Mille Lacs “quickie report”

For the very tough conditions, ALL those Walleyes are very nice. nice going!!!!
Jack…

I saw this boat come out of the water on Saturday. It looked brand new. We (my brother) managed 4 fish for the day on Saturday. We tried the East side rocks in 4′-12′ and had no success. My brother got a 19″, 21″, and a 27″ on the north end. All the fish came from 21′ to 23′. Saturday night my brother tied into a 19 incher down by Cedar Creek. Not very impressive, but he did catch 4 of about the 10 fish we saw caught.

I saw a few IDA decals while I was up there, but I never got to put any names with faces. I noticed a black truck at Hunter’s Point with one. I also saw an F-150 pulling an Alumacraft with one. Hoping to get mine on the boat tonight before the trip to Winnie tommorrow.

Big F

If you actually saw this boat come out of the water, we got questions ! Enquiring minds wanna know, ya know.

What kind of boat?

Size of outboard? or someone thought it looked like an inboard?

C’mon dish the dirt man, tells us anything you can about what you noticed when it “came outta the water”.

BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY, Did you notice if the drain plug was missing ?

The 150/Alumacraft was probably me. So here is a !

sorry if I got everyone all worked up, that was not my intention.

Lesson learned about listening to a drunk on a stool I guess.

Cheers and good luck to every one

I heard 175 SmokerCraft. No way that boat is a 20′ Pro V. Hook, didn’t you and Bob say it was a 75 Merc outboard?

We also heard they had the Lake’s Gas truck pull it out of the water because it was the only rig around with a boom that could handle it. The owner claimed the plug was in, but that may not be the case. The boat was anchored on Lakeside Reef. Did they throw out the anchor, or did the anchor fall out? I was under the impression that the boat was on anchor, and they were fished out of either the boat or the water, and then the wind swamped the boat. I guess the real story will have to come from the owner himself. Mike Ertl’s brother in laws were talking with the guy on shore at Hunters, and that was the story they got.

I agree, Chris. That wasn’t a 20′ pro v.

I was within 6 feet of it and it was a tan/white Smokercraft. I think it had at least a 75 house motor. It’s hard to read anything upside down…………

You just have to stand on your head Bob. Couldn’t you talk hooks into it???

HEY, HEy, hey,

I’ve resembled that remark!!!

Kooty…… I was thinking that Hooks should of held Bob upside down by the ankles over the side of the boat and Hooks could have dunked him under to get a better look at the motor and boat .

Ya . . . after all . . . with a name like “Bobber” . . .

I can see these two clowns doing hand stands in 4 footers and hooks grabbing bobber by the belt and dunking him over the side.

I have never met either, but from what I learned here at IDA. I would say the odds are, that is exactly what they did, but swore each other to secrecy

I won’t say it couldn’t be done.

When I was in H.S. I was a gymnast and one summer I did a hand stand and walked across the mississippi!

Of course it was at the headwaters and the water was only a foot deep, but with the witnesses we had it made for good bar bets!

Well that explains all the muscles. Hear I thought you were on roids…

No, I prescribe to the Kent Hrbek workout, I now mix beers for strength!
A little Mic golden Draft and a little Bud lite and look out!!!

Bob and I have been on that diet for a few years now. I really enjoy it. I have the book. Phase 1 allows brats, summer sausage and deep fried chicken. Wait till you get to phase 3. Krispy Creams soaked in maple suryup and double dipped in powdered sugar, and thats just for breakfast.

Yep
Krispy Kremes and Beer,
It’s not just for breakfast anymore.

My girl friend is friends with one of the guys in the boat incident pictured accross the web hear on Mille Lacs this past weekend.

Here is what I can tell you.

Here are some answers for you. There were 4 guys in the boat. There were not drunk just tired. One was fishing the others were sleeping at the time of the incident. Yes the plug was in and was still in when it was pulled out. Still don’t know why the boat sunk. They are still awaiting the answers from the insurance company and Smokercraft. The Lakes Gas truck was the owners friend who was called out to help recover the boat in the morning with the 4 guys. The boat is a 2004 20′ Smokercraft with outboard 90 Mercrusier engine. They think the hull may have filled from the live wells posible a broken or loose hose. Hopefully this answers some of your questions.

Thanks for the update Naomi, and welcome to IDA!!!

I was there and checked out the boat in the water, it amazes me that was a 20′ boat, you could of never figured that when it was upside down!

Pulled it back to shore? Bet that was fun, wouldn’t the boat try and dive being it was upside down? Make for some interesting trolling !

That was a problem. Guess the windshield got messed up too.

I would guess this would have to be a flaw within the boat somewhere. I’m far from an expert on boats but I would think one end of the boat must have filled with water to make it lopsided enough for the waves to flip it.
At least everyone is safe, including Bobber and everyone else that could have collided with it.

auto bilge??? Maybe this isn’t an option in the Smokercrafts.

I have fished several days without the plug in my boat…

Okay now you can hear the real story from the owner of the boat. Me. Headed out on the lake about 8:00 Friday night to see if we could read some fish. We checked a few spots and then made our way over to lakeside flat. We started reading alot of fish so we anchored there about 9:15. We started up the coleman grill and made some hotdogs. We then proceded to set our bobbers for the propper depth. By the time allsaid and done it was about 11 so I decided to take a nap til midnight. Well I was rudely awekened by my friend and my brother saying get you life jacket on we are sinking. So I hopped up real quick and got my lifejacket on. They turned the bilge on but it was still coming in faster then it was going out. I then started the motor so we could try to make it to shore but by the time I got her going the motor was under water. We pulled the anchor and I threw in the trolling motor and tryed to see if that would drag us closer to shore. Well it didnt. I started to panic. I started flashing the light of and on to try to catch the attention of the nearest boat which was a half mile away. Then started screaming because I was waste deeo in some very cold water. I knew if I didnt get thete attention I might not make it to shore. Luckily I did get there attention and noticed they were coming towards us. After what seemed an eternity for them to get there I was in a full panic. I stepped to the side of the boat to hop in theres and just then she decided to flip in a big wave. I fell in the water and my buddy grabbed me and dragged me to there boat because when I hit that water I really started to panic but thank god we made it. Yes the plug was in the boat. No there was no alcohol involvrd. Tell ya the truth I dont even drink. My boat is a 2003 Smokercraft 165 ultra sport LE. It is the widest 16′ boat on the market per smokercraft. My uncle works for lakes gas and brought up a boom truck from north branch where I reside and flipped it over and pulled it out after we towed in in with my friends grandpas boat who lives on cove bay. I m still awaiting the adjuster coming out to look at it and as of this point we still dont know how it sank. The insurance compay already told me they will total it but we just need to figure out why it sunk so I can determine if smokercraft will have to replace my fishing gear that was lost if it is a manufacturer defect since ny insurance does not cover tackle and poles under my policy. I have receipts of over $1500 in fishing gear that nobody wants to give me anything for. Anyone find any tackleboxes or dufflebags floating around?

I have a waypoint in my GPS of the location of the boat at the time I took the pictures. If you would want it for the purpose of looking for any of your gear. Just let me know and I can send it via email…….

Wow! Pretty scary! I flipped a canoe on the Snake River in March once as a kid. That feeling when you hit that cold water cannot be explained! Tough deal! I am sure glad you guys are alright!
Tuck

Hey sunkinboat, welcome to IDA and setting the story straight.
We questioned the boat size but figured the people posting would know better than us.
You’ll never forget that terrible feeling when panic sets in, but learn from it, hopefully never having it happen again.
To let you know some of the humor we had with it after finding out from the Aitkin County Sheriff that everyone was safe. We went on about what if it was some kid borrowing Dad’s boat and swamped it. Or somebody who borrowed a friends boat.
You could only imagine……….
Glad everyone is OK and hope it works out with the insurance company.

We fish this reef often, so please take Bob up on his offer of those waypoints, Before the scuba divers get wind of it.