A Thorough Dunking | Lessons Learned
Filed under: Adventures — admin @ 7:30 am
I was reminded yesterday of a critical aspect of any outdoor activity - SAFETY. A group of flyfisherman planned a trip down the Mississippi for smallmouth bass. I teamed up Dave Lee, one of the best fisherman I know, and we planned to use his canoe. The other three anglers were in pontoon boats.
The area of entry was south of the St. Cloud, MN dam where the currents here are rather tortuous before mellowing out a couple hunderd yards down river into a riverine maze weaving through the Beaver Islands. This is all great smallmouth water. The water was up somewhat after recent rains, mid 70’s F., and relatively clear.
Dave and I got in, with me in the front. We shoved off perpendicular to the current, planning to hit a roiling seam and turn down river. We hit the seam cock-eyed and the canoe listed and rolled - over we went!
We bobbed up with the canoe inverted and righted it, full of water. All out gear was tethered to the gunnels of the craft as we began our journey down river. The water below the landing is known (I came to find out later) as a common surprise bathing area for unweary canoeists.
The water below contained huge rocks. We kept one hand on the canoe for support - which is critical.
I then quickly realised I needed to get out to the end of the canoe, so I could see beyond it and what suprises the river held below and ready myself for them. The best body position was to hold yourself with your legs up (facing down river) ready to feel and deal with the rocks as we moved into and over them, much like a water skier with two skis preparing for take off.
Fortunately there were no deadfalls or other entanglements to hang us up, otherwise the story could have ended much differently. We just rode along eyeballing the bank, looking for a place to land.
The shoreline was not conducive to landing our waterlogged flotilla and we had to ride it out for nearly 100 yards down stream before we could find a hospitable area to beach. We both wore waders which were full, but not a problem so long as we were submerged. When we tried to walk out of the water the waders bulged with gallons of river water making it difficult to move.
We pulled everything up and slowly began the process of taking inventory. Two strung up flyrods and a couple of favorite hats were now the property of Ole Miss. Everything else was accounted for, most importantly the two anglers.
I planned on taking video of Dave fishing a Clouser Deep Minnow, to which he is unrivaled. I had two mid-priced cameras, both got wet despite being in a Ziploc bag.
We talked about lessons learned as we continued our float and I will pass them along to you.
- If it appears you will encounter questionable water on a river float - put on your life jacket (we did not).
- Have a plan when preparing for questionable water. Look at the water together with your partner and concoct a sound strategy for negotiating particular sections of funky looking water. We did not do that and it would have made a difference. I made this trip twice before in low water and there were no issues. Remember a river is never the same and don’t assume otherwise.
- If you do tip stay with the craft. It’s often said - but with waders full of water, we were not about to be swimming anywhere, very efficiently. The craft is your life line, don’t abandon it.
- Keep your head together: Don’t panic and don’t worry about saving any equipment except perhaps your paddles and life jackets - everything else is easily replacable.
- Be aware of the water you are about to encounter below you. Be ready for rocks, deadfalls, low hanging sweepers, etc. so these obstacles don’t take you by surprise.
- Always tether your gear to the craft. It’s easy to get sloppy here. You will be reminded of your sloppiness when you beach and take inventory. Bring a spare rod and reel. Dave had a spare rod, but no reel. I had a spare rod and reel in a protective case tethered to the canoe.
- Don’t assume anything. Invest in new dry bags periodically as the old ones get beat up and leak. My old dry bag was no longer waterproof. This holds for storage bags such as Ziplocs as well. Double bag important or expensive equipment such as cameras, phones, etc. I am attempting to open up two cameras today that got wet within a Ziploc that was not waterproof and had been used previously.
The popper fishing was excellent later in the day with these powerful fish running 15 to 18 inches. Maybe the gods were smiling down upon us after all.
The walleye fishing was dead so we switched to some real fish. This fish was caught near Ely, MN - ground zero for the famed BWCA Canoe Area. The date was May 10. The water temperature was around 50 degrees F.