Just got the boat out of the shop last week. Wife and I decided to try a new lake, so we went to Lake Worth. Went to the north end of the lake and started there, huge mistake. Bumped and glided over a few stumps, learned how to back off of those. On the way back though, got real shallow. Felt the boat lurch and realized we were plowing through mud. Had it trimmed very high thankfully. Hull was plowing through mud, so I gave her a little gas and started searching for deeper water. Started getting stuck so I had the wife move up to bow as far as she could. Never did get stuck, but almost came to a stand still. What exactly ARE you supposed to do when encountering a sand bar or super shallow spot? What damage can I do to my boat / motor by pushing through like we did?
Finally got out of that mess and into deeper water. Got clear of the stump mine field and thought I'd get on plane in what I thought was a boat channel. Depth finder was reading 8-10 feet of water, buoys on both sides of us, thought we were clear. Probably running about 20 mph and then a bone jarring BAAAMM! Boat jumped and listed to the port side and we slowed down dramatically. Felt like we were hit with a canon ball! Right after that, another loud BAM and listing to the port again. Guess we hit stumps, never saw anything. Can't believe it didn't puncture my hull though, going that fast. It literally felt like we had been in a car wreck. It even knocked the cowling off the motor. While heading back to to the dock, another boat flagged us down,and asked us to tow them to Casino Beach. My transom is not in a good way, so I went for help for them, not knowing if my my boat is sinking from the stumps I just hit. While going for help, I hit another stump while on plane. Look down and it's 2 feet of water, in the middle of the lake! WTH? After this last stump, my motor is vibrating the entire boat. I turned off the motor, trimmed up and half of one of my prop ears is gone. Another ear the lip is completely rolled over on itself. This prop was just barely starting to get the paint worm off the edges. Just had it fixed last October when I bought the boat.
I know I hit three stumps or something. Don't know if I hit it with the hull first and then the motor, or if the motor took the full brunt of the hit. I've never been on this lake OR a lake that was SO shallow. But what damage can hitting (solid)things do to a motor/gear case? Or the structural integrity of the boat itself? Should I take it back to my mechanic and have him give it a good go through? I honestly can't believe we didn't sink that boat yesterday.
When we finally limped in and loaded up, couldn't see much damage to the hull, no big scars or creases. Can't seem to upload the pic of the prop, I'll mess with it later. I wonder if it's even repairable.

If you do not see any damage to boat or motor, and motor is still running good, you are probably the luckiest guy in Texas right now. Stay away from that lake for goodness sake!

If you have insurance file a claim. You need to check you prop shaft. I would guess that it is bent. Dependent on the quality of your boat you might have structural damage to the transom. I have heard of transoms breaking after hard hits and motors hanging by cables or even on the rear deck. Lake Worth is a pretty shallow lake at normal levels. When in doubt idle only.

Dang, wasn't the first bump enough to tell you NOT to go fast?? All the lakes are low due to the 40 days of 100+ degrees.

Wow, yeah, you are extremely lucky...If I ever go to a lake I'm not extremely familiar with, I either call ahead or talk to a park ranger or other boaters at the lake and ask for info on hazard areas and shallow spots, also ask how low the lake is from its normal level. You have to be so careful right now, and I'm sure you learned that. I have been fishing Gibbons Creek Reservoir for 15 years and right now it is lower than I have ever seen it. Apparently a guy punched a good size hole in his hull after hitting a stump going to fast. Stumps are prevalent in most lakes, and they are much more of a threat when the lakes lose water.

Out at gibbons in one area that was 75-100 yards from the bank, I got into 6 inches of water. Luckily I have an aluminum hull boat that runs shallow, so I pulled my 40hp up and trolled out carefully.

As far as the damage, you may have weakened your hull, but not broken through. I would definitely have it checked out by a shop that does fiberglass, and not just motor repair. As for the gear case. If the prop is so mutilated like you described, I would have the lower unit gone through. The motor vibrating the whole boat, could have damaged the transom more, or loosened a mounting bolt.

Stumps can do significant damage, especially at 20 mph, and in a fiberglass hull. Get the motor and hull checked out before another trip to the lake. The most important thing is that you and your wife are unharmed.

Yeah, we'll never go back to that lake again. Not only because of the water hazards, but because of the absolute stupidity of the people out there. There was even some guy in a cheap pool inner tube, just floating around in the middle of the lake in all this boat traffic. And don't get me started on those jet fleas! That and we totally struck out up there, two bites all day.
Fever, couldn't even get the throttle back before the next one hit. It was that fast and hard. Really thought we were cleared of all the mines out there. From what I've read, it was a clearly marked channel. It was the third stump that surprised me. People in wake boats flying around. Kids being pulled on floats ripping through there. Nearest shore was at least 150 yards away.
And yes, I did some research before we left. I knew it was 2.5 feet low. My home lake is Lake Arlington which is 9 feet low, which is why we decided to try Worth. We usually hit up the Nature Center in the bass buster and do pretty good, thought the lake would be better. This boat is my first boat and I bought it as a trainer. It's an aluminum '89 Tracker deep V. That's why I'm so surprised we made it through all of this yesterday. The mechanic told me the transom is pretty well rotted away. The original owner (as known as the LIAR) has it trussed up and supported with a huge pieces of steel C beam. I believe that is the only reason that boat is not sitting on the bottom of the lake. I don't usually go around speeding all over lakes. I'm still a novice and overly careful. After those first two stumps, I didn't know if we were taking on water or not, we just wanted out of there.
Funny, after we got home I was reading this forum and found this thread

HELP!!


Yes, we were very lucky yesterday. No one was hurt on our part and we got through it, albeit a little dinged up and a couple of notches added to the experience belt. It's good to know that there is such nice people in such a GREAT forum such as this one!

What size engine are you running?

For safety sake you might get that transom fixed before it lets loose at the worst time possible. At least that would be my luck.

if u went to the river u MUST BE ON PLANE!!!!!!, rollin right now with as low as it is, if u dont know the lane stat on the south end, plenty to fish there, as far as fleas every lake is over run with them. worth is a cool little lake

I cant understand why a mechanic would fix your motor and tell ya transoms rotted...With out transom ya wont have a boat a motor or who knows what else when it breaks loose ..No braces can make up for this..just my 2 cents...When the motor breaks loose it can end up in your lap or passengers lap...

If you were sucking up a lot of sand and mud, might want to put a new impeller in the water pump..

Maybe a new housing too. You could have it all done when you get that bent shaft replaced.

Here's a pic of what could have happen. This happen on Lake Houston about a month ago and this guy knew the lake.

Worthless sucks

I have not been on it since I was a kid. My dad's uncle had a place on the lake just off 199. He ran trotlines and at one time had the lake record flathead (105 lbs). He use to take me out crappie fishing in the spring in the cattails. We also rigged his trotlines with minnows for crappie. He had band lines with 150 lb weights. I remember the clippers he kept at each seat in case you got hooked when you let the line go. Back then it was decent for crappie and cats.

JonBoater, it's a 60 Rude. Sure ran nice for the first few hours. Finally got all the ghosts out of the fuel system.

Jimmye, the stuff those Fleas were doing by the bridge pylons was a danger to everyone. Especially at the dock. One guy had his 2-3 yr. old daughter in front of him and had complete disregard for the any safety rules. That was the icing on the cake.

Spanky's, saw a page over on the certain tin vessel site that was pouring fiberglass transoms. That's in the works for this winter. In fact, I plan on getting rid of any wood in this boat. The aluminum flooring is gonna kill my wallet.

SexyShad, that's sickening. And something I was very worried about while limping home. Didn't know what exactly was vibrating so bad, but best not to panic. Just getter home, getter loaded and then inspect. Thank God for having an aluminum prop.

So, what's the best way to check the prop shaft? Are talking like MM's of tolerance or like .0009 inches of play? Will it visibly be out of whack or are we talking getting out a micrometer?
So do appreciate the advice. Gotta take the good with the bad.
Got to thinking about it, Lake Worth is a pretty lake, compared to some of the trash at Arlington. Might have to go back some day and check out the SOUTH end of the lake, when it's colder and the fleas and skiers are gone.