[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=331902#p331902 said:
T Man » 48 minutes ago[/url]"]I also hit a 45lb carp with my prop while on plane this summer.
I've seen boats out here hit stingrays in shallow water. They go to flipping everywhere when they get hit!
This past summer, we were going back in my channel at low tide, and while we didn't actually hit it, the prop wash spooked a trout that ran up into the shallows and got stuck up in an oyster bed, and couldn't flop back into the deeper water to swim off. (We immediately netted him and put it in the cooler, and had trout for dinner!)
When I lived in Cherry Grove, about 1988, they were clearing land over on Little River Neck to build Tidewater golf course. Apparently this activity displaced some wildlife, including snakes, because, I saw a HUGE snake swimming across Williams Creek over toward Cherry Grove. Not sure what kind it was, but I circled around with the intent of running it over (in hindsight, not a wise choice). Well, when I hit it at full throttle, I got an unexpected surprise. The motor didn't kick up, but it snatched the tiller out my hand, and the boat lurched sideways, and I nearly went out.
Immediately I started looking for the snake, with my dip net, because I was going to take it back to show to some people I was sure would doubt my story. My guess is when it was hit, it sank, because I never found it, or any part of it, and like I suspected, when I told people about it, they didn't believe that a 6 foot long snake was swimming across the surface of saltwater.
Still don't know what it was, but my suspicion is probably an eastern diamondback, as they are known to swim from island to island, saltwater is not a problem for them. A few years ago, I found out from a herpetologist that moccasins can also live around saltwater, so, it may have been a moccasin. Either way, my decision to hit it probably wasn't the best, both in terms of needlessly killing a snake, and it terms of risk to myself, either being launched out the boat, or having the engine kick up and fling a huge snake in the boat with me!
Hitting large fish, or large snakes isn't really considered hitting something 'solid' but it'll **** sure get your attention! :shock: