Fish wrasslin' 101

[Quackrstackr]

We took a film crew out today shoot a show on hand grabbing catfish. The day started off pretty slow. 3 of our money holes didn't have a single fish in them. I was starting to see shades of last year. These same guys came to film a show last year and after the entire day was over, we had 3 dink fish to show for it. Talk about humiliating.

We finally started getting into a few small fish. 6-10 lb stuff. My hopes perked up because I knew the big fish holes were still to be checked. As we pulled up to the first big fish hole, my trolling motor came loose again. #-o :evil: I will be having another talk with the dealership on Monday. I had to run back to the truck to take off the motor before I lost it in the lake. My buddy yanked a 30# fish from the hole for the camera while I was gone. #-o

Next stop yielded a 40# fish.

We finally pulled up to the last hole of the day and I was greeted with a warm welcome from the Kraken within. I grabbed him on my second dive and that fish absolutely wore me out. I weigh 250# and it shook me like a rag doll. When it rolled, it flipped me on my back and I had to let go. He got shy on us on the next attempt so my buddy lended a hand and poked him with the trusty broom handle (kept for just such an occasion). I managed to get him with both hands as he turned his attention to me after attacking the broom handle. I wasn't letting go this time. It was either him or me. I got my feet underneath me and was able to haul him out. I have no idea what the thing weighed but it was definitely over 50 lbs.

They got some fantastic footage of that one kicking my tail. He was definitely the strongest fish that I have ever laid hands on.

I will have to post pics tomorrow after I get them from my buddy's camera. I've been working on my trolling motor all night trying to fix it myself. I have no faith in the dealership being able to accomplish the task without cutting a 10" diameter hole in my deck... not happening.

 

[Jim]

Wow man impressive! Looking forward to seeing the pics. I still think you guys sticking our hands in holes under the water are crazy. :mrgreen:

 

[BassAddict]

These are flatheads your grabbing i assume? Man you are more of a man than me!!!!! There is no way in

im reaching my hand into some dark underwater hole and wondering if a catfish, a snake or a turtle is in there. Then if its a flathead you still got to worry if that mean

is gonna try to drown you.... Thankyou but no sir!! im sticking with rod and reel!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Quackrstackr]

Flatheads, channels and blue cats. I had rather grab a 50 lb flathead than a 20 lb blue cat. Those things are some ill tempered creatures.

I am supposed to be getting the pictures this evening after the outing with the Canadians.

Grabbing these fish is something that everybody wants to go do but when the moment of truth arrives, 95% of them have a sudden change of heart. They act as though it's unnerving to have a 50 lb fish swallow their arm up to the elbow and then shake like a dog killing a snake. :lol:

 

[Waterwings]

...They act as though it's unnerving to have a 50 lb fish swallow their arm up to the elbow and then shake like a dog killing a snake.

Ain't happening in my lifetime! [-X :shock:

Looking fwd to the pics, and hope you get your tm fixed. Why would they cut a 10" hole in your deck to fix the tm?

 

[Zum]

Sounds like you had an awesome day,be nice to see them pictures.The people that were filming...was it for T.V. or can we watch it here or on You Tube?I've only seen it done once before on TV,think on the show"Dirty Jobs".

 

[Quackrstackr]

Looking fwd to the pics, and hope you get your tm fixed. Why would they cut a 10" hole in your deck to fix the tm?

For access to put nuts on the inside of the hull. It came from Triton with swaged aluminum sleeves that were threaded. Those sleeves stretched out under the overhung weight of the motor. I took it back to the dealer and they wanted to cut an enormous hole in the deck so that they could reach the bolts and cover it back with a big, round plastic plate. My boat is 100% all aluminum. I didn't want a flimsy plastic cover the size of a dinner plate on the deck that I would have to stand on every time I was in the boat. We used some of those Motor Guide rubber T nuts instead. They lasted two trips before the collars broke. :roll: They probably work really well in some situations but trying to grip on 1/8" of aluminum isn't one of them. I was able to get two nuts on the back two bolts by going through the tm plug hole, used two steel hollow wall anchors in the next two stress points and went back with the rubber T nuts on the 2 bolts with the least stress. That's about all I can do before an access hole has to be cut.

I love the boat but that area is a very, very poor design access wise on Triton's part. It has so much structural support in the front that there is no good way to mount a trolling motor.

 

[Quackrstackr]

Sounds like you had an awesome day,be nice to see them pictures.The people that were filming...was it for T.V. or can we watch it here or on You Tube?I've only seen it done once before on TV,think on the show"Dirty Jobs".

It was for TV. They have the show on their web site for several weeks around air time. I will put a link here whenever they do.

 

[Zum]

Thanks man that be great.Sorry to hear about your trolling motor problems,why couldn't they weld the aluminum back after they remove it and why such a big hole.

 

[Quackrstackr]

The interior of my boat is spray lined. No way to weld the piece back in without stripping and refinishing the entire inside of the boat. Also, if the tm ever conks out there would be no way to remove the bracket.

I was wondering "why such a large hole" myself. I guess because of where it would have to be made. It would have to be put at arm's length of all of the bolts to get on a flat surface. I think a smaller square one could be used closer to the motor but I suppose they were just going to use what they had. I'm glad I was there when they brought that thing out where I could put a stop to it. If I had dropped the boat off and came back to find a 12" plastic plate right where my feet normally are, I would have been more than just a little ticked off.

 

[Waterwings]

Can't blame you for not wanting a 10" hole with a plastic cover on the deck. Not knowing off-hand the configuration of your bow, and if you can get the tm removed without damaging something, what if you [hate to say it] welded a bracket made from aluminum channel on the bow, then mount the tm to that? Here's a real rough sketch:

 

[Quackrstackr]

Those are the best way to do it and why Triton didn't do something like that to begin with, I have no idea.

It's hard to tell in the pic but the spray liner in my boat goes all the way up over the gunnels and over the bow as well. There can't be any welding without a major tear up and redo of the spray liner. The dealership isn't equipped to do spray lining but it would have to be sent back to the factory for everything to match up right anyway.

I don't really have a good place to mount one of the stock t-m channels with the rake of my boat.

There are both horizontal and vertical support members in that area underneath the t-m and in front of the deck. If I knew someone that was about 2 feet tall, they could go in through the lid in the front deck and hold the wrench while they were tightened. :lol:

The boat is only 3 months old. I won't be doing any sort of non-factory modifications to it until the warranty expires.

 

[Zum]

I don't blame you for not wanting to do any mods.I made something like WW explained but my rail is alittle different than yours ,not as wide.Theres no way of getting up there through the hatch(tall real skinny guy)?or is there supports or foam in the way?Darn shame they made it like that should of been thicker aluminum there for the well nuts to hold.

 

[Waterwings]

Dang, now that I see how your bow is configured I understand better. I sure hope there's a way to fix the problem without damaging the spray liner or anything structural.

Afterthought: I keep thinking of long extension ratchets, but I'm sure you've tried that approach and the horizontal/vertical bracing underneath is probably in the way. When the tm is removed I'd tried to get a doubler plate (even if it's only 1/8" thick) made and put underneath the deck before putting anymore nuts on, but I'm sure with the rake of the bow there's not a lot of room for long bolts in the front.

 

[Zum]

Have you thought about these https://www.spaenaur.com/pdf/sectionC/C147.pdf
not sure but they might work

 

[Quackrstackr]

Those welnuts are the type of thing that came loose yesterday. It originally came with rivnuts (the aluminum version of those).

I tried everything that I could think of last night. There's just no getting a nut on the backside to 4 out of the 6 without cutting some sort of hole to get below the bracing.

It would take somebody the size of my 3 year old to go through the hatch on the deck and hold a wrench. She's not mechanically astute enough for the task. Don't think that I didn't think about it.

Now.. on to the more important stuff. The fish!

Ever seen a stringer with nearly 90 lbs of fish? (man, my hair looks fabulous :lol: )

Couple of action photos of my buddies

Me slinging a little one

The group photo of the big boy that I grabbed yesterday

The show host showing him off. This photo has probably hit a thousand inboxes already with a story of how he caught this fish.

I don't guess they got any pics of me wresting the beast from his lair. Either that or my buddy has them earmarked for publication. He's an outdoor writer and is also penning a book about our travels and catching these fish.

 

[BassAddict]

=D> =D> =D> Very Impressive, I must change my position and say that looks like a ton of fun!!! I wouldnt go as far as to do any of the grabbing myself, but i would sit on the dock, drink beer and watch yall!!

 

[Captain Ahab]

You are a sick man

 

[Waterwings]

:shock: Those are some big dang cats! Nice job on the noodling! 8)

(Thought that might have been your rig behind you in the one pic until I saw the WarEagle logo).

 

[Quackrstackr]

The War Eagle is my buddy's boat. Mine is the good looking one. :lol:

The Canadian film crew was trying to figure out where to put all of their gear yesterday when the camera man said "I don't care where the gear goes but I'm riding in the cool boat". :mrgreen: