Fails from the Trail

Look out! It's the best in failing from the bassin' world.

Failing. We’ve all done it at some point or another, and although we can’t usually see them coming, we always hope no one gets hurt.

When we go fishing, there are plenty of things that can go wrong, and most of the risk lies before you even put your boat in the water. Trailering mishaps happen all the time, from blown tires to flaming hub bearings to the occasional boat leaving the trailer when water isn’t nearby. Though we can usually laugh at our mishaps afterward, a lesson lies in each incident, whether it’s never forget to put the drain plug in or to make sure the transom straps are tight before hitting the highway. Before checking into this series of mishaps, we suggest you double check your insurance coverage.

We put a call out on the B.A.S.S. Facebook page for subscribers to share with us their most memorable fails, and we got some whoppers.

This week’s Fail from the Trail comes to us from Bassmaster Elite Series pro Dave Smith of Oklahoma. Smith was traveling to a Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Northern Open on Lake Erie in the late summer of 2009 when his Ranger left its trailer in a downpour.

“I was on the east side of Indianapolis, and it had been pouring rain all day long and the roads were slick,” Smith said. “There’s a turn there that’s pretty sharp; and when I took it, the truck hydroplaned then the trailer starting buggy-whipping over and over again. I couldn’t get control of it, and it hit the guardrail and came completely off the trailer.

“The highway patrol was really nice to me, and after we got it all sorted out I called up to Ranger in Arkansas; by the time I got there, they had a new boat waiting for me,” he said. “No one was hurt but it really kind of alarmed me. I did notice on the way back that there was a flashing light at that turn.”

Do you have a fail worth sharing? Send a photo or two along with a story about what happened to tallen@bassmaster.com.