I am of course talking about me. The trip started with a stupid mistake. Pretty much EVERY time I go fishing I run through a checklist in the truck before leaving the house. On Sunday, I said to myself "I am sure I have everything so I am just going to go". I make the hour drive to the ramp and when I go to get my cart (wheels) to plug into my kayak so I can roll it down the ramp after I load up and guess what - no cart!!

 

That means I need to hand carry everything down, then put it in the kayak, and then shove off. All that carrying made me overheated so I decided to pull my kayak out around the dock so as not to block the ramp while I went up to the truck and stripped off a few layers. I accomplish that and I am walking back down to the dock and look, there's my kayak floating down the Columbia!!

 

Yep, I forgot to tie it off. I did that once a long time ago and then I was able to grab it before it got away. No such luck this time. It was a good 100' down the river when I saw it. So I stripped off my rain gear, put my PFD back on and jumped in the river. Really took the long walk off the short pier. Now if I was smart I would have stripped down (since no one else was around) and kept my clothes dry. Of course I did not think of that in the moment.

 

So I backstroke my way out to the kayak (easiest way to swim in a PFD in case anyone is wondering), grab a hold of my kayak and swim it back to the dock. This time I did tie it off while floating beside it. I then swam over to the ramp, walked back out the dock and put my rain gear back on and started fishing.

 

Now I started fishing pretty close to the dock which is pretty protected from the wind. I was a little chilly but not too bad. I even caught a couple of bass on back-to-back casts on a topwater at that spot. I then headed out around the point into the wind and the rain was starting as well. I immediately started shivering like crazy but I kept fishing thinking I would just warm up under my rain gear from the casting and retrieving. I picked up two more bass on that point, once again on back-to-back casts which was fun, when I started shivering uncontrollably.

 

The only good news is that the layers I had stripped off before were dry since they were pre-swim. I went back to the ramp and tied my kayak up and took off my two wet shirt layers and put on dry ones. Of course by then the inside of my rain gear was pretty wet and I could do nothing about my lower half being soaked.

 

I headed back out and it was a bit better. I still shivered a fair bit but at least I was not feeling hypothermic anymore. The next spot I hit was a dud but the spot after that had a good bite going on the drop shot. I caught 5 bass pretty quickly, including my day's best (only 2lb 5oz). For some reason I decided that I should move after making two casts without a bite.

 

The next two spots were duds, then I picked up 1 fish off of each of the next two spots. on the jack hammer stealth blade I was looking for giants but catching dinks. I was really trying to make the big swimbait bite happen. I was throwing a Megabass Magdraft (that I had just bought) on a new rod I had bought for that purpose (Dobyns Fury 704). I love the way that rod casts that bait but unfortunately I can't speak to its fish fighting capabilities  I did have one hard bite that didn't stick but that was it for a lot of casting.

 

The next few spots I fished were duds and then I cam upon another spot where the bass were eager to eat my drop shot. Once again I caught 5 bass pretty quickly (a couple of them were complete dinks) when once again I decided that I could do better somewhere else on size.

 

Of course, the next spots I fished were duds. Then the wind shifted and picked up from 11mph to 31mph in just 20 minutes time.  I went from mildly shivering to freezing my behind off again. I caught a fish on the wobblehead and missed another a cast or two later when I decided I had better head back.

 

I have been out there in some pretty rough weather but I think this may have been the worst. The wind had created by waves (maybe 3 or 4 feet for the big ones) and it was a white knuckle pedal back to the ramp. I was constantly fighting the rudder to not get turnend by the waves as they crashed into me from behind (at least the wind was at my back on the way to the ramp). I was pedaling around 4mph but when a big wave would hit me it would jet me ahead to 6mph (as told by the Garmin) and almost drive the nose of the kayak under. I had to keep a slight angle to the waves to keep from burying the nose of the kayak.

 

I tell you I was super glad when I finally made it around the point and into the protected area by the ramp. I was shivering and exhausted but grateful. Of course, since I had forgotten my cart I was rewarded with hand carrying everything back to the truck to end the day.

 

The only good think I can take from this is that I think I used up all my stupidity and bad luck for at least a year. I should be wrecking them for the foreseeable future

 

No pictures on the day but here is the video.

 

 

Thanks for the story!

 

Life was never meant to be easy. If it were, then what is the point of living? I believe life is meant to be a struggle. And it is the struggle of life that gives life its meaning.

 

And its all about perspective.

 

We can choose to get angry and upset when things don't go our way, or we can laugh it off at the absurdity of it all sometimes.

 

Its a matter of is the glass full or half empty? All depends on how you look at it, and you make fun of it in a good way. The right perspective!

 

I just wish you did not have to swim after the kayak. That can be kind of dangerous but glad you made it OK. Maybe next time everything will go your way! And the fish might even cooperate.

Thanks @FloridaFishinFool ! I am with on the struggle making things interesting but since i am at stage 5 kidney failure i think i have that covered already  I am happy though that even with my CKD i can get out fishing quite a bit. 

 

Some folks like to do stuff the hard way.😁

They should have sung this song about you:

 

 

@GreenPig my mom always told me I was way too stubborn and that it would get me in trouble some day. I guess she was finally right

 

Thanks @Swamp Girl but they could sing that song about you too. I at least have a pedal drive, rudder and scupper holes. You just have a paddle and great balance.

18 hours ago, FloridaFishinFool said:

Life was never meant to be easy. If it were, t

 

... we'd all be cats ....

 

15 hours ago, GreenPig said:

Some folks like to do stuff the hard way.😁

 

Dad nicknamed me 'Charlie Brown' when I was a kid .... I've been missing that football my whole life!  😉

46 minutes ago, pdxfisher said:

great balance.

 

My balance is slowly going away. I was walking through the woods with a couple 35-year old women last week and we had to walk on a series of bouncy boards. I sure had to concentrate!

NEVER a dull moment when fishing in a kayak.

 

I think every time out God is testing me.   

29 minutes ago, Swamp Girl said:

 

My balance is slowly going away. I was walking through the woods with a couple 35-year old women last week and we had to walk on a series of bouncy boards. I sure had to concentrate!

 

I feel you there. My balance was never mire Than normal but it definitely is not what it used to be!

3 minutes ago, HawkeyeSmallie said:

NEVER a dull moment when fishing in a kayak.

 

I think every time out God is testing me.   

 

Fishing would be so boring with spot lock, stability, freeboard, etc

I was going to make a funny comment but then thought I might jinx myself.

 

Glad you're OK and didn't lose your kayak.

15 hours ago, Kayak Koz said:

I was going to make a funny comment but then thought I might jinx myself.

 

Glad you're OK and didn't lose your kayak.

 

Ha ha! I think that way about things as well!

Sounds like a rough trip for sure. Glad you didn't lose your kayak or drown trying to recover it.

 

I need to start making a checklist. I once left and forgot my fishing poles.

Me walking away after I realized this thread wasn't directed at me.

 

 

1 hour ago, Bazoo said:

Sounds like a rough trip for sure. Glad you didn't lose your kayak or drown trying to recover it.

 

I need to start making a checklist. I once left and forgot my fishing poles.

 

It was pretty easy to recover the kayak and I had my PFD on while I swam after it. At least I was not stupid about that!

 

I have a checklist but of course after using it for years it is easy to not pay close attention to it. Making the list is good but using it is even better

OK - I'll fess up. I once spent five minutes leaning over the dock  while peering into the hatch and trying to find a phantom wiring / power problem on my kayak only to realize the kill switch had been pulled.

You're cheating death too often.  A fishing trip isn't worth it.  Glad you're safe though.

^^ This ^^

 

And PLEASE do NOT go out tomorrow!  They're predicting 30-40mph winds and thunderstorms.

 

Seen this sort of thing before. Pulled my Skeeter down to the ramp on a Sunday morning and there was a truck/trailer w another bass boat out in the channel, floating. No one in it, no one anywhere. Drove back and notified state employee whom called IDNR. They found him hours later, he drowned attempting to swim out and retrieve his untied boat. He was in his 60’s. Happened in about 2000 or so. 
Sad and wholly preventable. I’m not preaching to you OP, but I’m talking to the hundreds of other viewers/readers who might read this in the next 5 years or so. Seek help to recover your rig.. it’s hardly worth drowning/heart attack etc.. 

Thanks for the concern guys! I wore my pdf when I swam after my kayak. It was pretty easy to get it and bring it back. Water was 72F and quite comfortable. It was the rest of the day, fishing wet, that was miserable. 

 

@Glenn I fished the Willamette yesterday instead of braving the gorge this weekend. Nothing but sunshine and glassy calm giving way to a pleasant afternoon breeze!

7 hours ago, F14A-B said:

Seen this sort of thing before. Pulled my Skeeter down to the ramp on a Sunday morning and there was a truck/trailer w another bass boat out in the channel, floating. No one in it, no one anywhere. Drove back and notified state employee whom called IDNR. They found him hours later, he drowned attempting to swim out and retrieve his untied boat. He was in his 60’s. Happened in about 2000 or so. 
Sad and wholly preventable. I’m not preaching to you OP, but I’m talking to the hundreds of other viewers/readers who might read this in the next 5 years or so. Seek help to recover your rig.. it’s hardly worth drowning/heart attack etc.. 

That is a good case for having a trolling motor with remote control;  if one keeps the remote on his/her person.

@Tackleholic I’d say that could be very helpful.