Just remember, it could be a lot worse! Marked a sunken boat while scanning for bait Saturday that wasn’t there last week. The site of a boat laying on the bottom of the lake makes me cringe every time I mark one. Have seen quite a few boats go down over the years on this lake. When I have had a chance to ask the guys what happened most of em say they stated taking on water and their bilge pump wasn’t working. Stay safe out there my Catfishing Amigos!

dang

Over the years I have seen several sunken boats on the graph. Kind of scary!

Yes that is not a good day for someone. But now the real questions.......how was fishing?

I got all my rods restrung and went ahead and changed some of my rods of to 8/0 and new leaders. Ready for some cool weather.

What was the water temp? Any sign of the lake starting to turnover or mix?

Water was 79F and early fall pattern is just starting. No signs of a turnover but lake was definitely mixed as I marked fish and bait at all depths. Threadfin are beginning to migrate north. Marked some decent fish but only managed one 8lbr on the big baits and caught 13 dinks on small Gizzard Chunks. We caught everything in 15 ft which seemed to be the depth that held the best fish and bait. Probably would have doubled our stringer if I had run smaller baits on my planers but we’re tired of catching dinks so we went big. We got a ways to go Matt. October is supposed to be mild and dry so it’s going to probably be November before things jump off.

Sad site indeed!

Bad times for sure!

Wouldn't surprise me if that was a smaller boat anchored in the cut fishing and one of the big pleasure boats blasted through the No Wake zone. Swamped the boat before they could get off anchor. That cut can get crowded and rough in a hurry.

You're right.
I know people have the right to sit in that cut and fish, but why on earth they do I don't know. Especially during high traffic times.

If that’s the case then he learned a hard lesson. Don’t anchor in a boating lane. This lake is packed with inconsiderate inexperienced boaters and I see people blow through the cut all the time. Always have always will. The no wake zone at the cut is in place to slow boats down and protect other boats passing through at the same time. It’s not there to protect the 30 boats spot locked and anchoring while slabbing in a boating lane. I’ve had trouble getting through that cut from all the sandbass guys packed in there that don’t know how to go find their own fish. My guide buddy and fishing mentor most of my life Steve Schiele told me a long time ago “go find your own fish and start your own boat show. There are fish everywhere if you just go find em. It’s much more rewarding to go find your own fish”.

When I was a kid we fished from an 14 ft aluminum V hull that leaked through many of the rivets. We actually kept the plug inside the boat, and would wait till we were about 1/8 to 1/4 full of water, then take it up on plane, remove the plug and all the water would be sucked out. we would put the plug back in and resume fishing, never did fix that old boat, and it never sunk. Thank God our motor started every time or we would have been in trouble.

That sounds like my first boat I bought for $600 with lawn mowing money! I had a 15 ft aluminum deep V with a 35 hp 1978 Chrysler motor when I was 14. Dad would have to put the boat in for me at the Mill Street boat ramp because I was too young to drive. Almost sank that sucker one day when a power cell rolled in on us fast with 5 ft rollers. We barely made it to Hobie Point and beached it. Dad came looking for us and somehow found us. Y’all should have seen the look on his face when he found us! No cell phones back then, no instant weather reports and high def radars back in the 80s

Dang Gato glad y'all made it out safely