Now you gotta remember, I have been and was a cat-guy long before I was a walleye guy. And I think the Cat Gods are getting even with me for the switch. 
Thursday night we decided to fish some new water on the Vermillion that looked promising during a walleye trip last weekend. We marked them on the GPS for quick target aquisition in the dark. Well…the River has dropped over 2 feet since last weekend. 
So the 10 pounds of sand packed around the impeller started ringing bells like a Pink Floyd concert. 
We called it a night early, and found our way to DuGarels until closing…It was a long walk home after bar close. 
ElRoy cleaned out the sand around the impeller just fine and it was peeing water like a Como Park water fountain…but guess what happens when you suck in sand when your motor is warm? Yep. It gets behind your thermostat. And it cannot open to circulate water through the block.
So now we are all excited for our Saturday evening trip out onto Pool 3 with our surviving bullheads and a contingent of hardy suckers about to give up the ghost as cutbait. 
Well, about 300 yards out of the marina I get it up to full plane and WOT…and Wham! Back into safe mode with what sounds like the beginning of Floyd’s “Time” wailing in the background. Engine was overheating. It would idle just fine. So now…unable to make it to our prime spot…we idled up to the first available wing dam and set up camp for the evening. 
Hey, at least we were fishing!
As the sun is setting, we notice a barge coming upriver, and I made the comment that the barge was inside the red cans. If you know the Diamond Bluff area, you know there are some trick wingies right there…and he was darn close to them.
We land our first (And only!) Flatty of the night just after dark on a lively bully. 
And we figured maybe we stumbled onto a new “Favorite Spot!”
Back in the channel, the barge headed up towards us…we heard this nasty screaching and squealing coming from under the barge.(We figure he hit and was dragging a red can.) He pulled up across from us, and was attempting maneuvers to remedy the situation. FOR HOURS!!!!! 
In doing so, he beached the barge, and was STUCK BIG TIME!!!! 
(I know where there is a nice big scour hole now. 
) So finally about midnight we headed into some backwater cuts and had a few promising runs, but no fish to show for it. ElRoy did get a healthy bite on a 1 pound sucker. The channel latched onto the head and completely crushed it.
I think I will stick to leeches and crank baits for a while.
