A sinking feeling..

I was fishing the Team Supreme yesterday, drew 5th boat position so i was pretty pumped knowing full well i’d be the first guy into the area i wanted to start in. I got held up big time on take off,nobody would let me through but i still got out like 12th..it was slow right away, we didnt have much, i missed one on a popper and my dad cleaned him up on a SB, maybe a 2 lb’r. i smoked a 22″ walleye, my dad got a 19 and a 32″ pike so we had had the whole multi species thing going for us. Ran to area #2 and i noticed it took longer to get up. The day before i was out tubing(yeah, pulling people in a bass boat ) and had the back compartments fill up. I wrote it off as just some waves that had come over the back when i was beached. So we’re down by lynxville somewhere and i see water in the bottom of the boat. we decided i knew for sure we were screwed, had my dad get on the front deck to get the nose down on take off to try and get to lynxville before the thing sunk. we got docked and he went to find one of us a ride to lansing to grab the trailer to get it out. By the time we got a ride, the back 3 feet of my 17′ boat was under water. we got a sump pump from somebody and bailed it. eventually we got the darn thing out, tossed back the only keeper and zeroed forthe day, heard i got like 51st place so im pretty pumped about that

Any ideas on what the problem could be? the bilge defintely has problems, im not ruling that out. I’ve checked for any hull damage, theres none. I’m thinking maybe livewell system? Say, water in my live well leaking out or maybe pumping water into the boat instead of the live well? We’re thinking about taking it down to Stark’s and have them look at it, good idea?

Put some water in the bottom of the boat on the trailer and see where it comes out. Should give you a good indication of what is happening. I would also fill the livewells to make sure if they are leaking, it will show.

Good luck, and congrats on that 51st place

Check the live well hoses and connections. You could have a crack somwhere oaong the way that is filling the boat as you run the tanks. If you have a glass boat make sure the seal around the plug is good. I had a plug seat go bad a couple years ago. Not to this extent but water was getting in the boat.

Just a couple options. Hope it turns out to be this easy.

Just a silly question……..but you DO HAVE THE PLUG IN, right?

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Just a silly question……..but you DO HAVE THE PLUG IN, right?

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we double checked everything, no idea how that much water got in, but we know the bilge probably malfunctioned because the battery probably shorted out from the high amount of water. other than that, we think that i had water left in the hull from the day before and the little amount that got in sunday just added up fast. i really dont know, from looking at the hull, i have the usual gouges a 20 year glass boat should have, but no cracks that i could find. im taking it out to run either tommorrow or the day after to see if the problem is solved.

haha, yeah, the drain plug was in, i even left myself a post it on the truck to make sure to get that thing back in from the day before. we’ll see how she runs tommorrow..defintely disappointing yesterday, but i’ve decided to use my emotions to fishing even harder in pre-fishing to get on more and more fish. motivation i guess?

In the drive way.

Start out by filling both livewells to the very top and see if they leak into the hull. If they don’t them start filling the boat up and watch the intakes and plugs for water. at 20 years it could be any one of the hoses.

Good luck ……It’s going to suck.

When you was out the day b4 and noticed water did you not take your plug out afterwords? I fished the tourney also and remember you got caught “back in the pack” at take-off. Not getting on you, but when you get a “low” number you need to get a lot closer up front b4 the actual take-off. Hope you get your boat fixed o.k.

Any reports from the Team Supreme tourney? It looked like a great day to be fishing.

did everything, filled both livewells, even filled the boat up with water, im completely baffled. bilge works fine, pumps the water out just as fast as i could fill the boat out.

The night before i did pull the plug and tried to park the boat on as much of slope as possible, even took an extra two trips up the Mondell Hill on Highway 27 to get the water out. im taking it out tommorrow to see if the problem still exists.

yeah, I agree on the take off thing. This is my 6 or 7th tourney, its the lowest i’ve drawn yet but i’ve drawn low before. i was probably the 5th to last boat to register(i got going later than i wanted because a friend fishing his first one didnt know where the ramp was ) combine that with the fact my dad’s never fished a tourney in his(muskie guy, hardcore)life so he took his time getting down to the dock made for some unnecessary hurrying on take off. my apologies to anyone who upset, im usually johnny on the spot for take off.

I didnt make weigh ins, but i heard 20 pounds won it, results were supposed to be on their website

It will get better!!!!!!!

Had a similar situation happen to me in a tournament a couple of years ago. CRACKED TRANSOM! Once I got water in the livewell during the tournament, it was just enough weight in the back to get the water coming in through that crack. Ended up nearly sinking the boat because the bilge couldn’t keep up. I pray for your sake it’s not that, cause it’s an expensive fix!

Your forgot the most important part… As Jason was using the trolling motor to get back to the ramp he was on the front barely above water while the back was under. That didn’t stop ol jason from still trying to get a limit. I can honestly say I have never seen an angler keep fishing while his boat was going down. You even weighed in fish!!!
jc

Anyone know if there are any TS Opens for the super north division this year?

Did weigh in that 1 fish. What a sight it must have been for other anglers on the lake to see that champion bass boat bobbing in the water like the titantic. Wasn’t so funny at the time, but I can chuckle a little now after two years of recovery.