I got a good one for ya!

So we are at Medina at sunrise last year for a day of fishing and while we are unloading the truck I noticed that I only had 20's to pay the parking. It was 8 bucks and I didn't have change, so I asked the guy behind us if he had change. He did. I noticed that he had an old man with him and I said "You guys going fishing?" He said they were and that it was his treat to his 80 year old father. They had just rented that boat and truck and were going to fish all day. You could tell the guy was a novice, but hey, we all were at one time. Anyway, long story short, we put our boat in the water and my buddy parks the truck and gets in. As we are idling away I hear this really loud grinding sound and I look back to the boat ramp. The guy has the boat out of the water, trailer almost sideways on the ramp, people waiting behind him, trying to START the boat! He didn't even have it in the water yet!

I yelled back and told him that he is going to ruin the water pump if he tries to start the boat out of the water and that he needs to get the boat in the water first, then start it.

My buddy and I laughed about it all day, until we were back in this cove, with the motor up and decided to change spots. We both sit down and I try to start the boat, but something doesn't sound right. I look back and guess what? Yep, the motor was up!

only thing thaat upsets me is ffolks who ppull their boat down to the ramp, back it down close to the water, then get out, stretch, talk, un hook straps, take off the transom saver, talk somemore, load stuff in the boat, get their dog in the boat and whoever else they have with them and then decide to try and launch.... do all of this in the parking lot before driving down to the ramp. I unhook everything in the parking lot. i get my son in the boat with his lifejacket on and sitting in the boat before going to the ramp. i can back down, launch, pull up to the bank, run over to my truck, go park and run back to the boat in less than 5 minutes...

Sometimes the action can be downright funny. It happened to me a few years ago. I launch by myself and like many, have a set routine. I tether the boar to the trailer with a 50' rope, be sure all tie downs are off, back down until boat floats, stop short. Boat keeps going. I pull it in with the tether rope. Well, the fateful day, I failed to attach rope to bow eye, so boat floated off trailer, headed slowly toward open water. Fortunately there was a courtesy dock along side the ramp. I ran out on the dock, jumped the 4 ft to the boat. I heard applause- 4 or 5 others saw what had happened and were giving me a hand for my successful jump. I bowed and laughed along with the onlookers. Iwas embarassed, but glad the way it turned out.

Port Aransas, city launch, 2 or 3 years ago, tournament I can't remember. Your typical scramble to trailer boats and get to weigh-in before deadline. About 15 boats waiting to load-up. One guy sticks (wedges, crams, squeezes, etc) his boat on a similar rig to his own (I hope), but wrong rig, wrong -much smaller, with the side-boards trailer. While we watched, could'nt un-wedge, push, or float it off. Had plenty of help, just did'nt work. Had to leave.....but funny.

Fish long enough and it will happen to all of us.

Very true

WCLBASS he doesn't drive the truck through the parking lot just pulls it up enough for someone else to back down. But enough practice and he'll have it down i hope.

Keith, No way!!! I thought i was the only one that had done that, bad thing with me though is the gentleman running benbrook marina called me one morning, i was just getting set up on the first spot with the trip, he asked if it was okay if he pulled my truck off the ramp to park it!!!

Without a doubt Kat-man-do. My dad is my normal partner. We have a routine. He unstraps bow, checks plug, climbs in, primes bulb, and gets out life jackets. I unhook stern straps, remove transom saver, check plug (yes twice), put stuff behind the seat, and climb in to pull around and back it in. I know how deep he likes the trailer and what he's gonna do and he knows what I'm gonna do. No hand signals, no yelling "pull up", "back down", "you're on sand, trailer's crooked".

We have both complained about going with other friends and how it screws up the whole routine...

I tried to sink my buddies el camino once... had a weak clutch.. and wast the first time I had drove it....

First time out in my new boat. Wifey is backing me and our 2 girls down the ramp, no problem, she's backed trailers before, just not boats. She gets the trailer a little out of whack but it's a big ramp so no problem I think. Now she slams on the brakes and BLAM, beached boat on the ramp. It took me, her, and 2 guys waiting to launch to push the boat on into the water. Glad it was an aluminum.

Last time I got upset was at Falcon. There was a small tournament going on, Im launching by myself cause my wife is with me and all the guys that are checking people in for the tournament have there boats launched but are not leaving for a while so the dock at the county ramp is full of boats and I could hardly get my boat in to tie up, so I could go pull the truck out. I had to try to swing around my props hittin mud, I was pissed.
Maybe its just me but I think they should launch when there ready so others can use the dock.

Hey man, like they said, we've all been there. Except most of you guys didn't have yours on film or the fun of being embarassed on national tv. Go to you tube and search for '' jeep tape''. The two minute version is the one on tv and the nine minute one is raw video. I'd post a link, but I don't know how to. Hey, we were all 17 and decided to go on a fishing trip. Thank god, it was during the week and only one other boater was on the lake. This took place at Fayette county lake July 1, 1997. I'd tell the story,but the video is better.

Most of the time I am launching by myself at some pretty busy ramps. At new ramps I plan my attack before I even start unloading stuff. I will park and walk the ramp area to see what I have to work with. Being alone I have to tie off to something so I can park the truck. I have done some pretty crazy things in the past to deal with being alone.

One time when I was about 17 years old I had a pretty good alum bass boat. I was at a Thursday night dogfight tourney and the ramp was really busy and I just did not have a spot to tie off. The bank was really rocky and you could not beach the boat any where. I noticed this other guy was there alone in a really nice bass boat. So I asked if I could help him and he help me. I would launch his boat first and then I would park his truck and go get mine and he could hold my boat out in open water until I came back and then tow it to the edge of the water and I could jump in. All went well until the point of jumping in the boat from the bank!! I miss calculated my jump and hit the trolling motor blade just above my ankle and split my leg wide open. As I was bleeding every where I said thank you to the guy that helped me and then went to look at my cut. I just super glued the cut and used duck tape to cover it and and went on my way fishing. I went on to win 1st place in the Thursday night dog fight and won $500! They made fun of my ducktaped ankle but they didn't laugh when I beat their arse in the tourney as a single 17 year old in a beat up alum boat!

That night after the tourney my dad was there to see the weigh-in and saw my cut. Well he made me go to the ER because of how deep the cut was. 5 stitches later and a bill of over $500 that winning payday was not so much fun! The doctor asked what did I use to seal the cut with because it was so clean. I said super glue and duck tape he just looked at me with this blank stare! That was like over 15 years ago and guess what I see on the shelf at Walgreens? Super glue for cuts! Dab-nab-it this cajun redneck could have made a million off my need to fish!!

I've been there more then once, I may chuckle but its because I have been there. And it always happens when some one is helping me, or I'm in a rush. I remember getting stuck at the ramp at Alpine Marina on Toledo Bend, and effectively blocking one of the lanes during a 100 boat T. After getting a tractor to get me unstuck, we backed down with a tie down strap still on, partner pulls the trailer up, but the tension won't allow us to release the tie down. So we back down, run the boat up on the trailer hook the bow, and pull up again. Undo the the tie down, and back down forgetting the bow strap is still hooked. I run up to the bow, lean over, loose my sunglasses and led light that was in my pocket. Finally we are off. During the tournament we "early released" my 5th keeper at the side of the boat, easily 5 lbs. End up finishing 6th, 3 lbs out of the lead.