Quote Originally Posted by DDRRedneck500
i had a pretty close encounter with a speed boater earlier this year. i was out cruising the shallows in my favorite michigan lake one beatiful summers day. i only had the trolling motor with me because the gas motor was broken. so i was fishing out in the boat and there were some speed boaters going around in their seadoos. they were annoying but i figured that id ignore them because they have just as much right to be here as me. so i was fishing and my trolling motor started to die so i figured that its time to head in. it was still only midday however. so i started heading back. to set the scene a little, the lake is shaped like a giant oval. about forty yards out throughout the entire lake it gradually gets down to about six feet and then there is a drop off down to about 15 feet. i was in about the corner of the oval and where i was staying was right up on shore and in about the middle. so i figured with a dieing battery i should take the shortest way to get there possible so i had to cut into the deep water just a little. i had just crossed the drop off when this speed boater from across the lake started heading straight in my direction. the speed boaters family were in a pontoon boat in the middle of the lake and he apparently decided to show off. so he TURNED AROUND IN THE BOAT, SAT ON THE HANDLE BARS AND TRIED TO STEER WITH HIS "ASTERIX". so he was getting closer and closer and im sitting there with a dieing trolling motor barely putting along. he continued to get closer and closer till he was about 70 feet away from me. at that point i started yelling things at him which i wont type here but basically meant to turn around. at about 50 feet his friends in the boat started shouting at him but he kept going apparently thinking they were cheering him on. at abuot 20 feet he turned around and saw me and barely avoided hitting me, and turning away at about 15 yards. of course it doesnt end there because he was going probably 50-60 mph so then i had to deal with his huge wake that he made while swerving past me. so then i did probably the quickest thinking of my life and right before the 3-4 foot waves hit me i jumped in toward them while pulling the boat so it would lean slightly towards them and wuoldnt flip. well my little plan barely worked as i was now soaked and had about a foot of water in my boat but i managed to avoid capsizing unfortunately there are about 4 oval like sections in the lake connected by small channels and he immediately sped away and i never got a good look at him. and by the time i got into my boat again his party boat had left too and i had no idea where they went so there was nothing i could do. however a few days later i got the gas motor fixed and when he was out there again i decided to test out my motor and i managed to make him go swimming aswell. so i guess it wasnt all bad but yeah thats my encounter with speed boaters and i cant exactly blame the man in one of the other stories on here for pulling out a shot gun. ill probably do the same next time
I had a similar experience several years ago. I was on Lake Erie returning to the dock right at dusk when the visibility is poor at best. I was cruising at 26mph in my 17'Bass Tracker (low profile 800# aluminum boat) with my running lights on, and out of nowhere a jet skier appears on a course headed directly at me (no lights...immediate violation). The oddity was that the moron was driving his craft BACKWARDS, and could not see or hear that I was approaching quickly over teh screaming of the chainsaw engine in his ski. I was able to take evasive action, and sounded my electric horn (very piercing sound) to alert the driver. He became startled, lost control and was thrown from his craft that was spawned in the nether world (can you tell my level of affection for these craft?). He was fine, save for being startled and sucking in a toxic Lake Erie Highball. To my amazement, he had the audacity to flip ME off for alerting him to the fact that he was as close to death as he would probably get for that day. I shook my head in disbelief and headed into the dock.

I have been out 7-8 mile from shore and had these idiots buzz fishermen that far from shore. That's a long drive to display your ignorance.



I Digress

Joe