ECONFINA 9-19-07
Posted: September 21st, 2007, 10:07 am
Watching that footage the other day of jsuber catching redfish made me want to go look for a few myself. A buddy of mine had the next 2 days off and wanted to go also, so we decided to go give the Econfina a try.
We got to the ramp around 8:30am or so and I met Bad Behavior backed in to the water. He informed me that it was quite windy out there and that they were "takin it to the house." We decided to give it a try anyway and headed on out.
Got to our first spot just west of the mouth and I started throwing topwater. The trout started smacking the plug right away, but the windy conditions made it hard to set the plug. I did manage to get a few though....
The action slowed a bit with only the shorties hitting, so we decided to move out to deeper water.
We stopped out in 10 ft. and started fishing the bottom with jigs and various gulps. The rock bass were quite plentiful and so were the sharks...
We were drifting quite rapidly due to the wind and I almost debated trolling while drifting
We covered alot of water and managed a few nice fish and a few breakoffs...even the pinfish got in on the action...
About 1:30pm or so, we decided to call it a day and head in before the tide got too low at the mouth....especially with a wind blowing out of the north pushing all the water out too. This is where the day started to suck. About a mile from the mouth.....running about 1/3 throttle.....we felt a thud and the boat slowed. It was almost like we hit a big pile of mud....not the usual BANG when a lower unit collides with a rock. Well, we trimmed the motor to find this.....
See anything missing????? In case you didn't notice.....no lower unit
The Econfina had just claimed another one!!!! About that time, my phone beeps telling me I have a message. It was Rocket calling about work. I returned the call and told him our predicament. He offered to come down, but said it would be a few hours. My buddy decided to just go ahead and call for a tow. I thanked Rocket and told him that we would manage. Tow Boat said it would be 2 hours, so we anchored and figured we would just fish a little....we had the time 
The water was only 2.5 feet and I debated just getting out and start walking (suddenly I was reminded of the scene in Dumb & Dumber when Harry decided to walk home from Nebraska when Lloyd took the wrong turn ). About 2 hours later, our ride showed up....
We hooked up and started the slow ride in....
Not a view you ever really want to see.....
We got back to the ramp about 6:30pm and braced ourselves for financial hit that was about to occur.....both in the rear.
Here's the first one....
Here's the second one....
In case you can't see, the tow bill is being written.......
Needless to say, boat tow insurance is definately worth the investment.
It was a good day fishing, but all that seemed to be negated by the last 5 hours of the day. Still awaiting the other bill
Word of advice.....Econfina + Low tide = Go somewhere else Not that most everybody on this site doesn't know this anyway
Down for now, but not out. See you guys at Mashes on the 6th
We got to the ramp around 8:30am or so and I met Bad Behavior backed in to the water. He informed me that it was quite windy out there and that they were "takin it to the house." We decided to give it a try anyway and headed on out.
Got to our first spot just west of the mouth and I started throwing topwater. The trout started smacking the plug right away, but the windy conditions made it hard to set the plug. I did manage to get a few though....
The action slowed a bit with only the shorties hitting, so we decided to move out to deeper water.
We stopped out in 10 ft. and started fishing the bottom with jigs and various gulps. The rock bass were quite plentiful and so were the sharks...
We were drifting quite rapidly due to the wind and I almost debated trolling while drifting
We covered alot of water and managed a few nice fish and a few breakoffs...even the pinfish got in on the action...About 1:30pm or so, we decided to call it a day and head in before the tide got too low at the mouth....especially with a wind blowing out of the north pushing all the water out too. This is where the day started to suck. About a mile from the mouth.....running about 1/3 throttle.....we felt a thud and the boat slowed. It was almost like we hit a big pile of mud....not the usual BANG when a lower unit collides with a rock. Well, we trimmed the motor to find this.....
See anything missing????? In case you didn't notice.....no lower unit
The Econfina had just claimed another one!!!! About that time, my phone beeps telling me I have a message. It was Rocket calling about work. I returned the call and told him our predicament. He offered to come down, but said it would be a few hours. My buddy decided to just go ahead and call for a tow. I thanked Rocket and told him that we would manage. Tow Boat said it would be 2 hours, so we anchored and figured we would just fish a little....we had the time The water was only 2.5 feet and I debated just getting out and start walking (suddenly I was reminded of the scene in Dumb & Dumber when Harry decided to walk home from Nebraska when Lloyd took the wrong turn ). About 2 hours later, our ride showed up....We hooked up and started the slow ride in....
Not a view you ever really want to see.....
We got back to the ramp about 6:30pm and braced ourselves for financial hit that was about to occur.....both in the rear.
Here's the first one....
Here's the second one....
In case you can't see, the tow bill is being written.......
Needless to say, boat tow insurance is definately worth the investment.
It was a good day fishing, but all that seemed to be negated by the last 5 hours of the day. Still awaiting the other bill
Word of advice.....Econfina + Low tide = Go somewhere else Not that most everybody on this site doesn't know this anyway
Down for now, but not out. See you guys at Mashes on the 6th
which is why I seldom fish East of Shell Point 
did ya have insurance on the rig?
