Last Sunday I arrive at the ramp at 6:15am, by myself and the only boat there. Launching was an adventure in itself due to the low water level but I managed to stay dry. I tie off at the dock, go park park my rig and as I'm walking down to the dock, I noticed something doesn't look right. My boat had come untied and drifted about 6' away from the dock...with the engine running!! It's 34 degrees out, I have several layers on so jumping isn't an option. Luckily there wasn't much wind so it wasn't drifting fast. I waited about 10 minutes to see if any boats would show up. No such luck. I knew what I had to do but I REALLY, REALLY didn't want to. SO, I took a page from Bear Grylls (Man vs. Wild guy), stripped down to nothing except my beenie (no pun intended) and took the icy plunge. Luckily the water barely got over my waist all the way to the boat (15'-20' away by now) but it was still paralyzing. I made it into the boat and got it back to the dock...still nobody there...thankfully by this point. So that's how my day started...but there's more!!

My fishing buddy shows up around 8:00am, he'd had a rough night so I let him sleep in. After a few hours of no luck, we decided to make a run to the other side of the lake. It was calm waters but I didn't go much over 50mph during the short trip, and as I started to slow down before the cove buoys, I noticed something didn't look right..yes, AGAIN!! My trolling motor was sliding off the front! The whole unit hit the water going about 40mph and all hell broke loose! A loud crash under the boat, cables being pulled out from underneath and finally...the foot pedal. It comes flying right at me, glances off the windshield, hits my Humminbird and into the water. The whole episode took about 5 seconds. After my heart started beating again, it all sunk in (pun intended). My Terrova 101 w/ Ipilot was on the bottom of the lake in 25' of water. I know what you're thinking and the answer is NO! Screw Bear Grylls, it ain't gonna happen! So, we did what most of you would've done...we fished for another few hours using paddles! Hey, we didn't wanna waste a nice day like that!

The story has a somewhat happy ending though. I filed a claim with my insurance (Progressive) and they were great to work with! Sent out an adjuster the next day and cut me a check for the TM and damage to my hull. The culprit was with the quick release bracket. It had somehow become weakened enough to break off when I slowed down.

The moral of this story...hell, make up your own.

My dad went by himself one time, he was used to usually having a partner so he unhooked everything from the boat. Backed down the ramp and as soon as the boat started to float off the trailer he realized he unhooked the front strap. Had to strip down to undies and go fetch it. It was march but still chilly water.

Left my plug out of the boat on time in March on Ray Bob. Just grabbed the plug out of the glove box, took off my coat and shirt, told my partner to grab my ankles and I just stuck my head and upper torso under the water and held my breath till I reached down and got the plug in. Much easier to dry off that way and a lot less waist of time than having to re-launch. Needles to say I was wide awake after that!

I remember fishing an Aggie Anglers tournament on Lake Bastrop in January a few years back. One of the non-boaters in the club got hung on something and proceeded to jump in and retrieve his bait. Granted it's a power plant lake, this wasn't nearly close enough to the discharge.

I wouldn't be so quick to take the plunge. Sure was funny to watch, though.

Wow that one is hard to beat!!

I used to do a lot of duck hunting with a high school buddy and we never used a dog. If we shot ducks that landed on the island in front of us or ifthere wasn't enough wind to push em to the bank, this crazy kid would strip down and swim after them!! All three times I remember him doing this was when there was snow on the ground. One of those times was a day we got let out of school because there was a really bad ice storm that hit the area. Good times..

These all sound like aggie stories.

Yeah...thats a bad outing

Sorry about your outing but it has me thinking. Is there an outdoor sport where more things can go wrong than fishing, espically with a boat involved. I can not think of one.

Hmm I launch alone a lot. I think I am going to start leaving a pole in my truck with 100 lb braid on it and a grappling hook. Just in case.

Funniest thing I've read in a while. I think I would sell that boat. I'm glad no one was hurt but yes that was worth sharing.

Same thing happened to me last Feb launching at an out of the way ramp
mid week, walking back from parking lot, TO my Disbelief I saw my boat
idling away from bank, being pushed by the wind. Luckily a Shiner fisherman
arrived. Needless to say I never again complained about "darn shiner guys running
over the weeds I'm fishing" I now motion them to come on through.

someone from tff posted losted one on grapevine. they were looking for a diver.

Wow what a day! I hate to hear that it happened, maybe someone can learn something from your experience.

Good read on this cold day.

I lost a brand new trolling motor way back in the 70's on T-bend. It was one of those motor guides that turned about 3000 RPMS. Had a prop about 3 inches in diameter. The trolling motor was held in the stored position by tension on the two side torque arms. The lake was pretty rough. In those days the fiberglass boats were only flat bottom or almost flat. I was running south out of San Miguel around into La Nana. When I rounded the point off of Flying bridge marina I hit a big wave and when up in the air. At the same time the trolling motor pivoted up in the air, when I hit the next wave it came down into the water at about 35 miles an hour. The tension arms broke, the center support to the bracket broke, and when the foot pedal when flying in the air it took 2- 6ft Lews #6 speed sticks with Ambassador Red 5000 B reels flying in the water with it. The only reel i had left was a Zebco 33 on a Ted Willams Sears and Roebuck reel. Insurance made good on the motors, but I had to eat the cost of the reels. After that I used an old leather belt to tie it down when it was bumpy.