The Fishing Weatherman

If you recall, I was one that lost my boat in the Campbell Point Marina ice storm collapse last month. I have a 1990 vintage Fish N Ski/ 1998 150 Merc Engine. The dock came down on the boat, submerged the boat and moter for a time and then resurfaced. Needless to say the boat and motor were severely damaged. My insurance company is State Farm. Thankfully I carried a replacement policy that covered the boat. State Farm has been great through this whole process. The policy I had will provide a replacement boat at a value almost 5 times the cash value of my old boat before the accident. Needless to say..I'm going boat shopping next week. Hope to be on the water soon.

Just got a call from Campbell Point. It seems that a big brown box with 2 combination locks just floated to the top..... apparently my box with fishing gear. Did you guys ever see "Joe versus the Volcano" when the giant steamer trunks came shooting up out of the water? Anyway..some good news, but the reels are going to be very water-logged. Does anyone have any advice on how to salvage some water-soaked reels? I have a bunch of Team Diawa baitcasters and several Quatum energy spinners.

Well, yesterday I went down and got a personal look at all of the damage at Campbell Point. Wow, the pics on the web don't just cant show the level of devastation. The long metal docks that parallel the shore on either side of the marina store are ALL bent at 45 degrees toward the shore. The leg of the dock that my boat was on is completely destroyed and the roof collapsed on the boats . Demolition crews were already hauling pieces of this dock to the shore. On this leg of the dock, the lifts gave way and the boats momentarily went underwater as the heavy weight came down. Most of the boats apparently then rose to the top as the weight of the ice subsided. When they pulled my boat out of the rubble it was completely filled with water. Unfortunately the motor was certianly underwater for a time and then was out of the water for a couple overnight freeze/thaw cycles...thus its probly history. I am not sure yet about the hull condtion. I will learn that today when the mechanic hauls it out of the water. I appreciate the advice regarding homeowners coverage for my lost fishing rods/reels. When I spoke to the insurance company they kept talking about satisfying the "condition of peril" for rods/reels falling into the water either out of the boat or next to the boat. I am not clear why this "condition" is not met here. It all seemed very PERILOUS to me. I am going to continue to "negotiate" this issue with them. This is going to be a big hit to Campbell Point in these tough economic times. Evidently insurance coverage and satisfactory claims for ice damage on these big docks has become a ridiculously tough issue in recent years. I have been treated very fairly in my 13 years at Campbell Point and the management has always shown amazing integrity. I hope that they get through this episode successfully. This is always a time that the contentious will look for a way to point fingers of blame and do anything to get back what they have lost and seek nasty legal remedies. I hope that the residents there avoid this and take the high road to keep this great community. Everyone will lose a little in this. There is nothing quite as sweet as getting off work, driving to Shell Knob, dropping the boat, and catchin a keeper before dark. Hope to back "at it" soon.

Thanks...yes, I will keep hounding my agent once I know what I've really lost. Thanks for your advice. What is truly lost is all a mystery thus far. Of course this 50 degree day is killing me. I should using that boat today!!

Jay bird, Rods/reels were in the boat...tackle boxes were stored in locker next tothe boat. State Farm policies are quite good as far as the boat, motor and anything boat related. In fact the policy I have will not depreciate the value of my boat (its 12 years old) but the policy does state that no fishing gear is covered (either in or stored next to the boat). In order to have it covered I would have needed to have a separate rider on my homeowners policy. It was just bad luck... I had been fishing about once a week since October and had taken my gear back home each trip. This was the one time I decided to keep things locked up in my locker. (You would think that a meteorologist would know better) The debris/ice is still making the area inaccessible, but the dock owner believes that the locker is at the bottom of the lake. The dock owner says that he will be sending divers down so perhaps I will be able to salvage some. Oh another funny thing...the policy would have covered ski equipment but not fishing stuff....go figure?

I was one of the ice victims at Campbell Point Marina. I have not been down yet (I live in Spfld). The owner is keeping us out until safe. Frankly, I'm not looking forward to seeing the devastation, but it sounds like a total loss for my bass boat. Insurance will come through on the boat but not the fishing gear in the lockers. I started adding that gear up and I was getting sort of sick to my stomach. Hopefully the divers can recover some. I did a little calculation...at the time that the roof collapsed on my boat there was a ton of ice on the roof for every 10 square foot area. I have to look on the brightside. I get to go shopping for some new .... well, everything. Please leave a few in the lake for me until I can get back out there.