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Thread: Life vest recommendation for fishing off a pontoon boat.

  1. #11
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Clark Fork, Idaho, USA
    Posts
    71

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    Alberto.
    Now that you have read all the reasons WHY, go into a Cabell's or Bass Pro and tell the clerk that you want to try several PFDs.
    The big thing is find an open area, if possible, and pick up a fly rod and try moving it in a casting motion. The clerk should let
    you try different PFDs. The big thing I found is find one that is comfortable while you are casting. Getting it right the first time
    makes all the difference in the world, comfort wise, especially if you are going to be out casting for a long time. The other big
    thing is when you are on the water WARE IT !

    Crunchy

  2. #12

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    As several others have already pointed out, and because I am a retired Coastie, I will only recommend an inherently bouyant PFD, not a self or manual inflating type. Saw a guy drown who was wearing a "self inflating" PFD which didn't. It was his own fault, not the manufacturer, but it just proves people are careless and in the end dead is dead.

    For fishing, you NEED to look at purpose built PFDs, which are not the same as what you typically find in box stores. Look to paddling shops. I kayak fish as much as possible and won't be out without wearing my PFD, even when people bitch and complain about hot humid weather and all that crap. I settled on a Stohlquist angler model. It is a vest type, and I keep my camera, small pliers, leader material, clippers, and other small stuff in the pockets for easy access. A correctly sized and styled PFD -can- even assist with back support making your seating arrangement even more comfortable. I think I paid about $100 each for the two I have. Don't skimp on your PFD, it is the ONLY thing which will keep you alive when you are lying unconscious in the water- not your $900 fly rod or $500 reel, or $100 fly line. Always amazes me when I see people with mega dollars spent on boats and gear, and they have the cheapest POS floatation devices they can find.
    Last edited by jszymczyk; 04-01-2014 at 03:45 PM.
    To the simpleton, proof does not matter once emotion takes hold of an issue.

  3. #13

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    I wanted to thank everyone for their recommendations and advice. I ended up purchasing a Type III PFD from Bass Pro, the Ascend Paddling Fishing Life jacket. It was very comfortable once I adjusted it and did not restrict my range of motion.

    Thanks again,

    Alberto

  4. #14
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    NE Gwinnett Co., GA
    Posts
    5,933

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    You will find it very comfortable year around. I had the thought it might be a good idea to connect a cord from the manual activation device and the seat on my Nucanoe, just in case, but I would probably get out of it and forget to disconnect.
    Want to hear God laugh? Tell him Your plans!!!

  5. #15

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    Picture this! You are a Game Warden and are responding to a possible missing person/drowning call. You pull in to the parking lot at the marina and there is one truck with a boat trailer attached parked there. You run the truck license plates for the registered owners name. You walk down to the boat dock and see a single boat parked in the boat slips. You run the boat registration and it comes back to the same person as the truck in the parking lot. You have dispatch call the owners residence and find out no one there has heard from the owner and he should have been home hours ago. You look in the boat and on the back of the drivers seat is a very expensive life jacket. The keys are in the ignition. Where is the owner? Down on the bottom of the lake. The autopsy revealed a large bruise on a shin, a blow to the head, and death by drowning. The owner had misstepped, fallen forward, hit his head, and was rendered unconscious, fallen in the water and drowned. Moral of the story; put your life jacket on and don't take it off until you have loaded your boat back on the trailer and are back in the parking lot tying everything down to go home.

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