When things go wrong on the river..

I originally posted this as a reply to another kind of unrelated topic to it’s own thread..

“how many people actually “go down”? I’ve been on the river quite a bit in the past few years with numerous different boats, and been bank fishing all my life. I’ve been out in every condition I can think of so far and handled things pretty well, but I’d like to know of some situations where people did end up with something bad happening to them so I can better prepare for it if it ever happens to me. This post probably deserves a thread all of its own.

Please post your horror stories or the ones you know of. Also if you have any thing that you think is essential to have in the boat, besides the basic normal things like a marine radio, throw cushion, fire extinguisher, etc etc. Anything that might be overlooked?”

I ran out of gas last summer on P2 near the bottom of the pool during high water. I paniced for 5 seconds then deployed bow mount and made it to the closest shore (island). Tied up and called for help. At no time was my life in danger but I was certainly in a pickle. Keep it in perpective. If you and your crew are out of personal danger then things are not really that bad.

What do you do if you don’t have “anyone to call for help”? are there tow services on the river people can share contact information for, or is it appropriate to call the DNR or sheriff, if your life isn’t in danger ?

I have known certain individuals with ‘smart phones’ actually post their ‘distress call’ on a forum.

Good question. Ultimately you can call the law and help will be available. In my situation I could have called the authorities because it was getting towards evening and I was trapped on a small island. I got on the friend network and even found a couple of fellow IDO’s on the same water. Ultimitely they would have saved my butt however another friend dropped everything, launched his boat and brought me gas. On water like P2 and P3 its not an awfull idea to communicate with fellow river rats and watch each others backs. Communicating on this forum and going out the same day or night as others is a very good idea. But the only way to make it work is to have each others cell number…

Which gives me an idea for a private group forum!

There was a Mong family fishing near one of the dams. They pulled anchor and the engine didn’t start. The back current sucked them up towards the dam. A good samaritan motored up & threw them a rope. They Mong held or tied off the rope at the transom instead of the bow. Water rushed over and sunk the boat. I don’t know how many of them died, but know there was at least one death. I wasn’t there, but was told about it from someone that witnessed it. English language barrier contributed to that, since there were people screaming to him, be apparently he didn’t understand

*welp* sounds horrifying.. this sounds like a great case in point for the DNR to have a mandatory requirement for boater safety licensing.. I don’t get why I had to take a ridiculously hard test for a frickin snowmobile that took me 30 tries to pass but I can go out, buy a boat, and have it on the water in the same day.. reminds me of all the idiots on p2 at the flugtag.

DNR people if you’re listening can you chime in? I’d like to hear some opinions from the law, and stories if ya’ll have any to share..

My best advice would be be prepared. Life jacket is a must while under way. If something goes wrong while motoring to the next spot its going to happen fast and there will be no time for much other than taking a deep breath. I often where mine all day. A person can get hypothermia even in water above 70 degrees.

Wear those kill cords to.

Was just packing today for the Rainy river. Made sure and had a new first ad kit in the boat. New fire extinguisher. Made sure there was enough life jackets and 2 throw cushions. Pee bucket. I dont like guys trying to go over the side of the boat with cold water and lots of cold weather gear on. The family in the boat next to us doesn’t care to see it either.

Like I said, be prepared.

A few years back on Pool 4 I was pitching some flooded timber on the WI side of the “Y”, when my anchor let loose and sent my boat downstream before I even knew what what happening. By the time I turned around to tell my father we just lost the anchor rope, I seem him hit the deck and yell “TREE!”. ( I’m sure most of you know what overhanging tree/root system i’m talking about) I follwed suit just in time to watch the overhanging branch clear the windshield by just a few feet.

If either one of us would have been hit by that branch, we probably would have been faced with a deadly situation, as the current was very high, the water was around 40 degrees, and and neither one of us were wearing life jackets.

Needless to say I now wear my life jacket religously during the high water periods on the river when the water is under 60 degrees.

Great advice Mike. Yes things can happen faster than one thinks.

Lucky for me, I have never had 1 issue on a lake or river in my life.

The currents probably going 5-8 MPH right now. So if you fall in, you will be swept downstream in a hurry. I don’t like fishing by myself much but this time of year I really don’t like it. Always nice to have someone there watching your back. There are also some good undertows going on. If you watch the bow of our boat, at times it would dip down from the undertow. Though there wasn’t many today, deadheads are always something to watch for on the river. My good friend hit one several years ago and was thrown from his boat. This was in early December. He barely made it to shore because the water was so cold.

Things to always have in your boat? Go by what the regs tell you at a minimum. Good length of rope is always helpful. I like to have a VHF radio when on the river, Mille Lacs or pretty much any big water.

As mentioned, it’s great to know others that are fishing down there. Through the years I see a lot of familiar faces fishing the same haunts. I have no doubt in my mind any one of them would jump to action to help someone in trouble.

We were not in the current long, we found ourselves some nice slack current to fish in. Walleye don’t like the swift current much either.

The whole reason for my warning in my first post was because of the swift current and cold water. Personally, I have been fortunate enough to not see anything severe happen. I have helped others who had motor problems and have had a few myself. It can be unnerving, but you just stay calm and should be OK. You loose a motor in this current though and you drift very fast!

my story happened on the red river up at Lockport manitoba, heavy current, I tossed out the anchor on my ProV 1775, for whatever reason the boat spun while the rope was tightening up and as it tightened the transom was facing up river with the rope stuck on the lower unit, I almost went down, I had a knife and quickly cut the rope, close call. Lesson learned always anchor on a tight line and have a knife handy.

One thing I’d like to add to that, and very good advice about having a knife in the boat, I leave one out on my transom at all times, but something I’ve learned from observing others, is, in addition to having a nice length of anchor rope (100ft), having a float tied to the end of it in case u do need to ditch your anchor for whatever reason, you can retrieve it later.. I think you can buy rope that already have these floats on em, mine didn’t and I just bought one at gander..

That happened a year or two ago. Awful loss of life.

I saw a bunch at Alma during some elevated water conditions pull up to the line and toss out two ropes with a pair of cement blocks on each. Each rope was tied off to a corner of the back of the boat. That excursion lasted about ten seconds. The transom was ripped off as the boat wend under and everything was lost except lives. It was interesting to see perhaps 80 cans of beer bobbing along in the current that came out of a huge cooler they had on deck. I wonder how many they’d had before leaving the launch?

WOW! I had no idea how dangerous it is to fish your river!!?? If I have to have a knife out and handy and phones charges and extra ropes where I’m going fishing I think I’d stick to my couch.. You guys are more than I could ever be. The most I want to worry about when I’m fishing is if I’m going to run out of bait or not.

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WOW! I had no idea how dangerous it is to fish your river!!?? If I have to have a knife out and handy and phones charges and extra ropes where I’m going fishing I think I’d stick to my couch.. You guys are more than I could ever be. The most I want to worry about when I’m fishing is if I’m going to run out of bait or not.

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Right now is an extreme time, and the river is not always this dangerous. A lot of people just leave the rivers alone until they calm down to a more managable level.

That being said, fishing in moving water is a whole different ballgame compared to the alternative, and things can get hairy pretty fast regardless of the water level.

You continue to spend time on the river with me, and I’m sure you’ll have your own story soon enough. I’ve already had too many freak occurrences, involving swamping of boats.

I swear that river is trying to kill me….

Duplicate systems for propulsion and lights if at night, I also have a knife velcro’d to the anchor winch at all times. I popped a fuel line on the big motor last year on P2 main channel, bang, dead in the water. Barge coming up stream. The troller moved me out of the way just fine, but it was low flow then and I would hate to have it happen now. An auto bilge is nice too depending on your boat, the deep V’s can tank a lot of water before you notice and they don’t respond well half full. VHF is a must if you spend a lot of time on the river imho.

is a handheld VHF enough, or do I need a big whip? Another thing I’ve noticed is that if you’re not out during the shipping season, there isn’t a whole lot of traffic on these radios. My guess is people don’t turn them on until they’re in trouble..I’ve been leaving mine on during my outings, but like I said I don’t pickup much, possibly due do the antenna..

The Locks monitor channel 14 24/7. A hand held on the river is dicey depending on where you are to the nearest reciever. If say you were in the middle of P3, you would be hard pressed to be able to communicate with either lock, but there could be a boat near by.

They make smaller ant that work just as good as the 8 footers.

One thing I think people forget at times is that your anchor is your friend. With any type of motor trouble, do what ever it takes to get out of the navigation channel and toss out that anchor.

I heard sequence of radio broadcasts a while back. Someone was having trouble. It caught my attention when the tow operator said in a very elevated voice….I DIDN’T SEE YOU! I DIDN’T SEE YOU!

After things settled down, the tow gave the boater some instruction on emergency anchoring out of the channel.

I’ve been fortunate to not have any life threatening issues….knock on wood.

Well there was the time last year when I had my boat turned sideways in the Lock Channel on P4. I was going a little on the fast side (20 mph) in the dark and this whole tree popped in front of us out of nowhere. Not even a close call…but a surprise none the less.

I also have a float o n the end of all anchor ropes, another lesson learned, anchors and 150 feet of quality rope is not cheap!

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WOW! I had no idea how dangerous it is to fish your river!!?? If I have to have a knife out and handy and phones charges and extra ropes where I’m going fishing I think I’d stick to my couch.. You guys are more than I could ever be. The most I want to worry about when I’m fishing is if I’m going to run out of bait or not.

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Personally, I haven’t had anything more than a motor issue or two. My warning is because of the high/fast water than anything. I would never deter anyone from fishing the river as it’s one of the best fisheries around. I just don’t believe NOW is the time to learn it. If you are going to test it out, then be very careful.

I’ve only been fishing on pool 4 for two years now and mostly stay to the backwaters where current is slower for safety.

I appreciate everyone’s comments to the post as it helps to become more aware of issues that others have seen. I intentionally avoided locks and anywhere close to barge traffic and dislike the summer boatnik crowd with the huge yachts that want to pass for no other apparent reason than to be one boat’s length ahead of others leaving or returning to the launch… I’m guessing we’ll be seeing less of them this summer with higher gas prices.

My one observation has been during a bass fishing tournament weekend when fishermen were in too much of a rush and nearly swamped a kayak in the backwaters. Fortunately, I say nearly or I would have been obliged to help out the young lady in one way or another.

Give me a break man!!!!!!!!!!!!! Mandatory training, exams, and licensing to operate a simple boat and motor. If you’re that scared of the river, all the precautions you can think of are not going to save your azzzzz. If the river wants you and the Lord decides it time for you to go, you’re going. But please don’t try to push laws onto others simply because of your fears.
Yes, sometimes humans and water don’t mix well. Stuff happens. Leave it be at that.

Never go without a strong and heavy anchor. Here’s what happened. My buddy Will and I went fishing below Dubuque lock and dam 24 yrs.ago. We took my boat 16ft. mod. v- polarcraft, and the fish were very cooperative, and all of a sudden the motor stops. Not a good feeling when not far from a dam, probabably 500 yds. It’s so cold out the gas line is brittle in February? and was gulping air, right at the fittig to the tank. By now we had 18lbs. and 15lbs river specials thrown out,And I was nursing that cold gas line with my mouth so it would heat up enough to reconnnect. About 2min. into this ,Will is on his seat,ready to jump, cause we are gettin sucked in. I was also hollowing out the inside of the fuel line with my pocket knive to reconnect it. Told Will to stick with the boat. My prayers were answered when shortly I was able to make the connection and got the @@ll out of dodge. Now I can drop the heaviest rickter,and a 50 lber. That was scary,and don’t go there.

Herb I think you’re oversimplifying it a bit here.. theres more to just knowing how to run your motor and steer your boat. How about navigation, buoys, daymarkers, barge safety, lock operation, wing dams, closing dams, dams, VHF/marine radio operation (which channels to use, which ones to stay off of!), understanding hazard signs, how far to stay away from tailwater and headwaters of dams, and so on. I guarantee that the majority of the people on the river don’t know about half of this stuff nor do they give a sh*t.. It’s not the people like you and I that spend a lot of time on the water that we have to worry about, it’s the rest of the idiots..

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Give me a break man!!!!!!!!!!!!! Mandatory training, exams, and licensing to operate a simple boat and motor. If you’re that scared of the river, all the precautions you can think of are not going to save your azzzzz. If the river wants you and the Lord decides it time for you to go, you’re going. But please don’t try to push laws onto others simply because of your fears.
Yes, sometimes humans and water don’t mix well. Stuff happens. Leave it be at that.

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I almost died in the river back into Dec 2006 I was ejected out of the boat after hitting a dead head, it was 5 degrees out and 12 below wind chill,water temp 33.7 if it wasn’t for the grace of God I wouldn’t be here!

i have not had any issues yet while fishing, which is surprising seeing i spend most of my time on the river at night.

all of my run ins have been during duck season, and contrary to most, i do not run small boats. these have involved a 1652 deep jon, 17′ and an 18′ jonboat.

the worst was at 3am, carb iced up on my motor, and motor died on me in the middle of a large basin on the river. single digit temps, below zero windchill, and 25+ mph winds.

by the time I got that boat back to shore, and on the trailer, the water was level with the transom, and a third of the way up the boat. definitely thought i was meeting my maker that night.

another time was another late season duck hunt, and strong winds, ended up taking some waves over the bow of a 17′ jonboat, and it started filling with water.

and had another time on the same large basin, this one was more my fault, and i shouldn’t have been out there attempting to make the run across the river. again, 25+ mph winds, rolling swells, and every other wave was going in the boat, made it part of the way out, and was taking too much water on, boat was getting unstable, and filling up, had to turn back.

my requirements on the river – always have a small tool set, or a multi-tool; food/drink; working bilge pump; jumper cables; spare plug; marine band radio; extra flashlight and the knowledge to be out in these types of conditions.

and something that i’m surprised nobody has brought up. even though i quit smoking, I still ALWAYS have fire on me! i keep a few lighters in my tackle bag, hunting packs, etc, and make sure one is a working zippo, they work much better wet, and in the wind.

the ability to build a fire may be the difference between life and death.

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I almost died in the river back into Dec 2006 I was ejected out of the boat after hitting a dead head, it was 5 degrees out and 12 below wind chill,water temp 33.7 if it wasn’t for the grace of God I wouldn’t be here!

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Now that would wake a person up.

On minute you’re motoring forward and the next minute in the drink. I take it your boat didn’t stop and wait for you?

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Herb I think you’re oversimplifying it a bit here.. theres more to just knowing how to run your motor and steer your boat. How about navigation, buoys, daymarkers, barge safety, lock operation, wing dams, closing dams, dams, VHF/marine radio operation (which channels to use, which ones to stay off of!), understanding hazard signs, how far to stay away from tailwater and headwaters of dams, and so on. I guarantee that the majority of the people on the river don’t know about half of this stuff nor do they give a sh*t.. It’s not the people like you and I that spend a lot of time on the water that we have to worry about, it’s the rest of the idiots..

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Give me a break man!!!!!!!!!!!!! Mandatory training, exams, and licensing to operate a simple boat and motor. If you’re that scared of the river, all the precautions you can think of are not going to save your azzzzz. If the river wants you and the Lord decides it time for you to go, you’re going. But please don’t try to push laws onto others simply because of your fears.
Yes, sometimes humans and water don’t mix well. Stuff happens. Leave it be at that.

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There’s no reason for a special license. Just get familiar with the river and learn what the bouys mean on your own. If you are unsure of the river, get out with folks that know it. If you don’t know anyone, post here. If that doesn’t work, hire a guide. You will learn a ton from either River Dan or Turk.