Fishing in the Central Valley: Last-minute brainstorms turn into tsunamis

I was in my early 20s and I planned to do some striper fishing at Millerton Lake in my grandfather’s borrowed 18-foot ifberform fiberglas boat. I was alone and it was one of my first trips using and pulling his boat, so I was being very careful. Messing up wasn’t on the menu- especially with my grandfather.

It was pretty crowded at the lake that day, as I got in line to launch on the Fresno side ramp (east side of lake) , and I could see that those waiting were not being very patient. Since I was alone, I would have to do everything by myself: back down the trailer, untie the straps, launch the boat, and tie it up at the dock- while others waited for me to park and then run back down to get the boat out of the way.

The point was: You couldn’t be fast enough to keep them happy. And then it hit me — one of those great ideas that just popped into my brain.

I would untie all my straps, front and back, at the top of the ramp and since I was going downhill on the steep ramp for at least 200 feet, the boat would rest against the front trailer mount. When I got down to the bottom of the ramp near the water, I would just turn slowly back up the incline, down to the water and launch.

I wouldn’t need to untie anything, and I’d save some time. Wonderful idea except for a few missing considerations I didn’t figure in.

• My grandfather’s boat was very heavy — much heavier than the boat I was used to using.

• I was using a pivoting roller type trailer that’s designed to easily slide heavy boats off into the water.

So I finally get my chance to launch and I slowly drive down the long steep ramp. Everything looks good, my idea is working.

I reach the lake water and slowly turn the whole rig around, and start to go back up the ramp to get the boat in position to now back it down. Suddenly I realize that the heavier boat will take more power to go back up the ramp incline than I was used to.

It was a very gentle increase of gas, a mild punch-just to get it going back uphill. Suddenly I’m hearing yelling behind me. Something was wrong.

One guy yells at me to stop.

I look back and see my grandfather’s boat sitting perfectly balanced on the pivoting trailer with the front bow looking up into the sky at about a 60 degree angle on the steep ramp - while the rear of the boat is hanging down just inches above the ramp. One more movement and the boat was going to slide off the rollers and be sitting on the ramp. My little punch had been just enough to shift the weight backward, putting the boat’s weight right onto the pivoting rollers section.

Several guys came running, with a couple of them trying to frantically pull the front end down and reattach the front winch strap before the boat could roll backward and fall off.

I kept my foot on the brake and prayed. How the boat stayed perfectly balanced on the trailer all that time on a steep ramp amazed all of us.

It was a very close call.

I don’t think I ever told my grandfather or dad about that incident - or maybe even about a few other other learning experiences I had back then. No harm, no foul, right?

It’s funny, but like most stupid stunts, the real gravity of how close I came to disaster didn’t become clear to me until later.

If the boat had fallen off the trailer there was a good chance the outboard could have been badly damaged, the hull compromised - and the cost of just getting it off the ramp!

I could see the headline in the paper: “Young stupid angler dumps grandpa’s prize fishing boat on the ramp at Millerton Lake” I didn’t even want to consider my grandpa and dads reaction!

It’s always dangerous when you have a major brainstorm that just seems too good to be true, until later. Delayed intelligence is real.

And I do not unhook my trailer or boat straps anymore until I’m at the water’s edge and ready to go. And never give up!

Roger George: rogergeorge8@protonmail.com, Rogergeorgeguideservice on Facebook and @StriperWars .

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