Please Read

[Walleye Bucket]

I am writing this to help myself get over the death of my best friend and his father almost 2 years ago.

It was april 1st on lake wisconsin. My friend, 43 years old, and his father grew up fishing these waters. On the way back to the landing during mid-day, the hit a stump in the stump field just out from the landing. The weather was cold, so they had heavy clothes on. They were both very capable swimmers. They were in 8 feet of water, and within 60 feet of several stumps. When the 14 foot jon boat hit the stump, it pitched them both out, and the boat started circling. There were other fishermen in the area, but the did not see it happen. They both went into shock from the cold water and sank from the heavy clothing they were wearing. The boat was going around 15 mph when this happened. Their life jackets were attached tightly around their seats, just like I used to do.
These were both family men. PLEASE,PLEASE,PLEASE, for your family sake, wear your life vests when your boat is under way. It took 3 weeks for the first body to come to the surface, and four weeks for the second body to come up. I spent 10 days solid looking for them with all sorts of additional help from various law enforcement and rescue services....it is very hard to spend that much time looking at your lowrance hoping to see your buddies body on the bottom of the lake. Life jackets might not be the most comfortable thing in the world to wear, but think about the friends and family that will be spending time trying to recover your body if you don't....life jackets WOULD have saved these two lives. I am going fishing this year again finally....thats what they would have wanted.

Thanks for taking time to read this, Mike and Dudley, I really miss you guys.

[Water Dog]

100 prayers for you and your family . I truly regret your loss .
Please remember , life jackets may or may not have saved their lives .
Your story is a good reminder of how we must be careful and watch out for each other .
Best Regards ,
Water Dog

[WAeyes]

Quite a story. Sorry to hear about your loss. Glad to hear you are getting back on the horse so to speak.

[Hooky]

My Regards!!

[water_wolf]

WB,
Very powerful post. It always bears reminding to wear pfd when under power. My son reminds me when I forget. Sorry for your loss, but glad to see you take the "next step" in your recovery by getting back on the water. I wish you well.

Rich Ferguson

[ETT]

I'm sorry to hear about your friends. Good friends are rare. And I'm certainly not being argumentative, but I think something needs to be said....

If noone saw the boat circling (that's a pretty obvious trouble signal), then even with the life jackets on, your friends may not have survived. In cold water situations, we all simply need to understand, you go in the water, you're very likly not going to survive.

If water temps are under 45 degrees, and I'm with someone who is not accustomed to cold water fishing, I tell them to look over the side, and understand that they are looking at death. I usually get a nervous laugh, and "what are you talking about"? Then we have the "you don't go in that water for any reason" discussion.

This all started when a friend hooked my custom made rod and fancy reel, while making a cast, and flipped it overboard. He started to go in after it. This was late March on Erie in a year when there was a winter. (water temps maybe 40) I was close enough to stop him, and he got upset with me. "Man, I could have got that!!" he said. I doubt he would have resurfaced. I had just finished an article about cold water survival and had learned that when our body goes into cold water, we have an involintary gasp. This fills our lungs with water, if our head is submerged, and we just don't come up. They call it "Instant Disappearance " . Happens all the time.

I love spring fishing, just be careful.

Sorry about the sermon. Very sorry about your friends.

[targa2]

Very sorry to hear about your loss. We should spread the word about "floater suits" for cold water.Keeps you from submerging and gives you some valuable time to beat hypothermia. Mustang,Bouy O Bouy and Stearns all have them.

[Juls_WI]

Sorry for your loss Walleye Bucket, but thanks for the reminder.

Good luck this season, and remember, your "buds" will be with you out there!

Best wishes,

Juls

[walleye bucket]

I do not take offense to your reply, however I should have given some further details in my posting that might have created a different response from you. several fishermen heard my friends boat impact the stump and came over to investigate. my friends had allready gone under. there was an autophsy done on both friends and there was no sign of trauma....they sank and died because they were not wearing life jackets. please recall in my post that I do not believe that life jackets will save everyones lives, however it will make the recovery of the bodies much easier. please rfecall it took 3-4 weeks for both of my friends to float up to the surface. I hope you now have a more clear picture of what I am saying. I do appreciate VERY much that you and others have taken the time to read and reply, this process is helping me greatly.....THANK YOU.

[lobo1]

ETT,

I had a moment of stupidity such as you described - I made the mistake of going in after a rod. It was not spring and the water was not even that cold - probably 60 degrees. The main thing was that it was chilly outside and misty rain.
I feel very fortunate to be here to say that a guy can not swim or tread water for very long with boots and rain gear on. As soon as I hit the water my body realized what my brain did not - WHAT A BIG MISTAKE I JUST MADE !
I could have reached the rod but before I realized it - I was in trouble and shouting for by buddy to come get me. IMHO I probably had about one minute more before I would have sank.
We went in immediately but I still could not stop my entire body from trembling for several hours afterwards.

This is a good reminder for me to get a new jacket this year.

Steve

[Jim Ordway]

Sorry to hear of your loss and thanks for the reminder to us all. I know we all find reasons not to wear life jackets when its cold because of the hassle with all those warm clothes. Getting past the basic macho stuff, we must all remember that our loved ones will pay for our mistakes long after we are gone.
Take care,

[sorenson]

My deepest sympathies regarding your loss. Good friends will never be replaced, but they will always be remembered.
I'll wear my PFD - I wanna see my son grow up.
s.

[GJN]

I recently read a report that detailed all fatal boat accidents in NY for the 2000 calender year and 70% involved people who were not wearing life preservers. It inspired me to buy Mustang inflatable vests for my wife and I as I figured we'd be more inclined to wear them. I'm truly sorry for your loss and agree the best thing you can do is get on with living. Best regards. Gary

[jhsny6]

It is never easy to lose a loved one. i have lost my mother and a brother in the time frame of one month and I thought that the world was coming to an end. The only thing that a person can keep in mind is that they are in a better place than us and are probably fishing right now. Some day, when we die, our questions will be answered of why these things happen to good people. Until then, we must trust in the Lord and know that he has a greater plan for all of us and carry on with the rest of our lives knowing that they are free from lifes burdens. I hope this helps a little bit.
jhsny6@yahoo.com