Boat Nearly Collides With Kayak.....

[Crow Horse]

 

 Good advice.....

Near Collision

 

 

[A-Jay]

That link is Toast

A-Jay

[Crow Horse]

Fixed. Thanks!

[gim]

Tiller boat I see. Quite often, with a tiller, there’s two directions to watch. The graphs, which are mounted to the side and slightly downward, and visually ahead on the water.

 

I used to drive a tiller regularly, and my parents still do. They are very popular for walleye fishing. When I went to a console, it was a big difference because it’s more like driving a car. You essentially just look straight ahead.

 

Its also possible the passenger in that boat could have been obstructing the forward view of the driver too. Still no excuse. Pay attention.

[Bankc]

That's happened to me several times.  And a couple of times, I'm pretty sure it was on purpose.  Sometimes those guys in the big bass boats don't like us kayakers fishing "their spots".  

[Tennessee Boy]

The passenger was blocking his view and he probably wasn’t expecting a kayak to be where it was.
 

The kayaker was doing everything right.  He was wearing bright colors,  and had a flag.   Yelling hey doesn’t help much.    Adding an air horn is a great idea.   Bass boat are required to have a horn here.   Kayak should also be required to have them.

 

I worry about hitting kayaks.   The lakes I fish are big.  Kayaks are small.  There are a lot of things competing for your attention out there.  I strapped an extra cushion on my seat so  I can sit a little higher to see over the trolling motor.  I had a close call once with a kayaker who was trying hard to keep me from seeing him.

[Crow Horse]

It happened to one of my fishing buddies and his wife on a local lake. The boat repeatedly tried to swamp their yaks. A call to 911, Troopers responded and the boat operator was arrested. He was intoxicated and from what I heard, a CO that lost his job because of this. I'm sure there's lots more to the story that I don't know. This is one reason why I don't fish this lake even though it's very close to home and does have some large bass in it. It's only 50 acres or so and motorized boats are allowed. Some of the boats are way too large to have on such a small body of water.

3 minutes ago, Tennessee Boy said:

Kayak should also be required to have them.

Here in NYS, kayakers are required to have "sound producing device" and a whistle is acceptable as long as it's audible for at least 1/2 mile.

 

I have one leashed to my PFD and can use it in seconds if necessary.

[Dwight Hottle]

Yep all the yelling in the world is not heard by the boater about to hit him. Better to stand & wave your arms. 

[Susky River Rat]

One of the reasons I wanted to switch to the boat I did was to be able to see better out of it. That’s why many river rats choose the center console option. We also tend to stand up at the console. I am sure this is probably against a boating law I would really have to check. Kill switch and PFD on.
 

I could see why this person would have issues seeing the kayaker. That does not negate him from being the give-way vessel. With that much open water there really is no excuse to get that close to anyone else period. 
 

In PA I believe a sound device is required on kayaks.

[pdxfisher]

A guy I was fishing with was actually hit by a guy trolling. We were anchored up fishing for sturgeon. The boat that hit him was a tiller drive drift boat. They have a super high bow.  My friend was yelling and screaming and the two old guys in the drift boat never changed course and hit him fairly hard. Fortunately they were trolling slowly and he was not hurt and his kayak was not damaged.  The morons in the drift boat just slowly ran him over. It was surreal. If you saw it in a movie you would scoff that no one could be that stupid in real life. Iam still flabbergasted by thar incident.

[Born 2 fish]

4 hours ago, Bankc said:

That's happened to me several times.  And a couple of times, I'm pretty sure it was on purpose.  Sometimes those guys in the big bass boats don't like us kayakers fishing "their spots".  

No you guys are really hard to see especially in waves.

[Bankc]

I believe we should be required to have a separate boat operators license or a certificate on our driver's license for boats, because it's not at all like driving a car, so being able to operate one does no good for operating another.  And you should be required to pass a written test, at the very least.  Even better would be a course you have to take.  Don't make it expensive or cumbersome.  Just make sure that everyone at least has exposure to the rules of the water before they go out. 

 

I know accidents will still happen and people still won't follow the rules, as we can look to the roads of an example of that.  But I believe it would be only a minor inconvenience that would pay for itself in lives and reduced property damage.  

 

We'd all like to believe that common sense would prevail in these situations.  But common sense ain't too common, as they say.  And some people need to be told that just because you're not looking at something, doesn't mean nothing's there.  

[MediumMouthBass]

This is why i only use the kayak in smaller ponds/lakes and use the boat on larger places with faster moving boats/PWC.

Kayaks are hard enough to see with or without waves, bright colors can become washed out in certain conditions too.

[Crow Horse]

I have to ask this question. If it's a given that the possible presence of kayaks exists AND that they can be difficult to see, why haul ass across the water when the operator knows he has limited visibility?

 

If the same basic set of conditions existed on the road, and the driver knew of possible obstacles, wouldn't he be irresponsible in driving too fast for the existing conditions?

[Born 2 fish]

I think kayaks should have a big orange flag a few feet high off the back if they are on the main lake or not in no wake zones.

[Bankc]

1 hour ago, Born 2 fish said:

I think kayaks should have a big orange flag a few feet high off the back if they are on the main lake or not in no wake zones.

I get the sentiment.  But visibility isn't really the problem.  While we think of kayaks as being pretty small, they're actually quite large.  Much larger than a swimmer or water skier.  Kayaks are just small compared to other boats.  

 

Back in the 70's, various states and cities started passing laws mandating that bicyclists use those bright orange flags.  The idea behind that was it would make them more visible and thus safer.  But most of those laws are gone now, because all it did was give motorists a reason to deny responsibility and pass the blame on to the victims.  It didn't do anything to reduce the number of actual accidents and protect the bikers.

 

Besides, boaters run into other boats pretty often.  It's not that kayaks get hit more often.  The opposite is actually true.  It's that they're so much smaller and more vulnerable when a collision does occur.  

[airshot]

Bottom line is...people are to easily distracted !!  Same with people in cars, everyone is to busy on phone, GPS or playing with the radio, or feeding their faces !!   Been a boater for 60 yrs and have never almost ran someone over !!  I have been in a position of almost being run over and once again, the operator was doing everything except paying attention !  

You should be looking far ahead and repeat that constantly !!  This is an issue I see more often, with many of today's boats exceeding 50 plus mph, you really need to be observing, not watching for fish !!

[casts_by_fly]

4 hours ago, Born 2 fish said:

I think kayaks should have a big orange flag a few feet high off the back if they are on the main lake or not in no wake zones.

the guy in the video had one and it didn’t matter. Lots of kayak guys do run them. I don’t think that’s the answer though. If you can’t see a bright orange 12’ kayak with a 200# guy a couple hundred feet in front of you then you don’t have good enough visibility. If you can’t see me in time to avoid me by a reasonable amount of distance so you’re not throwing heavy wake on me or blowing out the spot I’m fishing then you’re going too fast.
 

I have full nav lights on mine since it’s motorized but I rarely use them. Except if I’m on a busier lake.  Then no matter time of day I’ve got front and back nav lights on.

 

On 4/17/2024 at 5:25 PM, Crow Horse said:

Good advice.....

Near Collision

pretty sure that’s Travis shearer.  He’s in the old town groups that I’m in.  He fishes for Kokanee salmon primarily in Oregon and Washington. Pretty good guy it seems and certainly brings in the fish. He’s got Kokanee trolling from a kayak down pat. 

[gim]

33 minutes ago, casts_by_fly said:

so you’re not throwing heavy wake on me or blowing out the spot I’m fishing then you’re going too fast.

Tell that to the wake boat crowd. They can see everything fine and still feel the need to send massive tidal waves towards other watercraft and erode the shoreline.

[Susky River Rat]

@gimruis the problem with wake boats is they are designed for just that. Throwing huge wake. I even think some have ballast tanks in them to fill up to create more.(could be wrong)  Not saying it’s right I’m just saying it’s like expecting someone to go slow on a crotch rocket.  
 

I am short. If I sit down in my boat or even my old boat I struggled to see over the TM. It can hide a kayak very easy. Just like a mirror in a truck can hide a car.

[Woody B]

I'm surprised there isn't boat/kayak collisions all the time.   Ultimately the boater is responsible for safe operation of their craft, so if a boat plows into a kayak the boater is at fault.  However, I question the judgement of people in 'yaks on huge bodies of water.  To me it's like trying to ride a bicycle on the Interstate.  (which isn't legal)

 

Wake boats?  I hate 'em.  There's laws about where and how they can operate but these laws get ignored.   I always get a kick when I see a "no wake zone" sign on a dock that has a wake boat in a lift.   Wake boats are here to stay.  There's too much money to be made.  Not just the boats themselves, which make Bass boats look cheap, but boat lift sales also.  A few decades ago (before wake boats) everyone just had a slip to tie their boat in.  Wake boats waves rip cleats off docks, and also damage boats in other ways.  This made boat lifts necessary, at least around here.   

 

FWIW, when I have interactions with wake boat people, either at the landing or on the lake they're usually the nicest people on the lake.  They don't have a clue all the damage their causing.  

[J Francho]

I think the boater saw him all along and buzzed the tower. I see that and get it all the time. I'm not sure what attracts them to a kayak, but it's fairly common in my experience. I don't think those same boaters would do the same to another boat. It comes off as a bush league, look at me I can go faster than you move. What ever the motivation, I don't think anyone was in jeopardy, but it is VERY unsettling to be sitting in a kayak and have a boat approaching directly at you. There's really no good answer to the question of what you should do other than wave the paddle, your arms, anything to see if you have their attention. 

[Tennessee Boy]

Why do so many kayakers try to be invisible?   Are they trying to keep the fish from seeing them?

[TnRiver46]

The guy in the front of the boat is blocking the drivers view. Thats why I took the seat off the bow of my ‘57, couldn’t see around it . Never got that close but had a buddy in the front one time tell me to shut it down because I was approaching a canoe. Took the seat off that night 

[casts_by_fly]

I agree on the wakeboats.  I fortunately don't have to deal with that outside of 1 lake which I've mostly stopped fishing.  They are in fact designed to throw wake and if the lake is big enough (wide enough) then they will dissipate some as long as they stay toward the middle. It's a multiuse lake so that's the price to pay for being on it.  The cigar boats on that lake are the ones that get me.  Its only 2700 acres and a Y shape with a couple big long coves/fingers.  If you just look at the main lake portions you can do a 5 mile loop from the bottom, up the right side, across a channel to the left, and back down.  In a boat doing 70+ mph you've covered the entire lake in 5 minutes.  I've been buzzed at 50' by one blasting down the shoreline (I was a short cast from shore).  And they have limited visibility because they are usually trimmed bow up.

 

50 minutes ago, Tennessee Boy said:

Why do so many kayakers try to be invisible?   Are they trying to keep the fish from seeing them?

 

Not sure who you're referring to specifically but I don't call this invisible: