How is the water

[Fly Goddess]

Okay this was brought up and it got me thinking of all the different situations I have encountered.
Who all have taken a swim while fishing...specially in waders.
Did it scare the heck out of you, were you freezing afterwards, could you walk with 50 extra pounds...that kind of stuff

I would like to hear HOW it happened also.

[LadyFisher]

Years ago, Pere Marquette in Michigan, late Feb or March, steelheading, high water, ice floes in the water, really tough wading. About a foot from the bank I 'knew' I was okay and relaxed. And took a fall. Only soaked what wasn't covered by waders, down jacket really took on water. Was able to get to the car, but it happened so fast I was not prepared. Obviously survived, but it was scary.

[gzacckey]

Ok, I have one from which I learned many lessons.

I was fishing the Delaware somewhere near New Hope many moons ago. I was wading down stream on a gravel bar. When I turned around to get back to shore I was unable to wade upstream. The force of the water was too strong and each time I tried to take a step the gravel just gave way and I kept getting deeper and deeper. I realized the inevitable so I cinched up my wading belt and made a decision to bob along in the current while trying to get to shore.

When you?re chest deep in water the water actually pushes the air out of your waders and helps create a seal against water getting into your waders. This prevented me from floating and allowed me to push off the bottom. I envision it like walking on the moon. I would push off the bottom and the current would carry me along a fair distance. Then I would sink up to my neck and push off again. I thought for sure I would wind up swimming but I was determined not to give up my gear easily. I was very fortunate that the water only reached my mouth on one bounce and I made my way to shore with only minimal water getting in my waders and after a few minutes I fished my way back to the car. It was a warm day chasing bass in warm water so hypothermia was not an issue. I did so many things wrong and yet lucked out in that the current pushed me to shore, the water wasn?t too deep and it was a warm day. Had the current taken me into the main channel I would have became fish food or hit one the low head dams. But hey, I would have died with my boots on and my rod gripped firmly in my hand.

Things I learned:
? Don?t wade large/fast streams without a wading staff. This one alone would have prevented the incident.
? Wading downstream in fast currents can get you in trouble.
? Always have a $hit happens set of clothes in your car.
? A PFD is probably a good idea on large swollen streams although I still don?t use one.
? Waders fill up slowly with water which worked for me but it makes them very difficult to get off. So, you should know how to swim with them on which can be done well enough to keep you afloat for a while.
? God is more forgiving to young & stupid than old & stupid. So don?t continue to count on luck to save your butt.

I've done other stupid things while fishing but this is the only real dunking I?ve taken so far.

[rainbowchaser]

Many years ago my dad and my youngest brother and I had planned to fish the Henry's fork of the snake river while we were at my brothers place in Idaho in late September. The day we went the temperature plummeted and it was a balmy twenty degrees when we reached Last Chance. The folks at the fly shop said the only chance of success in those conditions was nymphing in the box canyon so that was where we went. After about an hour and a half of pure misery I finally hooked the only fish we got and quickly learned why all the books said to use a heavy tippet in that water. I could do nothing with the twelve inch rainbow in that current with with my four pound test leader. I finally got him close to me and took a single step forward to get the net under him. I was immediately twenty yards downstream before I could lodge up against a boulder and regain my feet. I had lost my hat and sunglasses but still had my fly rod and the landing net with the trout. Something had torn an eight inch gash in my waders but I was uninjured except for some bruises. I don't know how cold the water was but I had ice in my hair( quite long back then) and beard by the time we climbed out of the canyon and even though I changed to dry clothes my teeth chattered all the way to Bozeman where we were supposed to fish with an friend living there in the morning . I didn't stop shivering until we stopped at a buffet there and I drank several bowls of hot soup. I guess I got off easy with just replacing some gear which isn't too difficult to find in Bozeman.

[Gringo]

I am quite experienced at wading and generally very cautious, but...

An amazing thing I learned on the Tongariro in NZ last year. It is amazing in that this obvious truism had never occurred to me. If you wade deep enough, you begin to float: and once you begin to float, the current takes you somewhere else. Somewhere else probably means deeper.

Hair-raisingly startling?

I never thought about it. Once you lose traction on the bottom and the current has you, you are half way to dead already. The water was 4 degrees and so cold that there is no way I could have entertained the thought of actually swimming.

Luckily I had one stumble in me, and a mate to reach out, or I would be dead.

[mnklagoon]

i had a fall in the trinity river in early january back in 1999. my waders filled up and i was caught in the current. i could not get myself up on my feet and was washed down river. i was able to grab hold of a post of an overpass and pull myself out. i was freezing cold, snow was falling and hypo was setting in. i made it back to my car and stripped down and got into some dry clothes i keep in my trunk. i warmed up in my car till i could drive then went to a cafe in town were they could tell what happened. they gave me coffee to get my core temp back up. it scared the hell out of me. i will not wade a river alone again ! and i always have a wader belt now!

[FatBill]

Pere Marquette in october for the salmon run. My very first wading experience. The "Green Cottage Pool" thought me that you can't swim worth a dam in waders. I've got an eight weight rod and reel that have gravel scars on them from being used as a wading staff. Once your feet are floating its darn near impossible to get them back down to the bottom without some assistance; wading staff, buddy etc.

FatBill

[DaveP63]

Two events, both while duck hunting (thankfully with a partner!). The first one was at a small pot hole in the middle of a cornfield. It was late November around freezing. The pothole was about knee deep, maybe mid thight. There was a willow tree in the middle. Two mallards we shot wound up drifiting to the willow tree and hung up. I decided to wade out and get them. I got about ten feet away and the water was right at the top of my waders. I was doing the "moon walk" due to flotation. Eventually, I went over the top and the water came in despite the belt. It felt like two gallons of water in each leg buy the time I got out. I had enough sense to get out of the water and by the time I got to the truck which was about a hundred yards away, I definately had the shakes and teeth chattering going on. I went home, changed and got a float tube...The second was when we were wading around the edge of a slough breaking skim ice. I was carrying a gun case, decoy bag and a flashlight. I got my foot caught under a tree root and went in face first into water about two feet deep. Soaked my coat, shirt, waders and feet (got everything back but the Maglight). Fortunately, again, I was only a hundred yards or so from the truck. I was lucky both times that I had a partner, a heater, dry clothes and not too far to go!

[dudley]

The only time that I went for an extended dunking in fast cold water I was lucky enough to be wearing neoprenes. They helped float me through a boulder field and I ended up fairly dry (and warm) underneath,
Neoprenes aren't very fashionable nowadays, but this is a situation where they excell

[CaseyP]

my one oopsy happened (Thank God) in June, when a rock rolled under my foot and i landed facing upstream. wader belt or not, in came the water. it taught me two things:

waders full of water are impossibly heavy. stop and empty them before trying to climb up the bank.

always have a towel, a hot beverage in a thermos, and a change of clothes in the car.

and if i'm alone, i never go more than knee deep when it's cold. an active imagination can keep you safer!