My Nightmare Came True Today

[rondef]

Well today I went out fishing with my son at a trophy bass managed 5 acre pond in our canoe. The day started off good, we each caught 4 LMB off of various baits and were having a lot of fun on his last day of fishing for a while, his wife is due with their first child in three weeks.

Later in the morning I went to cast my lure (Strike King red-eyed shad) and it got caught on my other rod and reel and yanked it out of the canoe. As you can imagine it only gets worse, I freaked out seeing my rod coming out of the canoe and leaned over to grab it befoe it went to it's watery grave and of course the canoe tipped over. We fell in the water and our life jackets immediately inflated my first thought was for my sons safety and I made sure he was ok, thank god. After checking on my son I dragged the canoe to the shore while swimming and then pulled my son out of the water. I did an inventory of the gear while I was dripping wet on the shore and all of my sons equipment was in the boat, lucky him. Me on the other hand, I lost two new rods and reels and a good amount of tackle. Just when it can't get any worse we realized we had our cell phones on us, needless to say they no longer work.

This trip cost me approximately $600 in fishing gear, man am I bummed. I now have to save up some money to buy new gear so I guess fishing will be on hold for a little while. I am going to have to buy stuff a little at a time to replace what I lost since I don't have that kind of spare cash to replace it all at this time. I will have to go to BPS this weeked and at least pick up one rod and reel or I am going to loose my mind not being able to fish.

There is one good thing, we are both ok, no one got hurt and my son now has one heck of a story to tell my future grandson.

I was also supposed to fish a tournament with Nitroman tonight so I messed up his day to. I called him once we got back to my house and explained the situation. I think he got another partner, man I really wanted to fish my first tournament with him tonight.

Thanks for listening, this is a tough thing for me to deal with today, the reality of this nightmare is still sinking in.

[Bass XL]

I'm sorry to hear about your loss, but glad to hear everyone is ok. Have you thought about getting some goggles and diving for them, or is the water too deep?

[rondef]

The water s between 15 and 20 feet deep. I may try going back this weekend and see if I can snag them by using an old fishing rod (haven't used it in years) with some braided line, weights and some hooks. I only have a general idea of where they went in and the bottom is real silty so I don't know how much luck I will have if I do this.

[Bass XL]

Their is another way to do it too. Tie a stringer on your line and open all of the clips and then drag it. I've got a couple of my buddy's rods by doing this. GOOD LUCk

[Tokyo Tony]

Their is another way to do it too. Tie a stringer on your line and open all of the clips and then drag it. I've got a couple of my buddy's rods by doing this. GOOD LUCk

That's a great idea  8-)

Another thing you can try - it will probably work better for your lures though - is to buy one of those super-powerful magnets and drag it around the area. They're easily strong enough to grab lures by their hooks, so it may be a good investment...

Sorry to hear that rondef - that sucks.

[WTRDOG]

Maybe you could find someone that scuba dives, should be easy to find then.Glad you and you're son are o.k..

[Newman12Fan]

Glad everyone is OK, sorry about the gear.  One thought is if your son can't fish for a while, us his gear.   Then you can brag to him about all the fish you caught on his stuff!

[Sam]

First, so glad you and Jason are OK.

Remember, Jason is supposed to be nearby when the happy moment arrives due to the terrible traffic he and his wife may encounter on the way to the hospital so maybe Jason was sent a message from above.

Second, I am sorry to hear about your losses.  It could have been worse and please be thankful that you and Jason are OK.

You can replace your tackle but we can't replace you and Jason.

The BPS south of Ashland is opening at the end of September or early October and I am waiting for their sales before I venture out to get new rods and reels, etc.

So if you can wait, maybe you can hit the sale and get more for your money.

Once again, I am very glad you guys are OK.  Terrible story but with a happy ending - you guys are OK.  

P.S.  You can get your grandchild a nice gift, too, like an All Star rod and a Shimano reel. And you daughter-in-law gifts of nice tackle. And Jason some stuff, too.  ;D

[rondef]

Thanks guys for your kind words. Hey Bassxl I may go try that stringer idea tomorrow afternoon. I am not sure how much luck I will have as the silt is pretty thick and there is lots of scattered timber in the area to.

[Sam]

I told you story to my wife and she suggests that you contact a local diving club to see if any of their members want to dive to find your equipment.

I have no idea if they would be interested or if there are any diving clubs in Norther Virginia/DC but it is food for thought.

Good luck.  

[skillet]

SO glad you both are OK and NIGHTMARE pretty much covers it...

                      As Ever,

                       skillet

[firefightn15]

Rondef, that's terrible.  I am so glad to here that you two weren't injured or worse.  Can't offer anymore suggestions, but I'm glad  your both here to atleast talk about it.

Two weeks ago on my local waters a woman with ms fell off a pontoon, and her friend jumped in and helped her back aboard.  When all was thought to be well, it was realized that her friend never surfaced.  He was recovered a day or two later.

Not to try and be a downer, but it still bothers me.  Again, I'm glad to hear you and your son are safe.  Tackle can be replaced.  You can't.

[Paul Roberts]

Sorry to hear, but relieved to hear you and your son are OK. And I hope he's not afraid of the boat now.

I'd definitely go back and try to snag those rods. It's not that hard to do. I like BassXL's idea -I'd be sure to weight one end to stretch it out. My thought was a weighted snagging treble. My guess is you'll recover one if not both rods.

[Daniel My Brother]

I'll just echo what everyone else has said, I'm just glad you guys made it to shore ok. A buddy and his wife tipped a canoe in 10 feet of water when the water was only 40 degrees. She would not have made it out if not for him.

Too scary.

[Bass XL]

Like I said, good luck, and let us know how it turns out.

[fishhard]

Ron,

Sorry about your accident, I am glad to hear your ok, I made a new friend in meeting you on here, and the support you have shown me here in afghanistan is highly respectable, so if you can send me your address, I can have my wife send you a rod and reel or two, that I am not using, out of respect for what you did for me and my soldiers.  I am glad your son is safe also.

[JShrock07]

Hey ron,

I'm sorry about that ron, That had to be scary!!! I'm glad you two are okay!!!

BTW I sent you a PM

Don't worry about me I got another partner and everything went okay... Although I didn't place we still had fun.

-Nitroman

[basser89]

Sorry to hear that Ron! As everyone else said, first and foremost, I'm glad you and your son are OK! Hopefully, BASS XL's tip will payoff for you! Good luck with that!

[packman]

well me and my brother did the same thing, but it was was in about 2 feet of water and me and my revo went in like quik sand in the mudd, glad all are safe and wish you luck getting your rods back.

packman

[Big-O]

Ron, I wish you well in your search for your rod etc. And very glad you two were wearing your PSD's. That's a great lesson for all of us and let me know if I can help

Big O

[32251]

INFLATABLE VESTS!!!!

YES!!  My son and I also had an accident with our boat and fell in the water. The vest saved our lives.  

The gear does not matter.

Canoes are not stable enough for me to be in for fishing.  You might rethink that one.

[paul.]

nightmare is right.    i'm glad y'all are o.k. though.

[Andrew Coleman]

mabey in somthing that is more easy to tip you could have some kind of strap to connect your tackle box to the conoe so if this happens again, the tackle will stay with the canoe. also straps for your rods mabey?

[LCpointerKILLA]

sorry to hear about this rondef

[rondef]

All,

I would like to say thank you for the out pouring of support that I have received from every one here on this forum.  This site is great, it feels like I have a big extended family, THANK YOU.  

The reason I wrote this is to remind people about being safe on the water and to always wear your PFD/PSD.  The items I lost can be replaced but my son's and my lives can't.  I am not looking for anyone to give me free gear, however I appreciate the offers I have received.  I just want to make sure that every one of you are safe out on the water.

I am going to try Bassxl's idea this afternoon and see if I can't snag the two rods with a stringger.  Unfortunately I have to do this from shore because I need to get two new arming kits for my PFD/PSD's before I can use my bass boat or canoe again.  I think I can cast to where we went over and I will update you guys in this thread if I have any luck.  

My wife wants me to head up to Bass Pro Shop and at least go pick up the reaming kits and a new rod and reel.  I love her and am glad she understands how much bass fishing means to me.  However I think I am going to wait to buy new rods until I exhaust my efforts on retrieving my rods from the pond.  I may also wait until the new BPS opens in Ashland, Virginia so I can get them on sale, they plan to open around the September/October time frame.  I do have one rod left a baitcaster I bought this year but haven't used much because I hate dealing with the backlashes.  It is a good rod (same model as what I lost) and it has a good reel, a KVD Signature Series baitcaster.  I guess now is the time to put in the necessary hours to learn how to use it properly.

Once again thank you to all of my Bass Resource family members.  You guys are the best and this is the best site on the web.

Ron