Wear your life jacket.

Just found out.a friend of mine 2 weeks ago fell out of his boat fishing Raccoon and didn’t have his life jacket on. He is about 73 yrs old and disabled but gets aground good. He couldn’t get back in the boat and fortunately had a fishing partner in the boat with him. He held on to the back of the boat and his partner ran the trolling motor over to the bank taking about 15 minutes to get to shallow water and by then hypothermia had set in to where he fell over once trying to get in the boat. He went straight to medical facilities to get checked out and found out while in the water had a mild heart attack. He is very lucky to be alive. I’m not going to preach at anybody,,but in this cold water, wear your life jacket. I’m as negligent as everybody and I most of the time fish by myself or have the wife occassionally with me, but it will be tough to get back in the boat sometimes being dressed for cold weather and having clothing waterlogged. My life jacket will be on especially in cold water elements. Just a FYI.

It is a really good message. Bottom line is life jackets do save lives. I fish by myself also. The inflatable vest are far more comfortable to wear. I keep both type in the boat plus a throw cushion

I know that I likely would not survive a fall in the water without a vest.
Many people think they are immune because they have boated this way all their lives.
But, It only takes once!

Most of you don’t know me personally, but water is to be respected. I took up white water kayaking at the age of 50. Most people at that age quit white water kayaking as it’s a Young person’s sport due to the fact as you get older with age, you loose your agility factor as well as reflexes. First 2 years, I swam every river in the US that challenged me as the learning curve is more strenuous in older persons in running various rapids of class 2-3. My 3rd year of whitewater kayaking I was running class 4 and a few class 5 rapids but still taking a beating swimming a few as I was obstinate in my few of what I was capable of. I also took 3 courses of instruction in white water and river survival schools as well as 2 whitewater instructional kayaking courses. I gave up the kayaking at 62. Water and the force of it has to be respected as you can never dominate it even if it’s flat lake type water. Cold water throws the element of extreme loss of body warmth that can cause body cramps as well as loss of other body functions slowly shutting down. Throw in the fact that we wear lots of clothing in early spring and late fall and it’s a recipe for disaster to happen if your not prepared. I dislike wearing a life jacket, but will have mine on from now on especially when the water is cold.

I wholeheartedly agree, ALWAYS WEAR YOUR PFD.

I did some class1 and 2 stuff years ago as well as a couple of miles out in the Gulf paddling years ago. I wore a good paddle vest then. It does teach you to respect water and the forces it can exert. The tail waters of the damns we have up here certainly get my attention. Took the wife up last year avout this time after some storms. They had the water ripping through the hydros and the spill gates. You could point into the current and run the motor at 10 mph while sitting still. No way to swim that kind of water.

I ran the Snake River out of Jackson Hole Wy. When it was running 90,000 cfs into Utah once. Talk about ripping! You can only go with the flow of things and accept it for what is in front of you. I was the first person ever to break a carbon paddle running the Occoee River made by Werner when it was first introduced to the kayak world. Took a heck of a swim on that breakage. Werner wanted what was left of the paddle to R & D it giving me a new one. Water has to be respected. At least if you wear a life jacket and do not survive, your body can be found more easily.

The founder of Culprit Baits might still be with us if he had his on.

It is quite surprising just how little water current it takes to halt your forward movement. After all we are Terrestrial Creatures that are only mildly suited to an aquatic environment. A life jacket certainly helps keep you afloat

They also make Float Coats. The coat has floatation built in. Suppose to also help prevent hypothermia better than a life vest.

I put mine on before I get to the water and take it off in the truck


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I wear mine too, so simple even a caveman (like me) can do it

I fish alone at night a lot and as a concession to my wife I started wearing an auto inflating life vest and I don’t find it at all uncomfortable to wear.

I really need to start wearing mine more. I fish a lot alone. I know I wouldn't make it back in boat if I fell in. These wake boats make water rough enough to catch you off guard to put you in.

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Originally Posted by Curlytail

I really need to start wearing mine more. I fish a lot alone. I know I wouldn't make it back in boat if I fell in. These wake boats make water rough enough to catch you off guard to put you in.

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Those wake boats turn a lake into an ocean

Had a steering cable failure once on a 50 hp running fuel throttle. I went out headfirst as the torque of motor did a full hard turn. No lifejacket, no kill switch, dressed in winter clothes, nobody else on the lake, everyone else was deer hunting. Cold water, clothes getting heavy and over a hundred yards to shore was the minor problem. I knew the boat would come back and it did running full throttle barely missing me twice. A higher power intervened and shut the motor down and the boat came right back to me. I was able to get onboard but was not easy. Could not believe it but my cranking battery had broke free of bracket and mashed gas line shutting down the motor. Was able to jury rig steering and get back to ramp. I was a strong swimmer, 40 and in great shape back then. At 74 I would not survive that incident now. I never take my PFD off nor do I move the boat with out the kill switch engaged now.