Went fishing by myself and was alone way up a creek off the main lake in about 16’ of water and I turned my boat upside down like a rookie. I grabbed the paddle and pushed my canoe to where I could stand. Flipped her over, bailed her out, got back in and went home. Lost 3 rods and reels that day. All the tackle was still in my tackle bag with the exception of one tray of small spinnerbaits. Keep your cell phones in a water proof container, wear your life vest and live to fish another day. Boy do I feel lucky and stupid at the same time.
Been there, done that. As have most
who paddle and fish from canoes and kayaks. Good to see you made out OK. Tackle can be replaced, not lives. I use rod floats on my rods…hate leashes…My tackle is kept in a fanny pack that I attach to the seat thwart with the cinch straps. Cell phone, when I remember, goes in a dry box. PFD always on. But, I’ve lost rods and tackle in similar situations.
Good decisions come from experience
Experience comes from bad decisions.
Glad you got out safe and sound, though tackle poor. You probably needed to replace that stuff anyway…
- Big D
oh, how true
Yes, I really do need to replace those rods and reels.
My third day out . . . .
In a river about 3-4’ in 99% of the time. Got a lure caught on a big log in a narrow area on the river that makes up the other 1%. Narrow, deep (around 10’) and fast w/ strainers. Paddled backward, yes backward (dumb, I know) up to the log to pull my line loose. Got turned side ways in the strong current, tipped a little up stream and I was in the water before I knew it. No pfd, getting pulled toward a strainer. Just missed getting into it and made it over to the bank with everything but a cheap rod/reel and a pair of prescription Raybans.
Learned a little though . . . .
Oh yeah, did I mention I had an audience on the bank? Couple of canoe fishing guys had got out to stretch their legs. They helped me dry out and within 5 minutes, some canoe racers were going through and the tandem team in 3rd place lost it right in front of the strainer I almost got into. After flipping, their canoe got stuck on the high side of the log and they were hanging on to it from the upstream side. Me and the other two guys were able to get in far enough to grab their canoe and break it loose so they could get away from it. It was a nice cedar racing canoe. If it had been plastic, it would have been in half . . . .
We have a saying just amongst
us girls in our fishing bunch…
“If you haven’t taken a swim in a year…you ain’t in your boat enough”
Don’t beat yourself up over it Mike…it happens to the best of us.
"We’re all between swims."
That’s what a fellow I know says. This particular fellow is spoken about in hushed and reverential tones by grizzled river rats who’ve been there and done that.
And B’rer Rat, I haven’t swum since 2004, so I guess that’s three years that I haven’t been in my boat enough. (I think we can all agree that I haven’t…)
- Big D
D…yer are sooooo
Due a dunkin’ brother! Remind me to stay well away from you on our next float.
(But close enough to lend a hand if needed 
So long as we’re paddling B’rer Rat.
That’ll be good enough for me.
- Big D
Which is worse
when you stuff sinks, or when you have to watch it float down stream befor it sinks?
Watching it float just prolongs death.
It also gives a false sense that you might be able to save it, so you drop what little you have left. Bird in the hand comes to mind as advice when in that situation . . . .
Both are evils carried out by jokester
gods.
Go back and dive for your gear
Mike1, in 16 feet of water you can retrieve your gear, especially since it sounds like you know almost exactly where it is in a creek channel rather than open water. It will be MUCH easier with a face mask. Fins will help as will a snorkel if you know how to use one, but mask alone would suffice. You can do it even in six inch or less visibility.
A few years ago my son and I met a pair of canoists one morning who were on the third day of a three day river trip. They told us that they had dumped their canoe in a rapid around a blind turn in the river and lost a bunch of gear only 20 minutes into the trip. We comiserated but went back to helping a friend pry his canoe out of a log jam without thinking of it much.
When we got the canoe out, my son commented on our way home that we should go dive for the lost gear. We knew the river well enough to guess where they had launched, and though we didn’t know the stretch where they dumped, we estimated and hiked through forest from the nearest road to the river. Bingo! 100 yards downstream from where we hit it, the river turned left behind a rock cliff and with no view from upstream, slid sideways off a ledge about 3 feet high. The bottom of the pool looked like a sporting goods store under the whitewater bubbles. One brand new rod and reel, plus an older one, tackle box, a dandy lock blade folding knife, etc. We found all but their Coleman stove, which the current had apparently washed on through. Then we felt bad that we hadn’t gotten the names of the canoists who lost the gear.
I also retrieved a fly rod from a lake bottom that a trout pulled out of my canoe when I was careless trolling.
Go for it. Or tell us where to look!
tip over SOT
A Rite of Passage many of us have experienced…welcome to kayaking. Let me ask you a question. In being sold the SOT, were you led to believe that it was “untippable” or so safe not to worry about such things. I’ve talked with some who use SOTs and they act like these things are so safe you don’t even need to wear a PFD…wondering if you ran into that? Glad you “survived” and are wiser for your experience.
T. Watson
I go on one of the largest kayak
fishing forums around, texaskayakfisherman.com, often. It amazes me the number who write about turtling in SOT’s on the saltwater board. Its to be expected of those going through the surf, but it happens all too often in calm water and in one of the gulf to bay passes with strong currents and undertow. When I read about the latter situations, its frightening, especially because more than a few think they can’t drown if the PFD is sitting in front of them or on top of the milk crate.
Yes, an SOT will turn over. Its saving grace is the ability to climb back on and not have to bucket or pump out water from the cockpit. But, it takes practice to be able to easily get back on. That’s something few do. Of course, I’m guilty of not practicing often enough with my Loon.
I’m sure some are better than others
But I had a 15’ Dimension Spirit Duo last summer for about 3 months. I put both kids in the front and I paddled for us from the back seat. We TRIED turning that thing over (in about 3’ of slow, calm water to shoe my overly-cautious son it was not easy to do, and practice getting back in). All three of us leaning on one side couldn’t roll it. It was kinda ridiculous.
I sold it to a rental place in MN because it just wasn’t quite what I wanted, and it was a beast at around 90#.
Not easy to flip a Loon 138 either.
My B-in-Law got a free boat that way
My brother-in-law sells kayaks at a big box store. Anyway, he was at a training session with one of the manufacturer’s reps and this guy was telling the folks that one of their boats was unflippable. My brother-in-law, who is not an avid paddler but a paddler nevertheless, speaks up. “B.S. If it floats, it’ll flip.”
So the rep says, “OK, I’ve put this challange up before. If you can flip it, you can have it.” Now, apparantly he put the challange up before with people who aren’t paddlers and haven’t experienced flipping. My brother-in-law was under no such limit. He got on, paddled her out, and did the first half of a roll right quick. The rep said it was a fluke, so my B-in-law climbs back aboard, paddles her a few strokes and flips her right over again.
The rep was as good as his word, though. Gave him the boat. I can’t remember the brand but it was an SOT about the size of a Yak Board or Frenzy. I’m thinking of buying it for my little girls as he has three other kayaks he actually wanted enough to pay for and wants to dump it.
- Big D