DRUNKS IN BOATS

[Guest]

if you are a boater or drift fisherman, please pay particular attention.

 

On Monday, Aug 4, I was enjoying day off on the Cumberland River. The dam generation schedule had been completely accurate and my companion and I had enjoyed a very productive morning of trout fishing. Around noon, as the sun beat down and the water continued t recede, we ventured out into the middle of the river, now only waist deep. We were a couple of hundered feet apart when he yelled to me to get to the bank. As I turned to say what had spooked him, I saw a bass bout coming up river, at almost full throttle. They didn't see him, although he had made it safely to shore befroe they approached. They did see me, standing in the middle of the river. I was waving my hat and yelling to make sure they saw me. They cut the throttle and came sliding up next to a gravel bar on my left when the boat bottomed out and tossed one guy almost out of the bow. The pilot yelled and said he hadn't even seen me until i started waving my hat. He never heard me over the roar of his boat. He kinda laughed and said no harm, no foul. I told him about my buddy downstream, he turned and looked, then turned back to me looking sick and said "Man, we never even saw him." Yeah no shit. It was obvious they were intoxicated. You could smell the beer. Needless to say I wasn't very freindly and they were on thier way soon enough, but this time, at a much slower pace.

 

Waders have the right of way for safety reasons. We may be a nuisance, but we, too, have all rights to the water. We will get out of your way if we can to allow easy passage, but you have to respect our right to be there. We'll watch out for you, just watch out for us. Nobody wants to go home in a body bag.

 

 

Oh, and yes, We did make a few phonecalls and reported these fools. Hope they got 'em.

[Guest]

In Florida our big problem is all of the idiot Jet Skiers. I have had them blast across the flats as I am wading, racing along 10 feet off the beach and had them buzzing around our boat 3 miles off shore. Besides being drunk, they are arrogant and profoundly stupid.

[Guest]

Over many years time I've had a few instance's where stupid/rude/ignorant/ or drunk persons have invaded my fishing space, and it's not something I care much for, no matter what caused them to be that way.

 

Drunk boaters, like drunk drivers are dangerous, and should be reported. Every year we have someone killed in boating accidents in my area, and most such accidents are due to drunks.

 

I have also had some situations where persons who were probably sober, yet very inconsiderate, have created near dangerous conditions while I was fishing. One such instance was a guy in a bass boat who buzzed past me on a narrow tidal river I was on, at full throttle, and nearly turned over my canoe. I had one of my kids with me that day, and it scared both of us.

 

In Florida once I had a guy in a bass baot come thru a narrow opening that connected an oxbow bend in a river at full throttle, straight at me, as I was running back to where I rented the jon boat I was in. I couldn't tell if he saw me or not, but fortunately he changed direction, otherwise he would have probably run over me.

 

Another time I had a guy on a jet ski buzz across my line while I was fishing, and on other occasions, a surfer paddled across my line, and other wading anglers have sloshed past within inches of me in a small stream, right where I was trying to fish. Not all were dangerous encounters, but they certainly were down right rude!

 

Some people just don't seem to care about having consideration for others, and as you've indicated BDH, can create the possibliity of turning a pleasant fishing trip into a night mare.

 

Glad you guys weren't hurt, & you did the right thing reporting those yahoo's.

 

Make's me want to start carrying my Smith & Wesson when I go fishin'

[Guest]

I'll have to say this. I do alot of boat fishing. We do run jetsleds, but normally on BIG rivers. On the smaller rivers, we use big catarafts or our driftboats. I will be the first to say I enjoy nothing better after a long day on a boat (or on the river fishing the bank) then a nice cold Alaskan Amber Beer. BUT, ONLY AFTER I'M DONE FISHING!!!!!! I have a hardset rule, no alcohol on my boats, PERIOD. Dead fast, and I don't budge. But, after we're done, go get sloshed if you like. Just too many factors can go wrong. I have been trained in swiftwater rescue (from my days whitewatering). You would not believe all the people I've pulled from submerged logs (deceased of course) or having to rescue morons who were alive, that had been drinking on the rivers. Their lives wouldn't have been in danger (or extinguished) if they left the bottle alone. Most were caused because of excessive drinking. Of course, had quite a few where the people were simply morons, but that's a different story.

 

I've had my near misses though. Like Jim, have almost been clipped by fully sober asses. One simply wanted the slot I was in, and thought I'd pull anchor if they kept passing my water. Well, instead of leaving, I simply pulled out my fly rods and started working it (make a longer drift that way and easier to see the line on surface).