Fishing on the Wharfe at Bolton Abbey today, hard going in the morning with a strong cold downstream wind, got better later on. Took six brownies and one and a half grayling (one was too small to count as a proper fish!!)

My fishing pal slipped on a ledge whilst wading and went under backwards, right in front of me as I sat on the bank undoing wind/**** casting knots. He was Soaked. PML. Went to the car and got changed. An hour later he tripped over a submerged boulder and went under forwards this time. PML again. Abandoned fishing and retired to the pub. You know who you are if you're lurking....

Quick survey - how many of you have actually fallen in whilst wading - I dont mean the stumble and arm in the water job, but the proper all the way in job?

Yup.

It's not "If" - it's "When".

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Plusnet/Madasafish > Liars to the internet community

Stepped into water which I thought was about 6 inches last year while sea trout fishing at night, I'd miscalculated my position in the darkness by about 4 feet, the depth was actually about 2 feet deep, overbalanced forward, put my hands out to stop myself (yeah, like water's going to stop me ) hand went straight through my beloved rod, knee landed on a sharp rock. End result; soaked, broken rod, hole in waders.

Ages ago Mrs taking photo of me and my first Barbel (about 1/2 lb ) stepped back and in. I completely disappeared . It was about 7' deep and freezing. Everyone thought it was highly amusing... Lost touch with the fish, picture was a blur of me vanishing.

I've never fallen in while fishing YET .

I was fishing at Swanswater once and a guy who was out in a boat came in and tied up to the jetty. He promptly managed to fall in while stepping from the boat to the jetty .

I s'pose tales like this underline the need for a bouyancy aid when fishing. Glad to hear your mate's incident wasn't more serious.

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Tight Lines. :)

I was fishing a wee stillwater on my own on a saturday afternoon run by a farmer with hardly a fish in the place. This is why I was the only one there on a saturday! I started to wade out onto the black sandy bottom....only it wasn't sand!! It went straight down about 8ft! I stopped with the water under my armpits and somehow managed to get back out wriggling on my back. The good news is there was nobody there to laugh at me. I had to borrow a pair of oversized Khaki trousers from my girlfriend at the times grandad. I then went to another busy wee water in the same area and thats where I got laughed at for the trousers! Hey, least I didn't drown.

Was fishing the mayfly on the Avon this year working my way upstream until I came to a pool which I know is too deep to wade through. So out i get, walked round found a gap in the reeds looked in, about knee deep. Take one step in and straight under i go. I am 6' tall so god knows how deep this "entry point" was. Waders filled up with water and I could not drag meself out so had to take them off whilst in the river and then get out and empty them.

To top it all off this happened at dusk and I could hardly see.

Would have loved to see the look on my face when i realised it was definitely not knee deep.

Dan

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http://eclecticangler.blogspot.com/

I guess there is a more serious side to this, in that anglers do drown whilst wading. What are the "Top Ten Tips" for safe wading? I'm interested in this as I've recently acquired waders & boots, but have not yet had the occassion to use them. Do I need a staff, too?

Whilst not a wading story, my recent holiday on Isle of Harris, I was fishing a pool in the Loch. Casting was a nightmare due to wind direction, so I decided to cross to the opposite bank via the dam/ fish ladder thingy. Adopting stealth tactics, I started off on a circuitous route to a position where I could fish the pool. Next thing I know, I'm up to my waist in bog! Thankfully, my landing net stopped me sinking any further and wellies full of water plus wet n muddy was as bad as it got.

See, I'm clumsy enough on dry land which is why I'm interested in wading safety....

Best advice I've had is to retrace your steps on the way back out. I tried to take a short cut once and ended up swimming out with full waders. Had forgot to put on the waist belt (complacency) and had not tightened the chest drawstring.

regards

Vince

I've swam a couple of times when I've either slipped or discovered a deep hole and I've had the pleasure of leaving a pair of wellies in a bog and was thankful that I didn't leave my pants as well! Had a lot of fun walking a couple of km back to the car bare foot. Main thing is always, always put on a waist belt and tighten the chest drawstring.

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!"