Winter Water Hazards
By Dougald Scott
Winter Water Hazards
By Dougald Scott
As I read the following exchange of posts on Dan Blanton's Bulletin Board (www.danblanton.com/bulletin.html), I was aware of how easy it is to be distracted by any number of things (especially fish) and not think about safety issues. Let's face it, fishing can be a very risky sport. We are always in or on the water, and that water can kill us. We must constantly remind ourselves to be aware of potential hazards as we enjoy our pursuit of fish.
Fisherman One:
I forgot to mention in my other posts - I heard on the news a guy bought the farm after hitting something in SF bay. Even though it was a big fast boat - the same thing can happen to smaller boats. No one in the boat had life vests on. With the winter storms you never know what will break loose/wash into the water and float around with the tides. There's a new obstacle (looks like a piece of timber) just north of Snag Island in the Tract. (no fish around it) I gotta start wearing my vest more. With all those bulky clothes I wear I'll have a hell of a time getting my fat butt back into the boat.
Fisherman Two:
That is a great point...and particularly when boating alone, people should clip the kill switch to their body. I am really bad about it, but I should really start doing that. I have almost fallen out of the boat a few times running at high speed. With these big tides and the runoff you mention...a lot of stuff is rafting around. I was running through a maze of hyacinth and flotsam and I darn near hit a log yesterday. And when you hit something solid...the boat stops hard and stuff breaks and people fly. With all the fog and people's desire to run in the pre-dawn dark, there are all sorts of hazards in the delta, especially in the first light run when visibility may be next to nil. I would encourage folks to not rely on GPS and run at high speed. Take it slow and let visibility dictate your rate of progress. I'll often wait out horrible visibility and just start fishing wherever I'm at until I can see good enough to make the run. I am blown away when I see the bass boats ripping along in the thick fog and low light. When I night fish I won't run at high speed at all, unless it's flat calm and a big moon so I can see real well.
Fisherman One:
I forgot about the kill switch lanyard. Thanks for reminding me. Like seatbelts-you gotta get in the habit of wearing that stuff. It's required/put there for a reason. In the 30 plus years I've been on the water, nothing's ever happened where I've needed any of the safety gear...knock on wood. But then again I don't go looking for trouble either. I don't go out when it's rough, and I don't run very fast when visibility isn't good.
Fisherman Three:
Worse than that is the boat coming back to get you! I posted a boating incident on this BB a few years ago. Both of us got flipped out of the boat. No life vests and while I tread water my partner had his arm hooked over the gunnel near the motor, which was locked on at full speed and kept doing small circles with my partner hanging on. Thank G-d a smart guide came within 5 minutes and figured how to lasso that boat with his anchor and run it up on shore. What a nightmare. A kill switch hooked on to our clothes would have prevented everything other than the embarrassment of getting tossed overboard.
Many thanks to Dan Blanton for permission to print these posts.