# I ate it🙄



## Vinny L (Oct 20, 2020)

I never say “never” for this simple reason, mistakes happen. Being new to the area I‘m still learning where my boat can go and where in those areas do I think holds fish. So here goes my method of what I call Reconnaissance and how I ate it 🙄..
I study charts, look at satellite imagery, read the water and use my FMT as a resource. So I’m in a place the locals call the “Basin” it’s pretty skinny so I approach the Boggus creek stick on plane then come off where I know I won’t stick it as she settles in. I’ll then get in my poling platform with a gold spoon on a casting rod. Using my trolling motor to pull my around the perimeter then use my pole to get me just close enough to reach the edges with as long a cast as I can make, accurately. once I learn where there are some fish I’ll go back a day later with my fly rod, however once I’m done with an area and the tide is right as it usually is, I’ll jump up in a hole run to the Big pass traveling north through the Gulf looking for Tarpon. If I see them the I‘ll throw a crab or baitfish pattern at them.
So, why the title? After a few days of this Reconnaissance and having the sun beat down on me I got careless and fell off my poling platform. Luckily I still had enough balance/strength left to push off far enough to just clear my motor which was trimmed up. I came close to opening up my head and lucky enough to have landed in soft sand. My pole was buried in the mud which is what lead to this near disaster. Trying to pull it out at the very end of the pole is what lead to this mishap along with being exhausted. I didn’t realize how buried it was and the boat came right out from under me. I climbed back in and fished the rest of the day. My wife thinks maybe I should get that second boat now😁
Anyway I just thought I’d share.
Wear a big hat and drink water!!


----------



## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

Anyone that has poled a skiff long enough has been pulled off or nearly been pulled off by trying to jerk the foot out of soft bottom. Glad you are ok!


----------



## Sublime (Oct 9, 2015)

Very common. No shame in letting the pole go and come back around by whatever means to retrieve it. If it is shallow and muddy sit on the tip of the bow and "walk" the skiff backwards or forwards.


----------



## Vinny L (Oct 20, 2020)

Smackdaddy53 said:


> Anyone that has poled a skiff long enough has been pulled off or nearly been pulled off by trying to jerk the foot out of soft bottom. Glad you are ok!


👍 I figure as much. I’m new to polling and will be more careful. Falling while seeing the sun reflected off the prop was a little scary to say the least.


----------



## Vinny L (Oct 20, 2020)

Sublime said:


> Very common. No shame in letting the pole go and come back around by whatever means to retrieve it.


💪💪I can pull it out🙄
I won’t try that again.
Great idea on using the boat to loosen the grip the mud has on the pole. At least I think that’s what would happen with your suggestion.🤔


----------



## Zika (Aug 6, 2015)

No shame. We've all been there, done that. Smart move to kick away to avoid the hazardous parts. Glad you are OK. Now, climb right back up on the platform.


----------



## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

Sublime said:


> Very common. No shame in letting the pole go and come back around by whatever means to retrieve it. If it is shallow and muddy sit on the tip of the bow and "walk" the skiff backwards or forwards.


Hell no, you hang on to it and pull yourself off the platform like a man! Haha
I’m so stubborn I’ll hang on to it and stop the boat trying to jerk the foot out of the mud...


----------



## Finn Maccumhail (Apr 9, 2010)

This is one of those things where there are 2 types of poling skiff guys; guys who have fallen off the platform and those who lie about not falling off the platform.


----------



## Finn Maccumhail (Apr 9, 2010)

Smackdaddy53 said:


> Hell no, you hang on to it and pull yourself off the platform like a man! Haha
> I’m so stubborn I’ll hang on to it and stop the boat trying to jerk the foot out of the mud...


My fat ass would snap a push pole so fast if I tried to put that much weight on it.


----------



## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

Finn Maccumhail said:


> My fat ass would snap a push pole so fast if I tried to put that much weight on it.


Pulling straight won’t snap it


----------



## Silent Drifter (Apr 29, 2021)

Man my mind went so far south when i read that title😳, i was hoping for pictures 😂


----------



## Half Shell (Jul 19, 2016)

Vinny,

I may have you confused with someone else so I'd like to ask.. what boat are you poling?


----------



## Vinny L (Oct 20, 2020)

Half Shell said:


> Vinny,
> 
> I may have you confused with someone else so I'd like to ask.. what boat are you poling?


A Moccasin210. I only pole short distance, very short like a dozen boat lengths if that. I really only pole to get into casting range. She wasn’t meant to be poled.


----------



## Maverick MA (Jun 16, 2020)

What's a poling platform? You referring to the diving board that sits over the top of your engine? Heck, falling is what that thing is made for! 

I haven't gone in (yet), but man, there are many many times I was grabbing the last inch of that pole trying to get it unstuck as my boat drifted away. You don't stop an 18 MA once it gets moving. It's only a matter of time before I go into the drink.


----------



## Half Shell (Jul 19, 2016)

That’s what I thought you had but I didn’t know had a platform on it. 

I wonder if the effort to pole a larger boat results in the pole getting stuck more? My Moccasin has no platform, I just use the pole to get unstuck.


----------



## Vinny L (Oct 20, 2020)

Half Shell said:


> That’s what I thought you had but I didn’t know had a platform on it.
> 
> I wonder if the effort to pole a larger boat results in the pole getting stuck more? My Moccasin has no platform, I just use the pole to get unstuck.


I’d assume pushing more weight takes more driving force so, yea the weight probably contributes. When I bought the boat from Frank my original plan was to use the trolling motor from the polling platform. I didn’t realize that redfish were so skittish. Being that as it may I thought to use the trolling motor to get as close as I can then pole a short distance to be within striking distance. The boat is a definite fucking challenge against the current and/or Crossbreeze.
I’m officially retired today as my contract matured with my school district. I was hoping for a retirement present from my wife especially after I fell.😎 
I may need to put her up there and let her push that fucking thing around the while. That should help in my favor 😎😎


----------



## Half Shell (Jul 19, 2016)

Have you noticed catching more reds since you started poling the last few dozen yards?


----------



## Vinny L (Oct 20, 2020)

Half Shell said:


> Have you noticed catching more reds since you started poling the last few dozen yards?


Remember, I’m new to this style of fishing. I’m from Long Island 45 years of striped bass fluke and all your offshore species. Nothing up there can compare to fishing down here. It’s a whole new style for me fishing the backcountry. Out in the Gulf is much like NY, dropping baits down over a reef or rock pile is much like wreck fishing or jigging fort tuna etc.. off LI waters. 
Yesterday, pre-dunk🙄 was the first Red I hooked this way. I use to use my trolling motor to put myself in position but every time I did I would always see redfish and snook running off. The trolling motor I’m assuming was the culprit. I’m also still learning a lot about these waters.


----------



## Capnredfish (Feb 1, 2012)

Smackdaddy53 said:


> Anyone that has poled a skiff long enough has been pulled off or nearly been pulled off by trying to jerk the foot out of soft bottom. Glad you are ok!


 I’m with the nearly club!


----------



## permitchaser (Aug 26, 2013)

Don't feel pregnant, we've all fell in once or twice. What I have found, in sucking mud, is to twist the pole out and start over. What gets you in the water is not letting go or trying to jerk it out


----------



## topnative2 (Feb 22, 2009)

Guys..Guys........The real question is Did u spill the beer?


----------



## Scott (Aug 24, 2015)

the one time I launched off my platform, Wind River Skiff, was just the opposite cause. I was polling in shallow water into a side creek. I gave a big push and let the boat glide on into the creek. My next push… the bottom wasn’t where it was before. I drifted over a deep hole that I didn’t know was there, Flamingo dirty water, in I went. Like you, my last thought before leaving the boat was to kick off to miss the trimmed up motor.


----------



## Vinny L (Oct 20, 2020)

Scott said:


> the one time I launched off my platform, Wind River Skiff, was just the opposite cause. I was polling in shallow water into a side creek. I gave a big push and let the boat glide on into the creek. My next push… the bottom wasn’t where it was before. I drifted over a deep hole that I didn’t know was there, Flamingo dirty water, in I went. Like you, my last thought before leaving the boat was to kick off to miss the trimmed up motor.


I can see how that can happen.


----------



## Vinny L (Oct 20, 2020)

topnative2 said:


> Guys..Guys........The real question is Did u spill the beer?


😂


----------



## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

Here's a tip or two about un-sticking that pushpole... Mostly learned the hard way... If the pole is stuck, grab the ends of the fork, don't try to pull the pole - use the fork to twist back and forth until you allow some water in next to the pole and it's easier to pull out (while still twisting back and forth - never try to pull it straight out using muscle and weight - since your boat is maybe five to ten times heavier than you are -straight physics...). Lastly, if all else fails and you've really stuck that pole hard, recruit your passenger if you have one aboard and both of you combined twist that pole - not using the fork end and you'll usually be able to free it (or at least I've never failed, the two times I was in that position).

Here's a few additional thoughts... I've always used my pushpole to stake out with, and never had a power pole... On sand and mud mixed it's all too easy to really stick that pole - you'll learn from experience not to drive it deeply since that same mud/sand mix will then hold tight and make you really work to free that pole... Lastly on hard bottom be very cautious of places where the pole will only go in a very small way then stop because you're in rock or oyster... if the wind or current is strong enough your boat's momentum will trap that pole and if you hold onto it snap the end like a toothpick (another of those "ask me how I know" moments). I've done that on more than one occasion.. .In that situation your best bet to let go of the pole before it snaps then maneuver back to it and when it's not under side pressure, remove it, and try to stake out somewhere else... This sort of stuff is what helped make power poles popular...


----------



## mwolaver (Feb 6, 2014)

Many years ago I witnessed my fishing buddy try to stay on the platform during a pushpole miscue. In this case, the pole skidded off a rock on the ocean side of Key Largo. He "sat down" on his a$$ and tried like crazy not to go overboard. This led to his tipping over the back and hitting the lower unit on his side on the way in. Thank goodness he had no lasting injury and we are still friends all these years later....because I was laughing so hard I almost pee'd myself. All of this while fighting a bonefish. 

Here's the lesson: Never have your cell phone in your pocket while poling (ask me how I know) and just go with it if you start to go off: the pole goes one way and you jump clear of the motor. It happens to EVERYONE.


----------



## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

Yep - and my first time going in I had a supposedly waterproof camera with me… and of course it was not…


----------



## bonitoman (May 20, 2021)

Thirty years ago I took my cousin fishing in eldora. He asked me if _ I ever fell off the platform. I said no. Three hours later I fell off pretty close to some nasty oysters. _ Didnt get cut


----------



## WillPCB (Aug 6, 2017)

lemaymiami said:


> Here's a tip or two about un-sticking that pushpole... Mostly learned the hard way... If the pole is stuck, grab the ends of the fork, don't try to pull the pole - use the fork to twist back and forth until you allow some water in next to the pole and it's easier to pull out (while still twisting back and forth - never try to pull it straight out using muscle and weight - since your boat is maybe five to ten times heavier than you are -straight physics...). Lastly, if all else fails and you've really stuck that pole hard, recruit your passenger if you have one aboard and both of you combined twist that pole - not using the fork end and you'll usually be able to free it (or at least I've never failed, the two times I was in that position).
> 
> Here's a few additional thoughts... I've always used my pushpole to stake out with, and never had a power pole... On sand and mud mixed it's all too easy to really stick that pole - you'll learn from experience not to drive it deeply since that same mud/sand mix will then hold tight and make you really work to free that pole... Lastly on hard bottom be very cautious of places where the pole will only go in a very small way then stop because you're in rock or oyster... if the wind or current is strong enough your boat's momentum will trap that pole and if you hold onto it snap the end like a toothpick (another of those "ask me how I know" moments). I've done that on more than one occasion.. .In that situation your best bet to let go of the pole before it snaps then maneuver back to it and when it's not under side pressure, remove it, and try to stake out somewhere else... This sort of stuff is what helped make power poles popular...



Absolutely!


----------



## Capt Lew (May 2, 2019)

The Boggus Creek area is pretty soft in spots. I push my boat from the bow, it’s also a 20’


----------

