Most of us, through the years, have had quite a few memorable times while bass fishing. While most of them were fun and enjoyable, Im sure there were a few we would love to forget. Then there were the bad ones that I hope we learned from, as well as the funny ones that still bring a tear to our eyes from laughing about it. I think that everyone has had those special ones that seem to stick out more than others. While our sport focus on catching a limit of bass for our tournaments or just for bragging rights with a picture, we still encounter those Believe it or Nots of Bass Fishing Stories.
Many times around the launch area we share and hear stories about both the bad and good things that have happened in the past. Lots of times you will hear things like this, Man, youre not going to believe this but last weekend we almost sunk my new bass boat because we forgot to put the plug in. As we laugh at him and shout, you big dummy, we hope that no one can see us running around trying to see if our plugs are installed in our boats!
We also often try to forget some of the bad ones that happened to us even thought it was a good learning experience. Buying a new lower unit or repairing a cracked hull is something that we only want to do once in a life time. I even had to replace my trolling motor and the foot control once because it went flying off while running in very rough seas. Then there was the time the rubber cord that holds all the rods & reels down on deck broke while running in rough weather and all the rods flew out of the boat.
Have you ever tried to launch your boat by yourself and find out that you forgot to undo the bow strap? Even worst to remember to undo the bow strap and forget to put a bow rope on and watch your boat just float off without you? I have and its no fun standing there saying thats my boat going there. Then theres the guy that drove his boat on the trailer and before he could get up front to hook his bow strap his partner took off at a high rate of speed up the steep ramp, dropping the boat off the trailer and watching it slide all the way back down the ramp to the water. Have you seen the airline commercial lately, Do you want to get away quickly? I bet he did, before his partner killed him.
I know that many of us take our kids fishing with us, Right? These fishing trips can lead to some very interesting events too. I have two events from fishing with my young daughter that I will never forget. These two events taught us some good lessons in life and something that we will never forget no matter how many tears get in our eyes from laughing. The first event was funny after the fact, but at the time it happened it wasnt so fun. While out riding around on the river system looking for new water to pre-fish my daughter had to use the bathroom. Well old dad here had come prepared with a small pan just right for little girls to use. After slowing down some so she could use the restroom she asks me what to do with the pan. Of course old dad here not thinking just told her to throw it out and yes, you guessed it. When she threw it out from the front of the boat about half a gallon of fresh salty little girl water went all over dad and boy did it burn the eyes! If I had only been thinking I would have told her to throw it out on her mothers side. The second event was a very scary one which involved the daughter being left in the car while the wife hooked my bow strap for me. I was fishing a tournament on the Mobile River in Alabama, and my partner had helped bag the fish and was headed to the weigh-in to wait in line. My wife had gone to get our car and trailer in order to help speed things up for us. I drove the boat on the trailer and was tilting the motor up when the wife left the car and was hooking up the bow strap. Then all of a sudden the car started backing into the water knocking the wife to the side. All I could do was drop the motor back in the water and gun the engine and try to keep the car from backing down the launch anymore. A friend saw what was happening, he jumped from his boat to our car and got the car stopped while our daughter was standing in the seat just a laughing about driving the car. This was a lesson learned the hard way but we still laugh about it a lot now. In fact my daughter just emailed me a news clipping about someone backing their SUV and boat into the water and losing it. That was 17 years ago and she still picks at me about it.
One of my most favorite “believe it or not” while bass fishing happened many years ago while I was fishing a small club tournament at night. My partner and I had 6 fish in the boat, back then it was a 7 fish limit per boat. Our tournament was from midnight to 7:00 in the morning and it was starting to get a little daylight at around 6:00 a.m. We needed to head toward the landing for weigh in but I wanted to try one more spot on our way. We pulled up to my spot and to our surprise I had 2 small fish in 2 casts. Then I missed a nice fish on a Devil Horse top water lure. Before the water stopped making the rippling waves, I threw to the same place only this time my lure didnt hit the water, at least we didnt see or hear it hit the water. Then all of a sudden my line tightens up and I had the biggest fight of my life on the other end of my line. Just as I was trying to figure out what was going on, the most hair raising scream took place sending chills down both our bodies. Have you ever tried to fly a kite in too strong of winds and just had to fight it? Well, thats just what I had caught on my Devil Horse that morning, the Devil himself. After the fighting and screaming we finally realized that at the end of my devil horse was a big mad Owl and he wanted my lure pretty bad. I guess he flew down and grabbed it in mid-air thinking it was an easy meal for him that morning. We finally cut the line and let the owl fly away mad with my devils horse. We didnt catch another fish that morning and I lost a good lure, but we still have something to laugh about when we get together.
Now many may think this is a far stretched bass fishing story, but its really up to you to Believe it or not!
Tight lines & Happy Fishing in 2005! Remember to take a kid fishing; it may just be his pro start in life! Also please remember our Troops who are fighting for our Freedom!
Ricky Ingram
Ricky.ingram@ultimatebass.com
