Rough Report (funny story)

I posted this report on another site, but wanted to put it here as well:

Dad and I fished Rough River yesterday for crappie. We came home with 10 keepers and caught probably 30 short fish. The water was 65 degrees and all the fish were caught on minnows in 12 FOW.

Now the story:

Our trolling motor quit working around 11:30. It was raining and the wind picked up and pushed the boat onto a submerged stump. The big motor couldn't get us off of it, so I walked to the back of the boat and told Dad to put the boat in reverse. He did and we came right off of the stump. About the time I told him to shut the motor down, the back of the boat hit another stump and sent me flying off the back of the boat and into the 65 degree water.

It wouldn't have been so bad if I had brought some extra clothes, but I didn't. It is very hard to swim when you are wearing winter-weight camo pants, rain pants, tee-shirt, long-sleeved shirt, hooded sweatshirt, gortex jacket, shoes, and a hat! It is even harder to get back in the boat with all those clothes completely soaked.

To add insult to injury, for some reason I had my keys, and IPhone in my pocket. the electronic key fob is fine, but my IPhone bit the dust. I am now the proud owner of a new Iphone 3gs, that cost a pretty penny.

It was a great time to be fishing, but ended up costing me an arm and a leg.

glad you are ok, that is very scary, i fish alot in the winter and it can happen so fast. but since you are fine i guess we can all chuckle a little. take care.

Been there, done that. Fell in once in January, in about 3 layers of clothes. By the time I got back in the boat, I felt like a frozen fish stick. Instances like this make you a little extra careful the next few times out! Glad to hear you came out OK!

I learned several lessons yesterday:

1) Don't stand up in a boat ANYWHERE when it is moving.

2) ALWAYS bring a change of clothes.

3) Put ALL sensitive electronics in waterproof dry-bags.

It is really too bad that I fell overboard, because the fish were really starting to bite about 1 hour before I fell in. I wanted to stay and fish, but I was afraid I would start to get cold and get sick.

Thank the good Lord you did not hit anything on your fall, like an underwater stump. Once, I was tossed head first into the water when my trolling motor hit a stump. Had no idea what happened until I was (5 ft underwater) looking at the bottom of my boat.

Thanks for sharing the story. I have been careless this summer about wearing my PFD. Maybe this will get my guard back up for fall and winter fishing.