Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Locknut comes loose on bass boat doing 60mph..

That's why. Necessary evil, they are.

I love mine, but max it'll only do about 28mph. When I'm fishing, even if I'm in a tourney, I just ain't in that much of a hurry.

I saw my biggest gator on Seminole, I also caught my biggest bass there.

All those folks do is p huck up the lake for the REAL FISHERMAN that's using a 3 HP Evinrude on their boat!

Funny thing, I thought the same thing when I read to this point. I have a pre-run checklist for my motorcycle, and a pre-run checklist for my airplane, but I never heard of a pre-run checklist for a powerful boat.

So I looked up some numbers, and here's what I learned.

Motorcycles: 60 annual fatalities per 100,000 registered motorcycles

Power Boats: 6 annual fatalities per 100,000 registered boats

Light aircraft: 1.06 annual fatalities per 100,000 registered aircraft.

A huge part of the improvement in aviation safety has been uniform adoption of checklists before, during, and after operations. The pre-flight checklist alone is considered to be the single most important factor in reducing annual aviation accidents/deaths to its current historic low.

If you're six times more likely to get killed running a boat than an airplane, maybe the boaters oughta take a page out of the pilot's handbook and start doing some pre-run checklists.

Edited to add: oh, and btw, I'm selling my motorcycle.

Mother-in-law was a nurse and always called them "donorcycles".

Considering what you see at the boat ramps, I'm really surprised the fatality rate for boats is that low. Seems an inordinate number of idiots buy them.

I wouldn't say that an inordinate number of idiots buy them. They just go all in without any experience on the water.

Nut behind the wheel was the only problem there.

If you took alcohol related deaths out of boating, I bet it'd be pretty low.

Thanks to modern gps, boating is relatively easy.

I'm assuming there were enough official investigations that someone found a problem with the the steering linkage. Pretty cool that you can have college fishing teams

My old Champion bass boat, at speed (note the GPS readout):



Assuming smooth water and no traffic, I liked running 50-55 as it was very capable and handled well. Above about 63 it would tend to chine walk, especially if it was just me in the boat. It actually handled better when two people were in it. 67 was as fast as I ever managed to get it, before it became unstable, and I would back off.

The closest I ever came to crashing it actually occurred at about 35-40 mph. Approaching two rivers running together, boat wakes and current merged at just the wrong moment, and a rogue wave popped up right in front of me. I didn't have time to dodge or change speed, and the boat launched up several feet in the air. It landed okay, and I settled back down just sorta shocked. I look over at the bank 30 yards away and a group of fisherman are standing up & applauding

Boats and women

At best problematic

At worst a hazard to your health

But everyone needs at least one if not several of each

Some things make it worth it...

When I started fishing bass tournaments we did blast off starts. An air horn was blasted, everyone went full throttle, and the race was on. Shortly after that there were a couple instances of boats coming down on top of a boat in front of them who'd backed out of the throttle or stalled out. A lot of bass boats come out of the hole very bow-high, to the point you can't see what's in front of you until you get on plane.

They went to ooze-off starts which I'm sure saved some lives. Not as dramatic but much safer.

The squirreliest boats back then were the HydraSport bass boats. The Ranger's had the best ride. 'Haven't fished out of a bass boat in over 20 years. My little 14 foot Lund deep V does everything I need.

There were 262 teams in the high school tourney on Rayburn Sunday. If they would have had that kinda stuff when I was in high school, I might not have had to marry a math teacher to stop writing hot checks.

http://www.setxhighschoolfishing.com/

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SE Texas High School Fishing Association sets new national records



By Patty Lenderman, Lakecaster

In their very first event, the Southeast Texas High School Fishing Association shattered all previous participating records in the country! High School fishing has been established in many states for quite some time. East Texas got a taste of it when the National High School Sam Rayburn Open was held this past spring. It woke up this entire region. In the short months since, schools across Southeast Texas have been forming fishing clubs, and the Southeast Texas High School Fishing Association was born with 28 participating schools - so far. Their inaugural event was held on Sam Rayburn December 14, 2013 at the Umphrey Family Pavilion and over 500 young men and ladies layered up on this bitterly cold day and headed out to show off their skills.

Formatted as a team event, 262 teams were registered to fish, nearly all with boats and captains. The students were not allowed to operate their own boat. Friends, family members and a host of volunteers came out in droves to provide a platform for these kids and boats to fish from. Businesses and individuals from Houston to Port Arthur, as north as Nacogdoches and beyond provided sponsorship to the event. This is a sport that leaves no one behind. Everyone can participate in a fishing tournament.

As a note, the National High School Sam Rayburn Open had 86 participating teams. The High School Fishing World Finals in Arkansas had 131 teams participate. The numbers continue to grow, and East Texas is proud to have the current participation record.

Competitors set out on Big Sam after a morning boat check, and Mother Nature blasted them with her wintry wrath, throwing strong bitter cold winds and plummeting temperatures for these young anglers to contend with. These kids met the challenge, coming in with a lot of solid fish to weigh in.

Bryce Rambo and Trent Manuel, representing Little Cypress Mauriceville Battlin Bears hauled in the biggest limit of the tournament winning 1st place with 14.24 lbs. “It was really cold and windy out there,” the team began. “The fishing was tough. We tried a lot of spots, but it was hard to find the fish.” Using a rattletrap, they managed to put a single keeper in their livewell fairly early. “We lost a big one after that.” Continuing to various spots, at 9:30am they found one area holding the fish they needed. It was a spot with stumps and a hard bottom in 10 to 12’ of water. Trent put three in the boat right away, then Bryce followed suit switching to the same technique using Carolina rigged baby brush hogs and lizards, wrapping up their limit. “We tried other areas after that but didn’t have any more luck.” The team won a host of prizes, as well as a $2,139 check for their school organization. They would like to thank Captain Cory Rambo for taking them fishing, Miss Doyle their school fishing coach and advisor as well as Lews, Ranger, West LTD, Granger Chevrolet, Jordan Marine, Daley’s Hunt ‘n Fish and Simon Outfitters for their support.

2nd place was won by Huntington anglers Jace Weeks and Danny Mullins with 14.02 lbs. They fished deep water with brush hogs for their catch, and Danny Mullins Sr captained their boat. They earned many prizes and a check for $1,398 for their school club.

West Sabine High School anglers Hunter Muncrief and Daren Dew secured 3rd place with their 12.92 lb sack. They earned $946 for their school and took home several prizes.

Forest Gothia and Ashton Hunter of Bridge City not only won 4th place overall with 12.29 lbs. Ashton caught their kicker, weighing in at 8.75 lbs and winning Big Bass of the tournament! Their school earned $476. Captain Hunter Gothia ran the boat for this team.

The hosting schools for this tournament were Little Cypress Mauriceville, Bridge City, Deweyville and Chester. Lew’s Fishing Tackle Company provided rods, reels, and other products to the top winners as well as many other participants. Bob Sealy, CEO of the Big Bass Splash awarded free entries into his million-dollar event on Sam Rayburn to the top three teams. Rat-L-Trap, Premier Yamaha, Ann’s Tackle, Jasper Outboard, Bass N Bucks, Daley’s Hunt ‘n Fish, Buna High School, Philpott Ford, David Self Ford all provided prizes for the anglers to take home.

The top 37 teams earned checks for their school clubs and all participating teams earned points toward the championship in May.

John Salamone emceed the event with Ray Beck as the weigh master. “We are so excited and pleased with the participation in our first tournament,” Salamone began. “It was originally scheduled to take place at another location, but with the numbers of anglers signing up, we had to bring it to the Umphrey Pavilion to accommodate all of the boats and other traffic we had.” Getting students paired up with captains to fish the tournament was another obstacle that had to be addressed. “The people in the fishing industry are unmatched. We put the word out on various fishing forums of what we needed as far as boats and captains and a few other elements, and boaters came out of the woodwork to help in every way. To have our very first high school tournament be the biggest one ever in the country is huge. It shows the level of interest we have from the kids here in the biggest way. We are very proud of each and every student that braved fishing on a day like this and cannot give enough thanks to all of the volunteers and businesses that helped to make this a success. Thanks to all of the community support as well. The future of tournament fishing is in good hands.”

Lumberton High School was the first in this region to start a fishing club, headed up by fishing coach Bryan Thomas. Last year they had 44 members. It is now 81 students strong. It didn’t take long for other area students to rally for clubs of their own, and it lit up like a wildfire with 28 schools spanning the entirety of Southeast Texas coming on board to form the Southeast Texas High School Conference. Bryan along with Ted O’Dell and Paul Squire spearheaded the success of this tournament and were the main organizers of this association. They have been very helpful to other schools as they organize their clubs as well. Tom Selman played a huge part in the success of the tournament by providing the weigh in trailer and all relating equipment.

“I am truly amazed that a conversation I had with two young men last October about starting a club at Lumberton has led to SETX being a model for other areas to follow and I am excited about what the future holds for the student anglers of SETX.” – Bryan Thomas

"High School Fishing in East Texas has arrived! We are absolutely thrilled to see the progress that is being made in getting students reacquainted with the great outdoors especially in a program that stresses not only responsible angling but also fishing as a means to further a student’s education. I think this area of the country (East Texas) has become a model for our Student Angler Federation and what can be done to grow the sport of fishing. I want to personally commend everyone involved in bringing High School Fishing into the spotlight!

We always tell people that you grow High School Fishing one school at a time and one event at a time and in Texas it has never been more evident. The establishment of a 5 event tournament trail that gives students multiple fishing opportunities is exactly what it takes to build a program in any area as well as building live long anglers and that is exactly what the Student Angler Federation is all about.”

“Throughout the country High School Fishing is on the move and is quickly becoming one of the fastest growing High School Sports nationwide. When you consider the fact that we had 14 boats representing about 8 schools at our first Texas High School State Championship in 2011 and look where we are now in just over three years it is truly amazing. And the best news is that we are just getting started! Again congratulations to everyone involved and I would recommend that everyone take the time to go experience a High School Fishing event! They are truly a testament to what type of positive impact this sport can have on the lives of students!" - Mark Gintert, TBF National Youth Director markbassfederation.com

The only thing that would do that is for the engine to suddenly and instantly switch directions. They may have contributed by their trim but I am pretty sure something let go.

I have been there and done that. Had the bracket break and the engine swapped directions while running wide open on Saguaro lake. I managed to hang on as it spun around. When if finally stopped, the engine was GONE. I went to the back of the boat and it was about 2 feet under, hung up on the water ski cradle.

Trying to wrestle the engine back into the boat got the fuel line spray- right under my shorts. My junk was on fire and I stripped down and jumped overboard. Another boat witnessed it and they were pulling up as I jumped out. Had some cute girls in it too!

I wouldn't get in a boat for 10 years after that!

Lots of great, and not so great, information here. They have a legal definition for "unsafe speed"...going faster than conditions permit. I would say that applies in this case.

I like my boats just like I like my airplanes, an airplane can't go too slow!

Ha...I don't consider myself particularly "safe", but being careless is just too damn much work.

A lot of truth in that, and they have the attitude that every friggin bass in the lake is theirs. We don't have any right to catch-and-eat.

I do like to go fast, though.