Wading tip

If your buddy losses his/her footing and goes for a dip, don't try to follow them to help. You'll only end up in the same predictament. Head for shore, you can get down stream much safer and quicker on dry land. Thats where the branches and possibly rope will be to throw out to them to stop their drift. Make sure they stay aware of their bearings if possible, and always keep their feet downstream from their head. Much better to break a leg than your neck. My Simms came with a sinch belt, if I'm gonna be in deep water, I keep in on to prevent my waders from filling up with water.

Anyone care to add more, feel free.......

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If flyfishing were a sin, I'de be the devil's right hand man.

I would like to add something. I had a near death experience about 5 years ago and it has made me a much safer wader. Always stand in current sideways if possible it creates a smaller profile and less water surface. Field and Stream had a great article on wading in last months issue. I think it should be a must read there were alot of safe wading aspects. I would also do a search here too.

Seege

"I would like to add something."....me too...I've never forgotten as a young man wading the Deschutes with my wading belt cinched...slipped over my head...the waders apparently had air in them that was trapped and caused my legs to go higher than my head...I was able to get my head up and as my waders gradually filled with water my feet dropped and reached bottom at a level where I could stand. I'm not sure what the lesson is about wader belts but I know one lesson is to stay calm with your wits about you.

Two years ago; below the dam on "The Holy Water" of the Rogue River, I took a nasty slip in belly button high turbulent water. For about a 100 yards I was slammed up aginst river bottom and rocks along the way. 63 year old folk have no business being as foolish as me that day. I now wear an inflatable life vest in turbulant water when I'm knee high; as goofy as it looks, with my "extras" either in my shirt pockets or in my wader pocket! I wish that one of the major vest manufacturers like Simms or Orvis would make a combined vest and inflatable life vest.
Tip: The brain of a 65 year old knows exactly what the body of a 35 year old is supposed to do; but, the wiring of that old brain to that "young" body is a "little" out of date.

For spring fishing and threatening waters I have an SOS inflatable life jacket and a wading staff. I feel a heck of a lot safer now that I carry both.

jed

Pearl,
I'm not going to search out the details....[I have to go do the dishes , take out the garbage...oh did I say I don't do toilets but do do windows]....but anyway JC in some recent thread gave a link to a FAOL evaluation of just what you may be looking for.

Last yr in NY on Johnsons creek I was wading ,my son was walking the bank.I attempted to climb up the bank,fell backwards and landed on my back,but somehow quickly ended up on my stomach,like Ducksterman my feet ended up higher than my head and I couldn't right myself,drowning was a real possibilty,lucky for me my son jumped in and grabbed my vest and held my head up,depth of water was waist deep.I was wearing neoprenes w/belt.

Mike

Mike,
You just jogged my memory...it wasn't air in my waders.... I too was wearing neoprenes and it was the buoyancy of the neoprenes that raised my lower body....actually if I hadn't had a belt the water would have gotten in faster and I would have gone upright sooner.

Good point on the belt issue. I've been upside down in neoprenes, but they were tight enough that no water came in. But had no trouble in regaining my feet. Body weight might play a big part in that too. Might just leave the belt at home though, the Simms do hold alot of air.

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If flyfishing were a sin, I'de be the devil's right hand man.

The fly fishing vest with the built in life saving is here: [url=http://www.flyanglersonline.com/prorevw/stormyseas.html:1fe43]http://www.flyanglersonline.com/prorevw/stormyseas.html[/url:1fe43]

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LadyFisher, Publisher of
FAOL

Free for the asking is a Wader Safety Video from SIMMS. It has demos of rescue techniques and safe wading tips. It also dramatically states that two (2) wader belts must be worn for safety. One around the waist and another at the chest.

get the free video on their site...

Rich

Thanks Rich,

I'll do that and pass it around if anyone else might want to watch it.

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If flyfishing were a sin, I'de be the devil's right hand man.

Hi Guys
I don't have a lot of experience wading
rivers but one October morn...about 7 yrs a
go...I took a tumble out of a duckboat almost
head 1st in about 3 ft of water...high thigh
for me. I readily got to my feet wearing
neoprenes but I also had a 12 gauge shotgun
in my hands to give me leverage.
Not a wading staff I would normally
recommend...but it worked for me.

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Regards
nam

Just like people who have to make a choice between their valuables and their life when a disaster strikes; I never put my safety in jeopardy when wading.

My adage is: there ain?t ANY fish worth risking my life over. I always wade safely and as shallow as I can get away with. A wading staff is often on my belt and if the water is too high or fast, I go someplace else or find a different access. The result of this caution is no spills or issues in more years than I can remember.

I'd say Bamboozle has summed it up:

Quote:

---

My adage is: there ain?t ANY fish worth risking my life over.

---

You might also mention, although not too publicized, "there are few victims out there that a SaRTech is willing to die for".

Train for the worst
Play hard
Come home safe


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Christopher Chin
Jonquiere Quebec
[url=http://pages.videotron.com/fcch/:f5ad5]http://pages.videotron.com/fcch/[/url:f5ad5]

My most perilous wading experience was actually in salt water. I was fishing the Jersey Shore and found an unusual sandbar next to an inlet that went out about 1/2 mile. I walked out on it, thinking it would be there when I got back. You can all probably figure out what happened 3hrs later. November is a damn cold time to get washed down the beach while trying to swim with one arm and hold your rod with the other.

I recently discovered that the tides there are about 10x higher than what I am used to here on the Texas coast.

Moral of the story: Sandbars move, don't trust them to be there for you.

Countrygent,on a added note,my waders did not fill with water and as Ducksterman said buoyancy kept one end up,at 5'11'' 190lbs.body weight had nothing to do with it.Although maybe I should add diver weights to my legs to keep them down.

Mike

Standing sideways is good advice, and something that I figured our may years ago.

Also, use the right kind of boots.

Use a wading staff, and as you cross, keep the wading staff on the downstream side of your body. I've seen countless people cross a stream with a staff but without giving an instant of thought to the fact that the staff would be useless as they held it.

Most importantly, know your limits, and use a margin of precautionon top of that to keep out of risky situations.

I am a pretty strong wader, but a very cautious one.

Soggy, irrespective of your build, weight has a lot to do with it, there are very few animals in the world that will land on their feet if dropped. A humans body is top heavy, hence the problems associated with taking an unplanned dip. The floatation of waders would add to the prob too.

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Work is a means for people to afford their fishing.




[This message has been edited by Garic (edited 04 May 2005).]

Im guessing I should be more careful nxt time

Mike

everyone should always take care and be careful,90% of all human beings float upright reguardless of proportions...swimming pools are a good way to find out exactly how ones natural floation position may be...Neoprene adds a tremendous amout of bouyancy.and I know I'll never wear a belt with mine,not that any of them ever came with one.Ya'll just be safe and happy,My one suggestion is this "take your time and work through the fast/deep/turbid stuff Slowly" If you "have"to be in that type of water.

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"I've often wondered why it is that so many anglers spend so much money on,and pay so much attention to.the details on the wrong end of the fly line.If they took as much care in selecting or tying their flies as they did in the selection of the reel and rod,They might be able to gain the real extra edge that makes it possible to fool a fish that has,in fact,seen it all before" A.K.Best

"Wish ya great fishing"

I'm glad I started this thread. Theres been alot of great info posted. I know I certainly learned a thing or two. One other thing I haven't seen mentioned yet is boot size. I lost my footing and went swimming in the winter too because of too large of boot. I borrowed my buddys waders for duck hunting. Too large, your foot moves around and you lose all dexterity. I lifted my foot but the boot didn't lift enough to clear a log and tripped me. Kept my shotgun out of the water but I know for a FACT, that I will never wear a loose fitting boot again.

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If flyfishing were a sin, I'de be the devil's right hand man.

I have taken a few dips in my time.When I bought my waders the salesman gave me a good piece of advice.He said anytime you fall in and are going with the flow to try and get you feet pointed upstream.If your feet are pointed downstream the water will push into your waders like air into a parachute and you will have to try twice as hard to get free of the current.

Always use a wading staff, even if the water is shallow and not moving very fast. Walking over round slick rocks is a lot easier and safer with a staff. Use your staff to lean on while one foot is on the bottom and the other is looking for a place to step down. Standing on one foot in your living room is hard enough, without rocks shifting under your feet and a current trying to push you down.

The last time I fell, I fell on my staff and broke it. Obviously, it wasn't being used, but was traing behind on a tether. Did I mention that a staff is of little use if you don't use it?

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Live long and die with your (wading) boots on.

Elk, I'm not sure that was really good advice.

If your feet are pointed upstream, your head is pointed downstream. As such, it or your neck or back will be the first thing to ram into any rocks as you are swept downsteam.

I'd far rather deal with the situation with water in my waders than while unconscious or paralyzed.

For me it is FD3:

FD1=Feet downstream ASAP.

D2= Drop your rod if you can't swim with it well enough to get to shore fast. Ain't a rod made that is worth more than my life.

D3=drop the tops of you waders as you reach shore. Water doesn't weigh more than water so you waders won't drage you down while you are swimming. But water weighs a whole lot more than air and will keep you from climbing out when you reach the shallows and don't let the water out of your waders.

Just one person's opinion so don't sue me if you drown by following this approach!

Hi ELKHUNTER
I've read you should point your feet downstream to avoid banging your head against a rock. I don't know...seems more logical than waders filling with water.

You beat me to it you oldfrat... and it makes sense...believe you're right.

nam


[This message has been edited by namekagon (edited 05 May 2005).]

[This message has been edited by namekagon (edited 05 May 2005).]

i don't get the opportunity to fish big rivers unless i'm willing to drive far. every river i did wade was wet wade, tho, so i didn't worry about the wader issue. i do take caution when going to the coast. here, it's rare you can see bottom when you get past knee deep so dropoffs can come up in one step. i had that happen while wading some flats. i think it was just a small hole, but that feeling of, 'i'm falling in and don't know where i'm going', along with the water filling the waders is crappy. surf wading is almost the same. get into waist deep water and when a big wave comes and lifts you off your feet, it's that, 'oh ****', feeling again. i don't have any advice except to learn where the cuts are and take a spinning rod because it will be windy and it makes for a good probe to wade unknown waters.

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take him fishing

I'm new on this board but I've got a question on this topic.

I do use a wading staff, but when I fish many times I typically let it float behind or stick it into the riverbed if possible to keep it handy when I move again.

This may be a bad approach. Do yall usually fold it up and put it away or do what I do?

Mike

Mine hangs beside me although if I plan to hang in a spot for awhile with moving much I may fold it up.

It does get on my nerves at times hanging there in swift current but I like to have easily at hand in case I need to club another angler who gets too close.

It pays to know the flow you're going to be in also.My rule of thumb is to not go past my thighs in over 1000cfs. [url=http://www.americanwhitewater.org/rivers/:5af78]http://www.americanwhitewater.org/rivers/[/url:5af78]
is a good place to get the info.
I allways have a wading staff with me-if nothing else I can probe th water ahead of me so I don't get a dunkin'.

Wear the belt.
They say that a deep knee bend before tightening the belt will force a lot of air out. Plus when your waders are full of water(sans belt) it will be nearly impossible to climb out of the water. ( most important if fishing ice shelfs at rivers edge, Steelheaders tip)

Cheers
DuFf

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Some days it's just not worth chewing through the restraints....