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Stuck on low tide/Skinny water


FunFlatsFishing

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Let's hear your best story about being stuck on low tide. Anyone wait it out and pull the over nighter waiting for the tide to come back in? Been there. Done that. And it almost happened again tonight with the wife on board. We were looking at a 2:00 am departure from our nice little fishing flat. 

We braved the wind and storms after work this evening in Tampa Bay. Storms all around us but miraculously not above us. Fishing sucked but we were trying. Tide ripping out almost to a zero tide. It was low. Trolling around the flat and all of a sudden we are stuck. We all got out but no movement. Drained the water out of both 40 gallon livewells and pulled the 45 Yeti and 75 ORCA off and with all our strength barley was able to push off. I was kind of looking forward to the 2 hours left for the tide to turn and the additional 3 to push us back up to a floating position. 

 

Here's a pic. The stern is almost out of the water. Good times and quite the workout. 

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9 minutes ago, ififish said:

Woke up on Pavillion key in 10k islands, about a mile from water. Woke up on Hog Key in 10k islands with raccoons in boat and boat up in mangroves. Rum and camping don't mix.

Hah. Pavilion key... Got stuck there camping on a 4 foot tide swing a few years ago. Luckily for us we were able to slay the trout where the tide was ripping on the northern tip. Was brining in two at a time on the top water lure. We got our 5 man limit in less than 10 minutes. 

Spaghetti worms anyone?

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I duck hunt alot and go on my own when I can't get a buddy out of bed. Well one morning a couple years ago I go by myself. Cold December morning with a Northwest wind ripping out. In the south LA marsh where I hunt/fish the wind plays more of a factor in tidal flow than anything. North West wind will blow water out in a heart beat. I get to my spot and run my boat in the marsh to hide it not thinking about the wind. Well about 2hrs in I look and notice my decoys are starting to float a little further away. I walk to the boat and there she sat dry as a bone. Luckily I had just made a push pole from pole vault a couple days before. If I hadn't had that I would have been stuck for who knows how long because the wind wasn't letting up. Bad thing is you can't walk in the water or on the mud or you will sink to your arm pits. After 3hrs and about 120yds of push poling my way across a soft mud flat I was home free. Lesson learned. 

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Oh man, I think I know where that first pic was taken Funflatsfishing and that bar can get VERY dry.   I haven't gotten stuck, but I will thank a guy down in the Everglades for that fact.   He made a very memorable impression on me - we were coming upriver in Choco around dusk.  As we rounded a bend, we came across this guy in a pretty large flats boat that was at least 3' ABOVE the water line.  And the tide was still falling.  No question he was going to be there all night if the mosquitoes didn't eat him first.   The worst part is that the section of river that was left was so shallow that coming off plane would mean getting stuck as well and nobody was willing to take a chance.  It wasn't my boat, so I could just give the guy an empathetic nod and hope for the best.

No doubt it will happen though.  Nothing quite like that sickening sound of the engine hitting bottom when you are at high speed and suddenly realize that there is no water ahead of you.

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Been there done that too.........  during a tournament one day before daylight the conversation went like this " Committee Boat, Come IN" , CB says...come on, "Committee Boat this is the Bad Habit and we are withdrawing from today as a fish day" , CB says, Is there a problem ?  " Yes CB, we are having a water problem "  ...CB says.:.Are you overheating Bad Habit ? ...Bad Habit replies " no sir, the water problem is, we have ran out of it" high and dry and falling tide"...CB says...roger that Bad Habit...we'll send some golf clubs to you guys.!!  

Yes, we have all been there.........the ones that have not...WILL eventually.

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If you haven't gotten stuck somewhere yet....don't worry....you eventually will! LoL

Been there. Done that. On my boats and others in the ENP. Hence the reason one should always have a bottle of whiskey or rum so you have something to do while the skeeters chew your azz up as the tide rises.

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This reminds me of someone who says they have never back lashed a bait caster, I quickly inform them that's only possible if you have NEVER thrown one. Just like being way too skinny high and dry, if you saltwater fish you have been there. Like I told my buddy last time down in Cockroach Bay with zero water under the boat...."not to worry, it's only six hours and we have plenty of beer and insect repellent"!

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21 hours ago, FunFlatsFishing said:

Nice boat. Does your mudmotor have reverse?

Mine didn't and it was a pain in the *** to pull out of the blind sometimes.

It's actually a 25 merc. I do however have a longtail  and was kicking myself for it not being on the boat that day. Had the merc on because it was about a 35min run and that longtail tiller will wear you out running distance. Longtail doesn't have reverse but if you can get her turned around its game on especially in soft mud. 

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1 hour ago, Mellow Yellow 1806V said:

It's actually a 25 merc. I do however have a longtail  and was kicking myself for it not being on the boat that day. Had the merc on because it was about a 35min run and that longtail tiller will wear you out running distance. Longtail doesn't have reverse but if you can get her turned around its game on especially in soft mud. 

I know your pain. I used to have an 18 HP long tail. That thing was a pain to drive and extremely slow and loud. Ended up switching it out for a 40 hp Yahama outboard. Went through plenty of impellers :)

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First time in the Everglades moored near the beach - next morning, the beach was 300 yards wider.  

Most recently was duck hunting in salt - had a strong wind blowing water out of the bay on an outgoing tide.  Fortunately, the little Kevlar duck boat is light enough for the 3 of us to pick up and drag the 30' or so back to the slough.

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On 8/2/2016 at 9:56 PM, FunFlatsFishing said:

Let's hear your best story about being stuck on low tide. Anyone wait it out and pull the over nighter waiting for the tide to come back in? Been there. Done that. And it almost happened again tonight with the wife on board. We were looking at a 2:00 am departure from our nice little fishing flat. 

We braved the wind and storms after work this evening in Tampa Bay. Storms all around us but miraculously not above us. Fishing sucked but we were trying. Tide ripping out almost to a zero tide. It was low. Trolling around the flat and all of a sudden we are stuck. We all got out but no movement. Drained the water out of both 40 gallon livewells and pulled the 45 Yeti and 75 ORCA off and with all our strength barley was able to push off. I was kind of looking forward to the 2 hours left for the tide to turn and the additional 3 to push us back up to a floating position. 

 

Here's a pic. The stern is almost out of the water. Good times and quite the workout. 

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Looks like bar in front of picnic? 

 

I've yet to get stuck but have gotten very close. We parked the boat and waded into a creek system on a falling tide. Came back to the boat and the sides were completely out of the water. We thought for sure we were high and dry and going to have to wait until 4 am. Somehow us 3 guys rocked the boat back and forth and spent 30 minutes dragging it along the sand. Finally got out. That was a backcountry 201.

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Another time camping at shell key my buddy anchored his carolina skiff wrong. We woke up in the morning with his carolina at the front door of the tent 15 yards from the water! We all died laughing. Luckily there was 6 of us guys, and we had a steep slope to the water. Managed to push it back in the water and kept on fishing. We nicknamed that boat the boogie board. 

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On 8/2/2016 at 9:24 PM, FunFlatsFishing said:

Hah. Pavilion key... Got stuck there camping on a 4 foot tide swing a few years ago. Luckily for us we were able to slay the trout where the tide was ripping on the northern tip. Was brining in two at a time on the top water lure. We got our 5 man limit in less than 10 minutes. 

Spaghetti worms anyone?

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Haha was this one of you on the S. side of Pavillion?

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Got stuck on the Rabbit Key grass flats years ago when I was running a 17 Master Angler.  Sun went down, stars came out.  Me and my buddy chilled until the tide flooded and floated us off--it was about 10:00 p.m.!  Thankfully, my friend was able to text his wife, who called mine to let them know we were ok but would be late.  Running back in the dark with a new moon was fun, especially when the fog bank rolled in!  

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On ‎8‎/‎3‎/‎2016 at 2:53 PM, DonV said:

This reminds me of someone who says they have never back lashed a bait caster, I quickly inform them that's only possible if you have NEVER thrown one. Just like being way too skinny high and dry, if you saltwater fish you have been there. Like I told my buddy last time down in Cockroach Bay with zero water under the boat...."not to worry, it's only six hours and we have plenty of beer and insect repellent"!

Live on Kingsley creek in Fernandina Bch which goes totally dry with the tide swing. Had to leave the boat at a neighbors dock as the tide beat us. The bottom is mud so cleaning out the livewell intakes was fun.

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On ‎8‎/‎4‎/‎2016 at 6:46 PM, linesider 159 said:

Looks like bar in front of picnic? 

 

I've yet to get stuck but have gotten very close. We parked the boat and waded into a creek system on a falling tide. Came back to the boat and the sides were completely out of the water. We thought for sure we were high and dry and going to have to wait until 4 am. Somehow us 3 guys rocked the boat back and forth and spent 30 minutes dragging it along the sand. Finally got out. That was a backcountry 201.

Sounds like our exact situation. Yes it was Picnic Island.

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At Picnic Island there is a small trench in between the 2 islands that are directly east of the the tip of Picnic Island. Its only about a boat length long and about a 1ft deeper than the water around it. I have used it many times to get on plane, and cross the flat that otherwise would've taken a long time to cross.

How was the fishing, was lots of small snook around there last time I was there, about a month ago.

 

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