JUST A BUMP AND A LITTLE BIT OF WATER
By Cat Daddy

We got up at 4;00am stirred around in the dark on the north end of Perry Lake, otherwise known as the flats. Finally got a fire going and some breakfast and we all decided to drift fish for cats on all the points around the lake. When I say we all, I mean 5 of us. It seemed like it took us 3 hours to get ready. All the gear, fishing poles, bait, coolers, rain gear, life vests. Oh yeah I forgot to tell you I swim like a rock .

We set out for our adventure, my self I would call it a fishing mission. There was enough room for two more people in the boat, but five and all that gear was enough. Well we drift fished about 4 hours and had a score of nice catfish by 11;00 am , we were going in for lunch as we fired up the big motor and got ready to cross the lake back to camp, I moved all the way back to the rear of the boat for the long ride . We were cutting around 30 - 35 miles an hour with a full load when all the sudden I felt a hard bump towards the back where I was sitting. I didn’t pay no mind about it at the time we slowed down to cross a stumpy area before we got to a opening of clear water to get back on plain again, the guy driving the boat hit the throttle and the nose of the boat went straight up in the air. I about fell out of the back of the boat, and I got a grip and as I sat back down. I looked at the battery area and notice the batteries were under water. That little bump I felt earlier was a weld that had popped loose by hitting a stump on the rear of the boat. I told every body we were taking on water fast. Heck we were in 40 foot of water and as I had said earlier I swim like a rock. They told me to pull the plug on the rear of the boat, man I looked at him like he was nuts, I was just thinking which of these guys I was going to use for a bobber to float back to the shore. Well I pulled the plug and he gave it full power, the nose went up in the air again and I just held on , and the water got lower and lower slowly but surely we got some momentum, and the water dropped to my surprise we picked up speed and made it back to shore.

I told every body that night around the fire as we were sipping a few cold ones. I wasn’t worried about swimming back to shore because as soon as I hit the water I would have looked like a 250 horse powered laser merc burning the top of the water.

Just another good ole catfishin trip with Catdaddy the Kansas catman.