A History of Bad Decisions - Part 1
I have made more then a few bad decisions in my life. A handful of them turned into life or death situations. So, in an effort to provide a little community service (no, this was not court ordered) I will relate them to you. As you read this series of postings always remember...THIS COULD HAPPEN TO YOU!
Many years ago I was young, stupid and attending a university in central Washington. One weekend my roommate had some friends over and they had decided to do a little small stream fishing not far from town. This was several years before getting into fly fishing so we were all using lures. I was poor and didn't have a lot of gear so I borrowed a Mepps spinner to use with my old Wright & McGill pack rod. We drove out of town and started up a dirt logging road. After a short distance we parked and spread out along a short section of the creek. I picked a bit of water that had a shallow riffle in front of me but was a little deeper along the far bank. I was casting to the roots of a tree that had been exposed by the creek. At some point I hooked a root and was unable to shake it loose. This, my friends, is where the trouble began.
I really didn't want to lose a lure that I had borrowed from someone I barely knew. This led me to decide to cross the creek and try to retrieve the Mepps. The creek was quite shallow for most of it's width and I didn't think that the cut along the far bank was very wide nor very deep. I figured I could easily walk across the riffle and simply lean over to the roots and pop the lure loose. Everything was going according to plan until the very last step. I was just over an arms length away from the lure and took another step in order to reach it. Before I knew what happened I was in water over my head and had an underestimated current pushing me into the cluster of roots. I was holding myself up with my arms and trying to keep the current from pushing me under and into the root ball. I was tiring quickly and realized I pretty much had one chance to get out of the mess I was in. I was scared that I would be too weak to keep my head above water if my first attempt failed. I couldn't go in any direction except up so that is what I did. I made one big effort to push myself up and lock my elbows so I could swing my ass around and get it set on one of the exposed roots. From there I crawled over to the bank and sat down to wait for my strength to return and my pulse to slow down. I don't recall how I got back across the creek but imagine that I was much more careful in choosing a place to cross.
I learned a few lessons that day.
Never risk your life for a $3.00 lure.
Even a small current can undercut a bank and be very dangerous.
As much as I love the water, there is no "safe" section of river, creek, lake, pond, bay, etc. Water is very unforgiving and you have to take it seriously. Never disrespect the H20!
Stay tuned for Part 2 where I try to impress my brothers by taking a big fall while rock climbing.
Many years ago I was young, stupid and attending a university in central Washington. One weekend my roommate had some friends over and they had decided to do a little small stream fishing not far from town. This was several years before getting into fly fishing so we were all using lures. I was poor and didn't have a lot of gear so I borrowed a Mepps spinner to use with my old Wright & McGill pack rod. We drove out of town and started up a dirt logging road. After a short distance we parked and spread out along a short section of the creek. I picked a bit of water that had a shallow riffle in front of me but was a little deeper along the far bank. I was casting to the roots of a tree that had been exposed by the creek. At some point I hooked a root and was unable to shake it loose. This, my friends, is where the trouble began.
I really didn't want to lose a lure that I had borrowed from someone I barely knew. This led me to decide to cross the creek and try to retrieve the Mepps. The creek was quite shallow for most of it's width and I didn't think that the cut along the far bank was very wide nor very deep. I figured I could easily walk across the riffle and simply lean over to the roots and pop the lure loose. Everything was going according to plan until the very last step. I was just over an arms length away from the lure and took another step in order to reach it. Before I knew what happened I was in water over my head and had an underestimated current pushing me into the cluster of roots. I was holding myself up with my arms and trying to keep the current from pushing me under and into the root ball. I was tiring quickly and realized I pretty much had one chance to get out of the mess I was in. I was scared that I would be too weak to keep my head above water if my first attempt failed. I couldn't go in any direction except up so that is what I did. I made one big effort to push myself up and lock my elbows so I could swing my ass around and get it set on one of the exposed roots. From there I crawled over to the bank and sat down to wait for my strength to return and my pulse to slow down. I don't recall how I got back across the creek but imagine that I was much more careful in choosing a place to cross.
I learned a few lessons that day.
Never risk your life for a $3.00 lure.
Even a small current can undercut a bank and be very dangerous.
As much as I love the water, there is no "safe" section of river, creek, lake, pond, bay, etc. Water is very unforgiving and you have to take it seriously. Never disrespect the H20!
Stay tuned for Part 2 where I try to impress my brothers by taking a big fall while rock climbing.
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