Rough day on the lake...

[Donutman]

Just got my boat back from the mechanic and thought we'd try a new lake to fish. We were coming back in and got real shallow. Had the motor trimmed way up trying to avoid a stump field. Whats the proper way to get unstuck from skinny water? I gave it a little more gas and started searching for deeper water. Almost came to a stand still from the hull trudging through the mud, so I had the wife get as far up on the bow as she could and that helped a little. Causing such a mud cloud behind me, what damage can this do to a motor, or even the structural integrity of the boat? Does that dirt and debris get sucked up into the water pump and through out the motor?
On the way back and in 8-10 feet of water, I thought I'd get up on plane. I thought we were in a boat channel, buoys on either side of us. Probably doing around 20 when BAAMM! The boat listed and jumped to the port side and it felt like we had been in a car wreck. It even knocked the cowling off the motor. Before I could even react, it happened again. I guess we hit some stumps. Fearing I just put a hole in my hull, I flicked on the bilge and made a run for the docks. On the way there, a pleasure boat in distress waved us in. They asked us to tow them, but my transom is already not in a good way even before I hit those stumps. I went to go get help for them and hit another freaking stump while on plane. I noticed the entire boat shaking, so I killed the motor and trimmed it up. One ear of my prop is almost gone and another ear is curled up upon itself. We limped into the docks and got loaded. Couldn't see any real damage to the hull and pulling the drain plug revealed very little water.
So my questions are, whats the best way to get off a mud/sand bar? Should I have pushed through it like we did or killed it and done something else? I don't know exactly what a spun hub is, but it came to mind while doing it. Don't think I could have backed out of it.
Having hit those stumps going that fast, what damage could it have done to the motor and gear case? How do I check my prop shaft to see if it's bent? It seems to run fine except for the unbalanced prop, just asking for my own info.

Dave