Reading another post got me to thinking about boat problems on tournament day.

My son 12 years old gets in the boat and I dump him and the boat off. I park the truck and walk back down to the ramp and he is out in lake with the motor running and can't turn the steering wheel. He gets on the trolling motor and comes back to the ramp. I get in the boat and wind up breaking the steering cable because it was froze up. Three hours later after me and him change the cable in the paking lot of the Marine dealer on 515(Lake Fork) we are back on the water and finish one spot out of the money. Damm the luck!!!

Years ago a buddys steering cable broke during the tournament and I had to set on the motor to steer it while he idled across the lake to get back to weighin. Bath tub boat with a 40 horse. Damm the luck!!!

I was up the river on Lake Ray Hubbard and the trolling motor cable broke. Took the head off and used vice grips to steer the trolling motor all day. Damm the luck!!!

Two hours into the tournament trolling motor batteries go dead. Send the little woman to Walmart in Pittisburg ,two hours later we are back to fishing. Damm the luck!!!

Left Quail Hollow and the wheel feel off the trailer on Sunday morning. I drive to Emory and the man at the parts store just happens to pull up the same time I do. A couple hours later we have fixed the trailer and back fishing .Damm the luck!!!

And just this year my tilt and trim seal busted and lost all the fluid. In the parking lot at Oak Cove we resealed my cylinder in a couple hours. And it is still working 6 months later. Damm the luck!!!!

I can't imagine being a boat owner and not being able to work on the thing!!!!!

Not counting every day just for fun stuff fishing.
This all happened during competition

Opening day of media Fork division 2008 we blast to our starting spot, I grab the T/M rope drop her in, shimmy up to raise the head up and it breaks off, completely off the shaft--Holly Molly--thank the man above for DUCT TAPE..
Wrapped half a roll around it and finish the day.

Next year
Line up for our flight number and take off, boat won't get on plain ???? spent 20-mins trying to figure out what the %^&$ was going on. !!
The motor will drop all the way down---- if you take the transom saver completely off the motor.
Duhhhhhhhhhh.

This year, boat the first keeper and switch the L/W pump on and a big BANG occurs(loud)--cartridge blew, turned on the second L/W all is good, 10-mins later the bilge comes on with a steady stream about every 10-15-mins afterward.Luckily we have a spare cartridge, takes 15-20 mins to replace while getting shocked 2-3 times but all is well again..

It's a man thing, you have to be able to adapt over come whatever comes your way..

What typically happens to me on tourney day is that I usually don't catch shat! At least I'm consistent.

ABA tournament launch the boat and beach it. Go to park the truck, bs with a couple of guys then head down to my boat to find it filled with water. Hurry up and get it back on the trailer, come to find out livewell hose busted and was spilling in water. 30mins back to fishing. 1HR later Im running across the lake in 3ft waves and motor dies cant figure what was wrong so I trolled to a safe cove killing all my batteries. Have to hitch a ride back to my truck 4hrs later and drive to the nearest boat ramp and drift my boat to that spot and back on my trailer and this is in the middle of winter. Come to find out that the ignition went bad.

Last year I was unloading the boat for a tournament and went to get our life jackets out of the box and realized I had left them at home hanging in the shop drying. We had fished a tournament the previous week and it rained all day. I had to drive back to the house and get the jackets. I'll never do that again.

I have seen lots of things happen, but never heard of that one before.

Many years ago at Martin Creek when every bass club in the state showed up in the winter on Saturdays, I was the one that forgot to put the plug in while 200 trucks and boats waited in line behind me. Also had the steering cable freeze up on us at Martin Creek one morning. When its in the 20's coffee will not thaw out a steering cable.

LMAOOO
Yeah, leave it to me to find new ways to screw up.. The saver was bottoming out on the hull area just above the plug, it was a rock solid hookup...Opppps, My bad..

I know this isn't related to tournament fishing but I once saw a guy in a brand new skeeter and cypress springs unhook his trailer off his truck at the ramp and try to drive off in his boat..... I left and put in at a different ramp

wait like bill dance did in that video?

looked down to see smoke billowing out of the console... wire had shorted and was red hot from the battery all the way to the console and was burning the plastic casing arond the wire... SCARY

Fished a evening tournment and I pulled my boat upto the bank next to a few other boats opened the live well door to get fish out and a fish jumped out and hit the boat next to me the guy in that boat seen it and laughed alittle so I took the other two fish to the scale and I was under a pound from first .and then I told them the story nobody beleived it but on laughing guy trailor boat before opening the live well lol

Back in the early 90's me and my bud thought we were bad a$$ bass fisherman's so we are going to win the McDonald's classic on Fork ... Kinda slow start when you lock your keys in the truck on the public ramp with a 100 boats waiting to put in.. That's a good pre -game motivator ???

dead cranking battery, dead trolling motor even though it was plugged in all night, livewells didn't work Saturday but did Thursday, and the worst was netting an 8lb plus fish and the net had a hole chewed in it and the fish went through the net and the line broke.

How about going to weigh in with too many fish, winning the tournament then getting DQ'd for too many fish???!!


LOL! That's just one of my boneheaded things I've done.

Ken

Spinning a hub at takeoff and having to RUN to the truck for the spare prop. Changed it standing in the water for ten minutes. Luckily it wasnt cold!!

Too much Mexican food the night before! Need I say more?

It was the only time I was late to launch/take off!