Bass Fishing - The Lighter Side

Murphy's law always finds a way to rear his ugly head.

Many things have happened over the years while I've enjoyed the day on the lake. Some may not have been so funny at the moment but had to laugh at them after the fact. According to Murphy's Law if something can go wrong then it probably will and at the most inopportune moments.

Moving boat.

One incident many years ago as a young boy fishing with my dad, I had a "nature call." We were in a small, light aluminum boat we had rented and just happen to be near a large stump at the moment. So I stood up with one foot in the boat and the other on the stump. Dumb move. Before I realized it I'm pushing the boat away and past the point of no return. Yep. Down in the water I went. Lesson. Don't do it in the wind or with one foot in the boat. Dad and I laughed at that for years.. Lesson learned.

Learn to count.

I fish many bass tournaments and in most you fish the day and keep your 5 largest fish to weigh-in. You might catch more but "cull" out the smaller ones and just keep the biggest 5. I'm having a pretty good day and already had five fish in the boat when I caught another bass. So I'm checking my live well to see if it was larger than any of the others. I saw it wasn't so released the one I just caught back to the lake. The live well in my boat is divided so decided to put my larger fish in one side and a couple of smaller ones on the other to make it easier to identify the smaller ones later.

Now for some reason I still had it in my mind I needed to release a fish to have only 5 in the boat. I picked out the smallest one and chunked it back in the water. You Dummy! I just threw my 5th fish back in the lake and now only have 4. Fortunately I caught one of my better fish of the day a short time later and placed very well in the tournament. Lesson. Learn to count to 5....Lesson Learned.

Some "good ole boys."

A few years back my wife, myself, and another couple were camping out on a local lake. One afternoon as we were lazing away back at camp, another boater arrived and started to back their boat down to the water. Well...the one driving was having a hard time keeping the boat lined up with the ramp and water. Another "good ole boy" with him went to the edge of the ramp to help guide the driver. He finally made it to the water and the boat started to slide off the trailer.

Only one problem...they had forgot to unhook the strap from the front of the boat. The boat is about half off the trailer but not going any further until the strap is releases. By this time we had all figured they had all may have had a few too many "brews" before arriving at the lake.

The one by the ramp guiding the driver saw the problem and motioned with his hand and yelling, "Whoa, Whoa, Whoa." Well the driver thought he was saying, "Go, Go, Go," so he did...dragging the boat half on, half off the trailer about thirty feet up the ramp, ruining the prop and other damage. Don't think there was another word said, They lifted and winched the boat back onto the trailer and left. Lesson..Might be best to leave the booze at home and stay there." Hope that lesson was learned.

Water in the boat.

I was fishing down a bank one afternoon and got hung up on an underwater stump. I tried wiggling one way and another but it just wouldn't move, so had to crank my big motor to force it off the stump. Got off, shut down the big motor and moved back to the front of the boat and continued fishing. After another 5 minutes of so decided to move to another area. When I turned to walk back to my steering console I'm looking at about 4 inches of water above the deck level in my boat.

Don't panic..... I flipped on my bilge pump and it want work. Got water still coming into my boat and I'm about 2 miles from the launch..... Panic Time!...... I running back and forth in my boat trying to see what was happening, got one of my baits hung in my pants, broke the tip off the nice rod it was tied to trying to get it loose and still got water coming into my boat. So...I cranked up my big motor and headed in. I made it back to the ramp and ran to my truck to get my boat out of the water.

Mind you I still have this bait hung in my pants I had only cut loose from the line on the rod I broke. During the process of backing down to the water I got the bait that was still hung in my pants, hung in the front seat edge of my truck also. Had to hurriedly cut the bait out of my pants to free it leaving a large hole in my pants.....When will this end! ....I finally managed to get my boat out of the water.....

It was then I noticed my digital camera and cell phone had been under water the whole time....Ruined... Lesson. Not sure but some days it might be better just to stay home......LOL

All you can do sometimes is just laugh.

I could go on and on but sometimes the little events in our lives are the funniest and most memorable moments. Some things just can't be made up. Lesson. Laughter is good medicine and is VERY contagious.

BTW: Looking at the pic accompanying this article and the look on my face. I had just noticed I was quickly drifting into a rather large red wasp nest on a low limp of a cypress tree while waiting for the timer to go off on my camera. I sure stirred them up when my boat hit the limb but got out with only one sting.....:(