Sunday, January 16, 2022

We All Make Mistakes; It's If/When We Learn Our Lessons That Really Counts

Anglers and boaters, alike, have something in common when it comes to the pursuit of their recreational choices: They often make stupid mistakes. Who, among the anglers, for example, haven't more than once cut the main line instead of the tag end when changing lures, only to watch the bait subsequently fall or get tossed overboard as they get ready for a cast...never to be seen again? Many of them also have accidentally kicked a high-dollar rod and reel combo or two over the side. And, of course, we've all heard the stories about those boaters and fishermen who forget to install the boat plug before launching their craft.

Following is a compilation of other incidents I found online, minus names of the victims involved. If nothing else, perhaps one of these will prevent someone else from making a similar mistake.

It Only Hurts for a Little While

Said an angler, "I remember my worst moment as being the day I stepped off the side of my boat onto the trailer frame so I could attach the winch strap and wind the boat up a bit more. My foot slipped, and I landed on the trailer frame...actually, astride the trailer frame. I had to wait a few moments while my voice changed back from soprano to my normal speaking voice.

"After telling the Mrs. I was OK, I then stepped onto the submerged ramp and immediately slipped and fell completely in the water. I finally recovered and got back into the boat, and we resumed loading. Although it was a long time ago, I fully remember the exact place where it happened, and rest assured, I never have done it again.

"My new trailer has non-skid products for this purpose, so I guess it is a bit more secure. At least, I hope so.

"Nobody ever has said the only memories of fishing were about the fish. Some of the longest-lasting memories are those moments when we hoped no one else had caught us in the act of being stupid."

Oh To Be Young and Foolish...Again

"Sometimes, the adventure is just going to the river," said a young man.

"One day, my fishing buddy and I were heading to the river in my '85 LTD (with no muffler), pulling my old reliable Glasstron tri-hull. The noise from the car's exhaust was so loud we had had to do the obvious: turn the radio even louder than usual. As for the volume of our conversation, it resembled what you might expect if both of us were deaf. Nevertheless, we thought we were doing fine.

"Halfway to the river, though, we approached a group of men standing alongside the road. As we sailed past them, we noticed that they stared us down. As a result, we pulled over to find out why they had been staring. Imagine our surprise to learn that one of our trailer tires had blown out, and all that was left was the rim.

"I can just see the sparks we must have been giving off."

What a Jolt!

As the young angler recounted, "I was about 12 years old at the time and was fishing a small farm pond with a buddy in our small 14-foot aluminum boat. There was a creek that branched off the main pond and ran through a field, presumably for the cows. Anyway, we thought it would be a good idea to paddle up that creek.

"An old wire fence was blocking our passage, so we had to get low in the boat and slide under it. With my buddy paddling from the back of the boat, I lay back in the front and reached up to grab the wire and pull us through...before, I might add, realizing it was an electric fence.

"The subsequent jolt nearly threw me overboard. As a result, I cut loose with a stream of obscenities, all of which was heard by my family clear across the pond. Meanwhile, the only person laughing was my friend...and he couldn't contain himself."

What Could Be Making That Buzzing Sound?

Following a cabin barbecue with all the neighbors, a couple found themselves standing around talking about a storm the night before. The subject soon turned to lightning strikes, and the husband chimed in with a story that he once had seen on TV, in which some folks had been struck by lightning.

"Right before that happened," as he described, "their hair all was standing on end. They had taken pictures of the incident and were laughing about it...until the moment they were struck."

That conversation ended just as the sun was starting to go down, so the couple decided to take their boat and go see if they could catch some crappie.

Said the husband, "I was fishing in the front of the boat and kept hearing a weird buzzing sound in the air. The sky overhead mostly was clear, but there were storm clouds a ways off in the distance.

"I messed with the radio, thinking the buzzing might be coming from that, but it wasn't. I finally gave up my search and went back to fishing. Soon, though, I noticed my line would not lay on the water. Instead, it just hung in the air kinda weirdly. Then I noticed that it was when I moved my rod that I heard the buzzing. It sounded like a lightsaber.

"I thought it was cool, so I turned to my wife to show her, and when I did, I saw her hair was standing on end, and she has like 18 to 20 inches of hair.

"Needless to say, we pulled up anchor and headed in, with both of us laying in the bottom of the boat. I was running across the lake at full throttle, only peeking out to make sure we stayed on course to the dock. As we neared the dock, I felt safe enough to get up and steer the boat onto its lift.

"All the people from our barbecue were standing on shore laughing at us. To them, it had looked like the boat was steering itself.

"I told them what had happened, and we all had a good laugh. However, I still get crap from all of them over that incident."

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