Thread: Chickamauga 3/11/24

Spring fishing will spoil a fella. It was a beautiful morning. Ran into DK at the ramp while I was prepping the boat. We talked for a minute, was good to see him. I backed down the ramp and slid the boat off like a hundred times before, using my Ulterra to spot lock and hold my boat next to the dock while I park my truck. Well... When I walked down the dock I noticed my trolling motor had raised up to the drop prop position, but the prop didn't drop. I know I turned on the power be cause I test it deploying every time before I back down the ramp, and the fact the motor raised at all. I thought what will I do now... No other boats around, I knew I wasn't going swimming in 55 degree water with no change of clothes. Luckily I just had to be patient. God teaches us lessons when we least expect it and need it the most. There was a slight breeze this morning, fortunate for me so I just stood there on the dock looking at my remote that said "No motor found". My parodical boat finally drifted to the riprap shore. I changed my shoes to my waterproof boots, which you need to trailer your boat this time of year when you fish solo. Walked around the bank and retrieved my wayward craft. I looked at the power indicator on the TM and it was off. I have no clue why the motor raised then shut down. Any Ideas?
Anyway, After I got powered back up and under way the fishing was pretty good this morning. Slight breeze from the south, water temp rising at 56 degrees. Not a lot of pics this day. However I landed 7 keeper crappie, 1 16" white bass, and another 7.75# drum. I'm on a roll...

When the TM raises the shaft vertical then the shaft drops to lower the prop into the water. If you look closely at the photo you can see the shaft in the air, looks like a thin black line at the bow.