David Walker described one scene in his Coosa River “adventure” Sunday this way: “I’m using my Evinrude (outboard motor) like a Stihl chainsaw right now.”
In finishing 9th at the Alabama River Charge presented by Star brite, the Sevierville, Tenn., pro boated through much more treacherous waters than the place where he got stuck on a rock Sunday.
“When people in kayaks are cheering you on, you know you’re in a place you’re not supposed to be,” Walker said.
But the continually dropping water level in the Coosa River below Jordan Dam created hazards in new places every day. It was at mid-morning on the final day when Walker’s Ranger boat got stuck on a boulder in Corn Creek Shoals just above the Coosa River Parkway Bridge in Wetumpka.
Walker had an audience, too, including fellow competitors Brent Chapman and Steve Kennedy, plus Bassmaster.com photographers James Overstreet and Seigo Seito.
“I noticed nobody called 9-1-1,” laughed Walker on the weigh-in stage Sunday, remarking about the lack of help from his fellow pros.
With the river flowing swiftly around his suddenly stationary boat, Walker and cameraman Marty Dashiell had a few minutes of high adventure. At one point, Walker’s boat was pushed into flooded tree limbs while the hull remained anchored on the boulder.
Finally, after revving his outboard in every direction possible, Walker got ungrounded. A few minutes later, after he replaced his now dog-eared prop, Walker boated upstream past Corn Creek Shoals to some bigger whitewater challenges, but he had no more incidents like this.
Check out the scenes documented by Overstreet and Seito in the following photo gallery.