Tony Britt
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Apr 28, 2003
- Messages
- 92
- Reaction score
- 0
Guys,
Went through the tournament from hell this weekend that just got finished today... 24-hours too late.
Fished a club tournament Saturday and really wished I would have stayed in bed.
Dark clouds and overcast conditions met us at the ramp and my partner and I knew it was going to be awesome fishing on the Suwannee River. During the week, we had come up with the plan that we would let the other guys blast off and we would fish right at the ramp and move later if no action.
Within the first five minutes he had hooked a dink by some lilly pads so we figured it would just be a matter of time before the big boys came in...boy were we wrong.
When I looked down to see the depth of the water, we found out that we had left the depth finder in the truck. Within the next 10 minutes he had cast his jerkbait on somebody's roof creating the mother of all backlashes and as I went to help him retrieve his lure, the old Motor Guide started squeaking and broke-away. As the current pushed us down river I found out, the hard way, the hole that's supposed to hold the trolling motor in place had been stripped. So after deciding to go back to the truck and get some bungee cords and the depth finder, when we get the boat on plane- it's going where it wants to go - the hydraulic steering had gone out on us. To say the least we, were crippled.
Since I was the assistant tournament director and didn't want to spend the next 7 hours of the tournament at the hill holding everybody's money, we decided to go to the autoparts store, get a bolt and nut to secure the trolling motor and head to the local boating store to get some baystar hydraulic fluid.
We get the boat in fishable condition and spend the next six hours getting snagged, having hydraulic fluid blown back in our face- while fishtailing all across the river, and not getting a bite from anything other than a bream - for six hours.
We get back to the ramp oily as sardines and start talking about how tough of a day's fishing it was, until this one guy comes in and says he's caught 54 fish. The guy after him says he's caught four or five limits of keepers - which was pretty much the same with everybody fishing except us.
So for the next 45 minutes I'm weighing in everybody's fish (really hard to do when you haven't caught any yourself). When I ask the top three finishers where they caught their fish - they all said right across from the ramp. They say the fish were biting all day and it's been an incredible day.
So my partner and I pack the scales and head home smelling like fish from the scales. By now we are frustrated and really annoyed and decide to stop and do some prefishing at the river of our next tournament.
Once there the current is so strong, it pushes the boat into some trees (there was a little problem with the trolling motor). When my partner hits the deck, he comes up with a Rapala stuck to the hood on his coat and his neck - just as it starts to rain cats and dogs.
When we hit the next swift current in the river, I angle the boat so we won't get pushed into the trees this time, but my partner can't make the cast sitting down. All he can do is cast his 3/4 ounce spinnerbait into my passengerside windshield while trying to work on his roll-cast technique. Needless to say the spinnerbait took a HUGE piece out of the windshield.
Enough with this, it's time to take the boat to the hill for good today, but once we get it loaded, we findout the motor-toter is gone. We cant find it anywhere. So we had to lock the motor in the upright position.
When I get home and plug the charger in, all the lights on it start going haywire... flashing and everything else. Apparently there is a malfunction in it now.
So I call the company sine it's less than eight months old and get the answering machine - today's a holiday, go on line and find out I haven't completed my warranty sheet and don't know the serial number, so back to the boat for an ho
Went through the tournament from hell this weekend that just got finished today... 24-hours too late.
Fished a club tournament Saturday and really wished I would have stayed in bed.
Dark clouds and overcast conditions met us at the ramp and my partner and I knew it was going to be awesome fishing on the Suwannee River. During the week, we had come up with the plan that we would let the other guys blast off and we would fish right at the ramp and move later if no action.
Within the first five minutes he had hooked a dink by some lilly pads so we figured it would just be a matter of time before the big boys came in...boy were we wrong.
When I looked down to see the depth of the water, we found out that we had left the depth finder in the truck. Within the next 10 minutes he had cast his jerkbait on somebody's roof creating the mother of all backlashes and as I went to help him retrieve his lure, the old Motor Guide started squeaking and broke-away. As the current pushed us down river I found out, the hard way, the hole that's supposed to hold the trolling motor in place had been stripped. So after deciding to go back to the truck and get some bungee cords and the depth finder, when we get the boat on plane- it's going where it wants to go - the hydraulic steering had gone out on us. To say the least we, were crippled.
Since I was the assistant tournament director and didn't want to spend the next 7 hours of the tournament at the hill holding everybody's money, we decided to go to the autoparts store, get a bolt and nut to secure the trolling motor and head to the local boating store to get some baystar hydraulic fluid.
We get the boat in fishable condition and spend the next six hours getting snagged, having hydraulic fluid blown back in our face- while fishtailing all across the river, and not getting a bite from anything other than a bream - for six hours.
We get back to the ramp oily as sardines and start talking about how tough of a day's fishing it was, until this one guy comes in and says he's caught 54 fish. The guy after him says he's caught four or five limits of keepers - which was pretty much the same with everybody fishing except us.
So for the next 45 minutes I'm weighing in everybody's fish (really hard to do when you haven't caught any yourself). When I ask the top three finishers where they caught their fish - they all said right across from the ramp. They say the fish were biting all day and it's been an incredible day.
So my partner and I pack the scales and head home smelling like fish from the scales. By now we are frustrated and really annoyed and decide to stop and do some prefishing at the river of our next tournament.
Once there the current is so strong, it pushes the boat into some trees (there was a little problem with the trolling motor). When my partner hits the deck, he comes up with a Rapala stuck to the hood on his coat and his neck - just as it starts to rain cats and dogs.
When we hit the next swift current in the river, I angle the boat so we won't get pushed into the trees this time, but my partner can't make the cast sitting down. All he can do is cast his 3/4 ounce spinnerbait into my passengerside windshield while trying to work on his roll-cast technique. Needless to say the spinnerbait took a HUGE piece out of the windshield.
Enough with this, it's time to take the boat to the hill for good today, but once we get it loaded, we findout the motor-toter is gone. We cant find it anywhere. So we had to lock the motor in the upright position.
When I get home and plug the charger in, all the lights on it start going haywire... flashing and everything else. Apparently there is a malfunction in it now.
So I call the company sine it's less than eight months old and get the answering machine - today's a holiday, go on line and find out I haven't completed my warranty sheet and don't know the serial number, so back to the boat for an ho
.
