read this and learn

[zooker]

this was posted by my friend on a waterfowl site..we both duck hunt. but this is NOT a joke as i seen the guys out fishing earlier that day..

guys just a heads up of what I went through yesterday....

woke up @ 3am went hunting with a success(2 guns 7 birds) went back that evening, came home and went to cookout with friends. got home around 10:30 pm and was exhausted. the fire pager went off @ 01:46hrs for a boat wreck involving 2 boats. after I arrived on scene it was only 1 boat and NOT a wreck. from 3 witness' 2 people were in the boat fishing under the bridge in a 16' Glastron bass boat. started taking on water fast couldn't get the big motor started so they used trolling motor to try to make it back to the ramp ( about 100 yds away) they were yelling for help so the witness' were @ Tamarac ran around to the wildlife ramp to find the boat sunk and no people. after retrieving the boat which was 35 yds from the edge of the dock and after the recovery process 2 lives were lost. so the reason I'm telling ya'll the story is the guys had on heavy clothes (weight) and no PFD's plus 44degree water temp. it dont take long for shock and hyperthemia to set in. so guys remember to use your lifejackets. also unknown if victims could swim. man, only 35yds from safety. so a good day ended sadly.


BECAREFULL guys
4-stroke



did ya learn something???

nuff said..

zooker

[freakyfish]

Ya! Get a good boat.Or go duck hunting instead.(JUST KIDDING).I alway's wear a life jacket.I don't swim.

[MIbasser]

This has happened on my lake (Higgins Lake) a couple of times. It's a spring fed lake and water never gets warm till July. People don't realize what 45 degree water will do to you and how fast.

[bamabassman]

thanks zooker. sorry about the 2 guys. sad.

[Lancer6]

Zooker,

That's truly sad and, as you pointed out, it did not need to happen...and just before Christmas at that.
Please let us know if the families need a little help. I'm sure some of us can scrape up a little $ if you know it's needed. Even the poorest among us can realize that we must somehow find a way to pitch in.
If you want to organize a little benefit raffle I'll toss in some new hard lures, spinner baits and softies, a new spool of line, and some other stuff I had no business buying in the first place. Nowadays I don't need so much stuff anyway.
Prayers whispered as I type; More to come.

Lancer6

[cassidyta]

Originally Posted by freakyfish

Ya! Get a good boat.Or go duck hunting instead.(JUST KIDDING).I alway's wear a life jacket.I don't swim.

I can not stress this enough....I don't care if you can or can not swim, wear a PDF! I have seen and heard many people on the water who feel that they do not need them because they can swim and that is a dumb answer.

I am a damn good swimmer, I taught combat survival swimming to Marines and Navy Seals. The first lesson taught was how to use a floatation device. The second lesson was how to make a PDF out of your pants or jacket.
In 1994, I had to assist with Search and Recovery efforts after Southern California went through some massive flooding. All of my work was done on Camp Pendleton and sadly, we did recover three bodies. All three of those were qualified swimmers who were in great shape. A combination of panic and cold water led to their ends.
As part of my training, we had to get into sub 45 degree water (in a controlled state) just to show us what it would do to our muscles. You WILL lose if you try and fight mother nature on this!

[66KingFisher]

Because the lake I fish is a stump field, we seldom, if ever fire up the big motor other than just to idle across the lake...most of the time we just drop the troller and go.....so I never wear my PDF...its hangin on the back of my seat but unless i'm wearing it for warmth or when running the big motor I just don't wear it.....but the last time we went out fishing and the water was in the upper 40's I got to thinkin about how I always stand in the boat....now our boat is not a bass boat, but is an older style fiberglass that has sides that come up to almost my knees....but its very narrow....and on more than one occasion we've run into stumps or been blown into stumps hard enough that it almost threw me outta the boat....that wouldn't be bad during the warmer months but this time of year....brrrr, I don't wanna know whether or not I can get out of the water on my own...or even with my buddies help knowing that I out weigh him by 80lbs or so.....needless to say i've made myself sit down and fish when the water gets cold just to be on the safe side.....stories like this scare me ta death, even though i've always been a great swimmer....heck we used to swim in 50 degree spring fed waters.....but i'm alot older now, and my heart ain't as good it used to be, so i'm trying to err on the side of reason.

Sorry to hear about these guys.

[carolina-rig-01]

that is really a bad deal zooker, very sorry to hear it. that same thing happens around here every year, people just don't give water the respect it deserves not to mention frigid waters at that. wearing a pfd is a great point to make but taking a change of clothes with you in the boat is another thing that everyone should do but most of us either don't bother or don't think about it. i have heard it said that if you fall in water where the temps are in the 40's you have seconds not minutes to get out before your body starts to shut down. think of how heavy you are gonna be dressed and climbing in a bass boat in swimming trunks is hard enough.......could you do it in under a minute from the time you hit the water until you are in the boat. well if you did then that is half the battle, you now have a cold boat ride back to the truck and that boat ride is just as dangerous, but a change of clothes can really help out.

this time of year is some of the best crappie fishing around and i love crappie fishing with my grandfather. however as he gets older he isn't as sure footed as he once was and it scares me to death to think of what would happen if he should fall overboard.

prayers sent to the families and like lancer said there is never a good time for something like this to happen but it is extra sad that it happened right at christmas.

[Tall]

I was duck hunting one morning and I walked to where I hunt in the scatters (Bayou Meto) and as I got close to the Dam I heard screams that made my hair on the back of my neck stand up. The screams were a death cry for help from a young voice.

I took off running, well jogging at 320 pounds in waders. When I got to the dam a boat with a man and his 16 year old daughter had gone over the dam, a 10 to 12 feet fall, and the water was running look like 30 MPH down the canal.

As the screams of Daddy Daddy got faint I knew time was near. As the good LORD would have it the last boat out of the parking lot came by headed up in the scatters at breaking daylight but still dark and below freezing. I and two other hunters that were walking the Dam to where we hunt was able to flag him down. We were able to pull a big 14' over the leve and down the other side into the swift water.

The girl was in most danger because of the swift current she was in, and she had a hold of one little limb sticking up out of the water. Myself and Eddie Waite a professional fisherman for Ranger boats at that time (person in the last boat leaving the ramp), went to the girl and she could only mumble at that time and I could not pull her in the boat so I held on tight as Eddie motored us to the bank where the two other hunters were standing. She could not even stand up or move. I and the other two pulled her up on the bank and let her lay as Eddie and I went for the man she said was in the water. Well it had got just enough light I could see him, he had luckly went past the swift water to a swirl pool just past the fast water headed to wrap plantation which was a mile are better off. He was in wadders and NO life jacket. He was incoherit, unbale to talk and his wadders were full of water and he was a big man like me at over 300# and I could not roll him in till I jumped out of the boat in waist deep water and got leverage to roll him in.

What happened was group of boats had stopped just above the dam to talk and get there game plan to head up the 20 min. or so boat ride. Well they all started and took off but MG motor battery was dead and would not start and the swift current took him through the gate at the dam. His boat was found at Wrap plantation with a large hole in the bottom.

Well we keep in touch every so often and I just happened to email him last night, first time in a few years. He is a moderator on a duck hunting site @ the refuge forums on the Arkansas flyway. He is doing good and his daughter is now a school teacher and got teacher of the year this year at her elementry school she teaches at in Little Rock he stated in his e-mail.

Way to many things had to happen for them to be alive. The good LORD put a few people in place just at the right time for those two to be alive today. I explained that, later that morning to them and today MG emailed me and said he has stopped drinking (Contributing factor in this accident I think) and his daughter is doing great. This has been 8 to 10 years ago I guess now.

Be carful and don't take tomorrow for granted. MY prayer it that all that reads this knows JESUS CHRIST as their savior. A fisher of men as well as bass if I may.

[Tall]

I have other experiences except these times as body recoveries as a Battalion Chief since 2000 with our water rescue unit running from my District station. All deal with fisherman and without LIFE JACKETS. One fisherman simply fell out of the boat but hit his head on a rock while fishing on the AR River. Another incident two adult males stuck in the mud when thier flat bottom turned over in a back water area of the AR river just below LR. Simple but deadly.

WEAR YOUR LIFE JACKETS, please even consider the fisherman that fell out and hit his head fishing by himself.

The water can be deadly even at slow or no speed at all.

[zooker]

i notice that every one of you stated pfd's. now the air temp saturday was 22 degrees..think about what you wear to be comfortable at these temps..if your like me your wearin at least 4 layers long handles,sweat shirts,jeans,and a carhatt coveralls.

will your pfd hold you up while wearing all this while soaking wet?? i highly dout it will..

cass

your right i have personally had hypothermia twice. which they claim sets in 20 in mintues. however in 44 degree water you'll drowned in 2 mintues time. since your muscules will lock up in seconds...


zooker

[Tall]

Their are a lot more water rescues then many may realize.

This is a group of boats from around the state of Arkansas gathered to go over water rescues during the summer of 07. Maybe I have figured out how to get them on here. Here goes.

[quenston]

My prayers go out to the families of these men. I am ashamed to say that till now I havn't worn a PFD I have them but just dont wear them, but I know that I will now!!! Lesson learned.

One thing that bothers me more than anything is when you see a family fishing or just out for a boat ride and they have kids with no pfd on, What the h@#l are they thinking!!! So Zooker thanks for posting this! This has opened my eyes and I am sure that it has many many others also!!

[Tall]

Look the the tread about this one asking questions on what do you use to get back in your boat if you go overboard in cold water if you don't have a pull out step or ladder attached already like some newer model boats have.

Some good ideas may save a life in very cold water down the road.

[cassidyta]

Okay gang, as I previously mentioned, at one time teaching people to survive in the water was my job so....
Here is the key to surviving an unplanned swim.
Scenario 1 (Wearing a PFD on that will support you)
If the boat is sinking, get away from it! As large items sink, they will create a vacuum that will pull you down with them.
In cold water situations, tug your legs to your knees and your face inside of your shirt/jacket. Tucking conserves your body heat and breathing inside of your shirt will keep warm air on your heart and lungs. (At least temporarily)
You need to repeat this 1 minute for every minute you are swimming back to the boat. After 5 minutes switch to a 2 minute break for every 1 minute swimming.

Scenario 2 without any PFD
First and foremost, try to relax. Your breath control is very important now. If you begin to pant and gasp, you are no longer taking in enough oxygen to push the needed blood to yoru extremities.
You have about 10 seconds to make the most important decision you will make. Can you make it to the boat dressed as you are. Often, in colder weather, the answer to that is no. At this point you need to remove your shoes (likely boots) and trousers. I like most carry a knife in my pocket. Assuming that the knife has not been dropped and I can get it, I will quickly open the blade and cut the ties to my boots. Kicking them off. My trousers, to include denim can be made into a quick flotation device so I would not cut them off. Take them off quickly and tie the ends of the legs together. Raise them over your head by the waist (making sure you hold them open) and slam them downward to the water. This will force an air bubble into the legs. Wet trousers will hold this buble better than dry ones. Hold the waist band closed in your hand and put the legs around your neck.
You now have a PDF and can return to step 1.
I must stress that this technique will greatly increase your odds of getting hypothermia once you submerge your head in the water, but it will help you stay afloat.

[lowrider]

so what types of pfd are preferred? i was thinking of investing in a suspender type, but are they worth the price? obviously the comfort factor is the selling point but do they work ?

[zooker]

low

yes but do your self a favor and get the long model.. i have one..

but heads up if you ride in a fast boat - capable of going 70+- a excellerator vest with leg straps is a must have..

hit the water with anything else at that speed. they wont stand up to the friction water creates at that speed..like hitting cement..

NOTHING saves your life when you come out at 90+ they just find parts..

zooker

[lowrider]

i gots me a slow boat. still wouldn't wanna fly out at 50 though!

[carolina-rig-01]

Originally Posted by lowrider

so what types of pfd are preferred? i was thinking of investing in a suspender type, but are they worth the price? obviously the comfort factor is the selling point but do they work ?

they cost a little more but if at all possible get the ones with H.S.T. which i think stands for hydro static technology. basically it reduces the chances of it deploying on accident from moisture or rain.

[Tall]

Some good info on the PFD vests. I have been looking but I did not have a clue of which ones were best. I see some have recharge kits fairly cheap, I did see the moisture HST print on some. I will keep looking at em. It may be like most things, I haft to get who makes 3x large sizes. I have been focused on prices and not sizes to this point.

Maybe next spring if I get to working a lot of overtime I think I will probably get one. As tall as I am your center of balance it way to high to be graceful.

I had not thought about the leg straps. That may come in handy if your a coangler in a boat with a 225 or 250 skimming the top of the water.

[carolina-rig-01]

i am sorry it is H.I.T. not H.S.T. i don't know what i was thinking haha. anyways it stands for hydrostatic inflation technology.

[lowrider]

key thing to know is that rain won't set it off...

[fish2]

zooker are you a volunteer?

[Bob Smith]

When it's super cold and I'm fishing in my insulated gear, I wear my Mustang auto-inflatable PFD (I also get a new cartridge every year and replace it). I leave it on all day if it's cold. When the day time temperatures are warm enough for long sleeves or lighter, I wear my impact vest when I'm running the boat, but not while I'm fishing, they are out and on the running seats though.

I've too have seen some cold water tragedies that could've been avoided too. It's sad, and it usually involves folks that are new to fishing and boating. The first boat is some cheap worn out death trap that they got for little or nothing. Bad combination when you add inexperience to the equation. I pray for the families of the deceased.

You guys make some excellent points on this thread and those points should be taken seriously!

[carolina-rig-01]

Originally Posted by lowrider

key thing to know is that rain won't set it off...

i know a guy who fished an flw even back when these things came out, this was before they fine tuned how easy they deploy. he said that the company that makes them passed them out to all the pros for a "sample". anyways, he said that right before take off started it got really foggy and a light mist started falling. he said that it sounded like fireworks going off and when it stopped the water was covered in debris from all of the life jackets inflating. he said that the funny thing was that most of the pros had the wind knocked out of them because they didn't know to leave it loose so it had room to inflate. that must have been really funny to see.