JPD

Hi everyone, I just arrived in Vegas yesterday afternoon and unfortunately had to receive several emails regarding this post. Thanks you to those who were concerned, everyone involved is doing great with the exception of a few bruises to the legs.. here is a post I made on the CBAF board yesterday before leaving:

In all seriousness we (Greg and I) were very fortunate to get out of that situation with minor bumps and bruises to our legs... for the past 10 years I have been driving bass boats with little to no fear and it wasn't a hot dogging thing that caught us this weekend or a type of boat thing... this has happened to people who drive other brands, it was rather a bad combination of wakes that twisted the front end enough to hook the boat. It happened in a split second and was really an eye opener for me since I have always been the aggressor behind the wheel trusting fully in my driving ability.

 

Everyone should seriously realize that no matter how experienced you are it can happen and when it does I can only wish it ends up like our incident did. The only thing wrong with the boat was a broken tilt steering.. the force was so great that I snapped the aluminum bracket that holds the steering wheel in place while holding on with a death grip. Luckily neither of us blacked out on water impact since we can recount every detail including my head being underwater and out of water 3 times as I cartwheeled across the surface at over 60 mph!

 

A huge thanks to Doug for turning around and retrieving my boat with Todd Richardson and to Blake for stopping and running back to make sure no one was going to run us over... Greg is doing great, I talked to him today and I can only reiterate that we were very fortunate.

 

I know for myself that a life jacket with kill switch will be on any time I start my boat from here forward and I strongly urge everyone do the same no matter how fast you think you're going to drive or how small the lake. You can easily get ejected at 40 mph in a hook and anything above that is no treat. As much as I would love to have had that on tape because I think my body did things that only a gymnast can do I would also love to see how the hell my shoe and sock was ripped from my right foot.

I already know how much resentment there can be on this board for people with bass boats so I think I should explain the situation even though I shouldn't have to. Here are the facts from the horses mouth regarding the occurrence, not "hear say" from someone who never witnessed the incident at all...

1. I was passing my friend Doug when this occurred but not at full speed by any means... my boat is fully capable of running high 70's for speed and was only doing low 60's while crossing as I always do.

2. The boat hooking was the direct result of a rogue wave broadsiding us while crossing a series of 3 wakes left by another competitor, when we hit that wave it picked the nose of the boat up and we came down a bit off skew throwing the boat into a full hard left turn instantly... I have done this thousands of times in my life and never ended up with this result, ever! I have fished 2 tournaments with the Puma and passed probably 50 guys with no problems... just a freak occurrence is how I'm treating it.

3. Anyone who can joke about being whipped across the water at over 60 mph should think about the correlation of jumping out a car while on the 400 hwy series and think how much fun that would be... thankfully Greg and I landed well so we can joke about this.

4. This did not shatter either of us, we were in good spirits all day, fished the event and had a great day... what I did take from the day was a new respect of stuff that we can't control and realize that there is more of it out there than I thought when on the water.

5. Life jackets were on and I had forgot the kill switch on the motor but thankfully I have a Hotfoot in the boat which brings the boat to idle speed immediately when there is no pressure on it.

Again, thanks for all the well wishes from those who asked.. I'm in a meeting in 45 minutes... then busy filming all week, I'll try to pop in.

JP

Great report Solo... always a pleasure to read!

All in all it's been a great experience and a great bunch of people to deal with. Bay City Marine did a great job with the rigging yesterday for the Yamaha and I had a blast breaking it in and twisting her out! I'll update more as time goes on since I know there is more speed somewhere...lol

And finally the first run with the new Puma FTD / Yamaha SHO combo...

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And here's is a video of the Cat... a basic tour of sorts...

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and on...

and on we go...

Alright, it's been a while but I finally have some pics and videos of the boat. I'll post the pics in order that Bass Cat sent them to me...

I still use Paul as well Brian but the Yamaha has to be put on by a dealer... I still recommend both for repairs but rigging for the Yamaha for this rig will be done by Bay City. The rims are actually factory Bass Cat. They are by far the most customizable boats on the market.

The clamps are holding down the checker plate that they installed. It's glue bonded onto the fenders. The clamps just make sure there is good adhesion. The windshields are off for that exact reason Roy. They really tighten down the shipping covers so they don't want to fracture them.

Thanks for the compliments guys.. I'm dying to drive her but I'm busy right now filming in the Keys... an no, I'm not complaining!

The motor is going top be put on at Bay City Marine.. Clarence and Doug will be strapping on the big girl when I get the boat.. Yamaha 250 SHO..

Well, after a few days without the net because of the move I got a bunch of pics and the boat is ready! Here are a couple shots showing the seats and finally the rig on the trailer.

All great suggestions... Simon Frost is another phenomenal guide for Lake Erie smallmouth... and guides on other waters as well but would highly recommend a day with Simon on Erie.

Simon Frost Charters

JP

If Bass Cat made a multi-species boat like a Ranger 620 or 621 you'd be seeing this same boat building process report from me.

 

Awesome ride JP! Did you sell your other "awesome" ride? That's a good buy if not.

Oh they do Phil!

Bass Cat - BayCat

so you getting this one wrapped too ?!

and what did ya do with your last boat ?

This one will be going in for the wrap as well. It pains me very year since I love the colors that I pick and never really get to enjoy them. The Triton is for sale right now, hopefully she'll find a home with someone that will enjoy her as much as I did.

JP

JP, looks like this ride will have taken you a long way from the early Simcoe Bassmasters souped up 60hp(read Top Gun Marine) 16footer years eh?

Glad to see you are still hard at your dream. Keep up the energy.

 

Ed

Those were the days Ed!

I just got a few more shots in... I have always cursed the fiberglass splinters when rigging my boats... seems it's not an issue here! Great finish quality. I have always maintained that cleanliness is next to Godliness when it comes to finishing boats... no splinters for this guy this year! Woohoo!

 

JP, I am definitely going to give fluoro a fair try. When you say 8 is the most you will go... is this because the line gets stiffer the higher the test?

Absolutely, the higher you go, the stiffer since the diameter increases. I have used 10 but you really have to stay on top of the twist. 12 and up I use on baitcasters.

Don't always trust the "label side up" theory. Sometimes the factory gets the label on the wrong side. The line should come off the spool counter clockwise with most reels. I haven't seen a reverse winding reel in a long, long time so unless you are using an antique, you should be fine.

P-Line 100% fluoro is one of the brands I use a lot and I find it to be very manageable and strong. I use it for Shakey Head and Drop Shot fishing almost exclusively. P-Line and XPS Fluoro are the two I fall back on most. If it is springing off, odds are the line was put on backwards like Doug mentioned. I never soak my line in warm water or stretch it, the only thing I do when drop shotting deep a lot is let out half the spool with nothing on the end and drag it behind the boat for a minute to get out the twist since reeling in that set up spins your line quite a bit. People recommend swivels but to me it's just another weak link in the line so I don't use them, that and they damage guides if you're not careful.

If you decide to stick with the fluoro, 8 would be the most I would go to start, 6 is even better to handle on the spinning reels. Be patient and give it an honest try, you'll be surprised at how sensitive and abrasion resistant it is!

JP

Thanks guys,

I'll be running a Puma FTD with the new Yamaha SHO 250 like Mike said. The speed is supposed to be unparalleled. This hull was tested with the 225 SHO and the 250 SHO when the motors were released in the fall last year. The 225 ran 75.1 mph with 3/4 fuel, 2 guys, batteries and safety equipment. Everything but tackle.

The 250 ran 79.6 mph with 2 guys, full fuel (52 Gallons), all the equipment except tackle. They ran it with the new Yamaha 27 pitch prop at 6000 rpms. Here's the data sheet from the press release for the 250 SHO / Puma FTD Combo.

JohnF, I know exactly what you are talking about... since I bought my first real boat that ran 28 mph I have been looking fir more and more speed. Never really got two-foot-itis since I love 19.5 - 20.5 foot boats for maneuverability.

More pics to follow.

JP