Grand Slam Saturday

[Gecha (Gerry)]

We launched at Wesport Saturday morning around 7:30 aboard Naniche.... OUCH... it was COLD.
Ventured north to Town Farm bay and fished shallow with stickbaits. Biting was slow, we got our first hit in very shallow water, a nice 20" fat salmon. Continued for a while then as we were heading towards the abyss, we caught a beautiful 37" lake trout that gave us a good fight. As the sun started coming out of the clouds around 10:30, we crossed over to Split Rock, saw a few vessels parading in Whallon Bay but no hits, so we slowly went back on the VT side. Went back to shallow water and near Williams Point we caught a mussel. We kept trolling for a while in the bay and around 1:30 decided to head back to try Wesport area. As we just got on plane near Long Point, we heard a scraping noise and a big bang. GPS was showing 25' fow but looks like we hit hard on some boulders just below the surface. Stainless Steel prop missing a blade, vertical fin gone, prop shaft badly bent. Engine was shaking so bad it was no longer usable. Luckily we used the kicker to slowly get us back to Wesport, took about 2 hours.
We called the boat shop on our way back and he waited for us to bring the boat for a quick evaluation... Boat out of commission for 2 weeks, scrapped lower unit, and need to test upper unit for damage to engine??? That's an Easter weekend to remember.
Going overseas for 2 weeks, looking forward to be back on the pond for DYP.
Be safe on and off the water.

[BottomDollar]

Sorry to hear about your expensive grounding. What software were you running on your GPS?

[C-Hawk]

Too bad Gecha, I believe on a merc ,the drive shaft is designed to snap, causing less expensive damage. I hope you get out cheap.Nice laker though.

[Reelax]

Man that sucks..... 25ft but hit rocks.? Sounds like the Concordia..... What kind of chart was being used?

[Themug]

There is a big rock pile about 100 feet or so just off the tip of Long Point. It's visible in the summer when the water is low but this time of year it's under water and unfortunately not marked. Sorry about your boat.

[Bearcat]

That STINKS!!! Nothing worse than running aground on GRANITE. Did you troll on your way back to Westport since you were running the kicker the whole way?

[fishmaster176]

Lake Champlain can be the queen of mean with her hidden reefs and a magnetic field that can make electronics go crazy, especially in that area. Terrible way to end a weekend, but no injuries is the best ending. Hope your repairs aren't too bad and done in time for the DYP.

[Gecha (Gerry)]

There is a big rock pile about 100 feet or so just off the tip of Long Point. It's visible in the summer when the water is low but this time of year it's under water and unfortunately not marked. Sorry about your boat.

I believe these are the ones we hit.
Our Lowrance 9" touch screen was not zoomed in much as we were not expecting to find anything close to surface that far from shore. Once home, I checked my Navionics chart on iPad and there is a warning near that location. Unfortunately we did not focus enough.
We rode back to Wesport at about 5.5 mph, too fast for trolling, as we wanted to get back to assess the damages. We didn't know if the boat itself was taking water, so our main goal was to get back safely as quickly as possible.

[Hairbone]

Hope your repairs work out. Had to look up that spot on the map.

[Thorny]

That rock pile has claimed many over the years. Luckily it was just the lower unit and not the Hull. If the water was a lower it may have been much worse. Glad you guys got off safe. Safe travels over seas Gerry!

[digitroll (ron)]

That is a direct hit Gerry on plane. Yikes! I wonder why on our lake a place like Ferris Rock which is always under water is marked with a fixed marker above the water and a place off Long Point is unmarked and is a hazard when the water is above 97 ft. There are several rock piles that are marked on the charts but not marked with a coast guard can. There is another type hazard off Robinsons point that was hit recently last fall by a boat trolling. No marker above that hazard in the water. Another north of the Bouquet as a person I know hit it on plane marked on the chart but no can either.

[Crayfish]

Ouch! Sorry to hear that, Gerry. Hope they can get you fixed up over the next 2 weeks.

[raz]

Bummer Gerry.
Let it go for now and enjoy your vacation!

[MORNIN HOOKER(Marek)]

Talking about lower unit replacement. Still waiting for parts. Two weeks ago we hit rocks by Cotton Point, Bolton Landing.
Too close, too fast. Prop gone, shaft bent, engine still idling so we were able to crawl to Norowal.
Having a insurance always help but aggravation and lost fishing time.... nobody covers that!!!
Be careful out there. Most of the times it is our fault.

[charlietuna]

I have been told, and heed the advice that I should use a aluminum prop on waters I am not familiar with, as well as lakes such as Champlain that have rocky areas. Seems to be a good idea, looking at these reports. I do understand stainless gives higher performance. But with aluminum, so I am told, more of a chance of just taking out the prop, versus bending the shaft, or worse as the above case, taking out the lower unit. I don't need to get anywhere that fast. Thank you for posting, to re install the advice that was given to me when I moved here.

CT