I had only had my 20 foot Baja for a few weeks and decided I'd do some salmon and trout fishing in Lake Ontario. I very carefully made a stand for the downriggers that attached to two SS rails running along each side of the rear of the boat. The boat, although purchased second hand, was flawless so I didn't want to drill any holes for downrigger mounts. After a few hours, I hooked up with my very first King Salmon and fought if for about 20 minutes. The wife was driving the boat for me while I was fighting the fish. The wife very carefully pulled in the other 3 rods and cranked up the other downrigger out of the water and stowed the weight. She wanted to do the same for the second downrigger but I was fighting the fish and asked her just to crank it up so the weight was just under the water.
Got the fish in the boat and was so excited about my first king salmon, I wanted to drive over to my brothers boat to show him. Salmon in the cooler and throttled up. Just started to plane out and I heard a very loud banging sound. As I pan to the rear I notice the 8 pound downrigger weight skipping out of the water and smashing into the swim platform area of my beloved Baja
. Luckily nothing structural and all that was required was some gel coat repair and several hours of work.
Lesson learned that no matter how much of a hurry or how excited one is, never, ever skip the crucial step of making sure all is properly stowed prior to throttling up.
Got the fish in the boat and was so excited about my first king salmon, I wanted to drive over to my brothers boat to show him. Salmon in the cooler and throttled up. Just started to plane out and I heard a very loud banging sound. As I pan to the rear I notice the 8 pound downrigger weight skipping out of the water and smashing into the swim platform area of my beloved Baja
. Luckily nothing structural and all that was required was some gel coat repair and several hours of work.Lesson learned that no matter how much of a hurry or how excited one is, never, ever skip the crucial step of making sure all is properly stowed prior to throttling up.
