The Holly Pond Fishing Team captured the inaugural Cullman County High School Fishing Championship this past weekend on Lake Guntersville. The team had a combined weight of 49.32 pounds to take first place.

There are few things that happen in a person’s lifetime that can be labeled “life altering.” Maybe it’s a birth of a child, the loss of a loved one or even a brush with death that can sometimes cause a person a take a step back and re-evaluate things in their life. Well, that dreaded “brush with death” landed in my lap on Wheeler Lake on Saturday, May 3.

As many of you know, I was involved in a boating accident that injured me and my partner, Danny Pettus of Madison, on that day. We were competing in the Homeland Security tournament put on annually on Wheeler. An early morning launch found the water just about as slick as glass and we decided to run to the lower end of the lake toward Spring Creek. We made a few unsuccessful stops and decided to make our way back toward Decatur to beat the predicted winds that were coming in around lunchtime.

Making our way from the old Lucy’s Branch Marina area, we were headed to Mallard Creek. A light wind had gotten up just enough to put a small ripple on the water and we were cruising toward the main channel running in the 50s when it happened. A log! A low floating, mostly submerged log is where we both almost met our demise. The log sat behind a small wake and there was no veering to miss it in the amount of time that we both actually saw it. My motor center punched it. What happened next only took less than one or two seconds. The awful sound of the log impacting the motor was nothing compared to what was coming. A split second after impact all I felt was a huge jolt between my shoulder blades and the loud screaming of the rpm’s of a boat motor landing on me, crushing me between it, the steering wheel and my console.

My motor had broken from its motor mounts and came in the boat on us still running, prop still turning and 600 plus pounds of metal and blades impacting everything and everyone in its path. The main motor section hit me in the back while the lower unit section landed on my partner. The skeg of the motor broke as it impacted his head leaving a huge gash. The momentum of the prop then caused the lower unit to go down and the prop cut his leg. All the while the entire motor is moving toward and over me. The prop then impacted the center glove box of the boat one time, then my left leg took the brunt of the speed of impact as the prop, still turning about 5,000 rpms, also cuts my leg, makes it way up and over my head having a slight impact on my left shoulder as the entire motor goes over my right shoulder into the water.

All this happened in a blink of an eye. It’s hard to explain the noise, the impact and pretty much the total terror that went on during those precious few seconds. My first words after looking at my partner were “We’re hurt bad buddy.” I glanced down at my shorts, noticed some huge tears and blood and simply got a death grip to stop the bleeding. I didn’t know how deep the cuts were, but could see my leg didn’t look right. I handed Danny a towel that had flown in my lap and told him to keep pressure on his head. That was about another three or four seconds and then we were both on the phone calling for help. We both went into mild shock, fortunately years of training in law enforcement for both of us, surfaced to keep us as calm as possible.

It seemed like an hour passed before help arrived even though it was only minutes. We were both taken by Marine Police to the nearest ramp and transported by ambulance to Decatur General Hospital. Fortunately neither of us suffered the first broken bone. Staples, stitches and a hematoma and bruise from my hip to my knee were our only injuries. We were lucky! It wasn’t our day to die! I’ve always read how fatalities usually happen when this exact same things takes place. It happens more times than it should, but most don’t live to tell the story. Thankfully, we are both still around to tell the tale. Many haven’t been that lucky that this exact same thing has happened to. To all my family and friends, THANK YOU! The overwhelming support I’ve received the last couple of weeks has been humbling and has made me more thankful than ever for all the gifts that life has given. Boats can be fixed. Motors can be replaced and fishing can wait a while until wounds mend. Being around to tell the story is what I’m most thankful for.

FISHING NEWS

The inaugural Cullman County High School Championship took place this past weekend on Guntersville Lake. Teams from around the county launched at Browns Creek ramp at safe light in search of the County Championship trophy. “We had all the schools represented except Hanceville” said Fairview Coach Heath Daniel. “Every school that participated is excited about the upcoming season and this first County Championship turned out great for the kids” he said. There were over 250 people that showed up for the weigh-in held at Fairview H.S. after the event. All the fish were brought to the weigh-in and then taken back by release tank to Guntersville to be put back in the lake.

The format for the tournament is that only the top three team’s weights of each school is tallied for the total official weight. The Holly Pond Broncos took home the Championship trophy with a total weight of 49.32 pounds. The team of Zeb Hassle and Griffin Stephens had the best limit of 23.06 with Hassle winning big fish with a 6.48 pound largemouth. “Our local sponsors helped up get this thing up and going and we couldn’t have done it without them. A huge thanks to Mitch Smith Chevrolet, Simcoe Wood Products and the Cullman Wal-Mart for helping these kids along the way” said tournament director Heath Daniel.

WHAT’S BITING?

Smith Lake: Numbers are off the chart on Smith Lake. Small swimbaits such as skinny dippers and swimming flukes are catches good numbers of spotted bass on points and deep pockets. Largemouth bite is good early on topwater and stripe are moving into the creeks and hitting small swimbaits also.

Guntersville Lake: Crankbaits and swimbaits are the tickets to big bags of largemouth. Main channel ledges are producing good catches on both the swimbait and crankbait all during the day. Crappie bite has slowed. Stripe bite is picking back. Topwater bass bite is excellent early on spooks and sammys.  

Wheeler Lake: Largemouth is good mid-river. Decatur area is producing good catches on small crankbaits and jigs. Wheeler crappie bite is good on live bait around blow downs and brush piles.

TOURNAMENT RESULTS

Cullman County H.S. Championship, Guntersville

First place: Holly Pond, 49.32

2nd place: Fairview, 48.69

3rd place: Good Hope, 46.15

Upcoming Events

Cullman County Park and Rec will host the first annual Smith Lake Park Bass Fest, Oct. 3rd and 4th. Guaranteed first place is $10,000. Entry fee is $125 per team. Register online at smithlakeparkbassfest.com.