Was out at Rutland yesterday, the wind was 25-30mph from the West - not a pleasant day afloat even in Rutlands boats. Went over to 'stockie bay' to find 2 anglers fishing from a small open top canoe without life jackets !!!! by all accounts, they thought it was ok to do so. Thankfully they were removed from the water before they did themselves any harm.
The excuse? didn't say on the web that they couldn't fish from a canoe!!!! Anybody else out there seen anything whilst out fishing that could have ended in tears. Al.O

Yup, not a day for the feint hearted, Al. I did our drogue in the engine at the end of the first drift

Some of those windsurfers take their life in their hands, too.........


Charlie

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Sonik Sports Team Pitsford Pirates

I don't fish from a boat but I've seen idiots out casting during a lightning storm which I always figured was a good way to eliminate certain folks from the gene pool!

Terry

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"He either fears his fate too much,
Or his desserts are small,
Who dares not put it to the touch,
To win or lose it all!"

I actually saw someone killed at Grafham in the 1970s. A lightning storm was brewing, all the sensible boats lay down their rods and headed for the shore, one thought they knew better and stayed out. They were hit by lightening and thrown out of the boat. One was killed, I can't remember if by lightning or drowning but it didn't make a lot of difference!

I have a friend that I just won't take in a boat now, he stands up without warning, gets his fly line tangled in the prop and catches me in the head a few times despite me making sure that he's at the downstream end of the boat. Much safer just to leave him ashore.

i had another day on Llandegfedd in such a big wind that boats were getting driven onto the dam and not being able to get off, in the end about half a dozen boats were left there and the anglers just walked back to their cars.

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“There is no more lovely country than Monmouthshire in early spring. Nowhere do the larks sing quite so passionately, as if somehow inspired by the Welsh themselves. There is a blackbird on every thorn and a cock chaffinch, a twink as they call him there, on every bush...... It moved me profoundly. I had been spared to see another spring, and I thank God for it.”

Oliver Kite
“A Spring Day on the Usk”
A Fisherman’s Diary

Sounds like ideal float tubing weather I love tubing in a big gale, fish go nuts ! keep your back to the waves fin, safe as houses and very comfy you dont get the "thump" "thump" you get in a boat Ive 5 air bags in my tube alone plus sit on a pile cushion

When i have to boat fish (places that wont allow tubes ) i were my tubing life jacket, id never got in a boat without one !

Amazes me how many guys simply sit on them

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Englander

"Barbless since 2008"

Vision GT Four catapult 9' 6#
Vision GT Four SW 9' 9#
Vision 3 Zone 9' 5#
Vision Cult 9' 3#
Shakespeare Trion 9' 5/6#
Cortland Endurance 9' 6#
Shakespeare Expedition float tube
Vosseler DC3 reel
Okuma Helios 8/9 reel
Greys G series 3/4 reel
Snowbee Geo 3/4 reel

A lack of common sense combined with inexperience is a particularly deadly mix when boats are involved.

On my first big fishing trip to Canada when I was 11, I got to see this firsthand. We were at the launch site at a remote lake in northern Ontario. We had to go 15 miles by water to get to the camp site where we intened to stay. The trip involved crossing a large lake and then through connecting rivers into a smaller lake.

When we got to the ramp, another party was loading and preparing to depart. This was very unusual for this lake, it was rare to seen even a parked car at this landing, much less meet another group of anglers. This lake is pretty remote and probably sees only 1 or 2 boats per week, most of them are day tripping locals.

They were loading a jon boat, which is a flat bottom, square bow boat with a shallow draft and not much freeboard. Basically, totally unsuitable for anything except small shallow rivers. They were massively overloaded with enough beer and gear for what looked like a 2 week stay.

It was almost noon and the wind had come up, the wave height was rising. Dad went over and talked to them, and in the course of the conversation he mentioned that conditions were a bit rough for crossing in a jonboat, especially with that much gear on board. He received the standard "don't know what we don't know" reply: We'll be fine, have to go now to make camp by dark, etc, etc. . .

So they started their outboard and pa said to me, "Let's get the boat in the water. I'll be going out on a rescue mission in about 15 minutes to pull those jackasses out of the water."

He backed the boat in and we started sorting gear while dad checked on the hapless jonboat crew through binocs. As it turned out, dad was a little optimistic. They didn't even last 15 minutes, as soon as they rounded the point into the teeth of the wind, they took the first big roller right over the bow and swamped, then partially rolled until most of their gear dumped into the water.

Pa fired both outboards and roared off in our aluminum v-hull, which was vastly more capeable in those conditions. He managed to get both anglers on board (neither was wearing a life jacket) and towed their boat back, but they lost a lot of their camping and fishing gear. Needless to say, they were pretty miserable when he pulled them back to the landing.

It was a good experience for me to see that at age 11. I not only developed a very useful lifelong aversion to jon boats, but I also understood how quickly things can go to hell and the consequences of pushing your luck in bad conditions. I'll bet those guys lost $1000 in gear and that was in 1979, but I also came to understand how lucky they were that there was someone there to rescue them. I think having that "glad that wasn't me" feeling was a good thing at that age, I believe it's served me well to this day.

Grouse

I was on Grafham yesterday and they restricted the fishing to east of a line between the fishing lodge and the tower.

My father-in-law lost his hat just off of savages. Probably not the only hat that went for a swim yesterday.

Come 3pm they called the boats in. A very good call given that by 3.30 - 3.45 ish the wind had picked up even more and if boats had been out in that they would have been in serious trouble.

Fazzer

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If you're too busy to fish then you're too busy.

One of the problems that we have in England and Wales is that the fishing boats provided do not have the weather and wave tolerance of the big and well ballasted Irish (and Scottish) boats. I would happily stay out and drift on one of the big Irish loughs in one of their 19 foot wooden boats in conditions where English boats couldn't even get out.

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“There is no more lovely country than Monmouthshire in early spring. Nowhere do the larks sing quite so passionately, as if somehow inspired by the Welsh themselves. There is a blackbird on every thorn and a cock chaffinch, a twink as they call him there, on every bush...... It moved me profoundly. I had been spared to see another spring, and I thank God for it.”

Oliver Kite
“A Spring Day on the Usk”
A Fisherman’s Diary

The fun starts when you put the motor on turn into the wind and then take off !

About 40 years ago they let us out on Grafham in something that blew up to a Force 10.

One boat broke the transom out the back - the rest of us managed to make it back upwind - tacking in behind Savages in the lee of the bank- where we basically picked a tree up the bank and tied off to it - no anchor would hold in it ! .

Somebody actually caught a fish rowing back in as the light fell . So that was one between maybe 10 boats !

I have never been in worse conditions - certainly never in more physical danger.

Force 5 is too much on a big water with a long reach !

You are allowed to go home when it is severe and more folks should !

Have you heard about the recent one at Toft - some disabled gent had to be helped back to his car after they'd dragged him out - tipped over a motor powered Float Tube - and then just wouldn't disentangle himself and fire off his CO2 lifejacket - told rescuers he wasn't willing to spend the £15 on a new cartridge !

Quite what the gent thought he was up to - even tubing with effectively no legs - I know not - and in a stiffish wind - ouch !

I don't think God actually does take care of fools - the rest of us have to help !

Be lucky and stay at home when the big fingerprints are on the Weather Map !

Steve P

Had a scary day on Loch Katrine with my dad and uncle when I was a kid.
We had been fishing in a sheltered bay all morning and had not noticed the wind getting up. As we moved out into the main loch we could see the trouble we were in.
No outboards on Katrine as it is water supply, oars only. My uncle rowed out into the loch and missed his stroke on the oars with the waves.
He crashed back and cracked his head on the seat, out cold!!!
The oars went overboard and we were cast adrift in a raging storm.
Drifted down wind at a rate of knots hanging on for dear life. We were eventually washed ashore soaked to the skin. By this time my uncle had come to and was enjoying the ride immensely!!!
Left the boat and had to walk it back to the car. A great day out.

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It is in truth not glory,nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting,but for freedom - for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with his life.(Declaration of Arbroath, 1320)