Well, after seeing Chris's catostrphe with his truck and whatnot, and my trip on friday, I figured I'd see what everyone elses potentially worst day on the water was???
I'll start, with Fridays debacle trying to find salmon:
Start around 4:30, and get to the White river around 5:30, to start assembling our once used inflatable pontoons (the only way to roll btw…almost), only to find a mouse nest inside of one my stored pontoons, with subsequent holes chewed into the bladder, ugh.
So we waded the White for a few hours, catching one 30" northern, and only seeing a few of the targeted species.
Conitunue with the day around 9, trying to find a patch kit since the one that came with the boat was not big enough, nor sticky enough to ever work. and by 11 we are in Bladwin with a patched pontoon, and eating a delicious bar burger and drinking some cold beer hoping the rest of the day would improve… being optimistic suscks FYI.
We got in at Gleasons landing on the PM and had the truck spotted at Rainbow rapids, with the lady telling us we'd make it in 5 hours, as we started about 12:30
After making down to bowman bridege 3 hours later, my potoon was still holding up, we had caught a handful of barely respectable trout, and had seen 20-30 salmon that were not interested in much. about an hour down from bowman bridge (which we were told was 2:30 from rainbow rapids) my pontoon starts leaking, we stopped to fish one more hole, and refilled the bladder. I hooked one and lost it and caught a few more trout.
20 Min later i needed to refill my pontoon again… then again…then again(during which time my phone and its GPS got submerged)… So we finally tied it up sideways to the back of my friends boat, and start heading for the truck. At about 9 PM we were still not there, we started getting into lots of newer downed trees, and have to portage a few times and by 11 PM the moon dissappeared, and the river got ugly, we got hung up and almost flipped about 3 times, and broke 2 rods… we called it quits. (obviously no headlamp or flashlight…kinda thought we'd be done by about 8!!!)
So we then climbed a high bank, built a fire, and tried calling for help, but with my phone wet we used my friends, and naturally the battery died. We managed to get the police to drive to the access and saw their car going down the road. Thankfully had stopped about 100 yds from a cabin, with someone there, who had a lantern and an easy way out of the river!
So by about 1 AM we were safe, out of the river, and thankful we were not trying to sleep on the river bank with the rattle snake I stepped on on the way out…
All in all a great trip, I am still sore, and will never again ignore my conscience whien it says "hey you should probably stop here and get a ride"!!!
Ahhh, this post brought back an old memory. 1982, Muskegon Lake. I launched at the causeway to fish for salmon in the rivermouth area. But with no salmon around, I went down the lake, ending up by the paper mill, when…….the motor died and I couldn't get it started. Figured I was beteen 4 & 5 miles from the landing.
The trusty Minn Kota got me about two miles before the battery died. I was left with a…….paddle. It took me close to three hours to paddle the rest of the way. Several boats went by but no one offered to tow me. I was tired, sore and pissed by the time I got back to the landing. Glad it happened to me when I was young!
My best "catch" was also on Muskegon Lake in the fall of '07. A man went into the water to push his large boat off a sandbar he ran up on. Thought he could climb back in on a rope ladder. No go! I found him exhausted, hanging on the rope while the boat had drifted out over 30 fow. I was the only boat around. He would have been in some real trouble had I not found him. I towed him and the boat up into shallow water and got him in. He said I saved his life. I think so too!
Charlie
"Steve S" said:
Vano, was there banjo music in the backround like Deliverance ( Squeal Like A Pig) Was the rattlesnake one of the Missasuga rattlers (Timber rattler) about 2' to 3' in length. Those are on the protected species list!!
No banjo music, however if I had my banjo with me, i'd a been playin that! and yes a massasauga rattler it was… I love seeing them, but I saw it when we were on our way out, and was about ten feet from where I was planning on sleeping!
And plenty of character was built…
Anyone else have some doozies???
I've had a lot of disastrous outings but one sticks out because I very nearly died in the process.
About 5 years ago while I was in college in the UP I set out on a very cold March day to steelhead fish. The spot I was headed too is in a large river where you have to wade several hundred yards through rocky rapids to get to. Ice and snow line the banks, the water is 32.5 degrees. I get to said spot, I know exactly where the fish sit from previous outings. I am centerpin fishing with a float. I quickly land 2 nice steelhead, things are looking up for it to be a banner day. The tail out of the run comes up quickly to shallow boulders before plunging into an even deeper hole. I get snagged in the tail out of the hole and somehow my mainline breaks above my float instead of the leader. This almost never happens so of course like an idiot I have no backup floats with me. I can see the float swinging around in the current. I think I can get to it by wading out to my arm pits and grabbing it. BIG MISTAKE. I get withing feet of float and lean out to grab it and the current knocks me off the boulders and into a 10+ foot deep hole. I am now swimming in waders and 6 layers of clothes in 33 degree water while being swept downriver. NOT GOOD. Doggy paddling and trying to stand up on rocks that are not there is not working. I have to full on stick my face in the water and power stroke to shore. I make it and just start power wading across the rapids to the truck as fast as possible. My hair and waders are freezing together. I make it to the truck in about 10 minutes. Start the truck and blast the heat and start ripping off clothes as I'm shaking uncontrollably. In the end I am naked and shivering in my truck on the banks of the river. I sat there for about an hour untill my truck was about 90 degrees inside and I could feel my toes again and then drove the 1.5 hours back to marquette.
I've had a lot of disastrous outings but one sticks out because I very nearly died in the process.
Wow crazy story. Better safe than sorry doesn't seem to ever play a roll in my life and it leads to a dumpster fire EVERY TIME. Nothing quite that extreme yet, but I can see myself doing the same thing in that situation.
Not the worst ever, but pretty hard to swallow…..goes like this, long story short…..I gave up another chance at getting my 7yr old his first muskie friday night because we were supposed to be fishing Pere Marquette Lake for fresh chinooks. I had him so pumped up about the fight and line peeling he coulod barely sleep the night before, honestly I was kinda stoked too. We were supposed to fish with one of the guys that works out of the maintanence shop at my facility who has invited me for the last two years. Finally nailed down a date this year. Drove up to Ludington from GR (1.5hr trip) packed dinner, cooler for salmon, filet knife, warm clothes, life jackets, case of beer for the guy taking us out, and 20 bucks for his gas….all set. To make a long story short we get to the camp site and he was standing around with a bunch of old crusty guys who all seemed a little drunk….he said "oh man! I'm taking these guys out tonight!" (even though this was Friday and we just talked at work Wednesday morning) I played it cool with smoke rolling out of my ears and said " hey thats cool, but we drove all this way, do you think you could take the boy out? I can just sit by the fire or go walk the pier." "No man its too tight," he says. I turned and walked away. Got into the car with a kids dreams of getting a salmon crushed, in tears. Made the best of the situation by a game of mini golf and some serious go cart racing in Silver Lake, etc, pizza for dinner. Unbelievable, what kills me is I gave up a night of muskie fishing with my son. POS! You don't screw over kids!
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