My misadventure on the river.

[Tyme2fish]

I try to be proactive in the care of my boat and equipment. Wednesday, I changed out the plugs on my motor,checked the tire pressure on the trailer, and greased up my bearings.Batteries were fully charged. Everything is ready for today.

This morning, I hooked up the muffs and started the motor to ensure that all was well. It was.

Launched from New Albany and we went to the "falls" down river to catch some bait. I made a perfect circle cast with the net... but the loop slipped off my skinny wrist and there I watched as my castnet and rope sank.
I got out my cat rod and started trolling the bottom to recover my net.
After about 20 attempts I snagged it and recovered the net. That was the only positive of the day.

While attempting to recover the net, the motor died. When Knute tried to start it, I could smell something electrical burning. I don't know why, but the starter was hot. I mean real hot. Doug, I've got some work for you.

I then lowered the trolling motor to get us back to the ramp. I guess my batteries have lost their "punch" because the trolling motor was getting us nowhere fast. Finally, the trolling motor ran out of juice. I get out my two paddles and we were now trying to paddle upriver. That's when Knute broke my old,cheap, plastic paddle. We were down the creek with only one paddle!!

We finally get to within 50 yards of the ramp and a fellow boater gave us a tow those last few yards. I recover the boat with no problems and called it a day and slunk my way back home.

I did snag the butt end of a two piece rod while trying to retrieve my castnet. It had an old Zebco reel on it and looked like it had been in the river for years.

I hope Friday is a better day.

[parker]

I have had days like yours! At least you didnt sink like I did. You have any pointers on how to throw a cast net? Mine wont open very wide. Glad everyone is safe, thats the main thing.

[Tyme2fish]

Parker, here is a link to a video on how to throw a castnet.
http://calusa.com/

[ckline2006]

At least you weren't any further down river. Ever figure out what was wrong with your rig?

[Tyme2fish]

Ever figure out what was wrong with your rig?

I'm pretty sure the starter is bad.

[walkeraviator]

Thought i was gonna have one of those days on Barren a few weeks ago. Put in and the engine fires right up. BUt being cold natured it died which is normal for the outboard. But then as I try to restart it thye battery drains REALLY fast. No jumpers in boat. Luckily a nice feller in a Ranger let me borrow his jumpers. Ran teh rest of teh day with everything off so i owuld have enough juice to restart and never got farther than the trolling motor could carry me back...

[KyDr.B]

Dang Tyme. That's pretty harsh. Glad your safe. As far as throwing a cast net, (5', 6') Do not put the net in your mouth as per the instructions. I secure and loop the rope, make sure the net isn't tangled, I hold the bulk of the net just below the slide in my right hand between my pinkie finger like a glof club so I have the use of the rest of my fingers. Open the net from the bottom, left hand @ 9 o'clock, right hand @ 2 o'clock, spin it counter clockwise as you throw it. Does'nt take many throws to get the hang of it. Hope you boys have a safe trip today.

[FlyLie]

I try to be proactive in the care of my boat and equipment. Wednesday, I changed out the plugs on my motor,checked the tire pressure on the trailer, and greased up my bearings.Batteries were fully charged. Everything is ready for today.

This morning, I hooked up the muffs and started the motor to ensure that all was well. It was.

Launched from New Albany and we went to the "falls" down river to catch some bait. I made a perfect circle cast with the net... but the loop slipped off my skinny wrist and there I watched as my castnet and rope sank.
I got out my cat rod and started trolling the bottom to recover my net.
After about 20 attempts I snagged it and recovered the net. That was the only positive of the day.


While attempting to recover the net, the motor died. When Knute tried to start it, I could smell something electrical burning. I don't know why, but the starter was hot. I mean real hot. Doug, I've got some work for you.

I then lowered the trolling motor to get us back to the ramp. I guess my batteries have lost their "punch" because the trolling motor was getting us nowhere fast. Finally, the trolling motor ran out of juice. I get out my two paddles and we were now trying to paddle upriver. That's when Knute broke my old,cheap, plastic paddle. We were down the creek with only one paddle!!

We finally get to within 50 yards of the ramp and a fellow boater gave us a tow those last few yards. I recover the boat with no problems and called it a day and slunk my way back home.

I did snag the butt end of a two piece rod while trying to retrieve my castnet. It had an old Zebco reel on it and looked like it had been in the river for years.

I hope Friday is a better day.

Sounds like You Missed an Opportunity Fish the
Dam at Cannelton!!!!LOL! Saugar bite should be warming up.

[DJD]

Dang Tyme. That's pretty harsh. Glad your safe. As far as throwing a cast net, (5', 6') Do not put the net in your mouth as per the instructions. I secure and loop the rope, make sure the net isn't tangled, I hold the bulk of the net just below the slide in my right hand between my pinkie finger like a glof club so I have the use of the rest of my fingers. Open the net from the bottom, left hand @ 9 o'clock, right hand @ 2 o'clock, spin it counter clockwise as you throw it. Does'nt take many throws to get the hang of it. Hope you boys have a safe trip today.

I wouldn't put the net in my mouth anyway if it hit the water in the Ohio but thats just me.....I have seen and smelled stuff in that water that just ain't right. It's an awesome place to fish butt......

[KyDr.B]

I wouldn't put the net in my mouth anyway if it hit the water in the Ohio but thats just me.....I have seen and smelled stuff in that water that just ain't right. It's an awesome place to fish butt......

DJD; pretty sure some beer came out my nose when I read your post. I was thinking about keeping teeth...but lets just add your insights to the list of why that's a bad idea. Every instructional video, and even the instructions that come with the net, show some poor goob holding the center slack with his mouth. There is a better way. When throwing anything bigger than a 7', I'll use the elbow of my right arm to catch the slack. I'll tell you, there's nothing more impressive than watching some of these younger kids in Fla., expertly chucking 14 footers off bridges in the intercoastal for mullett. I can only imagine... "Dang boys, back home I catch the heck out of creek chubs and shad with my 5 footer!" then get the looks and slowly walk back to your truck feeling like a retard.

[Tyme2fish]

No!! I do not put the net in my teeth.

Onemorecast56 told me a story about a friend of his that did that on the river and let's just say he brought up something nasty in his net and was spitting and gagging for an hour.

[Tyme2fish]

Ordered a starter today. Hopefully, onemorecast56 can install it next week.

Dang, I hate being boatless, especially with sauger time approaching.