A Cautionary Tale

Another chilly stormy day. I take the actual posted road into Yellowwood and skip the high water in the shortcut. I went home this way the other night, too.

There are great booming thunderclaps in the distance when I get to the parking area. By the time I'm geared up they're close, and as I launch the rain hits.

It's a lively spring storm but the brunt of it is off to the south. I stay in the little cove and keep my rod low until it has passed by.

Of course I'm thinking big bass. I kick south and make my way past the roaring spillway and along the dam. I'm throwing the leech pattern that was so very successful a few nights ago.

I keep going around the bend and north up the far shoreline. Halfway along my usual loop I turn and head back toward the dam. I have time to fish this stretch thoroughly.

Nothing is coming to the leech. At certain places I tie on a dry and pepper the likely spots for bluegill right up on the bank. At the dam I just keep going with the dry. I get to the end of the dam right by the spillway. My feet are cold now so I prop them up on a log to see if I can warm them a bit. It doesn't work.

Now here's the cautionary part. I decide to stand up there and take a pee break. It's not a good place to stand. I'll never stand there again. It's on a narrow ledge over a plunge of rip rap The rip rap shifts under my flippers and I quickly slide in over my head. Yikes.

It could have been worse. I manage to get back to the tube and pull myself in. I still have my rod, my coffee cup, my camera, keys and billfold. I still have my glasses and my hat. (And I still have my life.)

Then it's a fairly long kick back to the truck (but it could have been much longer.) The wind has picked up and it's cold. I actually try to fish while I'm kicking along but soon give that up. At the ramp I find that getting out of my waders, full of water, is the hardest part  Once I can empty them and get them off I make two quick trips to get everything stowed away in the truck. I climb in and get the heater going. It takes a few minutes to stop shivering before I can start the drive home.

This had never happened in the ten years and the many miles I've fished from a float tube. I've gone over the details of this mishap over and over in my mind to learn what I can to make sure it never happens again.

Be safe out there.