Last weekend - First time out

[bullseye]

I took the son-in-law with me and we hit the Wolf River in central WI for the weekend. We stayed on my brother's raft for the entire weekend getting on the water Friday evening and not leaving until late Sunday morning.

Fishing was great and catching wasn't bad either. We came back with 5 nice walleyes and 7 nice white bass for the frying pan. We also caught the normal variety of fish that the Winnebago system has. In addition to the above were smaller white bass and walleye, sheephead (drum), catfish, carp, and a perch.

Son-in-law had fun and so did I. The boat worked great with no issues.

Tomorrow I head for 4 days of fishing on the Castle Rock Flowage on the west side of the state on the Wisconsin River. We have a 2 day tournament Saturday and Sunday so I want to prefish for a couple days before.

On somewhat of a sad note, it is the same body of water that 2 fishermen drowned on last Thursday. As of last night they had not yet found the bodies. Last Thursday they found the boat going in circles on the lake. It was very windy that day and it would appear neither had life jackets on and their kill switch wasn't hooked up either in the brand new boat.

I will be watching my side imaging and the water surface as I fish. I have posted on our state bass website for others fishing there this week and weekend to do the same. Hopefully someone can locate their bodies and start to bring some closure to their families.

With the size of the water and the fact that the weather for the next 4 days doesn't look that great you can be guaranteed that my life jacket will be on and kill switch attached......as it is normally when running the boat.

[deputydon]

Good advice Bullseye... We have Lewis and Clark Lake, over two miles wide, and the Missouri River, over a mile wide above it. As someone who has to locate "drowners" almost every year I too would advise everyone to use the jackets and kill switches!!! I've never had to recover a body that was using them..................

[Jack]

Excellent advice!
In my area, we had two canoers capsize on a lake at 1:30 AM- no life jackets. Hypothermia got them pretty quickly.
I haven't heard, but I strongly suspect alcohol was involved.

[bullseye]

This time of the year and the fall are some of the two worst times for us for drowning victims. Cold water temps in the 50's and low 60's cause hypothermia fairly quick.

A number of years ago I got knocked out of the boat when we hit a log while fishing but the big motor wasn't running, just drifting downstream. I fell into 52 degree water, no life jacket. I had on a heavier jacket. The 52 degree water took my breath away when I hit it. I was in the 11' of water with my fishing rod still in hand and the river's current wanted me to stay in the middle of the channel. I was probably in the water about 5 minutes. The boat was hung up on a log and Debby could do nothing to help. I swam with a modified breast stroke as I still had the rod in my hand. I began not being able to keep my head above water and began swallowing it. My legs and arms became so the feeling was leaving them. I thought I was kicking them but really couldn't feel them. The power in my arms and legs faded quickly. Just as I thought I would throw the rod toward shore because I didn't want "but he saved the rod" on my tombstone I felt the bottom. It was a close call.

Yesterday I fished for 8 hours in a bass tournament in 30+ mph 40 degree winds and rain from the back deck of a bass boat with no chair. In addition to my rain suit I had on 4 layers of clothes on underneath. My life jacket stayed on all day. I didn't want to make 3 bodies.

As of yesterday they had not yet found either body and it has been over a week.