Fell out of the boat?

[S. Sass]

Just for humor how many of you or your fishing partner ended up in the water?

No I haven't yet but a couple times had a little bit of a scare. 

[j bab]

One time we were dropping a brush pile and it got real windy, so there were some big waves... We couldn't hold the boat still on the spot where we wanted to put the brush, so I went up front to drop an anchor and sure enough I lost my balance and fell in. Luckily I let go of the anchor and grabbed the side of the boat and my dad's arm on the way overboard. However I broke the windshield on the driver console while trying to grab hold of something before going in.

Looking back, I could have very easily drowned in that situation. I was wearing rubber boots (can't swim in those), the anchor could have pulled me down, my dad's grip could have slipped, etc... Very fortunate to make it out with only some wet clothes. Yeah it was stupid for us to attempt that in such conditions.

 

 

 

[Bluebasser86]

I've had some close calls, none as close as prefishing for a tournament on Table Rock in late February. Going straight into the wind and waves, dragging a jig. Got a bite, set the hook, could tell it was a good fish. It started to come up and right when I leaned to stick my rod in the water a wave hit the front of the boat hard. I leaned and just kept on going. I caught the trolling motor and spun so my back was just above the water. I was 16 or 17 and still in good shape so I managed to muscle my way back into the boat with just barely dipping the back of my Guidewear into the 40 something degree water. The fish was still on but had swam about a dozen laps around the trolling motor head. Pulled up the trolling motor, unwrapped the line, landed the fish that was 5 pounds even and still my biggest Table Rock largemouth. 

[Catch 22]

Bad timing caused me to fall in. Where I was fishing was not to bad,but at the ramp it was kickin with  two to three foot waves. I got tied up to the dock ok,but trying to get onto it proved different than a normal exit.On an  up cycle of a wave,I tried to step on the dock,but  waited about one half a second to long until it started down.I fell between the dock and boat in 45 degree water at which point I just walked on up the ramp. Water was running out of my gear all the way to the truck.I hit the coffee shop a short time later. 

C22

[BiteFiend]

39 minutes ago, Catch 22 said:

Bad timing caused me to fall in. Where I was fishing was not to bad,but at the ramp it was kickin with  two to three foot waves. I got tied up to the dock ok,but trying to get onto it proved different than a normal exit.On an  up cycle of a wave,I tried to step on the dock,but  waited about one half a second to long until it started down.I fell between the dock and boat in 45 degree water at which point I just walked on up the ramp. Water was running out of my gear all the way to the truck.I hit the coffee shop a short time later. 

C22

That's almost exactly how I fell in. Water temp was upper 70's though, so I got pretty lucky as far as the water not being cold. 45F water will take your breath away. I did however just get done putting my phone and wallet in my pocket, and my keys were in my hand when I fell in. The wet phone and key fob I wasn't happy about, but things could have been much worse. 

[Catt]

That's a part of bass fishing I never experienced

My nephew & I were night fishing when I hear a huge splash from the back of the boat. I to to see ass & legs sticking up in the air. He had a hold of the side of the boat, while pulling himself out of the water wet hands on fiberglass slipped & right back in he went!

By this time I'm laughing hysterically!

But that wasn't the end, he was a flight engineer in the Air Force & upon returning to base his doctor grounded him with a cracked rib!

[Bankbeater]

I'm glad to say that I have never fallen out of the boat, and I hope I never do.

[Senko lover]

I have an elderly friend who was fishing once on a very steep bank, fell in, and couldn't climb out. He said he was in the water holding onto the bank for 30 minutes.

[N Florida Mike]

I can only remember falling out once,lost my balance in the front of my Jon boat and went over into a weed bed.I was laughing before I hit the water,along with my friend who was Safely in back.Came up looking like a tossed salad.

Another time I nearly fell out when the trolling motor ( which was in 5th gear) came unhooked as I was leaning into a turn.I hung on for dear life,trying to right myself and the motor as it took me for a ride. Saw Bill dance do this on a blooper one time.

[Rick Howard]

Pops rolled us in a row boat while retrieving his lure from a tree.  Saved the $8.50 lure... Killed $1000 in cell phones.  Rods and tackle boxes were safe as the boat did not totally capsize.  Just enough to end up in the water.

[ottosmagic13]

I have never fallen out of a boat. I have, however, slipped down a few banks pond fishing trying to land a toad. 

My buddy that I often went with in college fell out of boat on one trip. We rented a skiff with a electric motor for scooting around the small lake (read: large puddle) near our school. 

Late summer frog fishing the slop on the leeward side of the lake in some thick scum. We had caught a couple of small ones already but nothing huge. I was in the front and my buddy was in the back controlling the motor. He gets a 4-5 pounder to miss a blow-up, come back and blow-up his frog again. In his excitement he stepped back to get leverage on his hook-set and in the process swung the arm of the motor to lock almost 90* from the direction of the boat and the resulting jolt put him in the lake. It was only 5-6 feet deep but the mat was so thick he came up looking like the Jolly Green Giant Swamp Thing.

[dave]

I once set the hook on a fish sitting perpendicular to the boat.  The seat pedestal screws gave way and I back flipped into the pond.   I was back in the boat in a matter of seconds after going over. 

[GORDO]

I was on the front of a little jon boat and my buddy was controlling the trolling motor at the back of the boat. We were going forward and he meant to put the motor in neutral but missed it and went into reverse. It threw my weight towards the front of the boat and out I went lol luckily the water wasnt too cold and we were only 200 yards from the launch.

[N Florida Mike]

Another time I took a large friend(500 pounds and 6'9 fishing on a small lake.I told him before we left not to make any sudden ( or just any) movements or the 12 ft Jon boat might go under.

Sure enough, he leaned over slightly and water started pouring in.After quickly assessing the situation,I yelled at him to PADDLE,and as we got to the bank the boat settled to the bottom.

Then a security guard appeared out of nowhere and said You can't have a boat in here!And I thought I wish he would have told me sooner!

[fishballer06]

The closest I ever came to going out of the boat wasn't from standing. It was on the Allegheny River here in Pittsburgh. Myself, my father, and his friend were running up river to the dam to jig for walleye. We were in a Blazer 202 Pro, and there were a bunch of pleasure boats out running. They were in the seats, I was seated down in the bottom of the boat, holding our buckets of fatheads. We had a big 30' + open bow cabin boat buzz right beside us, throwing a wake probably 4' high. 

We turned into the wake to skip it (rather than get rolled). Whenever we hit that wake, it threw me out from the bottom deck out of the boat. I flew over top of my Dad and his friend in the seats. My only saving grace was that I grabbed a hold of the back deck seat. Had that not happened, I would have likely bounced off of the outboard and into the water. I had no life jacket on. It very easily could have killed me and I'm lucky to still be here today. 

[Glenn]

I went fishing with a buddy of mine in his little Bass Hunter boat.  It was next to the dock as I stepped down into it...the drop was bigger than I expected (about 2 1/2 feet), and the "impact" of my weight all on one side of the boat made it shoot away from underneath me. As I lost my balance, I instinctively reached for one of the seats to catch myself....only to discover it wasn't attached the boat!

In I went, seat in one hand, rod in the other.  It was early spring...I was wearing a snowsuit and no life jacket.  Fortunately I was just feet from the shore, so I was able to safely make it to dry ground.

After all that, the only thing my buddy asked was, "What's the water temp?" (no joke!).  I replied, "About 54 degrees".  He dropped his thermometer into the water, and wouldn't you know I was right?

--------------

Another time I was fishing with a different buddy in his Skeeter SK170...early spring (mid 40's air temp), and he wanted to check the engine because it wasn't running right.  He was all bundled up, including wool fishing gloves. 

He got on his knees next to the engine, and leaned over to look at the back.  Guess he didn't realize his gloves + wet cowling = slick surface.  As he braced his hand against the engine, he just kept going forward...slowly.  It was like in slow motion as he slowly slid beneath the surface.

I was panicking, wondering what to do next, then he quickly surfaced.  I ask if he was alright, and he said, "Ya, I'm a little..."  PHHHHTTTT-POP!!

His Mustang vest deployed! Suddenly, he looked like he had his head stuck in a toilet seat!  And I mean jammed in there! LOL! 

I was able to help him get back in the boat (between laughing), and fortunately he had a spare set of clothing in the boat for just such emergencies.  So it all came out well.

Really wish I had snapped a picture of his face pushing out from that life vest though!

 

[Rhino68W]

I once decided to hop off my kayak on a flat to cool off. Only problem was where my transducer was was about 2 feet more shallow then where I was. I got a lot more water than I had anticipated. 

But no, I have never fallen out myself on accident. Did watch a guy turtle while trying to get in his kayak once. I may or may not have laughed all day about that. 

[Red Bear]

almost fell off a friends 14ft jon boat into a pond while boarding it, i was the first one getting on and i walked down to the other end of the boat pretty good, when i went to turn and sit the boat started rocking left to right back and forth as i would swing my weight the opposite direction to counter balance it, eventually i found the seat and the boat settled down

also, not a boat but i did get thrown off a wave runner once while driving it. i was out by myself on it ripping up the lake when i "turned wrong" and went flying through the air, i have no idea how deep the water was but i never hit bottom. was wearing a pfd and came shooting back to the surface like a rocket with my hands above my head in case i happened to come up right under the wave runner, i didnt want to hit my head and get concussed or knocked out. got to the surface and the wave runner was about 15 feet away. swam on over and climbed back on. glad i was in a quiet cove just off the main lake that sees very little boat action. after that i would ride out to the cove shut the wave runner down and jump in the water and float around for awhile as the water was quite nice out there actually...

 

[scaleface]

I fell in twice . Once when pulling a chair out of a pedestal and once from throwing a casting net . 

[alrab23]

Me and my buddy had a bad day in the boat recently.   I fell inside the boat and broke 2 rods and the windshield and also sliced open my knee and bruised my ribs

About 30 minutes later he lost his balance and fell in.  Ruined his iPhone he had in his pocket. I was laughing hysterically.   Watching him try to climb in the boat was also funny   

[Siebert Outdoors]

So far only close calls.  I have had 3 different guys fall out of my boats though not paying attention to what they were doing.

[Gundog]

Tipped my kayak over first time on it. Luckily I was in about 2 ft of water and it was mid summer. Other than that I've been pretty lucky.

[tiredbobmarley]

Never fell in personally but I had my buddy fall in while we were docking.  I had him reach out and grab the dock and before I knew it the boat had moved away and he was still hanging onto the dock.  He just stared at me with this panic in his eyes but there was nothing I could do for him.  He stretched as far as he could go before falling in between the dock and the boat and was so scared of gators (there is a swimming area right beside the dock that they keep gators out of) that he kept grabbing onto my jon boat and telling me to pull him in.....while the dock was literally 2 feet behind him and the water was only a couple feet deep.  He almost dumped the boat over before I got him to walk ashore, haha

[Team9nine]

Been in twice over the past 30+ years of fishing.

first time was when I was in my early 20s in a club tourney. I was a co-angler (no such thing really back then) and in the back. Fishing with an older retired gentleman whose trolling motor had been acting up. Got in a canal and the wind was blowing us right into some wooden pilings. I went to help and push off one of the pilings with my foot so his boat didn't get damaged. Sure enough he hits the trolling motor at just the right time to try and avoid hitting them. I one-step it right into the drink.

The other time (another club tourney) I had walked out on a dock to unsnag a lure and was walking back to get into the boat. One of the straps on my life jacket wrapped over a metal dock pole right as I jumped back into the boat. Strap and momentum grabbed me and whipped me into a circle and I dropped my a** into the water right beside the dock. Had to remove my life jacket to get myself off the metal post.

-T9 

[Mswen]

At a family reunion in Oregon, my brother-in-law and I went kayak fishing on the Pacific.  We had actually gone over our alloted time, but since everyone was having fun, our guide wasn't rushing us back.  He had showed us that we could grab kelp bulbs and slip them under our ropes to hold us on a certain spot.  I was reaching for a bulb that was just a little too far when I suddenly realized that it was too far, and tried to lean back, but it was too late.  The whole thing flipped over.  Everything important or valuable was either attached by bungee cords, floated, or in the guide's boat, so that wasn't an issue.  But the water was cold, and even with the wet suit I was ready to get out immediately.  With a little help I flipped the kayak over, held on, kicked my feet, and finally pulled myself out of the water and onto the kayak, which then rolled over and dumped me face first off the other side!  Eventually I did get on, and stay on, and that was pretty much the end of the day.  Luckily we were only about 200 yd from the beach.