I remember a day…

When standing up in a boat was frowned on.
When catch and release wasn’t a thing.
When no one would think of using a barbless hook.

How long is it going to take for good people to wear a pfd and not leave them on the back of their chairs?
I know that some of the drownings will still happen, but each time I hear of one, without a pfd involved, I wonder if today they would be reading a fishing report on IDO to see where they were going to take the family over the 4th of July.

My heart goes out to the families of these people.

yea unfortunately i’m guilty as heck. i dont fish big or busy lakes but…….yea i know!!!!!:???:

I finally broke down and bought inflatables for the whole boat. I have been wearing one for 10 years. Now my quests can either wear inflatable or not go. no more hanging on boat seat.

Mwal

There’s been enough of these accidents where it’s now burned into my brain that lifejacket goes on and killswitch is attached. No lake outing is worth not coming home for.

Matt Vogel wrote:

No lake outing is worth not coming home for.

I KNOW! Forget about yourself, what about your family! (not pointed at you Matt)

Wouldn’t a person be more likely to be pulled out of the water on a busy lake over one that has few people on it?

Sorry, this topic makes me sad and at times angry. Why? I don’t know.. I guess I care.

Kids are riding around bikes with helmets.
People that use chain saw, weed whackers/blower all have hearing protection.

We’ve come a long way, but yet another family is in morning.

/End Soap Box

Another one of your great posts BK.

everyone in my family wears them except my wife. She refuses. ill pick my battles. ill go so far as wearing a non inflatable if im alone just in case there is a malfunction.

There is one downfall to life jackets though. I think ive forgotten how to swim. When i go swimming with the family now i just throw on a life jacket and float. Much easier to drink a beer that way

I think this is one of those generational things. Kids today will have it ingrained into their brains more than we did and will continue to wear one. For us older folk, it’s a combination of why start now and possibly also bad memories of the hot, bulk, uncomfortable jackets of the past. Even if you didn’t want to pay extra for an inflatable, the newer fishing ones with the mesh around the shoulders are really nice and you barely notice they are there.

I don’t know how family members and friends of someone lost like this deal with the what ifs and the anger at how preventable the death was. That kind of thinking and questioning would be enough to drive a person mad.

State law says it just has to be accessible. Until that changes, people aren’t going to wear them all the time. Make it mandatory while the main motor is operating and the boat is on plane. Sort of like wearing a seat belt.

gimruis wrote:

State law says it just has to be accessible. Until that changes, people aren’t going to wear them all the time. Make it mandatory while the main motor is operating and the boat is on plane. Sort of like wearing a seat belt.

nope I disagree. Then mandate helmets for motorcycles too,. Simply put it infringes on my freedom

The long term care facilities love the No helmet law! Seriously!

But I agree, we shouldn’t need a law for common sense.

Brian Klawitter wrote:

But I agree, we shouldn’t need a law for common sense.

correct. Oh I totally get the hardship on families when bad stuff happens, I do. When we did alot of snowmobiling we wore helmets religiously. I don’t and won’t get on a motorcycle but own an ATV. I don’t do much for long trial rides and used mostly for fishing and hunting and work around the cabin.

Common sense goes a long way!!👍

My, now 4 year old, boy fell out of the boat for the second time in 12 months this Sunday. Obviously if he weren’t wearing a life jacket things would’ve gone very badly.

The first time he fell out was on Lake Superior while trolling last July. It was myself, my then 6 year old girl and my boy in the boat. When he went in for the first second I didn’t panic until I realized his life jacket wasn’t keeping his face out of the the water because he was wearing a type 3 life jacket. For a moment, it crossed my mind that I could jump in and get his face out of the water. Luckily I realized if I did so, it would leave me and my boy in the water and by 6 year old daughter in full command of the boat. That would’ve been catastrophic.

It took be about 60 seconds to get the boat turned around where I could pull him out of the water. I pulled him out expecting I may have to try and evacuate water out of his lungs, but he was fine. Shaken up, but fine. Very lucky.

The second time was Sunday. I was spot locked and fishing with the whole family in the boat. This time he was wearing a type 2 life jacket and it had turned him over immediately and put him face up as I had hoped. Virtually no panic this time.

No moral of the story other than don’t ever let your kids go without a life jacket, ever. I wear mine 100% of the time on Superior and 100% of the time while fishing alone. I will occasionally go without when I am wearing sandals and have other adults in the boat as I am much much less likely to go under. I normally wear it when the boat is on plane.

Also, it is wise to go over the process of getting the boat turned around with any other people in the boat in case you were to fall in if you are fishing on big water like the Great Lakes.

glenn57 wrote:

Common sense goes a long way!!👍

Amen

glenn57 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>gimruis wrote:</div>
State law says it just has to be accessible. Until that changes, people aren’t going to wear them all the time. Make it mandatory while the main motor is operating and the boat is on plane. Sort of like wearing a seat belt.

nope I disagree. Then mandate helmets for motorcycles too,. Simply put it infringes on my freedom

Helmets are required in some states while riding motorcycles you know.

By that rationale, a pontoon with six adults driving 5 mph would all need to be wearing life jackets.

These stories are sad and preventable in a lot of cases. But they are accidents. And you can’t prevent all accidents from happening.

Gimruis, they aren’t in Minnesota.

glenn57 wrote:

Gimruis, they aren’t in Minnesota.

Yes, I’m aware. I was simply stating that some states do require it.

Until there is a requirement that people wear a PFD, there is going to be a percentage of people that will not wear them. As it currently stands, they only have to be accessible by law. That’s all I’m trying to say here.

I do think they save lives, as do helmets. Just so you know where I stand on this.

I fish alone 95% of the time. I have a PFD on at all times. Sometimes an inflatable sometimes a conventional, depending on how many clothes I have on.
I was checked on Mille Lacs about a month ago. My throwable was in a compartment and they said it needs to be available, meaning on deck. I thought that was only for the PVDs. Anyone know before I check the regs? Doesn’t mean too much when I’m by myself. I haven’t taught the dog to throw it.

I hook my throwable on a rod holder so it’s off the floor, otherwise I would trip on the thing.

I’ve been told while out on the river it needs to be out, but then got praised for having all the safety equipment organized in one spot and readily accessible in the compartment next to me. This included the throwable which was on top so its easy to grab. Here are the MN rules. I’ve never seen where it says it has to be laying out on the floor which would be the only spot in my boat if not in a compartment.

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netguy……yes its my understanding that throwable has to be readily available!!!! so it stuffed away in some compartment wont do!!!!!!!

I think most CO’s want to see it. If you lift a compartment lid and it’s right there I doubt there would be a problem. However if you need to pull it out from under 5 rods, 4 3700 Plano boxes and 15 cans of Spam there might be a issue.

Making it handy really isn’t that hard, no harder than wearing a life jacket. Fact is most guys think the rule is for others and nothing bad will ever happen to them.

Dutchboy wrote:

If you lift a compartment lid and it’s right there I doubt there would be a problem. However if you need to pull it out from under 5 rods, 4 3700 Plano boxes and 15 cans of Spam there might be a issue.

I agree. Stuffed under other items is not accessible. If you can open a hatch and it’s right there I think that would be considered accessible.

Mine is in a compartment right on top. Every time I’ve been checked that’s been OK

You guys must be a bunch of shady characters . I’ve never. I’ve never been checked on the water or landing!!

Just kidding of course,

I had one CO on the St. Croix tell me that my throwable device had to be above the floor and insight. I read the rules and I didn’t think it needed to be so I talked to another LEO and he said the rules are interpreted by each person and having it in a compartment not locked and on the top would be fine by his standards.

After thinking about it I’ve always kept it out in plain sight because I don’t want to have to take a second longer to throw it to a person that’s needing it

B.K. I got the answer to your no life jacket problem! You can carry hundreds on the Ella J so on the long weekend coming you should just drive around and pass them out to save lives!! lol I have 2 but sure could use another thank you kindly.