Oh...then there's the time I forgot to lower the Power-Poles before pulling the boat out of the garage.

 

I totaled the garage door.

I have often forgotten where I put my lures.

I made about $500 worth of baits to take to a show in Nebraska in January, and I have no idea what I did with them? I thought I put them in my garage in a bag, but they aren’t there. I’ve torn the house apart but I’m afraid they might have been thrown away during my kids birthday parties last week 🤦‍♂️

27 minutes ago, Glenn said:

Oh...then there's the time I forgot to lower the Power-Poles before pulling the boat out of the garage.

 

I totaled the garage door.

 

You're winning  

I forgot all my soft plastics once. Digging through my gear I found a bag of Gitzits. Texas rigged them and had a good day. That showed me how versatile tubes are.

 

In 2024 I drove 30 miles to an oxbow lake with a one man plastic boat in the truck. I forgot the battery. Went back , retrieved it, back to the oxbow lake and got skunked.

3 hours ago, T-Billy said:

forgot to hook up the launch rope once.

Haven’t done that … yet…

I have to be the checklist man.

Otherwise there will be problems.

This one goes on the steering wheel of the truck before every trip.

A-Jay

 

I once forgot my entire cook kit on a solo wilderness trip. A typical cook kit consists of two pots that nest inside each other, a frying pan for a lid, and a handle that works with all three. I was contemplating working my way out of the bush, but going to a town both takes time and means leaving Heaven-on-Earth to return to Earth. Then, two canoeists passed my campsite. I hailed them, we chatted, I shared my situation, and they gave me one of their two pots. That worked!

Over the years I have forgotten my fishing license, cell phone, crankbait box, water, lunch, TP, flashlight, gloves, and rubber boots, bug spray, and sunblock.  Like @A-Jay I now make a checklist.

In the late '70s I took my 2 kids on a camping/fishing trip to a central CA lake.  Momma didn't go and kids were daughter 4 and son 9.  Got there, checked in, got a campsite and went to launch the boat.  Launched, parked the camper, cabover, at the campsite and walked back to the boat.  Noticed the boat was funny.  Forgot the plug and the 2 6 gallon gas tanks were both floating.  Installed the plug and asked a woman, that just launched her larger boat if she'd let my put my boat on her trailer to drain it. Took about 15 or 20 minutes to drain.  I had a 16' deep V trihull.  The rest of the weekend was uneventful as we had fun and caught some fish.  My son went water skiing with daughter as the observer.

My last two trucks routinely remind me that I need to ensure

that I am not leaving my child in the back seat before I depart the vehicle.

My son's 40 years old, married, and lives on the south shore of NJ.

But sometimes I check just in case.

You never know . . . .

 🤓

A-Jay

3 hours ago, A-Jay said:

I have to be the checklist man.

 

YEP ...  Being career military, I can't see you NOT checking your re-check list @ 0230 hours the night before.

 

You set a great example for the rest of us.

 

1 hour ago, Bankbeater said:

I have forgotten my fishing license

 

I have print copies in my boat, kayak, glove box, plus a digital copy on my phone.

 

I've only run into an Environmental Cop twice in forever.  It got very casual both times when they saw my FD plates and sticker on my truck.

@Glenn

After reading the whole thread......you could tear up a digging iron. 😅

I’ve forgotten to put the plug in before. Only made that mistake once.

 

This next one I have zero clue how I did it but I did. I hooked the boat up, hopped in the truck, and took off. I made it about 20’ and heard and thumping noise and felt like I was dragging something. I walk back to the boat to notice I forgot to put the trailer jack up! Absolutely destroyed the wheel and bent the flange the wheel bolts to. 🤦🏼‍♂️

I don't remember. 

Like many others, I have forgotten to put the plug in. 

The thing I've forgotten the most is re-tightening my drag after retying or pulling out a tangle.

It results in me trying out new combinations of "words" after setting the hook. 

I was out in my old V-hull with my wife and two little ones. A storm blew in unexpectedly with winds topping 40mph. I wasted no time firing up the outboard and took off for the launch ramp. Bucking the wind the entire way, we finally made it only to find that I was dragging the anchor the entire way back.

The one that sticks out off the top of my head is we got all the way to the lake and I forgot the trolling motor in the garage. It was about a 2 hour drive 1 way. I didn't own an outboard at the time. This was my only means of propulsion. It was a busy holiday weekend anyways, so we just went back home. My buddy wasn't happy. 

One time I was sitting on a hill glassing for game with a client.  We had just heard that morning that a float plane had crashed on a lake not to far from us.  The reason for the crash, was the float plane had amphibious floats.  The pilot had failed to raise the wheels before making a water landing.  The plane instantly flipped over causing many injuries.

 

The pilot had thousands of accident free flying hours in AK, and I mentioned that he obviously had so much time in that aircraft, that he routinely didn't use his before landing checklist.  

 

The client said he thought the pilot must have been a complete idiot.  Why would he need a checklist to remember to lift his landing gear.  I told him, that it is simply human nature to be absentminded, and that is why all good pilot use a checklist regardless of experience.

 

I then told him I new a man, that backed his car out of his garage without opening it.  This cliente looked away and got very quite.  He then admitted that he had ruined two garage doors by backing out without opening the doors.  He told me both times it was because he was in a hurry, and was distracted by something his wife said right before he left.  I mentioned that maybe the pilot in the accident was married, and for him to please not take up flying.  

 

 

On 12/23/2025 at 8:12 AM, VTFan said:

Oh Boy!!! I forgot my tackle box once, lucky for me I was with my son that day and could use his stuff. Another day I got half way across the lake and realized I'd left my rods in the back of my truck so back to the ramp we go. Not long ago my brother and I launched his boat and we get a hundred yards out and I realized I'd left same rods in his truck, back to ramp we go.

 

 

been there and done that, forgot my tackle and only had a this cheap Firetiger Bass Pro Shops Crappie Maxx Paddle Tail Minnow Jig tied on this spinning rod. Caught the biggest musky ever. 

I immediately forget what I was just doing when I hook into a fish

 

And after every YouTube video I watch that teaches me something new, I forget what I just watched

 

The second I close a Bassresource page, I forget what I just read

 

I wish this was more of a joke, buts its more like a cruel joke that I can't recall most of these things.

 

@A-Jay

What's a float plan?

8 hours ago, Banned User said:

I immediately forget what I was just doing when I hook into a fish

 

And after every YouTube video I watch that teaches me something new, I forget what I just watched

 

The second I close a Bassresource page, I forget what I just read

 

I wish this was more of a joke, buts its more like a cruel joke that I can't recall most of these things.

 

@A-Jay

What's a float plan?

Oh man this sounds so much like me!!! I feel for you brother!!!

 

They are probably several things but.....Sunscreen.  I was fishing in a tournament and got torched. My legs, face and neck blistered. I was burnt for a week.  

I've recounted the story of this day here before. The story is so long my fingers were bruised and bloody, so I'll just go over the highlights. C'mon, y'all know better than that.

 

The setup: I live at the northern end of Los Angeles County. 175 miles south in San Diego County is San Vicente Reservoir. Our company fishing club (a small company of 44,000 employees worldwide) was having a Saturday tournament there on Saturday. My wife and I stayed at her Aunt's home Friday night in Oceanside, and then I drove to San Vicente early Saturday morning.

 

I'll just say that you gotta be a rookie before you can be a veteran. And, on this day, I was definitely a rookie. But at least I didn't total my garage door. Honestly though, if I had power poles on that boat, I surely would have. Probably more than once.

 

I get to the lake early Saturday and (this being California where many of the lakes open at sometime after sunrise) the line to get in is about half a mile long. I start to prep my boat for the day and realize that I cannot find the key to my new Ranger 393. I search every nook and cranny three times and of course a mild panic has ensued. Some helpful soul suggested that Rangers only used a few different keys and that someone in line might be willing to let me try their spare. I went a-begging all the way to each Ranger in line and came up empty. I'm considering taking the "L" and take one last look and find it in the far reaches of the boat's glove box. . . . and voila! I find the key.

 

Crisis averted, and everyone lives happily after. . . . Not.

 

My dear friend Luke (RIP brother, I surely miss you) was having an issue too. His little Mazda B2000 wouldn't quite pull his 18' Tracker over the hill to get to the launch area. He eventually went into Lakeside and paid someone $20 to get him into the launch area , but was an hour late getting on the water.

 

Eventually it's my turn to get over the hill. It's so steep that people were waiting until the person in front made it over before they took their run. Luke was not the only one that couldn't make it and then you could back down the curvy road and decide to take another shot at it, or take the "L" and . . . . I don't even know.

 

I finally make it over the hump and into the launch, but mentally I am still trying to regain my composure. I back down the ramp (which didn't have a ton of incline to begin with) and the boats not floating off the trailer. I keep going back, and back, and "OH &^%$#$%" water is coming into the back seat floorboard. I pull forward and into the parking lot because there is a line waiting to launch and it would not have been cool to figure out my problem while they are waiting to launch. 

 

GAH! My straps are still binding the boat to the trailer. Smooth move Jeffro. I take off the straps and get back in line to launch. . . . and everyone lived happily ever after. . . . Not.

 

I launch and the big Ranger pops off the trailer like it should. I tie it off at the courtesy dock and park my car. I make it back to the boat and slowly idle out of the marina, ready for whatever this beautiful March morning has to offer. I pass the marker buoy and give it the beans. Water surges up through the floor drain. Ruh Roh!

 

I realize the I have not inserted the drain plug. I turn on the two 800 GPH bilge pumps and retrieve the plug from the glove box. I strip off all of the layers from my upper body and reach down over the transom searching for the drain hole. I find it and manage to eek it in there with the cold water lapping at my ear. Success! I layered back up and got ready to have a nice day of fishing. . . . . and everyone lived happily ever after. . . . Not so fast Jeffro.

 

As I once again pour the coal to that big beautiful 200 Merc, once again water surges up through the floor drain. I look at where the bilge pumps empty from and both are still pumping water out. I strip back down and lean over, water once again lapping into my ear, and locate another hole. I manage to remove the plug from the hole that leads to the livewell and get it into the proper hole from the bilge area and I once again layer up to finally get to fishing. . . . . and everyone lived happily ever after. No seriously, they did.

 

I managed to land one decent fish and it put me barely into "the money" LOL. My buddy Luke was able to join me and we had a relatively uneventful, beautiful day on the water, and I get to have a "three stooges go bass fishing" story that is beyond ridiculous almost 40 years later.