Stupid boat tricks

[Pilar]

Several of my salty fishin' buds have reminded me that I am not omnipotent and immortal by E-mail. In the not so distant past I have sinned........ Does anyone know the difference between a sea story and a fairy tale? One begins with 'once upon a time', the other with 'this ain't no @hit!'

This ain't no @hit!
Two summers ago we went to the Columbia River bar to do some salmon killing. I don't remember why but we ended up by the S. Jetty on the south side by the broken off end. Bottom fishing for pointy and sharp toothed fish. (Black bass and Lings) We got right in next to the end of the jetty and caught a few nice ones. We checked out the huge bull sea lion on the rocks and his cronies. There was a swell and the broken off rip rap from the jetty was awash in places. We got real close (Duh, what was I thinking?) to the rocks, 50', and I had the kicker running since jetties make me nervous. All of a sudden there was a clunk noise and the boat tilted sideways sharply. I looked down in the water and saw a rock the size of a bus under my boat. The kicker was still wet so I gunned it. I doubt Merc. would approve of the RPMs achieved in reverse by a thoroughly panicked pilot. We pulled it off the rocks as the swell lifted us and then spent quite a while in stunned silence. Later my buddy said all he could think about was how to kick the big bull sealion off the rock so we could get out of the water.....I don't fish jetties anymore. Ok I showed you mine.... lets see yours. Also reference earlier thread about B-10 safety. Learn from your screwups.

The bend is your friend!

[This message has been edited by Pilar (edited 12-08-2000).]

[Bait O' Eggs]

This aint no @hit!
Once while in College about 37 of my buddies floated the Deschutes from warm springs to Maupin for my first trip. I am not sure how I got there or back. I just remember drinking a lot of beer. One 18 foot rubber boat was loaded down with 49 cases of beer and 1 captain. (yes it can be done if you remove the front inflateable tube, and the captain is 6'-10" to see over the boxes) The 2 man inflateable I was skippering with a rowing frame did several miles with the oar locks pointing at the fish, and I didnt seem to care.

A couple years later I borrowed a 14 foot raft from work (which we used for rafting sewer pipes) and took my to be brother-in-law down the Deschutes. We were so invinceable, we had a rebel flag mounted on a pole about 15 feet in air off the back of the boat. When we got to White Horse I dont know how I recognized the spot but I knew we needed to get out and scout the water. I was working on the very bottom of a 1/2 rack when we pulled to bank. I talked some crap about using high quality knots to secure a vessel to the bank. I believe I attempted a bowline. We got up on the bank and was plotting a path thru the boulder strewn rapids ahead, when we spot a boat thru the trees about to run the rapids. You should have seen our eyes when we spot a rebel flag attached to an unmanned boat go right down the center of the chute. I guess the rabbit came out of the hole but didnt go around the tree the right direction. It is a long walk out of this canyon, so raft recovery was a must. I run down the train tracks wearing nothing but a pair of swim trunks. If you have never run barefoot down a train tracks DON'T. About 1/2 to 3/4 mile later I was ahead of the boat and I made my way down to the waters edge. My plan was to swim out into the center of White Horse rapids without a lifejacket (it was in the boat) and grab the boat as it floats by. (I didnt say it was a good plan) I have a few seconds before the boat gets to me, and I see a big rock about 1/2 way to where the boat will pass which is about 12 inches under the water, which I thought I could stand on. This would reduce the distance to the boat when it passed. I never made that rock. I was sucked into a current of very cold water on the way. I find myself ahead of the boat swimming for my life. The current slams me into a large boulder and I dont remember much after that. I came to under the water, with the air knocked out of me. I couldnt have lost conciousness for long, I was still trying to breath. I made my way to the surface and finally to the bank. Cold water can sober one up real quick. I laid on the bank for what seemed to be forever.

About 2 miles down stream we catch up with the raft, which was rescused by a couple kayakers. We immediately lowered the flag to 1/2 staff. By the end of the day my feet had swollen to about double size because of the many creosoted slivers I got running on the train tracks. My feet hurt so bad I couldnt walk for a couple days.

No more alchohol and boats for this boy. I learned right there on the banks of the Deschutes. Life is fragile, I have never been so close to death. I can count the beers on hand I have drank in a boat since that day in 1988. Learn from your screw-ups.

[STRIKE ZONE]

This ain't no @hit!! About 8 years ago my self and two fishin buddies went to the Queet's river to due a little salmon fishin in november.Drove up Queet's valley road past the hartzel boat ramp to a make shift ramp on the upper stretch.Crashed out for the night,got up and decided to launch our 1972 18' lavro drift boat with the motor well in side,this boat was a tank.One buddy was getting his wader's on while me and the other thought we could just back up and man handle this boat off the trailer and down about a 15 to 20 foot drop to the river with out tieing the boat off to the trailer first.This was a big mistake,the boat flew out into the river,shot half way across and started drifting down stream.I ran down the bank down stream after it,I triedwading out as far as I could but that wasn't enough.So I said screw it we only paid $800.00 for it.My partner wasn't going to give up,He kept running down stream on the bank,while I walked back to where this all started to find my other buddy had busted his knee up on a big rock just under the water that he couldn't see while runing after this tank.My partner found the boat down stream about a mile.There was a huge log jam that was about 1/4 mile long and thirty feet high with rushing water under it,the ass end of the boat caught on a six inch round alder that stuck out in the river twenty to twenty-five feet.My partner shimmed out on the log,jumped in the boat and pulled it to the log jam tied it up and found us.To let us know that he got the boat but during the rough ride it had lost one of our 10'sawyer counter balanced oars were missing.They don't float,we had to run to aberdeen to by new oars so we could get the boat down stream.Three hours of driving and $300.00 later we were back to find out someone had stolen my mountain bike we use to get the other rig.This was a the most messed up fishin trip ever.We ended upgetting home that sunday night around 1 or 2 in the morning. I've learned to tie a rope off to the trailer. STRIKE ZONE

[Okiedrifter]

o.k. this aint no poop, about 1990, a buddy and me are at winchesterbay.. were watching the bay , and the people out there are really getting after it, i mean every body is catching fish.. so we decide to go get gramps 10 foot semi v,, w/a 6 hr. merc...after all weve never seen the bay so smooth like glass..by the time we get back, its not so smooth, but hey were really strong swimmers right, RIGHT! so off we go the charter boats, and the rest of the people must think were nuts, but now we are catching fish, just verticle jigging buzz bombs , up the swell , down the swell...no problems mate....right,,,RIGHT! THE TIDE TURNS...but were catching fish, we can wait a little right,,,WRONG IN COMES A FOG BANK we decide we better get in,, cant see the end of a 10 footer, charter boats out here they cant see us, ok its gettig spooky now, so i open up the big 6,,..i deduce that they woulnt take a big charter close to the rip rap so i start over to get closer to the big rocks, besides it will be closer, if we get wet..so im really giving the big 6 hell now..., wow we must be clipping along good now right,,,,WRONG...i look over at this rock thats the size of a house, between swells and were not going any where... we are barely holding r own. so as captain, of this sea worthy craft, about face out the mouth around the jetty and into the beach as pretty as u please..this aint no s#$t..

[PeterMac]

Not my story, but watched this unfold on the Deschutes about 10 years ago. These guys should not have gotten out of bed this day!!

Guy backs his sled into the river with his new suburban. first can't get it off the trailer, so he goes in a little further. finally gets the boat off, but then realizes that the ass end of the suburban is stuck in the river. Tries and tries to get it out, and only succeeds to get it further in the water, which is now only about a foot and a half below the back window. Guy in the boat gets the bright idead to push the suburban out of the river with the sled. Next thing we see he is beating the ass end with the bow of the sled. Not pretty. We leave to go upstream and fish.

About three hours later, we're driving out and the Suburban was gone, but we found the same bunch stuck in the middle of the river in a good set of rapids (we are about two miles above Maupin, not sure what they are called, but pretty big) with the anchor out, and the bow dangerously close to going under.

I am not sure how it ended, but sure it will go down as one of their worst days. If they happen to be members of this BB, sorry I told your story for you! http://www.ifish.net/forum/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[tyt]

Pilar,

Your post states that "We got real close (Duh, what was I thinking?) to the rocks, 50', and I had the kicker running since jetties make me nervous." I would like to suggest to the group it was more like 10' to 15'. I do admit the fish were bitting.

[Pilar]

Thanks Ty for setting the record straight. I've done my best to forget that day since I believe that is when you stopped trusting me. I'll do my best not to betray your newfound faith when we go to the "Church of the bent rod" on Sunday for a little worship service. Hey guys, great sea stories all. If we only knew then what we know now. Keep em coming. Think of it as a sort of confession. The bend is your friend!

[Gone Fishin]

This is the straight poop;

This past winter I had the opportunity to take out a couple of outdoor writers down the Nestucca for the "Nates". I had been putting in at 6th Bridge, however, the water was dropping and the gauge was reading about 5 feet this day. I decided to drop in at 5 1/2 slide. If you aren't familiar with this launch, you stop on the road (above the river) and take your boat off the trailer and give it a shove over the side, it's about 50' down to the water. Used to be, I'd put a rope on my boat if it was frozen out, but otherwise, I'd just let it go (without a rope) and it would stop perfectly at the bottom next to the water. That was my old boat, I wasn't thinking about the fact that I was launching a new boat here for the first time (a little wider, a little longer, a little heavier). Well, I had unloaded the boat off the trailer, gave a shove and told the two writers, "it will stop next to the water" as the boat picked up speed going down the hill I said "maybe NOT!" The boat hit the water at what seemed like 50mph and almost went up the bank on the other side. Then the current took control and away went the boat. Now, by the look on the faces of these writers I could tell that they were impressed, heck, they probably haven't seen a new 17 foot Willie full of gear float down the river by itself before! We piled in the truck and headed down the road to see what the boat was going to do. Fortunately, the writers didn't stow their camera's in the boat before I lost it, and started clicking pictures right away! The boat went down about a half mile and got hung up on the opposite side of the river. And a nice boater came to my rescue and offered me a ride accross after he contained his laughter and used up all the film in his camera too. Moral of the story: PUT A FRICKIN' ROPE ON YOUR BOAT WHEN YOU LAUNCH!

The writer contacted me recently and said there is going to be an article in December issue of "North American Sportsman". I hope it's an article on the native steelhead and not how to launch a drift boat!

[Gone Fishin]

This is the straight poop;

This past winter I had the opportunity to take out a couple of outdoor writers down the Nestucca for the "Nates". I had been putting in at 6th Bridge, however, the water was dropping and the gauge was reading about 5 feet this day. I decided to drop in at 5 1/2 slide. If you aren't familiar with this launch, you stop on the road (above the river) and take your boat off the trailer and give it a shove over the side, it's about 50' down to the water. Used to be, I'd put a rope on my boat if it was frozen out, but otherwise, I'd just let it go (without a rope) and it would stop perfectly at the bottom next to the water. That was my old boat, I wasn't thinking about the fact that I was launching a new boat here for the first time (a little wider, a little longer, a little heavier). Well, I had unloaded the boat off the trailer, gave a shove and told the two writers, "it will stop next to the water" as the boat picked up speed going down the hill I said "maybe NOT!" The boat hit the water at what seemed like 50mph and almost went up the bank on the other side. Then the current took control and away went the boat. Now, by the look on the faces of these writers I could tell that they were impressed, heck, they probably haven't seen a new 17 foot Willie full of gear float down the river by itself before! We piled in the truck and headed down the road to see what the boat was going to do. Fortunately, the writers didn't stow their camera's in the boat before I lost it, and started clicking pictures right away! The boat went down about a half mile and got hung up on the opposite side of the river. And a nice boater came to my rescue and offered me a ride accross after he contained his laughter and used up all the film in his camera too. Moral of the story: PUT A FRICKIN' ROPE ON YOUR BOAT WHEN YOU LAUNCH!

The writer contacted me recently and said there is going to be an article in December issue of "North American Sportsman". I hope it's an article on the native steelhead and not how to launch a drift boat!

[DanS]

Not my misfortune, but it fits the list.

There used to be a put-in on the west fork Satsop river, but the current across the end of the ramp was pretty swift. No problem for a drift boat, since your tires only have to touch the water to launch. But a sled needs to go in deeper, and sleds had been starting to use this ramp against their better judgment. So this guy pulls up and backs down with his spanking-new Chevy S-10 pickup. With the sled sitting on the trailer, no problem. But he backs in, gets out, and then the sled floats up off the trailer. When the sled leaves the trailer, the current starts dragging dude's trailer off the ramp. Soon, the truck starts to follow the trailer and the driver decides to jump clear rather than trying to jump in the truck to save it. Unfortunately for him, the water right next to the ramp drops off to better than 10 feet in two steps. Dunk goes his new truck and trailer as the sled floats down river. He had to call one of those big-ass Kenworth towtrucks which got a guy in a boat to take a cable down to the truck and trailer to winch them up. The truck didn't look too bad when they dredged it up, but I bet the elctrical gremlins soon made themselves apparent. This guy's eyes were as big as saucers as the truck departed the ramp, I really felt sorry for him. I'm sure he broke his fishing budget with that stunt.

Fish on.........

[SLEDDER]

Lucky for us you're still here to tell the story! We were all young dumb and full of !@#. Somr just don't make it. http://www.ifish.net/forum/images/graemlins/frown.gif

[Deleted User]

Great stories! I would like to put some in my book with named story credit. If anyone is adverse to that let me know by clicking on my e-mail icon at the top of the post. Thanks. ----- I had put up a couple of "no shi**ers" on the old DB that I will put up again for the new members to read. -- The first one is real similar to yours GF, only I told it AFTER I got out of guiding http://www.ifish.net/forum/images/graemlins/smile.gif . "Launching My Driftboat" - As you know, guides must work when the river allows, including on during the peak of winter. I had my 2 clients carefully follow me from the Guide Shop up to the Siskyville put in, a very long steep wooden rail launch on the Wilson River. It was a sub-freezing January & the boards had about a quarter inch of solid ice on them. We pulled the boat onto the upper short part & I told DB to hold it there while I slacked about 7' of winchrope and locked it. Then we slide the boat over the edge. I thought he still had hold of it. Well it did about 0 to 60 mph within that 7', snapped the ropeknot like it was twine, and did about 60 to 90mph the rest of the way down the boards. When that rocket hit the water it's splash reminded me of the old loggin' flumes! And it, honest to goodness (no Sh*t), did a triple skip like a thrown skipper rock across the river! This was a long time ago and DB and his guest were firstime clients. After I stared at the scene with my mouth dropped open for a few seconds, I turned to them and said "so how do you like me so far? ... If we can get the boat back, WAIT 'TILLYA SEE ME ROW!". I had to say it louder as they were already runnin' back to there car(jk). Fortunately another boater came along ... he declined our offer to help him lauch. But thankfully they did retrieve my boat a couple holes down. After taking awhile to clean everything off the floor we did get into some fish. But I got no tip. We have become good buddies since. - RT --- "Wheelstanding Jetsled" - Before I could afford a real jetsled w/real jetpump, in the late 70's I purchased the "poorman's" version. It was an extremely lightweight Koffler 15' experimental flatbottom sled (I think this was the forerunner of their Koffler Lite Kenai R. boat which became a good boat). On the raised transome I mounted a 25 hp Mercury w/ a Riffle Runner. These were a quarter inch thick strong tunnel shaped housing bolted to the cavitation plate. This surrounded incoming water & lifted it up about 6" & ran it thru the prop so you could run on plane in about 8 to 10" of water if you didn't mind ticking the skeg occasionlly. I had installed a higher pitched prop so that it's "out of the hole" jump was strong. I had run it a couple times just fine with my friend Keith in front, then parked it bankside at his cabin on the Clackamas R. I invited my younger brother Bill and my fishing buddy Chris to meet me there the next morning to fish for steelhead. It was cold the next morning so I told them I would take a couple circles to warm it up, while secretly planning to impress them with it's get up and go with only one person in it. I definitely impressed them! A few factors came together at once to create a circus act. I slowly built up my circling speed until I had a pretty good wake going. As I approached a large wave I slowed then gunned it right as I hit it. I knew this would bounce the front end up a little, but I'm at a loss for words to describe the feeling that followed. As the front end started up I twisted on full throttle. The front end shot way up causing the RR to dig water and angle the prop upward at the same time. The net effect was that this cool boat did a near verticle wheelstand out in the "Slab-hole". At it's zenieth, I thought it was flipping all the way over. Instant RUSH!! And my open tackle box sprayed much of it's gear all over me. Fortunately the front end did drop back down. I sat their as "Stunned Steve", with spinners hanging off the front of my cap. I putted over to a cracked up pair and just said "ready"? ... "NO!". I finally talked them into it and with proper weight balance it worked fine. ... When I started guiding fulltime a few years later I thought to myself that it would have made a great Candid Camera stunt, meeting first time clients, to have perfected this wheelstand trick, go out and do it in front of them, and motor back over to say "dang, it's a little jumpy this morning but I think we'll be OK". - RT

[Grant Scheele]

A couple of you guys talk about how the drift boat looks after it hits the water when going fifty mph and no rope attached. My father pushed the boat off of the pink house(Campbell park) drift on the Alsea one freezing January morning. The ramp was long and completely covereded with ice. I was 14 years old and it was my job to hang on to the rope. I don't know why I cared so much because it wasn't my boat. I was spry enough to jump on to the bow of the boat. I am sure that my legs wiggling in the air as I am going down the ramp and skidding 50ft out across the river was the reason my father and little brother practically fell down laughing.
Salmonator, I think that you have a few stupid boat tricks to tell. http://www.ifish.net/forum/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[NEUTRON]

B of E, your storymakes me laugh so hard
i'm cryin; all of them are great. Is your
rebel flag still flying?

[Osprey]

This is no Emu s*it,
A partner and myself are going to fish the canyon area of a local steelhead river in our cats,we decide to lauch at a higher spot than we normally do,the bank is very steep here so we load our stuff on the cats and pull them most of the way down about 40 yards or so to a very steep drop off, I decide to be joey chitwood thrill show, I hop on my cat push off with the oars and over the edge I go at about warp 8, when I had looked down earlier it looked clear ,where this big *ss log came from I have no idea,since I forgot to install brakes on my cat when I built it http://www.ifish.net/forum/images/graemlins/frown.gif...I was commited.
Traveling at warp speed thru brush and berry bushes,I decide my only chance is to either hit the ejector seat button or ride it out I chose the latter...as I was about to meet this large log all I could do was lean back and try to raise the nose of this beast up to clear the log which I some how managed to,hitting the water with perfect form ...just the way I planned it http://www.ifish.net/forum/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif
I tell my partner that was cool you're turn he decices not to choose my rout and take a shorter one up stream a few yards .
he lauches his boat in the same manner and begins his adventure ,as he aproaches the edge he gets this big grin like he's so good,
at this point I notice a colored line behind him, he had forgot to secure his anchor http://www.ifish.net/forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif http://www.ifish.net/forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif yep you guess it as he clears the egde the anchor finds a hole to bury it self in...catapulting him off his spaceship,it was a perfect 360 with a twist in the pike position ,he landed in 4 feet of water,I'm getting ready to do my best Baywatch rescue imatation, when he pops up laughing so hard he's choking.
There hanging on the hill is his boat still attached to line and ready to fish.
I'll never forget the look on his face when he went airborn http://www.ifish.net/forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif http://www.ifish.net/forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif

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Row quietly and fish a Cataraft !!-------<'))>><

[This message has been edited by Osprey (edited 08-14-2000).]

[Pilar]

One last story. This one doesn't fit either classification above. It is what is known as a tall tale. Best told and first heard by me in the field at a campfire.

"The ballad of Wildcat Wilson"

There we were then, me and my partners. We were gathering sheep in the NW corner of Idaho. We found three thousand critters in just five days. We were tellin' stories in the evening by the corral. I was sipping coffee and spitting chew when I heard a noise like thunder on the ridge above camp. The trees were swaying and brush was a breakin. The quaky aspens parted and out rode a man on a grizzly bear. He rode bareback and had a rattler in each hand crackin like buggy whips over his head. He flew down the hill to the camp a whoopin and a spurrin the whole way. We watched in amazement as he slid up to the corral and jumped off the Grizz. He threw the snakes on the ground and said 'be still'. They coiled up with nary a rattle. Then he touched the ba'r on the nose and said 'lay down' and the giant quivered to the ground. He glanced our way and then swaggered over to the corral. Reaching through the fence rails he grabbed a ewe by the hindquarters. He tore the haunch clear off of the sheep and began to eat it, wool and all. He ate in silence watching us the whole while. Then he walked over to the sheep dip trough and had a long drink. No one spoke. He came towards us by the fire and wiping his mouth on his sleeve, said 'Boys, I hate to eat and run, but there's one mean sum ***** a followin me'.

Like I said a tall tale. Told to me by my best friend (thanks Kelvin C.) and best shared around the elk camp fire. The bend is your friend!

[This message has been edited by Pilar (edited 08-15-2000).]

[marko]

Do you know the difference between a fairy tale and a war story? A fairy tale begins "once upon a time" a war story begins "this ain't no ****!"
Tight lines and upright boats
Marko

[Pilar]

A fisherman meets a golfer in a bar. The fisherman has a pegleg, a hook and an eye patch.

"How'd you get that pegleg?" asks the golfer?

'I was deep sea fishing and was swept overboard in a storm', says the fisherman. 'A shark bit my leg off.'

"Wow!" Says the golfer, "What about the hook?"

'Another shark took my hand clear off'

"And the eyepatch?", asks the golfer.

'Damn seagulls!, right in the eye!' Said the fisherman.

"Wait a minute, you pulling my leg? You can't lose an eye to a little bird crap!" says the golfer.

'Oh yes you can, it was my first day with the hook'

Ba ha ha ha ha ha

The bend is your friend!

[This message has been edited by Pilar (edited 12-08-2000).]

[Trout,myster]

These are great! The cataraft through the berry vines had me rolling. One thing's sure, we've all learned some intersting and valuable lessons from our stupidity and I must admit, I'm no differnt so I'll add one for RT's book! True story...no @hit!

A few years ago, a very good friend of mine and I played hooky from work to go to Buoy 10. Promised to be good day and weather forecast was not too bad as we hooked onto his 16 foot Starcraft at 2:30 am to begin the long drive to Hammond. Arriving at Hammond and rounding up fresh bait, there was a slight breeze, maybe 10mph but no warnings or flags flying at the launch. Low slack tide was in about an hour so we wanted to mosey out on the outgoing and be at the buoy at tide change. Away we went and noticed that we were only one of about 3 boats out on the river at daylight. The tide clipped us right along and within about 15 minutes we were approaching the buoy line. The swells were abnormally large at about 6 feet with a fair chop on top of that, which made rigging a *****. I managed to get rigged up and my herring out and was going to run the boat so my buddy could get his rig out. By then, the wind had picked up to probably the 30 mph range, swells increased to around 8 feet, and a good 3 foot of wind waves on top of that. Fishing wasn't working and we also noticed we had to turn around because the outgoing tide was still flowing pretty hard. We decided maybe it was best to bag it and head in. Reeled everything in and now the swells were getting serious, the wind increased to somewhere around 40 mph and we concluded we had a problem. My buddy headed the Starcraft back to Hammond with the wind blowing us sideways and the 85 horse Merc chugging away. We were going about as fast as we safely could up one side of the swell and down the other. He then pointed out the "good news" was that we were moving right along, but the "bad news" showed on the upcoming buoy behind us. Even though we were going as fast as possible in those conditions, we were still going backwards out to sea with the tide! More power! Heavy rain, more wind and now we were launching off the tops of the swells and slamming down in the bottom just to do it again, but we were going upriver at least. The boat started wallowing miserably and was getting heavy from taking on alot of water. My pal asked me to "go back and turn on the bilge pump". New pump, but he had hated to cut a hole in the boat for the hose so someone had to hold the hose over the side to run the pump. Not good in the heavy seas so I decided to stay in the seat calmly leaving fingerprints in the windshield frame. It took us an hour and 45 minutes to get back to Hammond and I've never come closer to kissing a dock in my life. Putting the boat on the trailer, we drained about 50 gallons of water out of it and then headed home?? No way...stopped a John Day and launched again...this time to sturgeon fish! Back out in the Columbia dodging sandbars, fished about 2 hours with no luck and headed back in. Waves were only about 3 to 4 feet, but beating us to death since they were only about 10 feet apart. The answer? More power! My friend hammered the Merc and we got up on top of the waves hitting just the tops at about 30 mph. About the 4th wave we hit, the whole inside of the boat turned white when his knee hit the fire extinguisher and set it off by his seat. Scared us both as we figured we blew up and were dead! A larger boat was nearby and witnessed the antics and we could tell we made their day.
Now soaked with rain, covered with powder, we headed to the ramp and on home. We survived the ordeal and learned;
1) Don't trust coastal weather if it looks at all risky.
2) Don't go out on an outgoing tide...EVER!
3) Don't be afraid to cut a hole in your boat for a properly installed bilge pump.
4) Don't mount your fire extinguisher by you knee.
5) Finally, don't let one of these trips keep you from doing it again, only a little smarter.


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Troutmyster

[fishhead5]

Didn't happen to me, but some of you blue creek fisherman might have seen this. A few years back some friends of mine were down at the cowlitz fishing for summer run in a private fishing derby. The river was real low. One of the boats was coming up the riffel at the mouth of blue creek and one of the boats was coming down. Right at the last minute the boat coming up changed his mind and went to go up the inside and pulled in front of the boat coming down. Just like in the movies, the boat coming down went over the boat coming up!. Their foot left scratch marks on the top of the other boats motor. They landed flat no one was hurt. boats were damaged some. They were very lucky

[Roeboat]

I have a saying that God smiles upon drunks and fisherman. And the many times you cheat the odds just attests to this. Too many stories...I'll tell the one that scared me the most:

The North Shore of Oahu had huge surf. Waiamea bay was breaking island size 25 foot plus (mainland size 35 foot plus...an island thing). I'd planned to go surfing but it was just way too big for me. I rounded up my fishing buddies and decided to go fishing as there was no wind. It is a rarity on the North Shore but there exists a 2 week window where the Kona winds blow and the seas are nice. My plan was to fish X-ray buoy for mahimahi and if we got lucky we could be catch an ahi which sold for over 20 bucks a pound in December. I'd just finished modifying the bow of my 18 foot outboard, having raised the bow a solid foot, reinforced the sidewalls with semicircular fiberglass stringers,installed small 6" x 2' fins on the back for large wave surf control and big anti roll boards below the waterline on the sides. I had a new set of poutriggers and was feeling fairly confident. The run to X-ray buoy was about 12 miles up the coast, past Waiamea Bay and about 6 miles out. I took a diagonal course to shave a few miles off and get us fishing quickly. The seas were huge but the water was like glass for the first few hours, then the wind started to fill in FROM the NORTH. The trade winds were back. I was ##^^&%*ing bricks as I notified our fearless crew that we had to make a run out of here quick! It was way too late for the wind was upon us in an instant and now the seas were breaking. I was steering a downwind course surfing down huge faces while my trusty evinrude went under water again and again and never missed a beat. My brother Cort, and my Aussie buddy Mick bailed with five gallon buckets as we'd level off and ride up the back of a swell. The more water we took on the worse it got as we would drop down the face of these huge rollers all the water in the boat would rush forward and WHOOSH off we'd go rocketing down swell. The very worst moment for me was a terrifying huge wave that I heard before I saw it and as it sucked me up the face backwards I was trying to keep the boat speed slow, knowing that when it caught us we would accelerate very rapidly. It lifted the rear of the boat out of the water and threw us straight down. I kept from crashing into the windshield by pushing off the steering wheel, Mick just got rammed and I looked back to see my brother with one arm wrapped over the back transom and one over the side, feet and body parallel to the floorboards start singing out loudly "If not for the courage of the feerless crew..." We plunged straight down a vertical 30 foot face, I couldn't turn the boat or we would roll for sure. The bow wasn't buried but was in the process of going under when I realized we wouldn't make it if I did nothing so I gunned the motor. It looked like we were motoring straight underwater into the cobalt blue but you know how the outboard pushes the bow up when you gun it? It did just that and we barely escaped a piledriver as the bow pushed forward and slowly up.

We made it back to the harbor intact. The new bow that I had glassed on was cracked off all the way around yet miraculously had done its' job. I'd lost my aerial and cracked an outrigger. I have often wondered why I gunned the motor and the answer is easy..It was the only option left. The custom modifications to the boat saved us. We were extremely lucky to make it and I was extremely foolish to be out there. A couple of weeks later a beautiful big 50 foot wood fishing boat disappeared without a trace in the same area. Not a piece was ever found of the experienced Mokuleiea. Just to catch a fish!

[Snagly]

I'm making a post on this thread just to get it back in circulation as I missed it the first time, and I'm sure a few other members did too.

After I was done laughing, that last Hawaiian tale sobered me up big time. I haven't done anything quite like that, but the "We're gonna die!" experience that comes to mind involves a 14 hour boat ride in 15-20 foot seas off the coast of Thailand ten years ago. It was a liveaboard scuba diving vacation and the weather turned very nasty on the last day. Most of us were on deck in our wetsuits, BCD's (life jackets), hanging on for dear life. My wife usually gets seasick in rough weather. We found the cure: fear. Anyway, after being pounded for an interminable time we finally made it back to Patong Beach. And I DID kiss the beach when we went ashore. (Then we checked into a hotel and did a John and Yoko for a couple days -- laughing like kids when the floor pitched and rolled, punching up movies on HBO and drinking ourselves silly. It was good to be alive ON LAND.)

[scott98541]

dan s.i was there that day as a matter of fact i called the tow truck for the poor guy.i have to admit that was quite a sight.thats not the first time i've seen that happen though.

[boater]

was fishing the chehalis above montesano and were anchored up, me in my sled and a buddy in his fishing a hole, we were anchored about 60 or so feet apart and were casting and this guy came and trolled inbetween us, we asked him what he was doing because he had to see we were casting, he just laughed and started to get smart and came back thru again, just about then my buddy fires his 150 merc jet up and when the guy comes thru again he tilts the engine up and hoses the guy down, i mean he soaked him good, then he told the guy to get the Hell outa our fishin hole, we were laughing so hard we couldnt even talk. the guy started cussing and off he went, never seen him again.

[Deleted User]

I happened to peruse the old DB and came across this boating story of mine I thought some of the newer members might enjoy. It's kind of a 'stupid boat trick'. ...

Reading Bev's potty challeges for women only post remined me of a potty story. I was fishing out of depot bay for coho one
summer in my open V-sled. As nature would have it ol' number 2 pulled into the staging area.
Along with several other sport boats we had followed the charter fleet out to the hot spot, so we were close to many people. I
had one of those folding aluminum framed plastic toilet seat things for camping and a two-gallon plastic bucket for the cause.
The problem was we were in a hot bite so I held off as long as I could. That turned out to be a mistake because when I do
that...how can I say this delicately...it sort of packs the staging area and can make things harder to work out (was that OK?).
We finally had to reel em up and I ran just far enough out from the other boats to be comfortable. The adventure began when
Chris (Sessions - Ifish guide) took the tiller, let his herring out and started a wide turn back toward the bite. I chirped about it but he said to just hurry
up. I was trying. Wouldn't ya know it.. 2 charter boats had made wide turns and were headed our way. It's hard to talk Chris
away from a good fish bite goin' on so he just kept trolling straight- laughing all the way! I tried harder while leaning forward to
cover up best I could. The "golden Kodak moment" came right between the 2 charters. Chris hit a wave/wake, rocking the boat such
that the weak dang potty legs just gave way, causing me to crumble on top of it all. Yes, most of about 30 people saw this. Chris
was just cracking up so hard he couldn't talk. So were some of the charter fishers. I'll leave the rest of the story to your
imagination. - Steve

[GutZ]

DingidenyonyadidyaRT? http://www.ifish.net/forum/images/graemlins/wink.gif

[HOGTIDE]

Fishguts...wwwwhhhhyyyyyyyyyyy did ya have to say that??????????????

Oh, gosh I've gotta a big ugly mental picture.

[Deleted User]

Then you probably have it about right Hog'. http://www.ifish.net/forum/images/graemlins/shocked.gif http://www.ifish.net/forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif http://www.ifish.net/forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif http://www.ifish.net/forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif http://www.ifish.net/forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif http://www.ifish.net/forum/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif

[Deleted User]

This makes all those boat stories sound not so bad,Today on the way to meet fishing buddies my husband was literaly run over and boadsided by a herd of about 25 elk on his way to morgan park,He said it was totally unbelievable how powerful these animals are when they are on the move he said they hit him so hard in the side of his chevy full size truck they pushed his truck off the pavement and into the ditch, and totalled it out. He is fine, thank goodness,He did finally make it fishing from ojolla to morgan park by boat but his luck never changed. Was hoping for a fish to brighten his day. P.S pilar your not the only one who is hard on cars!!! This is a first post for me think this message board is great and a little interesting sometimes, Keep up the good work. Kim

[HOGTIDE]

Whoa...is that where they got the term "BULL dozer?" Hope everyone is ok.

And RT, That was 4 hours ago...and I still can't shake that mental picture.....aaaahhhyuuukgod crimeny outloud!!! oooohh...and you're a big man, too....ahhgeezstinkin' crykees...fer ickin'sakes.Yuk.

[Deleted User]

Hey Mocha', you remember the movie "City Slickers"? .. when the big Jack Palance character turned to Billy Crystal's chararcter and said "I crap bigger N you". Well, I figure I just enhanced your imagery enough to put you on a diet for awhile? .... nah, that nylon/rubber type bucket didn't collapse all the way flat! Close enough for some good laughs though. http://www.ifish.net/forum/images/graemlins/smile.gif

P.S. - Those of you back to work and reading this near your lunch hour, enjoy your meal http://www.ifish.net/forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif I will be playing a steelhead about the time you read this today.

[This message has been edited by RT (edited 01-16-2001).]

[Pilar]

At least the elk did the crashing, not the truck. I really hate the trip over highway 6 at night, at times (4am) there is an elk or two around every corner standing in the road. Nothing quite maxes out the pucker factor like one of those bad boys sliding down your hood heading for the windshield!

The bend is your friend!

[OR Coast Range]

Speaking of road kill (or killed).

When I was in college I used to drive a Camaro much too fast. I was driving up to see my parents and was doing about 70 on a backroad. I saw a doe cross the road a ways in front of me, so I tried to slow down because where there's one there's usually more.

Then a yearling stepped out onto the road in front of me, but I couldn't slow down enough to miss it. I just clipped it doing about 20mph, but I was lucky. At the last instant he jumped up, so I ended up throwing him in the ditch and didn't put a scratch on my car.

So I went home, grabbed my dads pickup, and went back to pick it up. There wasn't a scratch on it, I clipped the hind quarter and twisted him around and broke his back but didn't ruin any of the meat. So we butchered him up. That was the most tender backstrap that I think I ever tasted! It almost melted in your mouth!

[TH Rods]

This didn't happen to be, butu a guide from Gold Beach that I know.

This guy, we'll call him Bob... was launchingat Jot's on a nice August morning. It was an unusually low tide that morning and the ramp was covered in sea slim. As he backed his 22ft. Jetcraft down into the water he noticed he was slipping. No big deal, it happenes all of the time. He quickly hopped out of his new Chevy Suburban and jumped into the boat, started it up and began to back it off. As he did ne noticed his truck sliding backward into the bay, so to stop this, he throttled forward to apply pressure with the front of the boat. but by then the trailer had slid under the water and he found that the truck was on its way... eventually completely submerged into the Rogue Bay... it was later pulled out with a CAT I believe.. rough way to start a fishing trip.

thanks for letting me play.

TH
www.thcustomrods.com (http://www.thcustomrods.com)

[HOGTIDE]

Greg Eide??? I think it was Eide that launched his truck?! I about did the same thing a year ago. Low tide, Jots mossy ramp, I'm in 4 wheel drive posi pullin' out. All wheels are spining forward , while I'm sliding backward. The only thing that saved me was my trailer tires dropped off the ledge and my trailer frame crashed down onto the ramp, gouging my way to a stop. I was s h o o k !!! Unloaded the boat got sand pulled out and waited for high tide.

Good 'ol Rogue frame survived the whole ordeal with hardly a scratch!

[Pilar]

This aint no $hit!

Well, truck and trailer, not boat. My buddy Krystalflash invited me to go plugging for salmon on the Nestucca two falls ago. We launched his drift boat down by the guard rail and I waited with one other fisher for him to find a place to park his 'Sploder and the trailer. We waited and waited. The parking was all gone as we were the last to arrive that day.

I started up the kicker and backed the boat away from the bank thinking I could see up to the road and maybe wet a line while we waited some more.

Pretty soon here he come waving his arms. I motored over to the bank and he said 'Go get my Dad's keys to the suburban, he's upriver in the sled'. HHHmmmmmmm..... I thought, whats up with that.

So I went up to the sled and got the keys. Mike Sr. was puzzled about the need for suburban keys as well but he gave them up reluctantly. Back down to the guard rail we went through a throng of anchored boats, some were already worshipping with a buckled rod here and there.

This drove Mark and myself nuts as we puzzled over Mikes bizarre behavior. I threw the keys to him and he said, 'No, beach the boat I need your help'. So I did and went up the hill and over the guard rail.

There was the Sploder, leaned over into the ditch at better than a 45 degree angle, trailer too. It was a pitiful sight. He had parked on the shoulder on the cliff side of the road. After about 30 seconds the bank collapsed into the 6 foot deep ditch, dumping the rig and the trailer into the deep dog doo.

I could see my chances of fish on fading fast. So close to the church, but so far due to the obligations of friendship. We played tow truck with the suburban to no avail. We ran the sploder 20 feet up and down the ditch and yarded on it mightily with the 454 chev. It stayed in the ditch.

Finally a guy winched us out and Mike picked a better spot to park.

We went home after fishing post bite empty handed but happy we got the rig back. If you see a guy driving a scratched up green 'sploder thats got his Abe and Al flasher in hand hanging out the window spinning and flashing in the wind, that'd be Krystalflash. Sorry Mike!

The bend is your friend.

[Pilar]

For review by some of the newer I fishers. Do any of you have any 'boat' stories?

[boater]

was fighting a fish at bouy 10 last year and a buddy was standing running the kicker facing the back of the boat, i asked him to turn to the left and he asked me "my left or your left"

[crabbait]

This is nooooooo $hit.

Back when I was young and immortal, my buddy and I decided to go duck hunting one December morning. We loaded the canoe in the back of the Crummy (pre-Suburban former logger mover) and push-started it. We drove to a farmer's field that bordered a flooded creek and launched the canoe.

The flooded creek had about 3/4inch of ice on it but we knew it we paddled about 1/2 mile up stream we would come to a wide spot where a dairy farm emptied its waste water into the creek. The warmer waste water kept the wide spot ice free and someone years ago had built a blind about ten feet above the water between two trees. I sat in front breaking ice with a paddle while we made our way to the blind.

It was a bluebird day, clear and cold. No birds were flying. In a couple of hours we were ready to pick up the decoys and head back to the heaterless Crummy.

Again, I was relegated to the front of the canoe, even though I had considerably more experience in the canoe due to my friends "alergic" reaction to cold water on his frozen pinkies. My job was to pick up the dekes while he steadied the canoe from the rear. I had leaned over the side and picked up a hen when I saw another decoy sliding by the boat and, instead of winding the decoy line on the hen, I decided to lean back over to pick up the second decoy so we wouldn't have to come back for it.

The next thing I knew I was underwater. (Since we were immortal, there were no life jackets on the boat). As the water quickly soaked to my skin the cold went through me like a knife.

I realized that the water was shallow enough that I could stand up, the water just reaching my neck. My next thought was that my Rem 1100 had to be at my feet. I dove underwater and groped until I found it then popped back to the surface.

When I looked at my buddy, his eyes were as big as saucers. He thought I was going under for keeps when I retrieved my gun. "What are you doing?", he asked. "Getting my gun!" When he resurface with his gun I was hurriedly tying my gun to the canoe with a decoy cord through the trigger gaurd. Again with the "What are you doing?" "I am tying my gun to the boat because in about ten seconds my fingers are going to quit working."

As soon as my buddy got his gun tied to the boat we assessed our situation, s c r e w e d. We tried to lift the canoe over our heads to clear it but as soon as we added the weight of the canoe we began to sink in the muddy bottom. The creek was small and the shore was within 30 yards but it was at flood stage and the last twenty of those yards was flooded blackberry bushes. The cottonwoods where the blind was were limbless for twenty feet but across the creek were willows that might support our weight.

We managed to climb into the willows and right the boat. When we were back in it we both began to shake uncontrollably. Luckily, we had kept the paddles with us throughout the ordeal. My buddy asked, "What do we do now?" I said, "We paddle and we do not stop until we are back at the rig."

The wool that we were wearing (both pants and shirts) and the exertion of paddling the canoe saved our lives. Of course, when we got back to the Crummy we had to push start it again, (no heater). Ever try to drive a stick shift with hands that don't work?

I remember when we were trying to get out of the water , thinking "If i could just rest for a minute - just close my eyes and get a little rest". Yeah right, the long dirt nap!

Learned that canoes are for summer!

Tight lines.

[Capt. Hook]

This too is no $hit. I thought I would never tell it but after reading your confessions here goes; This spring salmon fishing out of Westport I took my wife and another couple, friends of ours and an old fishing buddy for a fun trip. At the boat ramp one of the friends, wanting to be helpful pulled an old rope out of his rig for a bow line. Now my bow line was attached but hidden under the anchor rope. he insisted it was quicker to attach his little rope and hang on while we launched. Mistake #1. Stick to your launch routine. I didnt and backed the boat in, floated it off the trailer and pulled out. Next thing I know the boat is loose and floating away from the dock and everybody is yelling. Rope was too short.
Mistake #2. I thought by backing up quickly I could get the trailer back under the boat and stop it somehow. I slammed it in reverse and just about then my friend ran around behind the trailer and got clipped by the trailer frame, knocking him to the ground. Fortunately he is tough and was only slightly injured.
The boat meanwhile has cleared to dock and has caught the wind and is heading downstream.
Mistake #3. My other longtime fishing partner decides to make a leap for the boat. He runs down the dock, leaps at least 6 feet through the air and lands on the bow of the boat. However his momentum pitches the boat and flips him in the water. I pulled him out and watched as the boat took off down Westport Slough. We are all in shock at the sudden series of events and at that point I didnt care if the boat sunk. It grounded on the opposite shore so I went over to the Ferry landing and waited for the Ferry to come in. The Captain was great and took the time to take me across the slough, dump me on the boat and stand by till I got it off into deeper water. Embarrassing to say the least but we still went fishing. Now the rules are; Launch and retrieve the boat by procedure.

[Tinman]

Surf-launched my 15 foot Bayrunner in La Jolla, caught a bunch of barracuda, and was darned proud of my landing back through the surf. Backed the truck down the wet sand, and took my time shooting the breeze with passers-by and showing off fish.

Incoming tide.

I realized too late that the truck had sunk to the axle in the sand as the incoming tide sloshed around the tires. The lifeguard truck finally showed up and towed us out. Don't even ask what that did to the brakes. Live and learn.

[Phil Layer]

Crabbait,

Sheesh. I found myself shivering while I read your story. What a scare!

You may think that canoes are for summer but I think they should be illegal unless you're a native American. There is some sort of karma going on with me and canoes. Everytime I get near one, I can hear it shouting, "Throw him! Throw him!"

Your wool and rowing had a part in saving your life but your clear thinking (usually not a trait that goes with being young and immortal) was a contributing factor as well.

[Bait O' Eggs]

It has been a year of great fishing, I am sure there are some more stories that need added to this list after all the fishing that has happened this year.

My stupid boat trick of the year for 2001 has to be letting the bow line trail in the water unknown to me. When I was at the Astoria Megler bridge the pump sucked up the rope leaving me with no main motor. It was a long ride back to Hammond on the kicker, with the wife giving me that "look".

The bar crossing with Waterdog had potential to be a dandy story if things turned bad, of course we might not have survived to tell the tale if things did go bad. :shocked: :shocked: As it was we didnt even get any splashed water on the top edge of the boat (hardly). :rolleyes: Those flashing lights at the bar usually mean rough water ahead. :rolleyes:

Somebody must have a good story to add to this list.

[WaterDog]

The bar crossing was not the smartest thing we have done. :rolleyes:

There was the guy that backed his trailer in to the dock an Ridgefield and broke the tail lights.

There was also the guy at Cathedral Park that, while backing down the ramp, was looking over his left shoulder. Guess he figured the dock was further away on his right. :rolleyes: Good thing I hollered at him before he backed his jeep into it. :shocked:

A couple of years ago there was the guy in a fancy NR that decided to drop anchor on some pileings. The river was over the top of them so you could see them. Took him a while but he did manage to break the rope and lose the anchor.

The list goes on............. :smile:

[rob allen]

All my friends are trying to talk me into getting a boat. After this thread I am seriously beginning to think being a bankie aint that bad.

[BlindSquirrel]

Some of those stories are classics!

I witnessed this -- This ain't no $hit -- story about 10 years ago...

The upper Clackamas from Three Lynx to the power lines is one of my favorite raft rides. The best river levels to raft it usually mean going in the March to early May timeframe. With my 14 foot Achilles - I like flows from 2500 cfs to 5000 cfs which gives good waves without too much rock dodging. I go at least once a year and try to pick a relatively warm day (>50 degree forecast high in PDX) that I can coordinate with a few buddies.

We planned a trip a few days ahead of time, and were watching the flows and temperatures closely. In these days before Al Gore had the internet going good - we had to call the 249-0666 number to get the recorded flows. On the day before the trip, we checked the flow in the morning and it was around 5500 cfs - so we decided to go. That night, we got quite a bit more rain and it had warmed up enough that a lot of mid-level snow melted.

When we got to the put-in, the river, which is normally pristine, was butterscotch pudding and raging. The air temperature was pretty warm - about 55 degrees, but the water temperature was still about 38 degrees. We weren't sure of the flow - but we decided as a group to put in anyway.

While getting the boats ready, we noticed another boat by themselves - it was a brand spanking new top of the line Sotar with every cool piece of rafting accessory you could have. It was manned by 4 people - 2 young guys and their spouses, configured as a paddle boat. While everyone in our group had full wetsuits or drysuits - this group had cutoff Levi shorts and cotton t-shirts! We went over and politely asked if they were crazy, or if they had ever done that stretch of river. They said that this was the first raft trip for any of them - but they had read a guide book and it didn't sound too hard. Nothing we said could convince them to reconsider. At least they had decent Class III/V life jackets.

When we started our shuttle, they launched (by themselves). From our truck, we watched them go through the first series of rapids just above the powerhouse - it was sad but predictable as they flipped their brand new boat at the top of the rapids and everyone went swimming - man that must have been cold. It looked like they all made it to safety and there wasn't much we could do to help at that point. We continued with the shuttle and on the way back we saw 4 sorry people climbing up a very steep bank and dragging their boat to the road a ways below the powerhouse. We didn't even stop to say "I told you so" because they looked so sad -- and the spouses wouldn't let them forget it either.

We ended up rafting through everything OK with just one person checking the water temperature for a few seconds at Carter's Bridge. The waves were huge with almost no slack or eddies to rest. We checked the flow when we got back - 9000 cfs! I'm not sure I'd go again at that flow - but we were younger and bulletproof (not quite invisible).

I'm sure you could also write volumes of "this ain't no $hit" stupidity if you watched the Deschutes Oak Springs rapids from the road during a summer weekend of years past. Since they now patrol heavily, and watch and enforce BWI, there are fewer stories.

Keep the good ones coming...

Pete

[Pilar]

That's right Blind Squirrel, Al Gore did invent the internet.

With all of that time on his hands, wonder what he'll invent next.

[I'mThe10Percent]

Same exact story as Gone Fishin!
Same exact place and idea...
I've always launched at 5 1/2 on the Nestucca, never using any rope.. In fact, Marty was the one who first took me down that strech of river! :rolleyes:
Luckily I got the boat back and didn't lose any gear!
Since that incident, I always use a rope! :whazzup:

[Salmonator]

Dumbest thing I ever did was tie off an anchor rope to the rear cleat of my first boat (no ifish back in 1989 to steer me straight). While in the process of trying to pull the anchor at the mouth of the Santiam the boat got turned downstream and when the rope tightened, the stern of our 16' trihull actually went under, then popped back up as the cleat ripped from the fiberglass.
Second dumbest thing was on the roughest ramp on the Siletz. Got to the bottom of the ramp, pushed the boat off and down a slight drop off where it sat 4 feet behind and below the trailer. As I started up the ramp the back wheels buried in the soft dirt. My first thought was to unhook the trailer and then free the truck so I put rocks behind the trailer tires and unhooked it from the hitch. Just as I unhooked it, the trailer hopped the two rocks and landed square on top of my driftboat whilst I stood there with a dropped jaw. Of course I had a client with me who witnessed the whole thing (repeat customer, thank god it wasn't a first impression). We eventually unstuck the truck and hooked a tow strap to the trailer while two of us lifted it up off the boat. I'm hoping I don't top that one... :blush:

[toblerone]

This one makes me want to weep just retelling it!
Are you familiar with those plastic and foam rod holders for wall mounting.Well I mounted one on the stern of me Willie 16(on the engine mount cut-out) and thought I had found a way to keep my rods safe and secure while drifting. It seemed to be working great all day til the very end. I had five rods stowed in the holder safe and secure. the butts on the bench seat next to me,lures, hooks and bobber rigs neatly secured. I was drifting fourth to Rock hole on the Nestucca. I had tied up to some shore trees while running up to get my truck and the boat was pulled as high as I thought safe on shore. Wrong, It had shifted 90 degrees and leaned up against the branches on the lower side of the take out. Solely supported by the SNAPPED OFF ends of my five rods. $800.00 down the crapper! The worst part was my Fathers 9'6" Lamiglass dangling there. He gave it to me when he emptied his garage before loosing his marbles to Alzheimers.(Cruelest thing!) Sentamental stuff cannot be replaced. I miss him. The moral of this pitiful story is carry only what you need, just cause you got it don't mean bring it!