Almost got killed yesterday!!!

[Ken Neeley]

I was fishing a tourney, NBAA Super Bass, on Lake St. Clair and we were down near 10 mile in 6 foot of water.

There were 30 boats out in 10 ft of water fishing in the tourney, including a couple of members of this site, but no one was within 200 yards of us.



A big aluminum Starcraft came out of the channel and got up on plane and started heading for us.

I figured he would turn away, but when he was about 50 yards from us going wide open, I saw that his head was turned and he was watching the other boats fishing.

I was on the bow, behind my fishing partner, and I smacked him and pointed at the boat. We started jumping up and down and waving our arms as he was bearing down directly on our bow.

He was coming so fast we didn't have time to get on the trolling motor and move.

I yelled at my partner to jump off the right side......we were still screaming and yelling, we had dropped our rods, and had our legs bent and ready to jump when he saw us and turned hard to starboard....when he completed his turn, he was no more than 1 boat length in front of us. His wake washed over the bow of our boat, and as he went by, he WAVED at us. :angry:

Then one of my partners rods started singing.....the driver of the Starcraft had caught his line......Ron picked up his rod and proceeded to watch 110 yards of Fireline and a 10 dollar lure get spooled off.



Needless to say, it took us about 10 minutes to calm our hearts and get our composure back.....that is the closest I have ever come to having an accident on the water.

We were literally halfway over the side and ready to jump in and dive down to avoid getting hit by his prop.



I know what the boat looks like, and where he came out from......I'll be looking for him next time I'm out.



Oh, by the way......there was a Sherrif's boat within 200 yards idling....he did NOTHING. even after several other tourney boats yelled at him to go the guy. :uhm

 

[Greg Meyer]

go to the Sheriff's office and file a complaint. take along a letter from anyone else who saw them ignore the jerks. iam glad it ended safely

 

[Sue DeLelys]

WOW!!!!! Sure glad you and you're partner are OK!



And people say the bass fishermen and their boats are a problem............NOT!

 

[Greg Meyer]

go to the Sheriff's office and file a complaint. take along a letter from anyone else who saw them ignore the jerks. iam glad it ended safely

 

[JD Johnson]

Ken, I'm glad you and your partner came out of it ok but I agree with filing a complaint with the S.O. about the incident and the deputies that ignored it. A wreckless operation citation should have been issued. They probably knew the guy or he had political influence so they ignored it.

 

[Rich Stern]

Always carry a change of underwear. :unsure:



Glad you had a near-miss!

 

[JR F]

Should of carried your gun.Neeley

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

Sorry, I'm not used to big tin rigs!!:lol:





Glad you are ok.



I'm afraid I would have gotten the bige motor fired up and went after him. Just to get his boat registration number. Even if it was an accident, he should have stopped.



TOXIC

 

[TritonGlenn]

I agree. I would have cranked up the big motor, and caught him, if only to get his registration number. Report him, and file a "Hazard to Mariners" report. I had a friend on North River in Virginia that had a large boat in a "No Wake" zone throw a wake so big that it threw him out of his boat, broke a fishing rod when he landed outside the boat, and lost other equipment. The guy driving the big boat recieved a ticket and had to pay Al for his equipment. They also said that if Al had medical bills that the guy would be responsible for them, but Al said he was fine, so they just paid for the equipment.

All the best,

Glenn

 

[Rusty C.]

Think I would have chased him down and invited him to the bank for a good ol' face full of fist! I hate stupid people.

 

[TOMMY RICH]

I got your back Neeley....I'm sooooooo sick and tired of dummasses on the water that don't know a dam thing about boating! Glad they missed ya' and I hope...reaaalllly hope that you do catch up to this guy so as the idiot may think twice about what he was doing!

What really ticks me off is what you described....the idiots can damnear kill ya' and wave like nothing happened. When he's pickin' his teeth off the ground......he might think something did happen:angry:

I show NO MERCY for idiots on the water!:wacko:

 

[Mini]

The Sherrif didnt see it. Didnt hear it either due to his twin Crusader's running and the wind and waves.



I did see it and they are lucky to be alive. ONE second later and they would have been hit.



Ken did you get MC numbers? If not a quick check at the marina they came out of should find it. Then a call to the Macomb County Sherrif (or a trip) I will be a witness.



This was uncalled for and LUCKILY didnt end in disaster.



Mini

 

[Jim B]

Glad your ok Ken.



There is nothing worse then when someone does something like that. Its scary stuff.



I had a similar thing happen to me yesterday. I came about 5 feet from getting nailed by a ski boat. The driver was watching the skier not where he was going and there was no spotter( totally illegal in this state) and he was running like 50 feet from shore( another no-no). I got his attention with my air horn i keep in the boat, its loud anough that he heard it and then saw us. I did chase him down and had some words with him at his dock, as usual he didnt care. The guy is just an ahole. I also reported it to the police who were not pleased. This isnt the first time i have had a run in with this guy for this exact thing. Next time i think they are going to need to send an ambulance.



Personally i think this boat should be baned from the lake i was fishing. This is the same boat that just last summer ran over a family of four that was fishing in a small rowboat. I think i posted about it last year. The guys daughter was pulling someone without a spotter and wasnt looking and again was running way too close to shore when she ran them over. Thankfully nobody was badly hurt or killed in that boat.

 

[TOMMY RICH]

I think that guy's boat would accidently sink

 

[Mini]

you aint lying tee....it should be sunk!



You can tell where the daughter learned how to drive!

 

[Brian Ingersoll]

Glad everyone is OK - for now:unsure:



I agree with filing a report on the boat. If nothing else, maybe they will talk to him and make him realize how close he came to possibly ending someone's life.



I don't understand how he could have driven off without stopping to check on you. (and apologize profusely) Some people have no conscience.



Maybe the fireline ate his propshaft seal

 

[Jim in VA]

Ken - glad you and your fishing partner are okay, albeit a bit wet. I'd be mad too. I'll add my voice to those encouraging you to find out the guy and report him. It still amazes me that the state recognizes you need a license to drive a car where there are marked roads, signal lights, and vehicles equipped with BRAKES but any yahoo can get into a boat and create a danger to himself and others (well, maybe I care less about the danger to himself part!) without any type of testing or training. That's part of the reason I keep a portable airhorn right next to the driver's seat of my Tracker and especially why I took a safe boating course.



Good luck in tracking this guy down and take up mini on his offer to act as a witness.

 

[Steven Parker]

Here in Alabama, we use a 3/4 oz. rat-l-trap to get ski boat drivers attention....

 

[Jason L]

Ya, 3/4 oz ratltrap on a carolina rig with a 4 ounce weight added to it

 

[Mini]

One doesnt own enough rat-l-traps for all the idiots on St Clair....there is 525 square miles of em.

 

[Larry Harp]

For idiot removal I prefer a 1/2 oz Little George...greater muzzle velocity.



Harpo