When things can go bad in a hurry

rickydbasser · Post by **rickydbasser** » Sat Sep 21, 2013 8:05 am

Two days ago I was fishing smallmouth on American Lake. Without going into details, I fell out of my boat, and I was not wearing a life jacket. I had one in my boat, but that was of no help then. After several attempts I could not get back in my boat. And, worse yet, I found the strength in my 68 year old body quickly fading, to the point that I could hardly hold onto the side of my boat with my saturated clothes and coat pulling me down. Finally in desperation I threw my leg over the whale tail on my outboard, pulled myself up and straddled it. With my arms wrapped in a death grip around my outboard, I was going to stay with my boat until someone saw me, or I drifted to a shoreline. It ended up being the latter. After over an hour clinging to my motor a soft breeze finally blew me into a shoreline. I will not mince words, my experience scared the living **** out of me.
I have never worn my life jacket while fishing simply because it is cumbersome and hot, and I refused to pay the cost of the much-easier-to-wear inflatable models. The very next day I went to Sportco and bought an inflatable life jacket which I will faithfully wear anytime I am in a boat. What seemed like too much money to pay for an inflatable life jacket before now seems like such a joke.
Especially fishing alone, for God's sake, wear a life jacket! I picked a hell of a way to learn the lesson to pass on.

Post by **kodacachers** » Sat Sep 21, 2013 8:18 am

A great reminder and thanks for bringing this home to us!! I love my inflatable, but must admit I don't wear it all the time, particularly in fresh water!!

rickydbasser · Post by **rickydbasser** » Sat Sep 21, 2013 8:53 am

Of course, what I have to say is coming from a 68 year old man. But I also had a life jacket in my boat, but fishing alone, it might as well have been on another planet for all the good it did me. And, believe me, attempting to get back in a boat with saturated clothes is no easy task. And like me, then what do you do? Fishing alone, which I do the large majority of the time, I will never again be found not wearing my flotation device. I know where you're coming from about being lax about wearing a PFD, especially in fresh water. But last time I checked the human lungs don't handle fresh water any better than they do salt water. One can drown you just as well as the other.

rcthepirate · Post by **rcthepirate** » Sat Sep 21, 2013 9:40 am

I started wearing an inflatable this season, and I require anyone on by boat to wear one at all times as well. It just doesn't make any sense not to. Sorry you had to go through all of that! Glad it was a happy ending though, and hopefully people who read your account of what happened will take something away from it.

Post by **Mike Carey** » Sat Sep 21, 2013 9:53 am

Glad you're OK. Age has nothing to do with it, and we often read about young healthy guys drowning. A fall, a hard knock on the head, into the water, and that's all it takes.

A good reminder for us all. Thanks.

Anglinarcher · Post by **Anglinarcher** » Sat Sep 21, 2013 10:32 am

Hey guys, I was looking at buying a new boat, and if I do, it WILL HAVE A BUILT IN LADDER. For now, I have made a rope ladder that rolls up and stays in the space by the back motor where I can reach it if I go in.

The point you have made is valid, but a lot of our fishing is in cold water and your life jacket will just make it easier for them to find your dead body. If you don't have a way to get back into the boat, where I hope you have dry clothes, materials to make a fire once you get back to shore, perhaps a hot drink, then the life jacket is ..... OK, I already mentioned that.

So, learn from the lesson rickydbasser has taught us, but remember that it is only part of the lesson.

Richydbasser, you are lucky the water is still warm. If that had happened in October to April, we would not be so fortunate to be reading your report.

needs2hunt · Post by **needs2hunt** » Sat Sep 21, 2013 10:52 am

First off... glad you are alright... lucky the water temps are what they were...

this should be a learning experience for everyone...

I always keep a lifejacket on deck easy to reach if I end up taking a spill... tied to it is also a whistle... just in case, to get someone's attention... i wear my lifejacket everytime the big motor is fired up ...(except Sawyer 5mph zone for the most part)... I have a few things i want to do to boat, as in upgrades for emergency's ... i want to get a ladder... but for now i have learned to use the cavitation plate and the trim button to pick me up out of the water... I have the whistle but I want a horn mounted on the boat, that i can reach while in the water... I also for the most part don't fish alone... I have squatch to keep me company most of the time...

Ricky, i hope this won't keep you from going out??? good luck... and be safe...

zen leecher · Post by **zen leecher** » Sat Sep 21, 2013 11:10 am

Back in 1974 my brother in law and I bought a boat that was salvaged from the bottom of Lake Washington. On our maiden voyage I didn't have a life jacket as I said, "I don't need one".

We had an issue with the motor cabling and how the motor was clamped to the boat's transom. The motor was cranked on full and sideways to the transom. The edge of the boat was within inches of going under the surface of the water before I got to the back of the boat and pushed the throttle cable to idle down the motor.

I bought a life jacket before our next outing and have worn it since.

Have gone "swimming" twice since then in other boats and the life jacket was the only reason I came back from the 2nd "swimming" incident. At least back breathing and upright.

Jerry H · Post by **Jerry H** » Sat Sep 21, 2013 2:04 pm

The last gift my fishing partners wife gave him before she past away was a life jacket and she made him promise to always wear it. The first fishing season after her death that life jacket saved his life. A wave on Garibaldi Bar came from a different direction than the rest and he didn't see it. It turned the boat over and dumped him in the water. It was witnessed from shore and on the water. Near by boats and Tillamook Bay coast guard responded. Still he was in the water for at least 10 minutes. He was 80+ if not for the life jacket he would not have made it to fish several more years before going to be with his wife again.

Glad you are ok. Thank you for the reminder to always wear our life jackets.

BARCHASER10 · Post by **BARCHASER10** » Sat Sep 21, 2013 2:32 pm

Thank you for your post. I'm 69 and I hear you. I've been wearing inflatable life jackets for 7-8 years. I fish mostly in the salt in my Seahawk. It has got to the point where I feel naked without my inflatable on.

I don't think I would have made it.

Creation · Post by **Creation** » Sat Sep 21, 2013 6:04 pm

Agree with how age has nothing to do with it. I was jet skiing last summer and blew the motor on a choppy day. Wetsuit and life jacket saved my life. 5 straight hours of swimming with the Jetski, getting pounded by waves and wind and I made it to shore, it was dark, I was cold and throwing up from dehydration and naseau. I could have left the ski but at times I needed it to rest on.

I'll never go out on water without one, fresh or salt. Plants, mud, flow of the water... Many things can stop you from getting back up, but extra flotation will never hurt anything and if you think it looks goofy, buy a inflatable and wear it under something.

Swim team from middle school to college and I still was close to passing out.

Rosann G · Post by **Rosann G** » Sat Sep 21, 2013 8:47 pm

Glad you are ok!

dea · Post by **dea** » Mon Sep 23, 2013 7:54 am

That's a big Whew!

I grew up on Lake Washington. I have been pushed by brothers-n-sisters off the dock into winter freezing water multiple times. Luckily the water was not over our heads, but being that it was chest height, it took two days worth of energy to drag ourselves back to shore.

Those memories remind me to wear my PDF everytime I get into my kayak and dingy and I do just that.

rickydbasser · Post by **rickydbasser** » Mon Sep 23, 2013 8:50 am

Thank you all for your added insight, and best wishes. Looking back, thinking I was secure in having a life jacket in the boat was so asinine. Fishing alone, if I fell in, which I obviously did, how was I planning on getting to my life jacket, which could only be accessed by being in the boat? But let's say my life jacket was within reach while I clung to the side of the boat. Then I would have had to put it on. It is difficult to fathom how quickly one's strength is sapped from a body dressed in water-soaked clothing. And attempting to put on a life jacket while these water-soaked clothes are pulling you down is no easy task. I know. I tried unsuccessfully to simply let go of the boat and take off my coat and immediately sank like a rock. That was when I actually thought that might be it. I was going to drown. It literally took all my remaining strength to struggle back to the surface and grab the boat's edge. Forget about getting back in the boat, that is when I went into just surviving mode, and straddled my outboard's whale tail and just hung on for dear life. Bottom line, get an easy-to-wear and comfortable inflatable life jacket, and just wear it. I bought mine at Sportco in Fife for $90.00. Do you think your life is worth that much? Obviously, I didn't.

bothellfisher · Post by **bothellfisher** » Mon Sep 23, 2013 8:52 am

This is a great reminder for all who boat... Be it in the Salt, on a lake or in a River you should always wear a PFD. I know first hand how quickly things can go downhill once you are in water. I had to jump in and save a 20-something man who's kayak capsized in the Snohomish river last month. He started screaming that he could not swim once he was in the water (WTF). As well another WL member (Oneshot) had to do the same thing on a lake earlier this spring with a another Kayaker who could not get back on his Kayak and was stuck in the middle of the lake. In both instances things were starting to get bad very quick. Both of these two guys were lucky to have people near them to help. You (rickydbasser) were extremely lucky there was a breeze that was able to push you near a shoreline... if there is one thing I have learned this season is to always wear a PFD when in a boat even if it seems safe it can turn bad real quick... Just thankful you were able to come out safe.

FlyGirl · Post by **FlyGirl** » Mon Sep 23, 2013 10:43 am

So glad your safe!! Everyone is right, age has no meaning in the water. A thing to remember is when you are wading as well, you can slip and fall just as easy and get caught in the current. A PFD fishing vest is a good idea. You can put your gear in it in lieu of a fishing vest, but still have the security of a life vest. Be safe out there!! No fish is worth your life.

rickydbasser · Post by **rickydbasser** » Mon Sep 23, 2013 11:56 am

FlyGirl, you are so right. Waders filled with water, whether hip or chest, can be an angler's death trap. For me, attempting to tread water with tennis shoes was hard enough. For an angler falling in a river with its current, it would not be good.

FlyGirl · Post by **FlyGirl** » Mon Sep 23, 2013 2:41 pm

Ricky, that thought has been weighing heavy on me this season. Really thinking of getting a pair of hip waders instead of my chest waders.... I always have my knife within close reach..... But I wear stocking foot waders. How do I get the boots off in time, I always wonder what would be worse. Cut waders..... Holy cow!!!! I just had an epiphany. Just slice open the waders, not cut them off..... Man, I Iove talking things out!! Simple answer that has been eluding me. Duh!!!

Post by **Bodofish** » Mon Sep 23, 2013 5:42 pm

FlyGirl wrote:Ricky, that thought has been weighing heavy on me this season. Really thinking of getting a pair of hip waders instead of my chest waders.... I always have my knife within close reach..... But I wear stocking foot waders. How do I get the boots off in time, I always wonder what would be worse. Cut waders..... Holy cow!!!! I just had an epiphany. Just slice open the waders, not cut them off..... Man, I Iove talking things out!! Simple answer that has been eluding me. Duh!!!

Best is inflatable PFD. If you go down it blows up. You don't have enough time to kick off hippers or cut waders. A good waist strap and a PFD.

rickydbasser · Post by **rickydbasser** » Tue Sep 24, 2013 7:59 am

As an old person would say, I hate to throw a wet adult diaper on your idea, but I am not quite sure slicing open the boots would be much help. Pretty hard to drain water out of a boot when it's underwater. And attempting to retrieve a knife, bring it to use, cut the boots, wait for whatever effect that might have, if any, can be an eternity when tumbling in a current and breathing water at the same time. Like I said, falling in a river with waders on is not good. But here is an idea. Back in my younger days I salmon and steelhead fished the Carbon and Puyallup Rivers. That was when those rivers were in their heyday. Anyway, I also wore chest waders. Though I never fell in to test my theory, I wore a belt around my mid section that held my egg box. And I always kept it cinched up tight, making it more difficult for water to enter if I did fall in. Add to that an inflatable life jacket, and your chances of survival increase greatly. Anyway, food for thought.

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