What happened to Alton?

What happened to Alton Jones today? He was 32nd this morning and didn't way in anything. Boat problems?

he couldn't find Rojas

LOL!

He pulled an iaconelli and ran his boat up on the bank.

Here's the scoop... Dan

https://www.bassmaster.com/news/jones-and-his-marshal-uninjured-boating-accident

Glad nobody was injured.

Yeah im not buying the broken skeg caused this. Half of the boats in Louisiana have ground down skegs from running the sand.

Truth is a lot of the fisherman drive reckless because they arent paying for damages.

Not much margin if something to occurs in a lot of areas of that Sabine tournament. That's at least two boats up in the woods. No way I would ride as a Marshall over there. Hopefully no one ever gets severely injured.

That system is much less dangerous than the red River in my opinion. Poor decisions can lead to accidents on any lake or river

*weigh

You ever tried to steer a boat without a rudder? Lol

At 70mph there isn’t much of it in the water to begin with, not to mention it looks like he knocked most of it off.#keyboardcritic

70 mph with underwater hazards is the biggest issue IMO.

I would imagine the propulsion from the prop and the lower unit alone is enough to safely steer the boat. I’ve done it before, just not at 70 mph, but that’s kinda my point.

Skeg does more to protect prop than to assist steering. I’ve seen plenty motors with missing skegs and have driven a few of them. They don’t handle any differently.

I have a full skeg on my SHO and I've hit objects so hard it killed the motor so the skeg doesn't protect the prop that much. I would tend to believe Alton as to the cause of the accident especially after seeing the pictures.

I know Alton personally, I can tell you he wouldn’t lie about the cause of him losing Control.

If it was driving error, he love to talk and would use it as a teaching moment to himself and others.

If you would’ve read the article he stated he hit something early in the day and didn’t realize it was a skeg issue until after he pulled his boat out

Obviously I read the article. Exactly he drove the boat for how long with no issues?

The missing skeg was a convenient excuse for operator error.

Not in anyway saying he is lying. He may honestly believe it was a skeg issue, ive driven and ridden in enough boats without a skeg to know it had nothing to do with it.

At speed that skeg does little to nothing to help you steer. I knocked 3/4 of one of on a pipe at Choke Canyon. I drove it that way for weeks until I could get it repaired and never noticed any difference at all. It's there to protect the prop. Some people run em broke smooth off.

My skeg has been missing 1/4 of it for years and haven't had any issues.

Oh you're saying he's lying alright, you just said " it had nothing to do with it". You weren't there and yet you say it was "operator error". What an ignorant comment from someone who wasn't even there, doesn't know the "operator" or the conditions when the accident happen. Geez.

He likely was trying to follow another competitor to their "area"

#falsewitness

This was copied off Gator Guard's website. Apparently they disagree with you but I'm sure you know better.

What is the purpose of a skeg? The skeg of your outboard or stern drive motor serves two highly important functions. The skeg acts as a precise rudder, allowing the motor to turn your boat accurately and safely. This function is especially needed by high performance boats such as bass boats where on plane the skeg plays a critical role in steering. The steering torque that builds without a functional skeg can be extremely dangerous to control the boat’s direction in a safe manner.

I have been skegless many times and not having one would not cause u to bow hook, sounds like Mr.Potlicker was running late and was driving a little to fast over some boat wake

I'm just giving you my hands on practical experience in a boat that ran 78 mph. Not some [censored] from a website that sells skeg guards. I get it, the Alton love is strong here. I have never met the man. I'm just telling you the power of propulsion far outweighs that little skeg.

It ain't that strong. .....

I know him and his family personally as well.... bunch of hypocrites.

all I will say is that I have a 2017 zx250 with a patched skeg from a rear end collision and it chine walks all over the place. the new lower unit housing is on order. Never thought a skeg with a little to much bow in it would make a big difference but it does. So hard to imagine how it would be without one on a high performance boat.

I think that's called speculation Jake. You must know Alton very well to speculate what happened and call him names. I never met the man and would never judge him on hearsay.

then there is that other thing you could possibly slow down. he was very fortunate that they were not seriously hurt or more damage was done. at some point bass will have to pay the marshals to ride with these professional fishermen.

Sounds like a bow hook after going over other boats wake. But i guess we will never know. I wasnt there.

Nobody knows except him and his marshal. All these dbags saying it was his fault have no clue.

No way the skeg could have broke when he ran onto the shore...

I don't have a dog in this, glad the guys ok and have no idea what happened. But that is a very different scenario. You have something actively interrupting your steering and water being fed to your prop vs just not being there altogether

Some reason so many of y’all don’t seem to believe what HE said is true? https://www.bassmaster.com/news/jones-and-his-marshal-uninjured-boating-accident

I believe that HE believes it was the skeg. If the skeg gives that much steering control to the boat, wouldn't you notice that you have lost some steering control earlier? It happened, according to him, when he hit the wake of a boat that he was trying to pass. Wouldn't it be logical that his speed and angle of approach to the wake probably have more to do with the front of the boat dipping and losing control? Once the front of the boat drops, you are no longer running on pad and the skeg should come into less of play at that point and the drag from the boat along with the wake from the boat will change your course angle.

Again I don't know the man and I fully believe he probably believes the skeg caused this. I'm just telling you myself and many others have run skeg less and saw no difference in performance. To be called a dbag for relating my experience is completely out of line.

What really matters is they are ok

Let me thoroughly assure people that having no skeg does make a difference, a big one on hipo hulls, and that, while sometimes people can get away with it based on conditions, it is absolutely a factor in handling. There are countless drag guys who cut their skegs for slightly more speed and a lot of times if they go too far it won’t go well for them. Something as small as a slight cast in torque tab we weld to the skeg changes handling immensely. I could go on and on. But all the lucky guys who ran their slower boats with no or mostly missing skegs, it worked out okay for you, but it DOES, 100% affect your handling and even on a slow big bass hull, it can get weird on you.

Operator error plain and simple. Heck half the boats running around the Sabine and all over South La having missing or broken skegs. Had half skeg on my old bass cat for about a year and drove it 70+ every time out and never noticed a difference what so ever.

Sounds like his boat did the "skeeter turn" skeeter is so proud of...

Glad no one was injured.

“ When I hit his wake, my nose dipped and the boat spun 90 degrees and went into the woods.”

That's called a nose or bow hook. It was caused by hitting another boat's wake at the wrong angle and at too high a speed, which caused the bow of the boat to drop coming off the other boat's wake. BS on Alton's explanation.

I guess everyone saying that a skeg has nothing to do with handling are the same people that would say tread has nothing to do with grip on your car.....

Tread has nothing to do with getting airborne in a car and coming down nose first, then spinning out.

If he damaged his skeg so bad that it would cause him to do a bow hook, he should have noticed a difference in the handling sooner.

If I would have struck an underwater object hard enough to break my skeg, I guarantee you I'm trimming up and doing a visual inspection on my lower unit.

So whatever way you look at it, it was operator error.

If he didn't inspect his motor after striking an underwater object hard enough to break his skeg, operator error.

If he did inspect his motor, and continued to drive too fast, operator error.

If he didn't feel a change in handling after striking the object, that skeg didn't cause him to do a bow hook, speed and approach did. Operator Error.

If he did feel a change in handling but didn't slow down, operator error.

The reality is this happens to several anglers every time Bassmaster fishes the area. You shouldn't be running 60-70mph+ on a winding river with tons of obstructions and lots of boat traffic. They can blame it on whatever they want but it comes down to time management and knowing how to drive a freaking boat. Just because your boat has the ability to go 70mph doesn't mean you need to go that speed under all conditions. I continue to be amazed at how many "experienced" bass fishermen do not get this concept. The broken skeg is just an excuse to try to save face. If the skeg was causing handling issues, that is even more reason to give yourself more time to get back to weigh in at a lower speed. This was real close to being yet another injury or death at a major bass tournament. I've never been one to be in favor of more rules, but maybe more strict horsepower restrictions are in order for these guys.

^^^ best post of the day.

You make an excellent point Bobby and I agree that hitting that wake at a certain angle would cause bow hook but what if the missing skeg wouldn't let him make a last minute adjustment to the wake. My biggest objection is none of us on here were there and yet some on here won't give the man the benefit of the doubt of his explanation and basically are calling him a liar. Some because they flat don't like him for whatever reason and prefer to blame him instead of the skeg despite some of the post that do acknowledge the importance of the skeg in steering. Alton doesn't have a history of boating accidents that I'm aware of and one Marshall that has ridden with him vouched for his safety and driving ability. I don't know the man well enough to call him a liar or believe he's a careless driver so unless we hear from a witness who saw what happened I will take his word for what happened. You can certainly have an opinion but that's a far cry from the truth.

OK Alton...

Damn, does ole Alton make YouTube videos or something? Popular dude I see...

Yup just a cope out

Lol

I think it’s been mentioned once or twice already, I’m glad Alton and his Marshall are both ok....
I bet Alton has more seat time then most of us, he can pilot that Skeeter better than any of us I’m sure.

I've always heard those skeeters could get up in the real skinny stuff, but dang...

"Hey, I know a short-cut..."

No one called the man a liar.

When I hit something hard (only a couple of times when I was idling and hit the lake bottom) I pull up the motor to inspect for damage.

Karma perhaps??

He might have more seat time, but I have never beached my boat past the Hamby......MUCH LESS THE SKEG! Lol

Those big ol Garmins were in his way.....he couldn't see.

Too fast....too close to another boat.... let's not complicate it.

You did more than once.

" ive driven and ridden in enough boats without a skeg to know it had nothing to do with it."

This all kinda goes back to the chine walk thread. Most people stop trying to go faster when their boat starts to chine and never learn how to drive the boat on pad (getting the most speed and performance out of their boat). If you're not driving your boat on pad then a broken skeg will not affect you. If you are able to learn how to drive your boat and are running high on pad, you most definitely need a skeg to be safe.

I went to the weigh-in Thursday and his (I think) boat was at the Yamaha truck without a lower unit. Don't discount the importance of the skeg for steering and handling. Back in the days of cable steering we'd but wedges on the skeg to reduce steering torque. If you've ever driven a jet boat, they steer by propulsion. They tell you "if it ain't pumpin', you aint steering". Jet ski's are much the same. Without a skeg, and hooked-up with high trim, the propulsion is your steering. Alton basically said as much saying that they were just along for the ride. He might have corrected it if he'd have stood on it, but we'll never know. I tend to believe the man. In those narrow bayous a little less speed, and trimming down a little sure can help if you need to turn quickly.

Wish your post had been the second behind the OP's. Finally a voice of reason.

So let me get this straight.

The man damaged his skeg so badly it caused him to bow hook later that day, but prior to that he had no idea something was wrong?

If the damage was that bad that affected his ability to handle the boat, he more than likely would have noticed at some point during the day. Did he not notice the sudden increase in torque when steering the boat? Certainly he didn't drive down a narrow straight canal and make zero turns.

If he had no clue there was damage, then IMO it wasn't enough damage to cause him to bow hook.

If he knew there was damage, he shouldn't have been driving so fast in such narrow canals.


How many people on this forum strike objects in their boat so hard that the impact could break off their skeg, but don't trim up and perform a visual inspection before carrying on?

You can bump something, create a stress crack unseen to the naked eye, and weeks later without hitting something the skeg could just fall off with a little pressure ...maybe in a hard turn.

I lost an entire prop along with the prop shaft running 86 mph across the main lake on Lake Waco. I remembered that I did hit something weeks prior but did not see any apparent damage at the time. By the way, there's a $1500 29P bullet cut chopper on the bottom of Waco dead smack in the middle of the main lake.

Glad they didn’t hit a tree...... that was close.

Me either...

Just a random thought,if the skeg is so unimportant why do the motor companies spend money to put them on?And just an observation a lot of fisherman,pros and joes,drive too fast or the conditions!

Dang, I just wanted to know why he didn't catch any fish! Glad he & his marshal were ok.

Skeg makes no 💩s on steering. I had a skegless lower on 2 different boats. Both boats drove the Same with or without skeg. Think about it...skeg doesn't do much in regards to boat turning...there is thing spinning thing that may just turn the boat. Idk...coild be wrong.

To protect the prop from strikes, which is precisely what it did on Alton's boat.

I saw an Allison vee bottom race boat with a hopped up Merc running straight as an arrow down the river and all of a sudden did a barrel-roll at 120 mph. No driver error. The skeg snapped off. He later told the crowd that he had thinned & sharpened the skeg and leading edge of the lower unit in attempt to gain the last ounce of speed from his rig. He weakened the skeg just enough that it snapped off at the worst moment.




Alton most likely had knocked his skeg off unknowingly and kept running down river. When the other boat pulled out in front of him he tried a high speed maneuver that failed due to no skeg. Once the prop turns lose, all steering is gone. I mean gone!

Skeeter has a reputation for their high speed maneuverability. But in order to make those 70 mph turns, everything has to be functional. I'm not sure some of you that have "skegless" LU's have ever attempted a high speed 90 degree turn. I agree the skeg has very little if anything to do with running straight down the lake. Try this simple little experiment the next time you are on the water. Get up to full speed and 3/4 trim. Now crank the steering wheel hard to the side in a 90 degree turn. Let me know how that works out for ya.

I am neither defending Alton or denying him, only telling my experience with hi-perf boats. I was once told on here that calling a man a liar was "Unbecoming of a man." So this is different??

With the rationale some people are using here, I think they would defend texting and driving because they have never had a wreck. Or maybe even drinking and driving. Just because something hasn’t happened to you does not make that an example of it not being possible

Last Wednesday on Fork my SHO was completely shut off 4 times from hitting stumps and my skeg is has no damage. Skeg will not keep your prop from being hit, period.

This from a man who has had several bass boats over 100 MPH so he knows. And there were several on here who did call the man a liar. Example:

The report flatly said the accident was caused by a missing skeg which affected the steering. Reread the report. And then you have this ignorant comment which says the skeg had nothing to do with it. Sounds to me like he called him a liar.


" ive driven and ridden in enough boats without a skeg to know it had nothing to do with it. "

I know for a fact when the kegs gone everybody is thirsty.

Whoops!

That is an AWESOME signature GIG ‘EM!!! And I’m right there with ya!

Thanks Papa, pretty much the truth too. Glad you made it.

I think its safe to say the consensus is he FD up and luckily didn't hurt anybody in the process! Live to fish another day, but i bet he slows down passing boats in rivers lol.

Dude, do you really think that means all strikes. Geez it's not a cage.

I know you suffer from poor reading comprehension, but you can disagree with another mans opinion without calling him a liar.

I don’t know why you have a hard time grasping this concept.

No one on these posts including myself called the man a liar.

I’m also not a Jones hater. I have no opinion on the man. Just another fisherman on TV that I don’t know much about. I don’t believe he would willfully make up a false story which would be necessary for one to believe he is lying. There is a huge difference in believing someone may be wrong and someone is lying.

Fact is many people have approached a wave incorrectly at too high of speed and experienced the same thing with a Fully intact skeg.

Someone else asked if I’ve ever attempted a high speed 90 degree turn with no skeg. Well I wouldn’t attempt a high speed 90 degree turn under any circumstances. Saving a few seconds isn’t worth the risk IMO, I mean how much time are you saving, making that turn? Safety is more important than any check regardless of its size.

From what others have mentioned on here I will admit it is possible the skeg was a factor, but I still believe it was unlikely to be the cause. I may be wrong, But I still don’t believe the man is a liar and never implied he was lying. I believe 100% he looked at his skeg and believed it was the cause. How do we know he didn’t break it when he ran on shore?