water was so cold the crown jewels had retracted for some warmer weather.

We have called him "Turtle Chris" since then... always a good way to get his blood pumping

Greatness Nophears!!
My best incident was last May fishing out of Port A. My brand new little darlin' bride and I were honeymooning there, and Mrs. Philpot, being the perfect bride, allowed me to drag the boat with us on this deal. Its Monday 17May09 and the wind is howling from 3 directions at once. The guides aren't even going out... Mrs. Philpot and I have driven 5 hours to go fishing, so a little bit of wind is NOT going to keep us on the beach. Can ya'll hear the stupidity that's resounding through my little mind here? We leave the protection of Port A harbor, and it looks just like the perfect storm where the Lydia Ann, Aransas, and Corpus channels are colliding, and my 18' aluminum cc starts taking a heinous pounding. I am unaware of the damage that's taking place, and we make it in after numerous and near-catastrophic bounces and jolts. Next day we're 6 miles up the Corpus channel and Mrs. Philpot notices there's 6" of water standing in the back of the boat. The bilge pump isn't keeping up with the inflow, so we get to full throttle asap and start heading in. We're sharing the water with a 1000' freighter that's throwing a wake like a small tsunami and I nearly catapult Mrs. Philpot several times as we get over the wake. All ends well with us making it into the harbor and onto the trailer. The problem turns out to be that about 36" of weld has split directly under the console, and man it's amazing how much water can come through an 1/8" wide crack 36" long.
I think I lost a little bit of my Tarzan mystique with Mrs. Philpot by nearly drowning her on our honeymoon....

Yeah, that tends to cost you quite a few "He-Man" points!
This is a really good story, we both got wet but neither of us had to fall out of the boat to do it...

My wonderfully trusting friend Chris and I got a wild idea that we were going to take my 14' skinny Jonboat up to Miami, OK (pronounced: My-AM-ah) to go Spoonbill fishing out of it. At that time I only had my lil 3.3 Evinrude and the trailer was designed for a much larger Jonboat. After the 10hr bouncing trip thru the lovely OK Highway system we finally got to our destination.
The next morning we launched and for the 1st time ever, I had a really hard time starting the little motor, it had always been a 2 pull start, but I got it started and pulled up to the dock and noticed a little water pooling already. We didn't call it S.S. Leaky for nothing... He parked the truck and when he jumped in the front, he noticed that there was a 2" crack perpendicular to the front seat where it sat on the front Trailer support... No biggie, we can handle this... That's why I buy good lifejackets...

We took off from the dock WIDE OPEN... and still didn't violate the "No Wake" zone... we knew we had about a 3 mile trip up the river. We had a pretty stiff North wind (bad direction) and as I started around the point to head up the river and the motor sputtered and dies, so I crank and crank and crank and get it started, battle the wind to stay out of the ugly looking main lake & get us closer to the shore and the motor keeps cutting out...
... backthinking (you know that's bad when you have to backthink) I used the last of the old gas from the 3gal can to mix some more, uh oh... trash in the carb... This could be bad, but in my redneck theology, I can fix this, I'll just dump the bowl and get some clean gas in it & we'll be OK....
We get close to shore & he's trying to paddle and I'm desperately cranking but were not making headway and all the other intelligent fishermen decided it was a good day to stay home... we were about 50yds from shore & he threw out the anchor to keep us out of the main part of the lake while I tinkered.
The 3.3 is an intriguing motor, mini lil 1-cyl & a pint size fuel tank built onto it. Getting the fuel bowl off was very easy, then there was a plink & plunk. I heard it, Chris heard it and probably every fish within a 1/2 mile heard it... but neither of us could figure out what it was.... remember the crack?... well, I had finished my coffee cup and it was the closest thing we had to a bailing bucket, so I took the minute to throw a few cups of water over the side...

reassembled the fuel bowl that was full of water and debris, 2 pulls & she was running like a champ... for about 20 sec... then it started acting like it was flooding, smoking, sputtering and there was fuel pouring out of the cowling.... uh oh... Luckily the fuel switch is prominently mounted on the side & able to shut it off quickly...

I pulled off the cowling and found the fuel was coming out the front of the Carb... Float valve needle... 20' deep in the lake...

We made a democratic decision and agreed that we drove all that way a day before everybody else and dangit, we were going fishing...

2 pulls, fired the motor up and away we go! Bail Bail, turn fuel valve on, Bail bail, Turn fuel valve off... this goes on for the 30 min boat ride up the river...

The only way to catch these Spoonbill is by snagging, we have these super heavy duty "Tuna" style Snaggin rods, Penn 209's with 108lb Braided Squid line, 12/0 Trebles and 16oz sinkers, we drag them along behind us bouncing them off the bottom in ~20' deep river channel, point the rod at the back of the boat, when the line gets taunt, make a full swing pull forward, letting the weight settle and the boat to pull the line tight again, then we puuuuulllllll..... Yes, it's lotsa work...

So I got into a rhythm, Bail Bail, Puuuuuullll rod, turn fuel off, puuuuulllll rod, bail bail, turn fuel ON, Puuuuulll rod, bail bail....

Fortunately this only went on for about 45 minutes before he hooked into a nice 53lb Sow, we managed to get her into the boat, tagged and tied off, bailed all the water & headed back to camp, I was exhausted!

Turn fuel on, Light cigarette, bail bail, turn fuel off...

luckily with the 15-20MPH wind pushing us we made it back to camp in about 20 minutes....

Good times...

Both Mrs. Philpot and I are impressed after reading the spoonbill saga!!!! Total committment to the event man! We can't always choose the circumstances that we have to endure, we just choose how we endure them. Greatness bud.

Ohhh.... I'm just really getting started... just waiting for a few others to chime in to tell their stories also...

ttt