I know 90% of us (boat owners) are guilty of this at one time or another: not wearing a life jacket and kill switch. We get comfortable with the waters we are on, or conditions are prime, or whatever excuse we make for ourselves.

I had a two day tournament this weekend on Lake Istokpoga (Florida). One of the competitors was killed today. He was thrown from his boat and the boat [running in circles] cut off his arm. He later died in the hospital from blood loss.

I can proudly say I was friends with this man. He has been a boating fisherman for over 30 years. The lake was glassy, free from obstacles (shallow along the edges like any other Florida lake, but he knew this), and there was minimal boat traffic on this 30,000 acre lake. We dont know the cause yet but we can be confident in saying that is was most likey equipment failure.

Had our friend been wearing a kill switch I wouldnt have to write this sad post. So let me stress this point one more time: LETS ALL STOP BEING IDIOTS AND WEAR THE LIFE JACKET AND KILL SWITCH! Ive been guilty of it at times...never again.

Ya never know when your number is up, but no sense tempting the odds.

Terrible news.  My condolences to his family.  I am guilty of not wearing my lifejacket or using the kill switch either.  

It should be renamed to life switch.  

When I am running, I always put on a life jacket and hook up the kill switch. I run a jet in as little as 5-6 inches of water. I was thrown out a few years back while running wide open and if not for the the jacket and kill switch I am afraid my damage would have been much worse. I have a friend whom owns a Ranger with a 225 as well whom is scared to death of that boat. He always drags me along to run it for him. I always wear a jacket and hook up the kill as well in this boat. I cannot imagine going 75mph and hitting some wood or a rock pile on the Lower Potomac without these items to help you survive the crash. I preach to the youngsters around here about these important items. Sorry about your friend dude, thats a tough one.

I lost a dear frend in October. Been fishing tournaments with hime for thirty five

years and I did'nt know he could'nt swim. He was fishing a one man tournament and fell out of the boat. They found him next to the boat face down. He had a hook in his leg and line raped around his hand. :'(  KEEP THE LIFE VEST ON and

THE KILL SWITCH HOOKED UP.

Thanks for a timely reminder.  Sorry to hear about your friend....if someone reading this post starts being safer because of it his death will not have been in vain.

Unfortunatly alot of older boats didnt come with a kill switch. I had to add one before I could fish a Media Bass tourny. They arent very expensive and not hard to install if you are the least bit mechanical. I leave my lanyard connected to my vest so if I forget to vest up, the boat wont start. Grab the vest, connect the lanyard to the switch, off I go. Sorry to hear about friend.

im sorry to hear about the lose of your friend my prayers will go out to you and to and his family. but im trying to do what you do bassaholic said, keep my lanyard connect to my life jacket so it wont crank without my life vest, im bad about not wearing it at all

They found a guy here yesterday in Lake Monroe (Sanford, FL) with no life jacket after a several day search. The search started after they found his boat run up on shore with the throttle wide open and out of gas.

Everytime I've been in the boat for the last few days I've paid more attention to a couple things I caught myself slacking on safety wise. I used to be pretty strict years ago after a family friend (Rodney Dann owner of Culprit Worms) died on Toho when his airboat flipped.

Hale - Good Thread and we all could use a reminder once in a while

My condolences his friends and family.

It's always good to hear reminders like this, namely, equipment failure as a possible cause for a boat crash. You can be the best, safest, most aware driver ever, but you can never be ready for the unexpected.

Thanks for posting, and very timely as our boating season up in the midwest is just about to get underway.

Take care out there everyone...

Sorry to hear about your freind, my prayers go out to his family, why don't we make it a point here on this board to at least post a reminder about jackets every week. Nothing special just a reminder, as we get into the season we tend to forget about all we have read over the winter.

i am sorry about your friend and my condolences to his family as well. i agree with stevefin if someone reading this post starts being more safer by wearing a life jacket and using a kill switch then his death will not be in vain. I am quilty of not wearing mine as much as i need to and i should make it a point to wear it more.