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Old 09-01-10, 08:59 AM   #1
bobbygib
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Default It was bound to happen...

The wife and I hit the Potomac Sunday and had the best fishing day of the year! I got ten in the boat that day and the wife caught a 12 pound catfish. (she hasn't graduated to big boy baits yet, so she fishes live baits while I'm bass fishing)

Anyways, though the bite was still on, it was getting late and I had something else i had to get done that day so we headed back home. I was fishing an area littered with old wrecks, tide was going out so i knew i had to be careful before I used the big motor. Went well beyond where I thought I needed to be safe, fired up the big motor, hammered down, soon as i got on plane, I hit something. Sounded like it ripped the motor off the transom!

After a few minutes, to gather my sanity and realizing I wasn't dead and the boat was still floating, I relunctantly raised the motor expecting to find I had ...ruined something. To my surprize, everything looked ...okay. Could see a new ding in my prop, but...nothing that seemed too serious. Fired the motor back up, idled WAY out into the channel before attempting plane, when I did, the boat responded great, jumped right up on plane, and we had one a nice smooth ride back to the marina. Once I got the boat on the trailer, I could see two pretty substantial dings in my prop. Bad enough to where I won't use it again until it's repaired but, surprisingly...not that bad. A little paint knocked off the skeg, but luckily, no damage to the hull.

I know, very lucky. Amazed at how resilliant bass boats can be too. I'm serious, it sounded like i had ripped the boat apart when I hit...what ever it was i hit.

Couple hundred to fix my prop and i should be good to go.
My question is to you ..."pros"...is, think I may have hurt anything by running the boat with a dented, probably out of balance prop for 20 minutes or so? I noticed no vibration , or anything different on the ride back to the marina.

And ...a word of caution to all you Potmac river fisherman. As you know, that river is littered with old wrecks, BE CAREFULL ! Use the trolling motor around all that....junk. I don't have a GPS, but I will this weekend, so i can mark all that stuff so i wont hit it again.

God I love to fish....
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Old 09-01-10, 02:12 PM   #2
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I would sure like to know where you were. I found a post on Matawoman a while back that apparently everyone but me knew was there. Didn't hit it hard just glided right down the side of the boat while I was idling out of the no-wake zone.
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Old 09-01-10, 02:29 PM   #3
jasonfish320
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A few years ago during a tournament in a River I was heading back with a very solid bag of fish... I had run this area a bunch of times and new the route very well.. I had 10 minutes to go about 6 miles and started down toward the weigh in...I was about a half mile away when SLAM..I smashed a rock that threw the front of the boat toward the sky and ripped my TM off my deck..luckily she landed hull first on the water and I was still dry..the kill switch was pulled and the motor was off...I checked my vitals and thought I gotta get to that weigh in..fired her up and off I went (SLOWLY).. I never trimmed it up until I was ready to put it on the trailer..and when I did I could not believe the damage..a crack about 18inches long and 1/4in across bleeding lower unit oil all over the place..I ended up in 2nd place..the money covered a used lower unit that I was lucky enough to find.
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Old 09-01-10, 03:06 PM   #4
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Mallows bay?
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Old 09-01-10, 03:30 PM   #5
bobbygib
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Not mallows...other side of the river. Really don't want to advertise my "honey hole"...;-)
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Old 09-02-10, 01:51 AM   #6
carolina-rig-01
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I could be worth the money to have a mechanic take a look at it. You could have bent the prop shaft a bit and that could spell big trouble down the road, but if caught now it probably won't be a big deal.
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Old 09-02-10, 10:22 AM   #7
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Whew - close call, (like that time. my bad, I smacked the dock!), but luckily no significant damage.
It sounds to me if there was an issue, you would have felt it after yer heart began beating again and you got her back on plane heading back to the launch.... but if yer concerned about it, it shouldn't cost much to have it inspected by a pro.
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Old 09-02-10, 11:05 AM   #8
bobbygib
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Thanks guys. I put my other prop on last night, checked everything as best as I knew how and everything still seems good. Gonna talk to my guy at the marina and get him to give it a good look tomorrow. Unless this hurricane makes the water too rough, I'm hitting that honey hole again tomorrow !
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Old 09-02-10, 01:20 PM   #9
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I'd have it checked out. Better safe than sorry. I fish rivers most of the time. I've been clipping along a hit a few rocks, floating logs. It sure lets you know your heart works!
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Old 09-02-10, 05:36 PM   #10
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good to have a mechanic take a look at it. like c-rig said you may have bent the shaft. but better to find out now rather than later.


i have found that in a river or in tidal areas, things MOVE. nothing STAYS where it is because of currents and the bottom shifting around all the time. it my be subtle, but it DOES move. i fish the tenn river (guntersville lake), and the logs and trees are ALWAYS on the move. jsut be careful.
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