What's gone overboard?

[Darren Cook]

The other morning I was heading out in my boat for a fish off Byron Bay.
Was planning on jigging some kings on a few favourite rocks and some soft plastic snapper fishing but things went awfully wrong.

I had three rods on the deck with the tips hanging over the transom and had gone about 10 miles or so when I heared a strange schreeching  sound. I backed off the motor and turned around in time to see the three rods and reels fly backwards, smash into the transom and then skywards overboard.

Perhaps one of the reels had free-spooled a plastic over the side? maybe it got hit by a something. Nothing was tangled in the prop so no chance of a recovery there........I have no idea what happened.

Included in the carnage  Stella 20k FA freshly spooled with Varivas PE 10 - Tcurrve Jig rod ,    2 penn spinfisher 850's
Favourite Custom 8" snapper rod and a cheap rod.

I imagine lots of people have lost precious things overboard.

I'd love to hear about so I don't feel so bad,
cheers, Darren

[Michael Mihajlov]

The handle of my Saltiga unthreaded itself on a rough run out to the shelf. I didn't realise until I cast just ahead of some surface busting tuna and tried to retrieve!

It could have been worse I suppose, I might have hooked up!

[Brandon Khoo]

The biggest disaster I've seen involving gear going overboard  (wasn't mine, thank God) was a friend who lost the entire rocket launcher on the top of his boat. Did five outfits - four had Penn Internationals on them and one a Senator.

[Darren Cook]

The biggest disaster I've seen involving gear going overboard  (wasn't mine, thank God) was a friend who lost the entire rocket launcher on the top of his boat. Did five outfits - four had Penn Internationals on them and one a Senator.

Ouch!  I'm not feeling so bad now Brandon.

[Jon Li]

The biggest disaster I've seen involving gear going overboard  (wasn't mine, thank God) was a friend who lost the entire rocket launcher on the top of his boat. Did five outfits - four had Penn Internationals on them and one a Senator.

Lost an RFD Life Raft once while crossing Lombok Strait in the middle of the night during a bad weather worth over US$. 3000.- .

Jon .

[Travis Heaps]

I've lost Warwick over the side twice    Once on the Nomad trip he was using a borrowed Ripplefisher GT79 for the day with his stella on it - towards the end of the day a combination of fatigue and choppy water saw him cast the outfit straight out of his hands and over the side - to his credit he followed it one smooth motion, caught it and we then retrieved him    The second time his sunnies fell off and he dove in after them as well - i've got photo evidence of that one...

More comedy than high value but we were running out to the islands once and a $10 note came free from a pocket or corner it had been stuffed into, it got caught in the pocket of air in the back of the boat and there was two of us grabbing and flailing about trying to catch the run away note doing loops in the rear of the boat...we missed it though and she went to a watery grave 

[Scott Maybury]

I have lost a pair of prescription spotters during a badly timed cast with some swell causing me to lose balance and have to catch the gunnel for support...yep, that safety strap I had been meaning to get around to getting would have come in handy at that stage...let me tell you, the heavier glass lenses are great, until they hit the water

A friend of mine dropped my Owner GP60 pliers overboard in NZ trying to get a smelly 'couta off his jig without bringing it on board

I saw a guy lose a ring that his dad had given him, which is granddad had given him...it was a pinky ring, and we all told him not to wear it, but he said he never took it off...a bit of fish blood and slime, sure enough that sucker came off and in the drink it went....

I feel your pain though Darren, that Stella must have hurt

[Stephen Polzin]

I absent-mindedly left four outfits at the ramp one day including stella, saltiga, spinfisher, inter.  Didn't realise til I got home.  Was a pretty sick feeling.  Fortunately I put a reward notice in the local paper and got them back.  Now I've got sufficient insurance to cover any such future disasters!

[Greg Burt]

I had that strange, hollow feeling, when I did a Warwick at Bugatti casting into the wind with my Zenaq and a new SW Stella, between me, Sam and Dean we picked up the floating popper and pulled the whole spool of line in [open bail] till we could pull up the combo, the reel lives.

[Travis Heaps]

I had that strange, hollow feeling, when I did a Warwick at Bugatti casting into the wind with my Zenaq and a new SW Stella, between me, Sam and Dean we picked up the floating popper and pulled the whole spool of line in [open bail] till we could pull up the combo, the reel lives.

    Another good reason to make sure your line is tied tight to the spool hey Greg!

[Andre van Wyk]

Wow, some horror stories here, I don't feel so bad about mine now....

I lost the very first "high end" rod I ever bought myself when I was 15... was a mean bad ass, Team Daiwa Larry Nixon rod, that I bought with many saved poctet money's and saved up cash from life guarding.... Used it for everything from bassing to fishing plastics offshore, best fish being a Grouper/Cod/Trout of about 8 kilos and a mulitude of little Trevally's and others....

Surf launching on our Zodiac with a buddy after school one day, we had the rods lying flat on the deck as the surf was around 4ft, and we had about 300 metres of white water to punch.... somehow the bl00dy rod managed to slide backwards on the deck and slip itself out through the scuppers in the transom...... only noticed when we were rigging up 20 minutes later.... bugger!

My first Wahoo when I was living in the Caribbean, similar story... Had a beuat little custom stick I used for everything from throwing plugs to swimming livebaits for Tarpon, and doubled as a nice little lifght trolling outfit... Couple of us on board a friends Mako CC, more of a booze cruise than a fishing mission, I got hit on a broken back minnow....
We'd caught a bunch of small Barracuda, which are a pest in Cayman, and figured it was another but the fish took off at pace, and turned out to be a little 'Hoo in the 10 kilo range.... As she got boatside, we realised no gaff on board, so my mate leaned over and tailed her, and as they do, she went ballistic and threw the minnow immediately.... being my first 'Hoo I didn't want my mate to drop her, so put the rig down behind me and dived to help get the 'Hoo on board.... little did I know that in my haste, I didn't realise that "behind me" was actually overboard..... over a 1000ft deep drop off..... once again once noticed when it was time to set lines again....

I've chucked a very favourite ring into the ocean too.... present from my Mom, an awesome old chunk of silver.... was just a little big for my ring finger, but I didn't want to wear it on the middle finger, so insisted on keeping it on the ring finger.... Gutting Spaniards on the beach in Mozambique, I chucked a handfull of gills and guts into the surf and along with it, my ring went flying into the surf.... forever gone...

Geez, I never realised how many of these stories I've got.....

[Ken Best]

Last year I went freshwater Barramundi fishing at my local, Lake Awoonga.
After the days fishing was back at the ramp and put my tackle bag on the rear step of my boat. As I got out, it fell off, the zip was open and all the trays fell out. Three trays out of ten were not clipped shut so all of a sudden I was surrounded by around 60 floating and tangled Barra lures!!
Not funny for me, but the guy putting his boat in beside me nearly had a hernia laughing. I got them all back thankfully.

Darren, a Stella, very sad day.

[Graham Scott]

Many Years ago myself and 3 mates were estuary fishing around Yeppoon on a cold winter's morning. It had been pretty boring when we spotted one of the biggest stringrays I had ever seen. We stopped luring and motored over for a look see. Of course it took off across the shallows so we gave chase at speed. I saw the Ray do a sharp left so I followed....just as 2 of the guys stood up for a better look... All 3 fell out of the boat into 1.5m of freezing cold water (for the tropics). I was so doubled over laughing I couldn't go back and get them, they had to wade over to me.
So I have lost my entire crew overboard...beat that, although Ken, that must have looked funny.

[Darren Cook]

So I have lost my entire crew overboard...beat that, although Ken, that must have looked funny.

Huh?.....Crew are easily replaced.

[Mark Stotesbury]

1 crew member , 2- 70vsw penn internationals on custom calstar rods,1 shimano tiagra 50w on daiwa 24kg stp .wedding ring cleaning a yellowfin tuna .