Time to fess up!!!

Reading Bobcat's post and Laner's admission from last weekend, I was wondering how many guys would share their story of the launch that went horribly wrong.

Here is mine;

I was fishing alone one morning at Lake Perris (California) so after launching my fairly new boat, I tied it up at the far end of the dock. I went and parked my Suburban/trailer and decided to hit the facilities since there was nobody at the ramp. The facilities were a couple hundred yards from the ramps but I was in no rush. On the walk back to the ramps, I noticed my new boat and how it was shiny and fast looking just tied to the dock. Heck, that sucker looked like it was ready to just shoot out of the hole and race across the lake to my secret spots that were loaded with double digit bass (yeah, I was fishing the 'Dark Side' then). How quickly I went from thinking my boat was a BadA-- to realizing that I was a DumbA-- when I realized that I may have forgot to put the plug in!!!!

I sprinted to the boat and sure enough, the water was filling up the back end of my boat and the back lids were starting to float open.

I figured I had three options -

1) Jump on the boat, turn the bilge on, lay on the deck and try to reach the plug to get it in. My worry was the additional weight of me would send it to bottom of the lake that much quicker.

2) Jump in the lake and try to get the plug in. It was first of the year and I knew the water was about 65 degrees.

3) Start crying like a big baby while hearing 'Taps' in my head followed by kicking my own A-- for doing something so stupid and then finally thinking up a plausible explanation for why my boat sank which did not involve my stupidity for the insurance claim.

Well, I went with option 1 but still had to stick my head and half my torso in the water to be able to reach the plug hole so I guess it was close to option 2 as well. I sat there in my boat soaking wet and freezing for the next 30 minutes waiting for the bilge pump to remove all 10,000 gallons of water so I could go fishing. Other boaters started to show up so I figured I would look less idiotic if I put the boat on the trailer to drain (plus I could sit in a warm truck to stave off the pneumonia that was starting to settle in). Once I got the boat on the trailer and starting to drain, it became clearly evident in my mind the everyone was standing around pointing at me and laughing so I dropped that Burb in drive and just started for the house.

That's when I circled back to Option 3 but not for the insurance claim. I remembered that my wife was at the house and would want to know why I wasn't fishing.


So let's hear what you guys got!!!!!

Been there done that... And probably more!!

Good fishin'

I did the same thing (forgot to put the plug in) at Cedar Creek. I had only had my boat for a month or so. I noticed the boat filling up and asked my wife where was the water coming from? She said I don't know then I thought "Man you forgot to put the plug in" so I reached back and plugged it before it got too bad. I was only in about 6 fow. I too turned on the bilge pump and was off in about 15 minutes. How embarrassing it would have been to sink my new boat in 6 fow. All the while, my wife was wondering why was I tripping.

,
Calvin

At a CAT tournament last year, David and I were getting ready to launch my boat. By repetition, we both knew what our responsibility was to do prior to launching. So we get ready (we were in a hurry), I jump in the boat and David get in my truck. I signal him to start backing. He does, but we're not deep enough. So I signal to him to back down more. Same thing, I'm not loose of the trailer. So I go up front and yeah, David has released the front hook. So I signal him to go deeper. By this time the rear tailgate on my F250 is touching water but I still can't get loose. Then it hits me....I forgot to take the straps off the rear of the boat. Bilge pump time...as I signal him to pull me out. After we get launched and David gets in the boat, he just looks at me, never saying a word.......

David is the quiet type... lol

Oh you guys are just messing around with little stuff. In my much younger days, we owned a 25' SeaRay Cuddy Cabin. Loved that boat but to say it was a monster is a understatement. We had an older Motorhome that we would use to pull this thing around with. We were at Lake Limestone at a camp ground that had a private launch. Like Nitro, no one else around. Well backing a 25 footer in with a motorhome is no pretty task but we go it all backed in but we left it on the trailer because my wife decided she had about 200 more things she wanted to get ready and put in the boat. Well after she finally gets finished, like 30-40 min later (still no one at the launch but me) we get out of the motorhome and walk back to the boat to find it completely setting back down on the trailer. It had taken on so much water from me leaving the plug out, that the Dodge 440 engine in low gear wouldn't hardly move it. The whole rear of the boat was under water and with a big block V8 setting right on top of it, it was heavy. We had to get it to move a little, wait for the water to run out, move it again, wait, move..... well you get the idea. Whatever mistakes someone else can do, I can do it bigger. I really thought I was going to have to call a tow truck. Yes, I did hear about it from my wife for years to come. Now we look back and it is just a funny story. NOT THEN THOUGH.

I took my son fishing one evening last year... we were in a hurry to launch the boat and grab some burgers we had called in before the Marina closed. When the boat was launched we picked up the burgers and went fishing...two hours later a storm blows up and we are racing to the launch...lo and behold there is my truck waiting for me at the ramp... I had never parked it. It was still running...fortunately there were two other ramps... All I could do was shake my head and feel stupid.

Ive left the straps on the back before, I was by myself so I kept backing up wondering why I couldnt get it to back into the water, then i realized that the boat and trailer were floating

Been there done that!

Like a boss!!! Best one yet, lol

Yeah, that's a good one but I'm waiting for someone to tell the story of when they launched their boat on a gravel road at least ten miles from the nearest water. If nobody fesses up, I'll tell my story!!!

Also make sure your pin (yeah, the big one) is in the receiver tube before starting to pull your boat.

+1 The winner!
Greatness!

I got the truck into a parking spot about 8-10 years ago at W 515 with a new ranger intercoastal still dragging behind the trailer! Apparantly the winch strap is about 2-3' longer than the trailer! Buddy at the dealership laughed and said we shoulda went crappie fishing! Tore the drain plug out.

Another time launching on a steep icy ramp the mudboat slid off the trailer on the way down. I normally don't undo the bow strap for this reason but my buddy did and I didn't notice. No worries here, slid the boat around hopped in it and it slid on the ice into the water and we went hunting.

Another time same mud boat we were running late to a small W Tx lake and I didn't get to check the water level from the prior hunt there approx a month ago maybe. Blasting through some salt cedars I saw the familiar lone tree that was about 60yds on the other side of the salt cedars where we hunted last trip and mowed em down. When we cleared the salt cedars it looked like Christmas lights in a line! They were soon replaced by a herd of cattle getting outta the way at a high rate of speed! The lake had dropped about 2' since last trip and there were 100 head of cattle between us and the tree! The boat slid about 30yds up dry ground and cows were jumping over the boat! I looked at my buddy and said I guess we will just hunt right here!!!

Another time in high school maybe we hit a stump in a creek channel on Bistineau we've ran down a million times in a curve doing probably 35-40MPH. It bent the steering rod so we couldn't turn left. Buddy figured it out at the last minute and aimed for the smallest gap in the cypress trees lining the channel. We parked the boat about 4' off the water between some trees. I did a double front flip out the front end and lickily escaped getting skewered by a cypress knee! Some old folks came by in a pontoon shortly after and all the laughing stopped it took 2 of em to pull us back to the water! All the damage the Cajun sustained was the bent steering rod!!

There's probably more but this sight probably doesn't have enough bandwidth. My buddies tell me if I ever want to borrow something and tell them I will treat it like its my own they're gonna run for the hills!!!

Beat me too it... For the win!

+1 We've all left the plug out, but this... This is pure gold!

Bravo

Forgot to undo the straps and/or remove the Lock N Stow a couple of times. Missed the trailer stop block in my shop. Its amazing how clean a stainless prop will cut metal. Forgot to take the trailer light plug off the tow vehicle.

I was sober when I did all these.


Gman

...Left the rear straps on once, forgot the plug once and got to fishing site before realizing it and bilge pump was broken. Luckily if you cruise at a moderate speed with the plug out it will suck the water right out of the boat, when it was empty I pulled into shallow water and put plug in.

The worst was as a teenager I borrowed Dad's year old 2WD truck and took the boat with a friend to a small lake with only a mud/dirt ramp. Backed boat in with friend in boat, straps off and plug in, friend started motor but boat wasn't deep enough to pull off so I backed in further being careful not to get rear wheels in the water, hopped out and pushed front of boat while he backed.....but the boat truck and trailer all moved back didn't get it all the way into park! As it was rolling into the water I jumped into cab and slammed on the brakes, tried to pull out but tires just spun. Friend loaded boat back on trailer and pushed with boat motor while I drove truck and luckily it came out. We strapped it down and went back home.....Dad still doesn't know about this 45 years later

greatness, this will be tuff to beat!

Bunch 'a rookies. Until you've fully submerged you tow vehicle in the lake at the ramp, you simply ain't in the Big Leagues.

Yes. I. Did. That.

Was backing my Bass Tracker into Fayette County Lake with my hitch-equipped Chevy Caprice (I was poor and in the Navy). Backed it down, put it in park, got out ... and watched it roll down the ramp until it was completely submerged.

To this day I can't explain how I was able to get out of the car without being knocked over by the door. So I console myself that it must've slipped out of Park. But only a little -- because I obviously didn't set the parking brake.

Good outcome though! Bought my first truck with the insurance proceeds and have never driven a car since.

Thanks for the reminding me of that. I think.

I bought a used 1985 Toyota 4x4 and didn't really check it out before deciding to head to the lake. Got to the ramp, backed down, jumped out and discovered the parking brakes didn't hold too well. And that the transmission would pop out of gear. Started yelling "Help!" while I was pushing on the bumper and barely keeping the truck out of water. Couple of good old boys showed up, laughed for a minute then helped me out.
Turns out the cables for the parking brake were rusted solid, the pads were done and the clutch was ready to go. And it needed a front main seal. Took a weekend of work to fix and I ended up putting another 100k on that truck before it rusted out.

Hell I got you all beat.

At the age of 17 or 18 years old, I was running limb lines for catfish on a river.

My future BIL was in town for Easter along with all the other family.

I had a 14' V bottom aluminum boat that I hand loaded in the bed of my truck that was powered by a 9.9 Evinrude, that I mounted to the boat once I had the boat in the water. (Hint)

My future BIL (aka a city slicker) said he always wanted to go fishing and asked if he could ride along with me to check my lines. Sure, lets go.

At the river with the boat in the water and loaded up with bait and gear to run the lines, up stream we went.

Somewhere along the way up stream I saw a brand new spinnerbait hanging from a tree limb 5 feet or so above the water, I told my BIL that we would stop and get that spinnerbait on our way back. We continued upstream to run limb lines. We finished running the lines and were headed back.

Running down stream wide open and not paying attention I ran past the spinnerbait that was hanging from the limb, I jerked the motor 90 degrees hard left to do a U turn in the river, this is when all hell broke loose and so did the 9.9 Evinrude. I never hand tighten the motor to the boat and off she went. The motor was leaning at a 30 degree angle and was doing donuts right behind the boat! The fuel line from the portable gas tank finally pulled loose after about 3 or 5 donuts and she was running wild.

Now the motor is doing free style donuts getting lower to the waters surface behind the boat and actually pass us twice before I had the bright ideal to grab ahold of it as it passed by on its next pass (it is stilling running wide open at this point). I grabbed ahold and lost my grip when I saw the prop surface. Once I let loose, down she went, only to see a few smoke bubbles surface.

We were a mile or better from the truck at this point and I told my future BIL, I have to dive down to try to find the motor. I jumped in, went down and found it resting on the bottom on the 1st try. I surfaced to get a breath of air and back down I went. This time when I surfaced I had my arms extended with the motor above my head only to see my future BIL setting in the center of the boat and in shock I guess, he was not offering any help to get the motor back into the boat and I about drown before I threw it over the side.

Anyways I was able to get the motor back on the boat and the fuel line repaired, I tried to get her pull started but, the cylinder was full of water and she wouldn't budge, after several tries the water cleared the cylinder and she eventually started up, we were on our way to the truck again.

On the ride home in the truck, future BIL only asked me one question.

"Does this happen all the time, when you go fishing?"

I was still pisssed about him not helping, so I didn't answer.

We got home and he ran into the house screaming "you are not going to believe what happened"

I should have killed him.

Fast foward 35+ years latter, still married to his sister and BIL and I are still fishing together. Ha.

Top That!

I don't think I can beat SheCrappieKilla's story. I spit my beer all over the screen reading that one.

I have done the usual of leaving the plug out or the tie down straps on. The funniest story didn't happen to me, but to my family.

My grandparents had friends that they would go to Rayburn with most every Sunday to troll for large mouth back in the 70's. They would usually take two families and load up the deck boats. The wives would back the trailers down and the husbands would launch the boats. One time the friend's wife was backing the boat in and the husband kept yelling come on back, come on back, ... Boat was not coming off the trailer, so he probably had left the tie downs on. Husband proceeded to yell come on back getting more and more agitated, so the wife got out of the car and left it in reverse sinking the car. Wife yells "is that back far enough you SOB"?

WTH man? I though you were the 2 pound master.

A lot of good stories here so here is another one for you.

I was twenty when I bought my first boat (a Bayliner F/S w/Force outboard). Me and the wife decided to fish the north end of Elephant Butte Lake in NM which had a primitive ramp that was located 15 miles off the main road by way of a dirt/gravel feeder road. No trucks or trailers were around so I ready the boat and start backing into the water but cannot get deep enough to float the boat. Mind you, I'm in a 4X4 Ford Ranger that I had lifted over 12 inches, was running 38" Supper Swapper's and had a built 351 motor so was not overly worried about getting stuck but after getting the truck about 75 yards from the shoreline my better judgment (wife yelling in my ear ) gets the better of me so I decide to pull back to shore and re-evaluate the situation.

I decide to go to another ramp (Yes Dear ) but decided that I didn't need to strap the back end of the boat because the winch rope (notice I said rope and not heavy-duty strap) is attached and we will be traveling back roads. Well, I'm about half way down the feeder road when I look in my side window mirror and notice the bow of the boat is peaking out from behind the trucks taillight because the winch rope had broke. I start slowing down to stop to check out the situation when I apparently slowed down enough for the skeg of the motor, which had been bouncing along the gravel road, to finally bite enough to pull my boat completely off the trailer and left it sitting squarely in the middle of the dirt road a good ten miles from the lake.

After a ton of cussing myself out (with the wife pitching in for good measure ), I back the trailer up to the boat bow. I would have to load as much tension on the winch rope and then lift and shove the back of the boat to get it to scoot a couple of inches on the trailer at a time. After numerous attempts doing this and breaking the winch rope about ten times, I got the boat on the trailer enough that I could then back up to the road berm and shove the rest of the boat on by backing against the trimmed down motor. Well, I strapped that boat down with everything I had including some bailing wire and duct-tape and proceeded to the next ramp with no further issues.

What struck me after that whole ordeal was that I had taken so much carp for buying that boat (chopper boat, weak hulls, hit a stump and lower unit would shatter, etc.) that even after all I had put it through that morning, it floated with no leaks and the motor ran perfectly before I sold it to another family member that still uses it to this day. I did upgrade the winch strap though!!!

The two things I am grateful for is that I was young enough to muscle the boat back on the trailer and secondly, there were no camera phones back then.

hahaha...touch`e....that's a good one.

I have definitely left the back 2 straps on, and forgot to put the plug in...sooner or later we are all guilty of these mishaps.

I have notices a lot of boaters panic when they forget to put the plug in, and race to either try to put it back on the trailer, or immediately try to reach down and put the plug in...even saw a guy fall out of his boat trying to put the plug in.

Remember...if you forget to put the plug in, you can always just pull away from the ramp, and get the boat on plane for a little bit. The water will be sucked out of the boat, then you can reach down and put the plug in and have less water to bilge out. That's what I do

Ok this did not happen to me but I'm waiting for the guy who fishes LL to fess up and tell us how his center console came off his trailer in the middle of Hwy 380 a month or so ago at night. Whole west bound highway was shut down and boat sitting in the middle of the right lane. Felt bad for him.. was a nice boat.

All these plug issues. I had a screw in plug, from the outside. I tightened it up and forgot about it.

OK I have one too.
I was about 13 years old and learning how to guide my uncle back to the trailer and hitch it up to the truck.
I was able to guide him back, get the hitch on the ball, lowered the trailer down and get all the lights hooked up.
Well there was some beer drinking going on between my uncle and my dad along conversations of the fishing plans. That being said they didn't double check my work.
We load everything up, get on the road and I am ready for a great day on the lake.

Did anyone notice I skipped a couple of steps in my hitching up the trailer?
Yup, I didn't secure the hitch to the ball, nor did I put the chains on.
Well that is where it gets interesting.
We are driving down the road and then what comes passing by us on the drivers side?
Yup the boat!
We all look at it cruising past us and all I remember my uncle saying is "Oh S**t!"
Fortunately we weren't going all that fast and weren't on the highway yet.
We lived out in the country and were on the back roads.
Down the bar ditch she went and the the trailer jack dug into the ground bringing her to a quick stop.

They weren't all too happy with me, but hey I was 13 and they should have double checked my work right?
We got it out of the ditch and hitched up "correctly" this time and headed to the lake.
Other than the bent trailer jack and my bruised ego, cause at 13 you know how to do everything, no major harm no foul.

Oh by the way, after experiencing the forgotten boat plug with my brother on his boat and me telling myself that I will never do that, I learned to never say never.
I have forgotten the boat plug a hand full of times and kick myself in the rear every time I do.
Thank goodness for the automatic bilge pump that comes on reminding me and save my rig.

It wasn't me!!!!

Ouch!!!

The worst is when you know for a fact that you put the plug in the boat, but yet after fishing for 45 or so minutes you notice some water start to push through the floor drain.... Yep, right out in the middle of the hydrilla mats on Roberts, which means we have at least a 15-20min trolling motor ride until we can even think about using the big motor to get to shore and figure out what the heck is happening(side note: trolling motor doesn't move a 20ft boat full of water very well...) At this point, we're pretty much thinking we're on the Titanic, all we can do is kick on the dual bilge and keep heading out of the mat. Well after about 5 mins of my heart beating out of my chest, we notice that the dual bilge is not only keeping up with the water, but actually gaining ground!! Not sure what it feels like to win the lottery, but I gotta believe it's very similar to the way i felt when I notice the water receding! After bilging all the water out we found the culprit, the housing on the aerator pump had cracked open and water was just pouring in. So did we let this ruin our day of fishing, HECK NO! Pulled out a bag of caterpillar centipedes(was bass fishing at this point in time) and proceeded to shove them into the crack until they sealed it up! Fished the rest of the day without a drop of water in the boat! Moral of the story: Always have a boat with dual bilge, and carry a bag of caterpillar centipedes....

New Bayliner 175. First time out. Hall in Butt all the way to the north end of the lake 45mph. Life is Good Didn't know you could be 200 or 300 yards from the bank and the water only be 1 foot deep. Made the prop screw threw the mud till I made it back to deep water. Bending the prop along the way. Would only run about 20mph on the way back. Life starting to suck a little. But sucked a lot more after I stopped the boat by running into the dock removing a nice peace of gel coat.

Couple years back,I was rusty I hadn't been fishing. No plug sunk boat all the way to flotation.Batts well work under a foot of water who would have known. Water in gas tank throw air breather pipe. What a mess. Really regret not setting up my tripod and getting some video.

And the time South end of RR slough. New the wind had picked up. But not 30 mph no turning back. What a ride in A 15 ft bass boat all the way to the north end. Never again.

My Dad sunk the car and the boat both on Millwood lake back in the early 80s. He went to unhook everything and the emergency break gave out. He moved out of the way as they both passed him headed toward the lake.


Barry

done that before by the time we got to 635 and hwy 175 boat came off the hitch right on top of the bridge. cars and trucks passing by and would not stop to help. i was trying to get it back on the hitch before my boss came through since i called in sick that day.

First time out with the boat. Pulled over to the side before getting to the ramp area to get everything situated but forgot a couple of important things. Noticed before even having the boat off of the trailer.

took my 1st boat that i ever had out fishing with my buddy, after about 20 minutes of looking for a place to fish i noticed that the boat felt wrong like it wasnt properly buoyant , so i had my buddy check the compartment and it was completely full of water, i kicked on the bilge and we ran my boat aground at a random shoreline to look for what was causing the water to come in (yes i remember to put the plug in), at that point we couldnt find a reason as to why it was filling up so we decided to start it back up and take it in, we ran it aground again at the shore by the boat launch because we still had to replace the rotted trailer bunks which something we had planned to do after fishing, after we finished that i went back to boat to look some more to see if i could find the cause of the leak, after about 15 minutes of feeling every possible thing i could get my hand/hands on i noticed that the live well thru-hull fittings broke and caused the pipes to push in and slide over which left the holes wide open for water the rush in, when we looked the first time the pipes had some how worked their way bike into the holes which is why my and my buddy didnt notice them the 1st time we had run the boat aground, poor pre boat inspection lead to the worst day id ever had on the lake