Definition of an Idiot

[philobeddoe]

Notice the trolling motor.  They gassed it right after I took this picture.  As the bow dropped after getting on a plane, the foot of the trolling motor hit the water and started spraying water everywhere.  They finally shut down the motor and picked up the trolling motor.

[RedRiverHog]

Damn dude, you've never forgotton anything?

[philobeddoe]

Damn dude, you've never forgotton anything?

Not for 500 yards.

[NuttSu]

Not for 500 yards.

Crap...you caught me. Ill do better next time.

[philobeddoe]

Crap...you caught me. Ill do better next time.

Dang right you will. 

No, I was actually pissed off because he did that plowing right through the middle of some schooling fish I was on.  Took half an hour for the schooling to resume.

[NuttSu]

Dang right you will. 

No, I was actually pissed off because he did that plowing right through the middle of some schooling fish I was on.  Took half an hour for the schooling to resume.

Well....at least it resumed. 

[SpareRib]

Time to fess up.  20 years ago, a friend of mine and I left Memphis for Lake Tohopekaliga in central Florida on a Friday night.  We got caught in football traffic coming thru Alabama and decided it was time to hit the cooler.  We hit the motel just before dawn with no sleep and a full snoot.  Since we were in site of the water, we decided to fish.

So here's what we found out.  When my buddy is exhausted, he whines.  When I'm exhausted, I'm short tempered.  I couldn't seem to position the boat to please him and finally lost it.  I jumped up from the bow seat, fired up the big motor and gave the Motorguide a 125 horse roller coaster ride.  It was exactly like your pic.  When the boat hit plane, the shaft on the Motor Guide snapped.  As bow dropped, I remembered.  It was too late.  I paid dearly for some small shop in town to expedite parts so we could repair the motor.  Working the bank in a breeze from a bass boat with a sculling paddle ain't fun. Follies of youth.

[philobeddoe]

Time to fess up.  20 years ago, a friend of mine and I left Memphis for Lake Tohopekaliga in central Florida on a Friday night.  We got caught in football traffic coming thru Alabama and decided it was time to hit the cooler.  We hit the motel just before dawn with no sleep and a full snoot.  Since we were in site of the water, we decided to fish.

So here's what we found out.  When my buddy is exhausted, he whines.  When I'm exhausted, I'm short tempered.  I couldn't seem to position the boat to please him and finally lost it.  I jumped up from the bow seat, fired up the big motor and gave the Motorguide a 125 horse roller coaster ride.  It was exactly like your pic.  When the boat hit plane, the shaft on the Motor Guide snapped.  As bow dropped, I remembered.  It was too late.  I paid dearly for some small shop in town to expedite parts so we could repair the motor.  Working the bank in a breeze from a bass boat with a sculling paddle ain't fun. Follies of youth.

Sounds like some of the lessons that I've learned.  I guess if it didn't cost us dearly, we would never learn.

[SpareRib]

Sounds like some of the lessons that I've learned.  I guess if it didn't cost us dearly, we would never learn.

We had some great times, caught some good fish, and paid dearly for our indiscretions.  In the rear view mirror, it was all good! 

[HogBreath]

You'll have to excuse those guys Philo, they probably didn't know you have fished in front of Mark Zona before.   

[philobeddoe]

Next time I'll flag them down and tell them.

[JusticeHawg]

Philo......you remember the trip in the cowpen when it was raining cats and dogs and we hit that log underwater at full blats?.......the motor kicked straight up and locked and we headed straight for that big cypress?.........you said a line from Smokey and the Bandit ............"Duck  or your gonna be talking outta your a##)....after it was over I laughed all day long.............



on another note.......you ever want to return a message left on your house voice mail or text messages on the cell phone?........I tore the Kentucky's up about a hounded  yards behind my house Friday afternoon and wanted to tell you about it!!!.........was fun as all get out......let me tell you.........oh........and I left you a email this morning........

[Hawgin84]

I saw a guy I know tear his trolling motor off on Greers one day. He left the trolling motor down and snapped it off on a tree top, over close to point 5, when he shot the throttle to his big motor going to another fishing hole.

A couple of weeks later he broke his new trolling motor off at Merrisach. I started calling him "rinse and repeat" after that.

[DeltaBoy]

That is good but I have one better, Me and Dad watched a fellow shoot 6 holes in the bottom of a new 16 foot duracraft boat one summer on East Lake.  A water moc had dropped in for a visit and he freaked out.  The boat sank and the snake swimed off.

[philobeddoe]

That is good but I have one better, Me and Dad watched a fellow shoot 6 holes in the bottom of a new 16 foot duracraft boat one summer on East Lake.  A water moc had dropped in for a visit and he freaked out.  The boat sank and the snake swimed off.

I would have loved to have seen that.  There's no way I could have helped them.  I would have been laughing too hard.

[philobeddoe]

We had some great times, caught some good fish, and paid dearly for our indiscretions.  In the rear view mirror, it was all good! 

Do you ever look back and thing of all the times you should have been killed?  I'm serious.  Justice and I talk about those times every now and then.  There were more than I care to recall now that I'm a little older and wiser. 

Most of the messes we got ourselves into were caused by pure stupidity.  Those are the things that weren't funny at all at the time they were happening, but very funny (and somewhat embarrassing) now.

[pioneerhog]

Ever see someone running wide open shut their boat down and sink it?

[philobeddoe]

Ever see someone running wide open shut their boat down and sink it?

I can't say that I have, however, I almost did it myself.  Me and a friend of mine were fishing the Spring USA Outdoors Big Bass-A-Rama on Lake Ouachita.  We were in his Nitro which had a Johnson SilverStar 150 hanging off the back of it.  Our plan going into day one was to fish close to the weigh in until the first hours weigh-in to try and get a check with a small fish.  Then, we were going from Mtn. Harbor to the north fork, where we had located some good fish the day before.  Our plan was working to perfection.  We got a fourth place check the first hour with a 2 pounder.  After we finished that weigh-in, we jumped back in the boat and hauled butt down the lake.  We had gone about 5 or 6 miles down the lake when all the sudden the motor blew the #5 cylinder and we went from 65 mph to 0 mph.  The next thing I know, a tidal wave of water came over my back and soaked me from head to toe.  There was a foot of water standing in the bottom of the boat.  We spent the next 45 minutes bilging out the boat and trying to find some dry clothes to change into.  By the way, it was 38 degrees while all of this was going on.  To shorten an already long story.  We managed to fire the motor back up and putt back to the landing in time for the last hour's weigh in.  We won $200, then spent $1200 on motor repairs. 

[SpareRib]

Do you ever look back and thing of all the times you should have been killed?  I'm serious.  Justice and I talk about those times every now and then.  There were more than I care to recall now that I'm a little older and wiser. 

Most of the messes we got ourselves into were caused by pure stupidity.  Those are the things that weren't funny at all at the time they were happening, but very funny (and somewhat embarrassing) now.

Oh, to be young and bullet proof again!  Looking back, that stuff brings a chuckle (and a shudder).  How plain vanilla my life would have been otherwise.

[SpareRib]

I saw a guy's wife park his boat halfway up on the roof of his station wagon.  The ramp was slick, so he went for the car.  His wife was timid with the boat and wouldn't give it enough to get up on the skids, so he hollers "Hit it, G--D----it!  Well, she did.  It hit the nose roller and launched.

[philobeddoe]

There's a young hot head down here that everyone calls "Bass Pro".  He had went and financed himself a new Triton.  Well, one evening at Felsenthal, he was loading up his boat.  The Crosset Port was pretty busy that day.  The ramp is 5 lanes wide, and all 5 lanes were being used.  Bass Pro beached his boat, ran (literally) up to his truck, backed down the ramp, ran back to his boat, lined up with the trailer, and ran the nose of that new Triton through the back glass of his Tahoe.  He had backed the trailer down way too far.

This same guy was fishing a tournament at Felsenthal.  There was a shotgun start, so there was a bunch of boats all wadded up going down the river.  There is a place in the river called Henderson Bend.  It is a very sharp bend in the river.  There were 4 boats in front of Bass Pro heading into that curve.  Bass Pro decided to make it 5 wide going into the bend.  He tried to get outside the other boats, but his didn't stick.   The next thing we know, he is bouncing off trees in the flooded timber like a pin ball. 

[SpareRib]

There's a young hot head down here that everyone calls "Bass Pro".  He had went and financed himself a new Triton.  Well, one evening at Felsenthal, he was loading up his boat.  The Crosset Port was pretty busy that day.  The ramp is 5 lanes wide, and all 5 lanes were being used.  Bass Pro beached his boat, ran (literally) up to his truck, backed down the ramp, ran back to his boat, lined up with the trailer, and ran the nose of that new Triton through the back glass of his Tahoe.  He had backed the trailer down way too far.

This same guy was fishing a tournament at Felsenthal.  There was a shotgun start, so there was a bunch of boats all wadded up going down the river.  There is a place in the river called Henderson Bend.  It is a very sharp bend in the river.  There were 4 boats in front of Bass Pro heading into that curve.  Bass Pro decided to make it 5 wide going into the bend.  He tried to get outside the other boats, but his didn't stick.   The next thing we know, he is bouncing off trees in the flooded timber like a pin ball. 

  LMAO!  You just can't make that stuff up!

[Hawgin84]

That is good but I have one better, Me and Dad watched a fellow shoot 6 holes in the bottom of a new 16 foot duracraft boat one summer on East Lake.  A water moc had dropped in for a visit and he freaked out.  The boat sank and the snake swimed off.

I bet that was a hoot!

It reminds me of a time my Dad, my brother, and I were fishing for crappie on an oxbow south of Augusta. We had ran out of minnows and had went back to the bait shop. We were out of the boat standing on the bluff bank overlooking the lake drinking a Coke. We were watching a boat of people across the lake. It was two very large ladies and their nephew fishing. They were catching the Crappie underneath the Cypress trees; they were slaying them.

We heard a big thump come from their boat. One of those big corn fed water snakes had dropped into their boat. The boat come alive. The screaming and the thrashing is indescribable. How they kept from turning over is beyond me. Cane poles were flying; it was one of the most hilarious sights I believe I have ever seen. They beat the crap out of that snake. They were finished fishing for the day. It was the first time I ever saw someone plane a boat off paddling. They were coming back to the dock! I was twelve years old at the time and I can remember it like it was yesterday.

[philobeddoe]

  LMAO!  You just can't make that stuff up!

It was very funny once we figured out he and his partner wasn't dead.  We thought his partner was going to whoop his a$$ right there in the boat. 

[philobeddoe]

I bet that was a hoot!

It reminds me of a time my Dad, my brother, and I were fishing for crappie on an oxbow south of Augusta. We had ran out of minnows and had went back to the bait shop. We were out of the boat standing on the bluff bank overlooking the lake drinking a Coke. We were watching a boat of people across the lake. It was two very large ladies and their nephew fishing. They were catching the Crappie underneath the Cypress trees; they were slaying them.

We heard a big thump come from their boat. One of those big corn fed water snakes had dropped into their boat. The boat come alive. The screaming and the thrashing is indescribable. How they kept from turning over is beyond me. Cane poles were flying; it was one of the most hilarious sights I believe I have ever seen. They beat the crap out of that snake. They were finished fishing for the day. It was the first time I ever saw someone plane a boat off paddling. They were coming back to the dock! I was twelve years old at the time and I can remember it like it was yesterday.

Thanks alot Hawgin!!  I just spewed sweet tea all over my laptop.  I would give anything to see a video of that.  I would make millions with it.

[Hawgin84]

There's a young hot head down here that everyone calls "Bass Pro".  He had went and financed himself a new Triton.  Well, one evening at Felsenthal, he was loading up his boat.  The Crosset Port was pretty busy that day.  The ramp is 5 lanes wide, and all 5 lanes were being used.  Bass Pro beached his boat, ran (literally) up to his truck, backed down the ramp, ran back to his boat, lined up with the trailer, and ran the nose of that new Triton through the back glass of his Tahoe.  He had backed the trailer down way too far.

This same guy was fishing a tournament at Felsenthal.  There was a shotgun start, so there was a bunch of boats all wadded up going down the river.  There is a place in the river called Henderson Bend.  It is a very sharp bend in the river.  There were 4 boats in front of Bass Pro heading into that curve.  Bass Pro decided to make it 5 wide going into the bend.  He tried to get outside the other boats, but his didn't stick.   The next thing we know, he is bouncing off trees in the flooded timber like a pin ball. 

I saw a guy load his boat into the back of his Cherokee on Des Arc Lake one day. He did the same thing as the fellow you were posting about.

I bet a guy could get some good footage at a loading ramp around Memorial Day, Independence Day, or Labor Day. I usually avoid busy places on these holidays due to those are the only three days of the year some folks operate, or should I say attempt to operate, a boat.

[philobeddoe]

Me and Raginwildfire are going to take a camera to Felsenthal opening day of duck season.  It's our get rich quick scheme.   

[raincloud]

Philo, what about the broke arm....

[raincloud]

 motor v. log....log won

[philobeddoe]

I wasn't going to bring that up.

[DeltaBoy]

I would have loved to have seen that.  There's no way I could have helped them.  I would have been laughing too hard.

That is what happened with us we liked to tipped the Johnboat over laughing !

[DeltaBoy]

I bet that was a hoot!

It reminds me of a time my Dad, my brother, and I were fishing for crappie on an oxbow south of Augusta. We had ran out of minnows and had went back to the bait shop. We were out of the boat standing on the bluff bank overlooking the lake drinking a Coke. We were watching a boat of people across the lake. It was two very large ladies and their nephew fishing. They were catching the Crappie underneath the Cypress trees; they were slaying them.

We heard a big thump come from their boat. One of those big corn fed water snakes had dropped into their boat. The boat come alive. The screaming and the thrashing is indescribable. How they kept from turning over is beyond me. Cane poles were flying; it was one of the most hilarious sights I believe I have ever seen. They beat the crap out of that snake. They were finished fishing for the day. It was the first time I ever saw someone plane a boat off paddling. They were coming back to the dock! I was twelve years old at the time and I can remember it like it was yesterday.

I bet that was a hoot!

It reminds me of a time my Dad, my brother, and I were fishing for crappie on an oxbow south of Augusta. We had ran out of minnows and had went back to the bait shop. We were out of the boat standing on the bluff bank overlooking the lake drinking a Coke. We were watching a boat of people across the lake. It was two very large ladies and their nephew fishing. They were catching the Crappie underneath the Cypress trees; they were slaying them.

We heard a big thump come from their boat. One of those big corn fed water snakes had dropped into their boat. The boat come alive. The screaming and the thrashing is indescribable. How they kept from turning over is beyond me. Cane poles were flying; it was one of the most hilarious sights I believe I have ever seen. They beat the crap out of that snake. They were finished fishing for the day. It was the first time I ever saw someone plane a boat off paddling. They were coming back to the dock! I was twelve years old at the time and I can remember it like it was yesterday.

I have seen that happen on East lake more times than I can count.  Daddy taught me to remain calm and either flip them out with the paddle or turn it on it edge and break their necks.  Too bad lots of this stuff took place before Video Cameras !

[deshahawg]

One of my dad's friends took off with the trailer still attached to the boat one time without paying attention. He couldn't figure out why it wouldn't plane out.

[philobeddoe]

Philo, what about the broke arm....

OK, raincloud, here is my broken arm story, just for you.

I was supposed to be in Gulf Shores on this particular day, however, an uncle of mine had died and his funeral was the next day, so we were going to wait and leave right after the funeral.  The funeral was on a Tuesday, and I had scheduled vacation for that whole week.  So, I got up early Monday morning and went to Felsenthal to do a little bass fishing. 
The morning started off great,  I was in Upper Spring Bayou slinging a white buzz bait and slaying the bass.  I caught 8 between dawn and 8:30 and almost all of them was in the 3 pound range with a 5 pound kicker.  Well, when "Old Big Eye" burned through the haze, the buzz bait bite came to a screeching halt.  It was time to go into phase 2 of the usual Felsenthal bass fishing trip, which was to find the thin mats of duck weed and drag a bass rat over it for the rest of the day. 

Here is where my day took a turn for the worse.  When the buzz bait bite quit, I decided to crank up and head to "Red Eye Slough".  At that time, I had a 14' 42" Weld-Craft aluminum boat with a 94 model Evinrude 30.  This particular motor had no pull cord.  In other words the cowling had no place for a pull cord (this will be an important part of the story later on).  If any of you know much about small boat/motor combinations, you probably know that this was a light and very fast rig.  After I had motored out of Upper Spring Bayou and into Dollar Slough, I noticed a familiar Ranger boat coming out of the main Felsenthal boat ramp.  It was a guy that fished the same spots that I did.  I knew that there was no way that I was going to beat him to RedEye unless I cut through Tom Grider Slough. So that is what I did, and of course, I was running it wide open.  What I didn't know at the time was that about half way up Tom Grider was an old log that was about 6" under the water and ran out about half way across the slough.  So, when I came flying through that spot, I hit the log with my motor.  The next thing I remember was waking up in the bottom of the boat just behind the front deck.  The boat had drifted up on the bank and the motor was hung up in the tilt position still running.  When I went to pick myself up, I quickly found out that my left forearm was broken.  In case you haven't figured it out, that 30hp was a tiller handle motor, and when the motor kicked up from hitting the log, the top, front edge of the cowling struck my forearm and broke both bones.  The impact also threw me toward the front of the boat where I apparently hit my head on the top edge of the deck hard enough to knock me out. 
Well, after making my way to the back of the boat and collecting my thoughts, I used my legs and good arm to free the motor and let it down into the running position and started motoring back to the truck.  Having to use  my right arm to steer, I was turned around backwards facing the back of the boat and looking over my shoulder to see where I was going.  I guess I was knocked sensless enough not to think about sitting on the other side of the boat.  Of course, being a Monday, there was nobody at the ramp to help me load the boat.  That was a challenge in itself.  As I was walking up the ramp, I had to stop and puke due to the fact that I was hurting so bad. 

Anyway, I got the boat loaded up on the trailer, stopped at the first pay phone I could find, and called my family doctor (I didn't want to have to pay an emergency room bill).  He set me up with an exray and a specialist. 

If I learned one thing from this whole fiasco, it was the location of that log is in Tom Grider Slough. 

[NuttSu]

 

OK, raincloud, here is my broken arm story, just for you.

I was supposed to be in Gulf Shores on this particular day, however, an uncle of mine had died and his funeral was the next day, so we were going to wait and leave right after the funeral.  The funeral was on a Tuesday, and I had scheduled vacation for that whole week.  So, I got up early Monday morning and went to Felsenthal to do a little bass fishing. 
The morning started off great,  I was in Upper Spring Bayou slinging a white buzz bait and slaying the bass.  I caught 8 between dawn and 8:30 and almost all of them was in the 3 pound range with a 5 pound kicker.  Well, when "Old Big Eye" burned through the haze, the buzz bait bite came to a screeching halt.  It was time to go into phase 2 of the usual Felsenthal bass fishing trip, which was to find the thin mats of duck weed and drag a bass rat over it for the rest of the day. 

Here is where my day took a turn for the worse.  When the buzz bait bite quit, I decided to crank up and head to "Red Eye Slough".  At that time, I had a 14' 42" Weld-Craft aluminum boat with a 94 model Evinrude 30.  This particular motor had no pull cord.  In other words the cowling had no place for a pull cord (this will be an important part of the story later on).  If any of you know much about small boat/motor combinations, you probably know that this was a light and very fast rig.  After I had motored out of Upper Spring Bayou and into Dollar Slough, I noticed a familiar Ranger boat coming out of the main Felsenthal boat ramp.  It was a guy that fished the same spots that I did.  I knew that there was no way that I was going to beat him to RedEye unless I cut through Tom Grider Slough. So that is what I did, and of course, I was running it wide open.  What I didn't know at the time was that about half way up Tom Grider was an old log that was about 6" under the water and ran out about half way across the slough.  So, when I came flying through that spot, I hit the log with my motor.  The next thing I remember was waking up in the bottom of the boat just behind the front deck.  The boat had drifted up on the bank and the motor was hung up in the tilt position still running.  When I went to pick myself up, I quickly found out that my left forearm was broken.  In case you haven't figured it out, that 30hp was a tiller handle motor, and when the motor kicked up from hitting the log, the top, front edge of the cowling struck my forearm and broke both bones.  The impact also threw me toward the front of the boat where I apparently hit my head on the top edge of the deck hard enough to knock me out. 
Well, after making my way to the back of the boat and collecting my thoughts, I used my legs and good arm to free the motor and let it down into the running position and started motoring back to the truck.  Having to use  my right arm to steer, I was turned around backwards facing the back of the boat and looking over my shoulder to see where I was going.  I guess I was knocked sensless enough not to think about sitting on the other side of the boat.  Of course, being a Monday, there was nobody at the ramp to help me load the boat.  That was a challenge in itself.  As I was walking up the ramp, I had to stop and puke due to the fact that I was hurting so bad. 

Anyway, I got the boat loaded up on the trailer, stopped at the first pay phone I could find, and called my family doctor (I didn't want to have to pay an emergency room bill).  He set me up with an exray and a specialist. 

If I learned one thing from this whole fiasco, it was the location of that log is in Tom Grider Slough. 

Two buddies and i went Duck hunting at Felsenthal one morning and as usual,i backed the boat in. The ramp is big enough for about three boats to launch.
  I back up next to a guy unloading..his partner finally got the boat started and backed off the trailor. After he was all clear he gave him the "go" signal.I guess the guy never put it in drive and still had it in reverse.He punched it and the Suburban became a submarine quickly.
  Bad thing about it was that the Suburban belonged to the guy in the boat.

[ConwayHog]

Damn dude, you've never forgotton anything?

They either need to find another hobby or pay attention.