Who's tipped their kayak over?

 

Want to share your story?

 

Lose or damage any equipment?

 

What did you learn from it?

 

Not yet. But I’m ready.  I practiced climbing back on board multiple times.  It’s tougher than it looks.  Exhausting.   I did it for an hour in a big swimming pole initially, and had to lay poolside for a bit.  
 

i did it last year in a river.  Once. I got on. 
 

I still need to go thru the exercise this season.  I’m in the ocean now occasionally.  It will happen.  Hopefully not , but I’m not delusional. It will happen. 
 

I watched my friend tip the untippable.  A Pro Angler.   He couldn’t flip it back.  A small boat towed the entire mess to shore.  He lost all his rods.  I dove in to look for his Steez setup and came up and had blue algae stuck to my head.  I got out. Haha. 
 

 

I tipped over last year.

 

I got a lure caught on some standing timber and of course wanted to try and get it back.

 

I could see it so I leaned over to my left to grab it and apparently I leaned too far.

 

Splish splash I was taking a bath except not on a Saturday night. It was a Saturday morning. 

 

LUCKILY for me I was only in roughly 4 foot of water and I could stand up.

 

I had my tackle bag and some other lose items floating on the surface that I was quickly grabbing. All of the rods I had in the back were clipped in from some homemade "rod keepers" used from some cheap carabiners.

 

The nicest rod of the bunch, which was the one I was fishing with was in the water though. Thankfully my lure was still snagged so I followed my line to my rod and got it back.

 

Unfortunately my dang iPhone was lost. Looking back now I probably could have tried diving below but at the time my concern was more getting the gear I could see and then getting back in the yak.

 

I'm now extra careful to not lean over very far and to have my phone in a pocket in case I ever go in. Not sure why but I've gone away from clipping my rods in like I used to. This needs to change because I have much more expensive gear now.

 

Probably something I'll never forget is that a guy on a boat was pretty close to me and NEVER asked or came over for help. I just can't understand not feeling the need to at least ask how I was doing.

 

The "best" part of the story?

 

It was all for a stupid little CHEAP ned rig.  LOL

Deleted.

I have been kayak fishing for 20+ years, and didn't think I could flip my big fishing kayak. But just like HawkeyeSmallie, I was reaching over to grab a lure snagged just under the water, and that was an enough to flip me out. Also in shallow water.

 

I stand as much as I can and I have definitely gotten better at that skill. I have sometimes crashed down on to my seat (in waves from wake) and so one of these days I am going to miss and hit water instead. Also, in wind, when the boat starts moving around, hitting the end of your anchor line can definitely be like getting kneecapped, and so that may put me down someday too (I use a retractable dog leash, not a fixed line, and that adds a lot more give and makes that stop much softer).

Not a kayak, but I’ve canoed whitewater for many years and it’s not if, it’s when. They even got us on one of the camera setups where they sell photos of the carnage online on the hiwassee once 😂. You can see my bill dance hat 

 

 

I’ve flipped in devils jump on the big south fork of the Cumberland at least 5-6 times, it can be tricky. Got the canoe wedged in there open end facing upstream once, that was a pain 

I used to wade fish the headwaters of the Rappahonock river and there was a stretch of rapids that took some skill to get through.  I outfitted an entire campsite with items I foraged from dumped canoes and kayaks.  Started out as just picking up trash and became a trip to the gear store every time I went out there.  😆

I have preemptively taken precautions!

 

 

I have.  Not by accident but purposely with an empty canoe just to test the limits of the canoe’s stability and my own ability to get back in if it were to happen.  
 

The good news was that it was hard to tip and nearly impossible to capsize.  In fact I was much more likely to get dumped with the canoe floating along without me right side up in the water. 
 

The bad news is that it is much harder to climb back inside than I thought it would it be.  I ended up doing it by holding onto the near gunwale with one hand and reaching for the yoke on the far side getting my chest/shoulders over the side then kicking hard and flipping the rest of my body into the canoe.  
 

It took some practice to get comfortable with.  But the best advice I got was to try it, and I’ll encourage everyone who fishes out of a canoe or kayak to do so.  Better to figure it out in a controlled environment than in an actual emergency.

17 minutes ago, bp_fowler said:

The bad news is that it is much harder to climb back inside than I thought it would it be.

 

I found this out as well.

 

I'm not old yet but I'm not young either. 

 

I've lost some strength and it wasn't easy getting back in. Once again, luckily I was able to stand up.

2 hours ago, HawkeyeSmallie said:

 

I found this out as well.

 

I'm not old yet but I'm not young either. 

 

I've lost some strength and it wasn't easy getting back in. Once again, luckily I was able to stand up.

 

And wearing a PFD is mandatory in my canoe, making the climb back in bulky but relives the panic.

28 minutes ago, Motoboss said:

 

And wearing a PFD is mandatory in my canoe, making the climb back in bulky but relives the panic.

I’m out of reactions for today, but this 100%.

17 hours ago, Motoboss said:

 

And wearing a PFD is mandatory in my canoe, making the climb back in bulky but relives the panic.

100%.  the added bouyancy makes the re-entry possible.  if you were using all your juice to stay afloat and get aboard..yikes.  you have 1-2 shots.  it is a full, entire body exercise move.  chin up, a plank, a run,..it is a gross move.  exhausting.  

Yeah.  I never stand up when fishing on my kayak despite it being one of the best.  I will stand up or roll off it onto the dock when I beach it at the ramp.  Normally it's a non issue but it flipped on me right at the ramp and pinned this Megabass Hyuga between the kayak and ramp one time.  

Only on purpose, for every kayak I intend to stand in to fish. A couple of them were very difficult to overturn. 

I haven't but one of my fishing buddies has and did so on a small pond we fish that was really calm. He's used to his Predator and I assume he moved around in the smaller sit in yak he was using at the time in the same manner he would if he was in the Predator. I was fishing the opposite end of the pond when I heard a tremendous splash and I knew instantly that it wasn't a large cow crushing a top water lure. I released my anchor and high tailed over to him. The launch site is the only place where one can beach and he was not able to get back into his yak, so we towed him back to the launch site. It took 2 yaks to tow him back and it was a struggle to make that trip. He lost some small items and was lucky to recover most everything else. Honestly, I think he was more embarrassed than anything  else. I don't believe he's used that smaller yak since then. His wife was with us and I think she got a kick out of his unplanned swim.

Probably 10 years ago we were highly intoxicated and I flipped the kayak trying to get into the boat at the ramp, I lost a bunch of gear. I was in about 2 feet of water and had a life jacket on. That could’ve easily been a really bad day. It wad pretty scary; I can’t imagine getting back in that thing in my altered state of mind. I gave up the sauce years ago as well. 

On 7/22/2025 at 2:46 PM, HawkeyeSmallie said:

…Not sure why but I've gone away from clipping my rods in like I used to. This needs to change because I have much more expensive gear now.

 

 

 

After losing a favorite, higher end rod and reel over the side of my kayak several years ago,  I fitted each of my rods with a length of 1/2” foam pipe insulation.  I place it on the rod just ahead of the handle, and secure it with 3 or 4 thin strips of velcro.  For the weight of combos I use on the river, a 10” length will keep them afloat.  A couple buddies have done the same thing, and on several occasions are glad they did.  An added benefit is the wrap hides the name of the rod from prying eyes. 

7 hours ago, OldManLure said:

An added benefit is the wrap hides the name of the rod from prying eyes. 

 

Why would you want to keep your rod's manufacturer a secret? Heck, why would anyone even care what rod you use?

 

As far as tipping, I tipped once and like @HawkeyeSmallie and @michaelb, I tipped reaching for a snagged lure that was hooked on a tree. My canoe is designed to be tippy. It's like an ornery horse always wanting to throw me out of the saddle, but it's also designed to not flip. So, it threw me out, but didn't capsize. I was the only thing in the water, which was very, VERY convenient. 

 

 

10 hours ago, OldManLure said:

After losing a favorite, higher end rod and reel over the side of my kayak several years ago,  I fitted each of my rods with a length of 1/2” foam pipe insulation.  I place it on the rod just ahead of the handle, and secure it with 3 or 4 thin strips of velcro.  For the weight of combos I use on the river, a 10” length will keep them afloat.  A couple buddies have done the same thing, and on several occasions are glad they did.  An added benefit is the wrap hides the name of the rod from prying eyes. 

Almost everything worth anything is leashed on my yak. This does present a potential problem if I were to turtle. I could get tangled up with the leashes. In that event, I do have a blunt tip dive knife on my PFD's shoulder strap so I can cut myself free.

First I only kayak in smaller rivers/creeks that I usually can stand in beyond the pools.  When your 9' sit-in gets swamped it weighs a bunch and getting water out can be a challenge.  

15 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

 

Why would you want to keep your rod's manufacturer a secret? Heck, why would anyone even care what rod you use?

 

 

For the same reason I cover the cockpit of my kayak and its contents while I ride my bike back to my truck at the put-in.   Many of my take-outs are at public boat ramps, popular spots along the river for fishing from the bank or spots people gather to spend an afternoon at the river.  While I have faith in most people’s honesty, I certainly don’t take it for granted.  

9 hours ago, OldManLure said:

For the same reason I cover the cockpit of my kayak and its contents while I ride my bike back to my truck at the put-in.   Many of my take-outs are at public boat ramps, popular spots along the river for fishing from the bank or spots people gather to spend an afternoon at the river.  While I have faith in most people’s honesty, I certainly don’t take it for granted.  

 

Ah, I see. I live in low-crime Maine, which is why I leave two canoes at my waterfront lot, along with some gear. My dad expressed fear that they'd be stolen, as they're worth a couple grand. 

 

I said, "Dad, there are dozens of other unlocked boats sitting along the shoreline and hundreds of thousands of unlocked boats on other Maine shorelines. Plus, thieves are lazy and boats are heavy."

 

I sometimes leave my rods and tacklebox in the boats too.