Unusual Sight at Dale Hollow 2/21/20

Yesterday I had a client with me spider-rigging at Dale Hollow Lake. The water is still high and murky and fishing was tough. We did manage, however, to catch a dozen quality crappie plus a bass or two. I have fished all my life in all kinds of situations and all kinds of weather, but it was, beyond any doubt, the coldest day I have ever spent on the water. When we unloaded the boat the temp and wind combined made it feel like 11 degrees. It never went a lot above that all day. Get the picture? It was COLD! But about lunchtime, we looked up to see a very large boat coming toward us....not a fishing boat, a big ski rig. And lo and behold, there was a guy behind it water skiing! Now....the water temp was 48 degrees and I've already mention the air temp. At that time, I would say that the air temp was about 30 degrees and the NE wind made it feel like 20. I know this....the fishing lines on our trolling poles were still freezing to our rod tips at times....and here was this guy----skiing! Sure, he had on a wet suit, but I just don't see what kept him from getting hypothermia. His head and face were bare, as well as his hands. THe guy had to be FREEZING! I told my client, " In 50 years I've seen a lot of dumb things on the lake, but this just about takes the cake!" I was sitting there shivering already....and seeing this guy skiing didn't make me a bit warmer!

People will always do stupid things.

You cant have smart people without dummies....

You can't fix stupid.

He probably thought the same thing about you two fishing.

Everybody to their own giggles.

That's crazy. Just goes to show though it just gets to cold for the fisherman sometimes but not the skiers or fish LoL.

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Seen it several times here on my home lake in South Carolina. I have a neighbor that there son would do it every year.

up until he died we had a guy here that would ski on the Ohio River every year on New Years Day. I went down to see him do it a couple of times. He was not only crazy, but about 2 and a half sheets in the wind, if you know what I mean

A real man would have done it in a speedo....


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I was the guy in the blue ranger who witnessed this along with you! Not only was the idiot water skiing in 30 degree weather, they entered a no ski zone as well! Good thing I was off duty and didn’t have my ticket book! It was certainly a different kind of cold! I don’t see how it was humanly possible to be water skiing without getting hypothermia! I actually have a video of it but for some reason I can’t post it. The fishing was tough.

Some people are starving to death for attention and they will do about anything to get it.
LittleJohn

There is a guy on one of our Ohio lakes who ski's at least one time every year in winter. The guy loves to ski and one day I was talking to him and he said he did it just to say he went out.
They're usually go out for a couple of hours on that 1 trip each year and I've seen them there even when part of the lake was still frozen.
I always figured he liked skiing as much as I like fishing. I don't know how he does it.

You may call it stupid, but I call it passion. There are A LOT of things crappie guys do that can be viewed as stupid by outsiders.

The ski club in Paducah KY always does a ski run on New Years Day.

Heck, I used to ride my jet ski in winter with a wetsuit on.

:)

The Pirates of Reelfoot making their famous run around the duck blinds on Reelfoot Lake on Christmas Eve 2001 is one of my favorites:

https://youtu.be/_iGF156JJ2o

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Originally Posted by badbrad

I was the guy in the blue ranger who witnessed this along with you! Not only was the idiot water skiing in 30 degree weather, they entered a no ski zone as well! Good thing I was off duty and didn’t have my ticket book! It was certainly a different kind of cold! I don’t see how it was humanly possible to be water skiing without getting hypothermia! I actually have a video of it but for some reason I can’t post it. The fishing was tough.

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You would seriously ticket the guy for that on a day like that ?? No wonder folks lack respect for LEOs these days.

A little brisk for me. Years ago, Maybe- congrats!

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Originally Posted by Pirogue

You would seriously ticket the guy for that on a day like that ?? No wonder folks lack respect for LEOs these days.

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I'd have less respect for them if they DIDN'T ticket them ... regardless of the weather. :twocents

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Originally Posted by Pirogue

<Snip> No wonder folks lack respect for LEOs these days.

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I don't know about the folks where you live, but here in West Kentucky, Our LEO's have the respect of most people. It seems that the only ones that DON'T respect the LEO's are those who are intent on breaking the law and want to get away with it. My 2¢.

The ONLY thing he could give a ticket for would be skiing in a no ski zone. Those areas are marked for a reason, suppose there are some under water hazards there that could cause serious injuries or death if he fell from his ski's?
I don't think there's any law about skiing in zero weather though.

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Originally Posted by CrappiePappy

I'd have less respect for them if they DIDN'T ticket them ... regardless of the weather. :twocents

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X2


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Well, in the area the guy was skiing there are numerous logs and underwater structure. I was praying that neither the boat or the skier hit anything as they were turning around. Some people just don't think when they are on the water. I've witnessed it hundreds and hundreds of times. I could write a book about the crazy and nutty things, and especially "dangerous" things I've seen people do on the lake. For instance, several years ago, I was in my boat with another person, sitting in the mouth of a creek as it emptied into the Tennessee River as we watched a young man (maybe 30 yrs old) unload his brand new bass boat at the ramp nearby. About the time he got his wife, two children (around 9 and 6) and his mother into the boat, a large tow boat was passing by the creek mouth pushing several loaded barges down the lake and making some amazing waves. We were close enough that we could hear him say to his passengers, "Hang on! Let's see what this boat will do in those waves!" And he pushed the throttle wide open. He hit the first big wave and the boat plowed thru it, but the next wave caught that 20 ft boat and tossed it end over end like a leaf in the wind, throwing people every which way. I can still see it to this day. It was like it was in slow motion. We immediately cranked our engine and started to the scene, as did two other boats that were nearby. Luckily, everyone but the boat owner had put on life jackets, but he did pop up near the overturned boat and immediately swam over to it. Everyone was ferried to the boatramp and an ambulance and law officers quickly arrived on the scene. ( I figure the tug boat captain had seen the mishap and radioed it in.) Two guys in a large ski boat towed the guy's new boat (still turned upside down) to the ramp. I never found out how the accident victims fared, but thank God no one was killed!

:hesaid That's just what I was talking about. Giving that guy a ticket could have possibly saved his life