I went out today on Sacandaga Lake since it’s the only lake still open (some coves are frozen over, but the main lake is fine). However, there was a lot of fog today. I learned the hard way that you can’t paddle a kayak in a straight line with no point of reference. The area I usually fish in is about a half hour paddle from the launch area and I never made it there. I spent 3 hours quite literally going in circles trying to figure out where I was. Finally I downloaded a compass app on my phone and made it back to shore. 
 

Lesson learned…

Humans can’t walk in a straight line so kayaking in a straight line is definitely a no. On top of that kayaking in the fog anywhere other than hugging the shore sounds like a recipe for disaster. 

Kayak!

 

Been there. .Done that..in a bass boat, jon boat, bay boat, 70' offshore boat.

 

And yes I've done it the woods walking!

FOG…. I totally understand……I did it too the other day. 

@KSanford33 Glad you made it back safely.

Not sure what you were thinking going out in reduced visibility

without some way of knowing your position.

Done my share of operating in super low vis,

recreationally & professionally.

This was from a couple of years ago.

It was pretty thick.

https://youtu.be/S_Owp6ZVN0U?feature=shared&t=79

A-Jay

 

1 hour ago, KSanford33 said:

made it back to shore. 

You can shout and go to the echo, too.  To find shore.

No gps on kayaks these days?

An old crumb trail on my graph has saved me more than once

As an un experienced saltwater fisherman, this could have happened to me once. I was in fort myers and it was warm and sunny, honestly didn’t know the ocean could fog in like that on a warm day in FLA. I was fishing around a mangrove island 2-3 miles from our hotel in a tiny kayak and it turned pea soup. This was in the flip phone days so no map or GPS. I just picked a direction I thought was correct and paddled dead straight, luckily I picked the right way 

1 hour ago, A-Jay said:

Not sure what you were thinking

I'm a little embarrassed to admit, this has been a recurring theme in my life...

 

1 hour ago, MickD said:

You can shout and go to the echo, too.  To find shore.

I never knew this! That's pretty fascinating.

 

1 hour ago, gimruis said:

No gps on kayaks these days?

Not on the $400 Dick's Sporting Goods special. 🤣

 

2 hours ago, 12poundbass said:

On top of that kayaking in the fog anywhere other than hugging the shore sounds like a recipe for disaster. 

To quote my cousin, "Hindsight is 50/50." 

58 minutes ago, KSanford33 said:

2 hours ago, gimruis said:

No gps on kayaks these days?

Not on the $400 Dick's Sporting Goods special.

 

You do know you can use your phone?

This thread reminds me of a story from when I was much younger. My friends and I decided to go to the HUGE woods several miles outside of town. We knew a place to have a bonfire and drink beer and whiskey. There was maybe a dozen of us. Sober enough, we found the bonfire spot. After drinking enough to kill a horse per young man, when the fire was finally out and the sun was rising, we went to leave. We finally found our way out by that evening.

It's been awhile but I can remember a foggy day where I almost ran a boat into the bank going 40mph. 

 

I was going down the middle of a lake and it was perfectly clear. I turned a sharp corner into some light the fog and before I knew what happened it was like the fog swallowed me whole.  I slowed the boat but in this fog just to the right of my turn was a rip rap bank and the rock was the same color as the fog. I couldn't tell the water from the rock. Luckily I saw a big turkey vulture on the bank. I cut the engine and turned sharp, just getting the boat to slow and tap the side of the rock. If not for the vulture,  I would have been in some serious trouble. 

 

The fog can definitely get you disoriented quickly. 

You all never heard of a compass! Without a point of reference you are blind in fog without a compass, that is what GPS is!

Tom

 

 

I have a old handheld Garmin GPS from 2000-2010 era. That has waypoints.My vehicle has a waypoint where I parked it when I go somewhere new. The boat landing has a waypoint. And from Google Earth I can type in a location on a map and put a waypoint on it also. It saved me a night on a lake when my hummingbird went bad on me. Best money I ever spent .

Anyone besides me think of that movie, The Children of the Corn? Fog...bad.

Fog is no joke. Even with gps there is times I have waited at the launch till it burned off a bit. Gps doesn’t tell you about floating debris, and other boats. 

3 hours ago, WRB said:

You all never heard of a compass! Without a point of reference you are blind in fog without a compass, that is what GPS is!

Tom

 

 

He said a compass was how he got back 

My problem in fog hasn't really been about location...except the occasional lure thrown into overhanging trees.  I am much more worried about irresponsible boaters going way too fast in the fog.  Especially when I'm in a kayak.  A foggy morning on Guntersville in a kayak is downright scary

@Choporoz it’s d**n scary in a boat too. I think fog is probably the most dangerous condition that people shrug off. 

12 hours ago, KSanford33 said:

However, there was a lot of fog today. I learned the hard way that you can’t paddle a kayak in a straight line with no point of reference.

The pond I fished yesterday was fogged in by late afternoon too.  I used my Lowrance's map to get to my last couple spots.  My truck is inferno orange, so it's pretty visible.

 

Lastly, how'd you do?  We're still doing pretty good in eastern MA.

I often fish for Brown Trout on the famous White River in Arkansas.  Most of the river boats, including mine, are long and flat bottom with small motors.  Dense fog comes in with little warning and quite often.  Most boats do not come with bow and stern lights, mine has them, but the fog is usually so dense that I can barely make out the bow light while in back and running the motor.  Knowing there are river jockeys going full throttle and inexperienced boaters sharing the water is scary as hell.  I usually fish alone, but one time I got very lucky and had a friend with me at the right time.  We were 8 miles downstream from the launch when fog began and in minutes we were fully enveloped (afternoon fog will stay until the next morning).  I had a floodlight on board, most boats do not.  My friend sat in front with the floodlight and was able to keep us between the banks, going extremely slow.  Suddenly he yelled for me to make a hard left, which I did.  There was a wade fisherman standing in the middle of the river and I missed him by no more than 2 feet;  if I had been alone I would have run right over him.  

9 hours ago, Catt said:

 

You do know you can use your phone?

 

Cell phones are not completely accurate.  They do not have a true GPS system in them.  I've tried using mine to find my deer stand in the dark and it didn't work.  I pulled out my hand held GPS instead.

 

Plus you also need a decent signal to a tower to make your phone work too.  Many rural locations lack that.  A GPS relies on satellites.

 

I'm honestly not old enough to have been around before modern GPS.  We always had basic sonar and GPS in our family fishing boat growing up.  I can recall using a compass a couple times when conducting a deer drive in northern MN.  Cell phones weren't really a thing until I got to college either.  Haha

21 minutes ago, gimruis said:

Cell phones are not completely accurate.  They do not have a true GPS system in them.

 

Depends on what app you're using 

Just pull out MapQuest and input the marina!  Siri will guide you home.  😂😂😂♥️♥️♥️