Can't get out of the boat to better your position

As I am sure you are aware many tournament series have a rule that you can't get out of the boat to better your position. Basically that means you can't hop out to drag your boat over a sandbar or float it shallower to get over a rock to get into an area you couldn't get into without getting out of the boat. They do allow you to get out and push the boat off the sandbar etc, but you have to go back out or find a different route to access the area. Most will allow you to use a push pole or two to get where you want to go.

I recently heard of a tournament angler who came up with a unique way to get the boat over a sand and silt shallow bottom where a push pole or a push pole in conjunction with the trolling motor was not enough to do it. He would raise his motor all the way with the hydraulic jack plate. Trim it all the way forward, lower the jack, and then trim it up. This would push the boat about a foot at a time over the sand to get into deeper water on the other side. I don't have a hydraulic jack plate on my current boat, but I have done something like that with my old boat to get off a sandbar. I never thought of it as a way to access a shallow back water lake when the water is low. Interesting.

You have nerve talking about bringing a pair of underwear!!!! Do you remember boom lake and a certain stump? "Charles B. Summers, HOF." <charles summers@comcast.net> wrote in message

"alwaysfishking" <Fishking@nospam.ptd.net> wrote in message

Just don't get second thoughts after its too late to stop lol.

Warren

And yes we know down here you bury all ten toes in the carburator and let her fly until it won't fly no more or you will be stuck for sure.

1. Get a Hamby's hull protector (yup, ya lose an inch or two of draft - but the protection it gives you over rock/sand is worth it)

2.. When running super-shallow water, get the boat and motor skag out of the water - You really don't need much water over those sandbars if you are running on top and you get your boat and skag out of the water. If you're motor skag is like mine...it's sharp enough to slice bread anyways and the skag is the only thing ya really worry about hitting as that's about all that might be in the water.

3. Make sure that there are no stumps or hard rock in your path AND that you're not going to lose the little water you have when you come back that way later on.

4. If you know you're going through a very dangerous area (stumps and/or rocks or obstacles are present...but you don't know exactly where)...you can tilt your motor temporarily out of the water while running. Ya just have to be careful that it is for a short period of time (seconds) and that you don't make the situation worse by bouncing your boat. Practice this in open water first...

5. A lot of it has to do with the boat you've got...how it is rigged and your experience with the boat. For example:

A time ago, I had a 16' Ranger that skimmed thru the water like a pair of water skis. It had a string 4 cylinder on back and I'd just throw the motor up if I needed to clear something. Unless it was pretty much dry land, I didn't have to worry about hitting something as long as I had it going fast enough. For example, I really didn't have any problems getting through creek openings that had pretty much silted in and some of those places there may have been just 2 inches of water for a short distance.

Now compare that to my current 18' Ranger. I suspect I've cleared water that was only 6-8 inches deep and I've been able to do that for 20-30 yards with no problems and I've run pretty good distances in just a foot of water. (biggest concern is usually the water pump or intake - often you just have to back up your motor to clear things out). Generally, I figure I need about 8 inches of water to run it in. However, if I sit it down...I know that the draft is about 14 inches (or up to the top of my socks...:>) and if the water is any shalllower than that...I'm going to be doing some major pushing. (I remember one night being stuck on a sand bar where i had to move all my batteries and tackle up the the front of the boat in order to get the thing moving! - they dropped the water on me a few inches on my run back up river)

I remember driving heavier boats (ie. Champion, Monarch, slower Rangers) that I wouldn't dare think about dashing through a foot of water and which even 2-3 foot of water would often make me cringe.

-- Dwayne E. Cooper, Atty at Law Indianapolis, IN Email: dwayne@cooperlegalservices.com Web Page: http://www.cooperlegalservices.com Personal Fishing Web Page: http://www.hoosierwebsites.com/OnTheWater Dog Fishing: http://www.hoosierwebsites.com/onthewater/fishing040.htm 1st Annual ROFB Classic Winner

I always managed to get into where I needed to. But I have sure had my share of scary runs.

Carlos

-- Dwayne E. Cooper, Atty at Law Indianapolis, IN Email: dwayne@cooperlegalservices.com Web Page: http://www.cooperlegalservices.com Personal Fishing Web Page: http://www.hoosierwebsites.com/OnTheWater Dog Fishing: http://www.hoosierwebsites.com/onthewater/fishing040.htm 1st Annual ROFB Classic Winner

"Dwayne E. Cooper" <dwayne@cooperlegalservices.com> wrote in message