By Capt. Cefus McRae,
Nuts & Bolts of Fishing Series
I had this happen last fall. It’s something I hope never to do again. Before I relate the details of this incident, it’s probably appropriate to provide a little background.
For those of you that know me, you’re aware that I’m pretty meticulous when it comes to taking care of my tackle and my boat. Pre-rigging rods, re-arranging tackle trays and loading gear on the boat is part of the fun for me. At the end of the day, cleaning the boat in 98 degree weather isn’t exactly a fun chore. But it has to be done, so I endure the sweat and look forward to a cool misting from the hose, and the opportunity to crack open a cold beer afterwards.
Last fall, we were filming the final TV episode for the season in Fernandina Beach. The weather and the fish were cooperating. On the final day of the shoot, we caught bull redfish, sharks and even had a shot at a tarpon. Every fish was caught using the same kind of bait: Menhaden, or pogies as they’re called on the Atlantic coast. Pogies are usually pretty easy to find and catch. You simply look for diving pelicans, idle over to the general vicinity and throw the cast net when the water starts erupting beside the boat.
Pogies are a very versatile bait. You can use them live on a free line, rigged with a weight or trolled slowly. You can also use them once they’ve expired. They are a very oily fish and produce a lot of scent, especially when you’re using them as cut bait. You have to keep your bait cutting board cleaned during the day, because all that oil and goo has a powerful smell that somehow seems to ‘blossom’ in the hot sun. Never spend 20 minutes cutting chum and then grab a sandwich without thoroughly washing your hands. I’ve done that once. Won’t happen again.
Now, back to my story. As we finished up the last day, I netted up the remaining live pogies in the livewell, and liberated them back to the briny depths. The ‘expired’ pogies went into a zip top bag to be frozen and used as chum on a future adventure. We headed in, cleaned the boat and gear, loaded the trailer and drove home. Back in Atlanta, I did a complete wash on the boat, ran the Honda on the flushing ears and added a little bearing grease to the trailer wheels. Good to go.
Now it was pretty hot back in September with a few 90 degree days. About a week after that trip, I walked past the Wide Open II and noticed a foul odor in the air. My first thought was Buck had dispatched a squirrel or a chipmunk, and it was laid to rest by the fence. After a quick ‘search’ with my nose, I discovered the offensive perfume was emanating from the transom of the boat. I checked all the compartments and found nothing. Finally, I followed my proboscis to the overboard drain for the livewell. Yep. That was it. We had a Sleeper!
A “Sleeper” is a bait that gets stuck in the livewell drain pipe or winds up in the bilge, and is then forgotten until it’s too late. In this case, the Sleeper was a medium-sized pogy that had evaded the bait net when I was cleaning out the livewell. When I removed the standpipe, the pogy was sucked down the drain, but was apparently too big to be flushed out the side thru-hull outlet. So, it sat there for a week baking in the drain hose.
It was impossible to actually see the stuck pogy by visual inspection. Therefore, it had to be about halfway down the drain pipe. Being the smart guy that I am, I grabbed the garden hose, pushed it into the livewell drain and turned on the water, intending to let water pressure and gravity eliminate the blockage. Results were not immediate, so I figured I’d help things along a little. A coat hanger was acquired and used to probe the drain from the outside. It only took a couple pokes. I’m sure you know what happened next. About 10 gallons of backed-up water, accompanied by the less-than-pleasant remains of not one, but four pogies, proceeded to blast out the side of the boat, right on me. Miss Beth wouldn’t let me in the house. I had to shower in the yard.
Looking back, this was probably an America’s Home Video $10,000 winning entry. It was one of those moments when you look around to see if anyone was watching the dumb thing you just did. The lesson I learned, and want to pass on to you, is simple. Never, ever leave the boat ramp without checking for Sleeper Pogies.
6679 Peachtree Industrial Blvd. Suite D, Peachtree Corners, GA 30092