Digesting lower units

Way back when, the Flowage was considerably more hazardous than it is today. I’d venture to guess that in the past 50 years, some 90% of the stumps and leaners that used to be prevalent have been scooped-up and taken away by annual ice-outs each spring. In those days it was not uncommon at all for some lower units to be taken by the angry TFF Gods when unwary boaters sped through certain areas. (When I say, “sped,” I mean about a fast as a seven-horsepower Mercury or 9.5 Evinrude could move a 14-foot boat. If confronted with anything with more horsepower than that it was considered that the boat owner was, without doubt, courting a death wish.)

Back in the days before there were clutch systems for props, a dozen shear pins were considered to be “minimum equipment” along with an adequate amount of gasoline, of course. All too often a prop would be lost during the process of changing a shear pin. The best course of action was to lift the entire engine into the boat to make the change. It was quicker, but riskier, to lean out over the stern and try to accomplish the task without removing the injured powerplant off the stern and into the boat. Most times, such a “shortcut” worked. Unfortunately, at other times, it didn’t. I guess that’s why Newton invented oars. (Or was it gravity that he invented?)

Believe it or not, a similar situation regarding missing lower units used to occur in
Florida. There’s a body of water called “Charlotte Harbor.” It’s on the southwest corner of Florida. It empties into the Gulf of Mexico at a place called Boca Grande Pass. An engineered deep channel runs through this pass and on out into the Gulf. Ore boats used to negotiate this deep channel to load-up at what are now non-existing docks at Boca Grande Pass.

But, this pass is now famous for tarpon fishing. It’s probably the best tarpon fishing area in the world. It could be said that the tarpon is the saltwater equivalent to the status of the freshwater musky. It’s much desired as strictly a “trophy fish.”

Years ago, there was a preponderance of missing lower units that afflicted tarpon-fishing boats that were inclined to take a “shortcut” prior to following the Boca Grande deep-water channel out for a prescribed distance. Naturally, in such cases boaters were reluctant to accept blame for running aground and causing the loss of their lower unit. So, the blame was put upon a certain huge hammerhead shark that came to be known as “Old Hitler.”

As the story went, Old Hitler had a propensity to chew off lower units from innocent and unsuspecting boats. Tales of such “attacks” would sometimes appear in the local newspapers, and would even make the evening TV news now and then. It was obviously a hammerhead shark with a veracious appetite - - considering the number of lower units it digested.

If one were visiting this part of Florida and sitting at a local establishment while partaking of a favorite brew, an Old Hitler tale would invariably be told in earnest by some unfortunate angler. On such occasions I could not help but respond by mentioning that my “old timer status” was such that I could remember the days back when we still called Old Hitler, “Young Adolph.”

However, that never prompted any of the younger anglers to grace me with a fresh, frosty beverage. I think they probably detected my disbelief regarding the authenticity of a lower-unit-eating hammerhead shark known as “Old Hitler.”

More can be learned by using Google and inserting "Boca Grande Old Hitler."

Musky Mauler

Love your messages MM!

I too am kind of an old timer. Been going to the TFF since 1960 when I was 13. That was when they marked the channel up to the dam with red flags on top of logs. Stay between the flags and you were safe. The flags stopped at the dam.

Myself, my younger brother and a close friend (still joins us on our fall trips) had the boat from about 10 am until 4 pm or so every day. We always figured, the hell with the flags, we wanted to explore. So we headed out into the Big Waters or to the Lake ten area and just killed the walleyes (6.5 hp motor no less and yes, we had about a dozen shear pins).

So one day I walk into the lodge at O'Meara's resort where we always stayed (later became Idle Shores) with our stringer of walleyes. The bar was loaded at mid afternoon and everyone was impressed. One guy asked where we caught them and I said l
Lake Ten. He replied, "oh, I thought you were fishing the flowage". I said "we were, Lake Ten is one of the original lakes that were flooded when the flowage was created. It's past the dam to Sandy Point and then hang a right". He looks at me and says "past the dam"! Almost nobody went past the dam back then.

So that evening my dad tells me he wants to fish where we caught all those fish this afternoon. We head out, motor past the dam, get to Sandy Point and he shuts off the motor. Ahead of us was a log infested nightmare, but for us kids it was fun. I said "why did you stop? We still have to go at least another mile". He looks at me and says, "we're not going in there", and we didn't.

I didn't get my dad to the Lake Ten area until I had my own family and took him in my boat, about 20 years later.

Yep, Don, that sounds like the Flowage of "the old days." Of course, 50 years from now, THESE will be "the good old days." I liked shore lunches on pump island back then. Plenty of driftwood all over the place for an easy cooking fire. Walleyes were especially delicious if they still wiggled a bit when you put the filets in the pan and over the fire. All in all, it was beautiful. Come to think of it - - it still is.

Musky Mauler