I’m not sure it happened… But it happened in a split second. One minute I’m walking around the gunwale on the outside of the cabin on my 26 foot boat… and the next thing I know I’m in the water.
When fishing in difficult conditions, things can go bad in a hurry. That’s why it pays to be prepared!
I cannot give you any sort of reason why I fell into the drink because again, it happened so quickly. I have no recollection of slipping or even thinking “uh oh here I go.” I was just doing my usual routine and then an instant later I was swimming in 42° water. Naturally, it started snowing about that time too.
I fell in up towards the bow, and therefore had a bit of a swim to get to the back of the boat where my ladder is located. I was able to haul myself out without incident and get back inside the boat. Of, course I was 13 miles from the nearest civilization, and just at the beginning of a guided fishing trip, so there was no turning back.
The short version of the story is I guided the rest of the day in wet clothes. I was chilly but got through the trip unscathed.
But boy was I mad at myself for not having a spare set of dry clothes and a towel on board. I’ve only been doing this for, oh 100 years, so how could I not have such essential gear with me?
I’ve always carried a spare set of rain gear and bibs but never even considered something as simple as dry socks, sweatpants and a hoodie. Duh!
I suppose it’s because I’ve never fallen in before so the idea of taking a swim just didn’t even register. Plus most of the guiding I did for my first 20 plus years was in a very warm climate. Still it doesn’t take a genius to consider that just maybe a dry set of clothes on the boat could come in handy sometime.
Tim Reilly and Nick Amato landing a double. J.D. is on the roof getting some footage four the Salmon Trout Steelheader YouTube channel.
Well my little lesson was an eye opener and I, of course, now keep clothes and a towel at the ready just in case.
The other thing that was a wake up call was the fact that I wasn’t wearing any sort of PFD. On that day, it luckily wasn’t an issue but what if I had knocked my head on the way out? Even if I didn’t conk my noggin, I still could have been in huge trouble if the boat started drifting away in a wind gust. My elderly customers would have probably just watched helplessly, as I sank to Davy Jones’ Locker.
In 42-degree water, a person can get hypothermia in short order, and within 20 minutes, you can be in real trouble as the muscles start to fatigue and shut down. You can potentially last an hour or more but death can also occur pretty much from that time on.
I was lucky. All I did was bruise my ego and had to work all day in wet clothes. Other than that I was no worse for wear. But I am still shocked at how it all happened. And I think that’s the moral here: Stuff usually happens when you expect it the least so it pays to be prepared.
Wearing a life jacket (the suspender ones are so comfortable there’s no reason not to wear ‘em) in even seemingly safe situations is always a good plan. And my swimming experience would have looked completely different if all I had to do was throw on some dry clothes. Easy peazy… slip into some new duds and keep fishing like nothing ever happened.
Stay safe out there!
J.D. Richey is a member of the California Outdoors Hall of Fame and has been guiding full time since 1998. Check him out on social media: @fishwithjd
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