First tournament in my new boat!!! And maybe the last.....

[skeeter944]

Hey yall well I got the chance to fish my first tournament today from my own boat haha! Well right off the bat I catch a 4lber a 3lber and a 2lber. Well the wind was blowin really hard so we decided to head back towards weigh in a little early just incase. Well on our way back we run out of gas and manage to get to a dock and tie off there, just then a member of my bass club pulls up and offers to tow me to the weigh in (we were only a few hundred yards away) so off we were goin. The wind had picked up considerably and was now 25-30mph with nearly 5ft whitecaps! lol in my little 16.5ft boat it wasnt too fun. Then the waves started crashing over the boat!!! So i turned the bilge on but it decided to malfunction as we kept taking more and more water. The boat then started to go under as i threw everything in compartments and started to try to bail out the water. Well the boat sank down and decided to roll, so we had no choice but to jump off. All electronic devices were ruined, even though i saved them, and the amazing thing is that when we got the boat to shore to flip it, my fish were still in my livewell!!! Except for the 2lber (which ended up costing me the tournament) I finished 3rd out of 26 with 6lbs 4 ounces first place was 8lbs 9 ounces so that 2lb fish would hav made things pretty close. Im just so thankful for the amazing guys in my club that saved me and my dads lives, if not for them our boat would probably be at the bottom of the lake, and I would have lost all my equipment. I also got big fish coming in at 3lbs 4ounces. So thats how my day went, now the longggg wait as I dry everything out then we have to work on the motor. Well Im off to dinner, see yall later

[carolina-rig-01]

man i am really sorry to hear that, but i am really glad you are ok. like you said it could have been worse but still that sucks.

[Basscrazie]

I hate to hear stories like that.I am glad you and your dad are ok..All the other stuff can be fixed.

[bamabassman]

agreed with basscrazie. you and your fathers life is far more important than a boat. sorry about it going under and all. and yes it can be fixed or replaced...ya'll can't. congrats on placing 3rd too, as for the big fish, GREAT!!!!

[IS300n8]

congrats on the 3rd place.. Sorry to hear that everything else happened to you though, glad your ok.. one question though how did you win big fish with a 3lbs 4oz when you said you caught a 4 pounder ? hehe seriously though glad you guys made it to shore safely

[BigBassin144]

Sorry to hear about that, but glad your alright.

BB

[bcklash]

Glad you guys are ok, in years to come this will just be one many stories that you can tell and we all love hearing them.

[skeeter944]

Originally Posted by IS300n8

congrats on the 3rd place.. Sorry to hear that everything else happened to you though, glad your ok.. one question though how did you win big fish with a 3lbs 4oz when you said you caught a 4 pounder ? hehe seriously though glad you guys made it to shore safely

HAHA well when I caught him he "felt" like about 4 lol.



Thanks everyone!!! I have layed everything out to dry right now, its gonna be a few weeks probably until all of the water evaporates. So I dont think I'll be able to fish anymore club tournaments at least till next year.

ttyl

[MrPhotographer06]

Originally Posted by skeeter944

HAHA well when I caught him he "felt" like about 4 lol.



Thanks everyone!!! I have layed everything out to dry right now, its gonna be a few weeks probably until all of the water evaporates. So I dont think I'll be able to fish anymore club tournaments at least till next year.

ttyl

man that sucks... a malfunctioning bilge is never a good thing

[Wishing2BFishing]

First, I am glad to hear that you and your dad are ok.

Second, congrats on placing in the tournament despite the "minor setbacks".

Third, hopefully, someday, you will be able to look back at this incident and laugh. I can just imagine the guys at weigh in watching you turn the boat over and then pull fish out of livewell. That is one heck of an entrance.

[JB]

Really all of us should have life jackets on while running and have them in the seats if needed in cases like this..good to hear you got home safe after all what happened.

[Jim80]

Glad to hear you and your dad made it out alright man and congrats on placing

Jim

[woody]

Originally Posted by skeeter944

Well the wind was blowin really hard so we decided to head back towards weigh in a little early just incase.

You my friend are a very lucky man.

[skeeter944]

Well guys I thought I had all my tackle till I went to fully unload the boat today. Turns out I lost 5 plano boxes and about 60 bags of soft plastics I'm estimating around $250 of a loss. I think I've got like a few packs of ribbontail worms left and like a pack of flukes but thats it. So somehow I'm gonna have to come up with enough money to get some stuff so I can actually go fish.

JB is absolutely right, life jackets really are necessary!! They saved our lives and I'm just so glad I was wearing mine! As for the whole weigh in scene, well I was just chuckling a bit haha here I am soaking wet wearing like 4 coats lol and I pull two hawgs outa my weigh in bag haha I just wish that 2lber wouldnt have swam outa my livewell. Oh well at least I did as well as I could. And now I know I can win tournaments! I'm excited for next year, thanks for all the replies yall, gotta love these forums, they are so amazing. All of yall here are all like family to me and I really appreciate it.

Tight Lines

[bamabassman]

skeeter, we ARE family here buddy. at least I think so. let us know how it goes ok? hope your rig is ok. lures and boxes can be replaced. hey CHRISTMAS is coming right? make your list now pal.

[skeeter944]

Ya man christmas is right around the corner. I'll keep yall updated on how things go, I took the spark plugs out of the motor today, I'm having a good friend come over tomorrow to help me with the other things that need to be done. Ttyl