It has been a while since I logged on and I got a message that I've not posted for a while. I figure the following will address that and hopefully help someone else out.
This last weekend I lost more than $2k worth of tackle over the side. Lest you think I am stretching things - it included 8 rods and reels including a Shimano Calais DC , a Shimano Sustain, a Revo, an Ardent Denny Brauer flipping reel, a Mitchell 310GE, a St Croix spin rod, two Quantum PT casting rods, my favorite crankbait rod (built it myself on a Forecast blank) plus a couple of others.
How I did it. I was running behind a big pontoon and got tired of the rough ride. I dumped on my boat (Skeeter ZX225 with 225 Yamaha) and tried to go around him. The rods were strapped down - except I had the strap on the tips instead of handles. I was bustin waves, the wife was screaming at me to slow down and I saw the rod handles and reels fly up, come down outside the boat and pull the whole batch out from under the tie and into the drink.
Lesson learned - strap the handles - not the tips.
One of the rods had a balloon left over from shiner fishing on a trip to FL. It was making like a big crappie float along with a couple of cups of nightcrawlers. Fortunately I circled around it several times before I could get it into the boat. That left a nice trace of the accident scene on my GPS.
Lesson learned - always keep an active route going.
I took the wife back to the marina, dumped her off and went back out. She had been raising Cain with me the whole time and was the last thing I needed. Fortunately the water was 10-12' deep and in the upper 70s. There was a time when I would have dove for them right off but I was trying to avoid it if I could as it is tough for me to go that deep without some sort of weight. The sonar showed a smooth bottom so I made a circle outside the track made by my recovering the floater, dropping marker bouys as I went around. I took the rig with the heaviest line I had (20' mono) and set it up with a series of bullet weights above loop knots with the biggest treble hooks I had on the boat.
Lesson learned - get rid of distractions, use what you have and start safe and simple
I kept outside the marker buoys, cast across the circle on drug my rig across the circle. After about 5-6 casts I got hung - turned out to be a real snag. I pulled things loose, readjusted my loops and made a couple of more casts. Now I'd moved into the circle and had been watching the sonar - I saw some likely echos but none of my manuals showed what a pile of tackle looks like on the sonar. After a couple of more casts I got hung again. This time things moved. I reeled in slowly and carefully to be rewarded by the sight of my rods rising from the depths. I grabbed the handle on the nearest only to have the whole tangle break loose and disappear back into the depths (taking almost 1k worth of Shimano reels with it). I marked the spot, backed off and made a couple of more casts before getting hung again. I was getting the same slow yield from reeling - and eventually rewarded by a second look at my lost rods. I was a bit more careful this time and grabbed two rods rather than just one - hauling 5 in at one time including my two Shimano reels and my St Croix rod. I wasn't sure just what went over the side but knew that at least one was still down there. I spent another 30 minutes casting to no avail. However I left a waypoint on my GPS and plan on going back next weekend with one of my big cat rods and a spread of trebles to get the two I know I lost.
I pass this on so that folks can learn from my errors. Some of your are undoubtedly thinking I am an idiot - I won't argue the point on that one - but I doubt I'll do it a second time.
This last weekend I lost more than $2k worth of tackle over the side. Lest you think I am stretching things - it included 8 rods and reels including a Shimano Calais DC , a Shimano Sustain, a Revo, an Ardent Denny Brauer flipping reel, a Mitchell 310GE, a St Croix spin rod, two Quantum PT casting rods, my favorite crankbait rod (built it myself on a Forecast blank) plus a couple of others.
How I did it. I was running behind a big pontoon and got tired of the rough ride. I dumped on my boat (Skeeter ZX225 with 225 Yamaha) and tried to go around him. The rods were strapped down - except I had the strap on the tips instead of handles. I was bustin waves, the wife was screaming at me to slow down and I saw the rod handles and reels fly up, come down outside the boat and pull the whole batch out from under the tie and into the drink.
Lesson learned - strap the handles - not the tips.
One of the rods had a balloon left over from shiner fishing on a trip to FL. It was making like a big crappie float along with a couple of cups of nightcrawlers. Fortunately I circled around it several times before I could get it into the boat. That left a nice trace of the accident scene on my GPS.
Lesson learned - always keep an active route going.
I took the wife back to the marina, dumped her off and went back out. She had been raising Cain with me the whole time and was the last thing I needed. Fortunately the water was 10-12' deep and in the upper 70s. There was a time when I would have dove for them right off but I was trying to avoid it if I could as it is tough for me to go that deep without some sort of weight. The sonar showed a smooth bottom so I made a circle outside the track made by my recovering the floater, dropping marker bouys as I went around. I took the rig with the heaviest line I had (20' mono) and set it up with a series of bullet weights above loop knots with the biggest treble hooks I had on the boat.
Lesson learned - get rid of distractions, use what you have and start safe and simple
I kept outside the marker buoys, cast across the circle on drug my rig across the circle. After about 5-6 casts I got hung - turned out to be a real snag. I pulled things loose, readjusted my loops and made a couple of more casts. Now I'd moved into the circle and had been watching the sonar - I saw some likely echos but none of my manuals showed what a pile of tackle looks like on the sonar. After a couple of more casts I got hung again. This time things moved. I reeled in slowly and carefully to be rewarded by the sight of my rods rising from the depths. I grabbed the handle on the nearest only to have the whole tangle break loose and disappear back into the depths (taking almost 1k worth of Shimano reels with it). I marked the spot, backed off and made a couple of more casts before getting hung again. I was getting the same slow yield from reeling - and eventually rewarded by a second look at my lost rods. I was a bit more careful this time and grabbed two rods rather than just one - hauling 5 in at one time including my two Shimano reels and my St Croix rod. I wasn't sure just what went over the side but knew that at least one was still down there. I spent another 30 minutes casting to no avail. However I left a waypoint on my GPS and plan on going back next weekend with one of my big cat rods and a spread of trebles to get the two I know I lost.
I pass this on so that folks can learn from my errors. Some of your are undoubtedly thinking I am an idiot - I won't argue the point on that one - but I doubt I'll do it a second time.