mercman Posted July 3, 2011 Report Posted July 3, 2011 Well, we got up early, and headed out to Lancaster Ont., about an hour and a half door to door. Put in at Mac's Marina around 8AM, and headed out on Lake St Francis for Perch. As soon as we made it out onto the lake, we could see the boats on the Perch grounds. We hung back and watched, but no one was reeling up anything keepable.We decided to try about a mile up the lake and keep an eye open for other Perch 'Fleets'. We were about 1/2 a Km off shore, in 10 FOW, when BANG !!!!!!!!!!!!! I looked to my right and all i can see are rocks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!12 to 18 inches under water Now i'm no rocket scientist, but a shoal like that, in a high trafic waterway, one would think that it would be marked with a buoy or something I never stood a chance. It went from 10 ft to 1 ft in the blink of an eye Thank god i was only going 10mph, as i was looking for structure and cover on my sonar. Now i need a new one of these. Took about an inch off the skeg too.It broke in a straight line from front to back, so i will file it and paint it until the end of the season. We were a bit shaken up, but we were able to get around, so we went back to where we saw all the boats earlier, and fished for a couple of hours.We caught lots of small ones, and the ones we did keep were real hogs. Never seen bass sized Perch before All i can say is, when you fish a new lake, or river by boat, be careful.Ask around at the marina, or local baitshop, for any dangers you may encounter on the water. I was lucky, a prop is all i lost, but it could have been worse if i had been in a bigger boat. I could reach down into the water, and touch the rocks, and there was no marker at all to warn me. Fish safe
Pikeslayer Posted July 3, 2011 Report Posted July 3, 2011 Dang!!! That sucks Paul. <_<. You might want to try marinating the prop. Slayer
lew Posted July 3, 2011 Report Posted July 3, 2011 Lots of VERY fast depth changes in St. Francis. You can be 10' outside the main shipping channels in places and practically step out of your boat and not get your knees wet. That's why you ALWAYS need to check the depth charts, or study your GPS before you venture out on new lakes.
Pikeslayer Posted July 4, 2011 Report Posted July 4, 2011 Lots of VERY fast depth changes in St. Francis. You can be 10' outside the main shipping channels in places and practically step out of your boat and not get your knees wet. That's why you ALWAYS need to check the depth charts, or study your GPS before you venture out on new lakes. Yep. Just looked at the lake on my handy dandy navionics app. Pretty ugly water. Slayer
Billy Bob Posted July 4, 2011 Report Posted July 4, 2011 OUCH.....sorry to hear you christened the prop....but that prop CAN be repaired....if you insist on buying a new one, you should still get that one repaired as a spare.. Did even worse a few years ago going 3/4 throttle (about 24 mph) on the West Arm of the Nip....motor flew up and out of the water and I was afraid to even look....I really thought I tore off the lower unit....but the prop was beyond repair and a a hunk of the skeg is gone....first time I ever hit bottom in over 20 years.....still bothers me. But at least you got some nice size perch. Bob
Big Cliff Posted July 4, 2011 Report Posted July 4, 2011 The charts don't always tell you everything! I looked out on the lake yesterday and saw a new island that had to be 40+' long and 25 or more ' wide floating down the lake. We often see boats flying by here after dark without lights on or with just running lights and most of the time you'd be fine but run into just one of these at high speed and we'd be pulling bodys out of the lake. Glad you had nothing more than a bit of physical damage to your boat, perhaps a good lesson learned!
NAW Posted July 4, 2011 Report Posted July 4, 2011 Damb Paul, that's nasty stuff. Sorry to hear about that. Now you know eh.
mercman Posted July 4, 2011 Author Report Posted July 4, 2011 Yup, a lesson learned. A marker would have been nice though. A little notice and i could have reacted faster and maybe saved the prop. I am getting a new one, and i will have this one rebuilt. My Bro sent his to someone in the Kawarthas last fall, who did an excellent job on his S/S optimaxc prop. I hope he kept the guys number. Ya know that feeling when you get a new car, and someone dings it in a parking lot? Thats how i feel right now.
vance Posted July 4, 2011 Report Posted July 4, 2011 Ouch that hurts,I know I HATE going on to a new body of water even if I have charts-there is ALWAYS something lurking just below the water just waiting for you. vance
mike rousseau Posted July 4, 2011 Report Posted July 4, 2011 I think I know the rocks you hit Paul... Big flat in front of some campsites east of macs marina... There are 2 stone piles side by side... We call em "the 2 teats" Next time gimme a pm if you wanna go for perch... My boathouse is a quarter mile from the perch flats... I'd be glad to take out a fellow OFC member for some jumbos...
HTHM Posted July 4, 2011 Report Posted July 4, 2011 You have my sympathy Paul. Esp with a brand new rig!
mercman Posted July 4, 2011 Author Report Posted July 4, 2011 I think I know the rocks you hit Paul... Big flat in front of some campsites east of macs marina... There are 2 stone piles side by side... We call em "the 2 teats" Next time gimme a pm if you wanna go for perch... My boathouse is a quarter mile from the perch flats... I'd be glad to take out a fellow OFC member for some jumbos... Thats the ones Just before Lancaster Park. I hit the "Teats".... Good thing my wife was with me then Hardest dang "Teats" i ever hit I am planning another trip in the near future. i'd love to hook up with you I will drop you a line when we set the date.
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now