My Nightmare Came True Today 2024

rondef reply :

Well today I went out fishing with my son at a trophy bass managed 5 acre pond in our canoe. The day started off good, we each caught 4 LMB off of various baits and were having a lot of fun on his last day of fishing for a while, his wife is due with their first child in three weeks.

Later in the morning I went to cast my lure (Strike King red-eyed shad) and it got caught on my other rod and reel and yanked it out of the canoe. As you can imagine it only gets worse, I freaked out seeing my rod coming out of the canoe and leaned over to grab it befoe it went to it's watery grave and of course the canoe tipped over. We fell in the water and our life jackets immediately inflated my first thought was for my sons safety and I made sure he was ok, thank god. After checking on my son I dragged the canoe to the shore while swimming and then pulled my son out of the water. I did an inventory of the gear while I was dripping wet on the shore and all of my sons equipment was in the boat, lucky him. Me on the other hand, I lost two new rods and reels and a good amount of tackle. Just when it can't get any worse we realized we had our cell phones on us, needless to say they no longer work.

This trip cost me approximately $600 in fishing gear, man am I bummed. I now have to save up some money to buy new gear so I guess fishing will be on hold for a little while. I am going to have to buy stuff a little at a time to replace what I lost since I don't have that kind of spare cash to replace it all at this time. I will have to go to BPS this weeked and at least pick up one rod and reel or I am going to loose my mind not being able to fish.

There is one good thing, we are both ok, no one got hurt and my son now has one heck of a story to tell my future grandson.

I was also supposed to fish a tournament with Nitroman tonight so I messed up his day to. I called him once we got back to my house and explained the situation. I think he got another partner, man I really wanted to fish my first tournament with him tonight.

Thanks for listening, this is a tough thing for me to deal with today, the reality of this nightmare is still sinking in.

Bass XL reply :

I'm sorry to hear about your loss, but glad to hear everyone is ok. Have you thought about getting some goggles and diving for them, or is the water too deep?

rondef reply :

The water s between 15 and 20 feet deep. I may try going back this weekend and see if I can snag them by using an old fishing rod (haven't used it in years) with some braided line, weights and some hooks. I only have a general idea of where they went in and the bottom is real silty so I don't know how much luck I will have if I do this.

Bass XL reply :

Their is another way to do it too. Tie a stringer on your line and open all of the clips and then drag it. I've got a couple of my buddy's rods by doing this. GOOD LUCk

Tokyo Tony reply :

Quote
Their is another way to do it too. Tie a stringer on your line and open all of the clips and then drag it. I've got a couple of my buddy's rods by doing this. GOOD LUCk

That's a great idea 8-)

Another thing you can try - it will probably work better for your lures though - is to buy one of those super-powerful magnets and drag it around the area. They're easily strong enough to grab lures by their hooks, so it may be a good investment...

Sorry to hear that rondef - that sucks.

WTRDOG reply :

Maybe you could find someone that scuba dives, should be easy to find then.Glad you and you're son are o.k..

Newman12Fan reply :

Glad everyone is OK, sorry about the gear. One thought is if your son can't fish for a while, us his gear. Then you can brag to him about all the fish you caught on his stuff!

Sam reply :

First, so glad you and Jason are OK.

Remember, Jason is supposed to be nearby when the happy moment arrives due to the terrible traffic he and his wife may encounter on the way to the hospital so maybe Jason was sent a message from above.

Second, I am sorry to hear about your losses. It could have been worse and please be thankful that you and Jason are OK.

You can replace your tackle but we can't replace you and Jason.

The BPS south of Ashland is opening at the end of September or early October and I am waiting for their sales before I venture out to get new rods and reels, etc.

So if you can wait, maybe you can hit the sale and get more for your money.

Once again, I am very glad you guys are OK. Terrible story but with a happy ending - you guys are OK.

P.S. You can get your grandchild a nice gift, too, like an All Star rod and a Shimano reel. And you daughter-in-law gifts of nice tackle. And Jason some stuff, too. ;D

rondef reply :

Thanks guys for your kind words. Hey Bassxl I may go try that stringer idea tomorrow afternoon. I am not sure how much luck I will have as the silt is pretty thick and there is lots of scattered timber in the area to.

Sam reply :

I told you story to my wife and she suggests that you contact a local diving club to see if any of their members want to dive to find your equipment.

I have no idea if they would be interested or if there are any diving clubs in Norther Virginia/DC but it is food for thought.

Good luck.

skillet reply :

SO glad you both are OK and NIGHTMARE pretty much covers it...

As Ever,

skillet

firefightn15 reply :

Rondef, that's terrible. I am so glad to here that you two weren't injured or worse. Can't offer anymore suggestions, but I'm glad your both here to atleast talk about it.

Two weeks ago on my local waters a woman with ms fell off a pontoon, and her friend jumped in and helped her back aboard. When all was thought to be well, it was realized that her friend never surfaced. He was recovered a day or two later.

Not to try and be a downer, but it still bothers me. Again, I'm glad to hear you and your son are safe. Tackle can be replaced. You can't.

Paul Roberts reply :

Sorry to hear, but relieved to hear you and your son are OK. And I hope he's not afraid of the boat now.

I'd definitely go back and try to snag those rods. It's not that hard to do. I like BassXL's idea -I'd be sure to weight one end to stretch it out. My thought was a weighted snagging treble. My guess is you'll recover one if not both rods.

Daniel My Brother reply :

I'll just echo what everyone else has said, I'm just glad you guys made it to shore ok. A buddy and his wife tipped a canoe in 10 feet of water when the water was only 40 degrees. She would not have made it out if not for him.

Too scary.

Bass XL reply :

Like I said, good luck, and let us know how it turns out.

fishhard reply :

Ron,

Sorry about your accident, I am glad to hear your ok, I made a new friend in meeting you on here, and the support you have shown me here in afghanistan is highly respectable, so if you can send me your address, I can have my wife send you a rod and reel or two, that I am not using, out of respect for what you did for me and my soldiers. I am glad your son is safe also.

NitroMan reply :

Hey ron,

I'm sorry about that ron, That had to be scary!!! I'm glad you two are okay!!!

BTW I sent you a PM

Don't worry about me I got another partner and everything went okay... Although I didn't place we still had fun.

-Nitroman

basser89 reply :

Sorry to hear that Ron! As everyone else said, first and foremost, I'm glad you and your son are OK! Hopefully, BASS XL's tip will payoff for you! Good luck with that!

packman reply :

well me and my brother did the same thing, but it was was in about 2 feet of water and me and my revo went in like quik sand in the mudd, glad all are safe and wish you luck getting your rods back.

packman

Big-O reply :

Ron, I wish you well in your search for your rod etc. And very glad you two were wearing your PSD's. That's a great lesson for all of us and let me know if I can help

Big O

32251 reply :

INFLATABLE VESTS!!!!

YES!! My son and I also had an accident with our boat and fell in the water. The vest saved our lives.

The gear does not matter.

Canoes are not stable enough for me to be in for fishing. You might rethink that one.

paul. reply :

nightmare is right. i'm glad y'all are o.k. though.

Andrew Coleman reply :

mabey in somthing that is more easy to tip you could have some kind of strap to connect your tackle box to the conoe so if this happens again, the tackle will stay with the canoe. also straps for your rods mabey?

LCpointerKILLA reply :

sorry to hear about this rondef

rondef reply :

All,

I would like to say thank you for the out pouring of support that I have received from every one here on this forum. This site is great, it feels like I have a big extended family, THANK YOU.

The reason I wrote this is to remind people about being safe on the water and to always wear your PFD/PSD. The items I lost can be replaced but my son's and my lives can't. I am not looking for anyone to give me free gear, however I appreciate the offers I have received. I just want to make sure that every one of you are safe out on the water.

I am going to try Bassxl's idea this afternoon and see if I can't snag the two rods with a stringger. Unfortunately I have to do this from shore because I need to get two new arming kits for my PFD/PSD's before I can use my bass boat or canoe again. I think I can cast to where we went over and I will update you guys in this thread if I have any luck.

My wife wants me to head up to Bass Pro Shop and at least go pick up the reaming kits and a new rod and reel. I love her and am glad she understands how much bass fishing means to me. However I think I am going to wait to buy new rods until I exhaust my efforts on retrieving my rods from the pond. I may also wait until the new BPS opens in Ashland, Virginia so I can get them on sale, they plan to open around the September/October time frame. I do have one rod left a baitcaster I bought this year but haven't used much because I hate dealing with the backlashes. It is a good rod (same model as what I lost) and it has a good reel, a KVD Signature Series baitcaster. I guess now is the time to put in the necessary hours to learn how to use it properly.

Once again thank you to all of my Bass Resource family members. You guys are the best and this is the best site on the web.

Ron

Grey Wolf reply :

Sorry you lost your stuff but the real important part of this mishap is you and your son are OK.

flechero reply :

Glad you guys are ok!

If you do the stringer or any snagging hook trick from shore you'll probably just hang it as well. You should at least get a cheap 'regular' PFD from wal-mart to use for today or tomorrow to get your stuff back. Then keep it as a spare or loaner. (I'd actually get a vest instead of a coast guard type, so if you ever have to use it, it's comfortable)

Got any friends that are divers?

edited to add: don't forget to send your reels straight to ReelMech, after asking him if there is any immediate treatment required.

Paul Naj reply :

Ron,

What an awful experience. I'm happy to hear that you and J are OK.

A buddy of mine had a rod go over and he made a drag rig out of a piece of chain and some big trebble hooks tied to a line and he was able to snag it.

I agree with flechero, it needs to be done from a boat. You can borrow my vest if you need one.

rondef reply :

I do have some of the cheap orange PFDs that the dealer gave me with my bass boat, I guess I could use those. My buddy and I are going out this afternoon and we will attempt to retrieve them.

MattStrykul reply :

Take this time to learn to use your baitcaster. Once you learn, you will never want to go back. They're great, especially for heavy cover and the frog fishing that you do.

Paul Roberts reply :

Quote
I do have one rod left a baitcaster I bought this year but haven't used much because I hate dealing with the backlashes. It is a good rod (same model as what I lost) and it has a good reel, a KVD Signature Series baitcaster. I guess now is the time to put in the necessary hours to learn how to use it properly.

A blessing in disguise??

rondef reply :

Matt I am going to take the time to learn it now that this has happened but I still want to get my rods and reels out of the water if I can. I like my spinning rods and reels because I can cover more water with them due to the the difference in the distance I can cast them.

JCrzy4Bass reply :

Dad, I know I seemed real upset for a while yesterday after stuff happend. Most importantly I was just worried about Steph going in to labor prematurely and not having a way to contact us. But after we got a hold of her at home and I got my cell replaced (thank god you gave me your old one as I did not have to spend money on one) I was ok. I think I was just kinda more upset after that that you wouldn't take me up on my offer.

I know you like your rods and reels but I'm gonna be bummed I'm not out there nearly as much as you. I'd love for my equipment at least to be getting used. I know you like the actions on yours but I guarantee you even if you use my cranking rod you won't want to go back. And it's a nice setup. The reel especially, if no immediate damage was done to it.

I did manage to make a few wise cracks to friends at work today about the mishap. I figure better to joke about it and get over it than keep getting ticked about it. I'm sorry we couldn't get all your equipment back. I wish you the best of luck today and hope you snag at least one, though the other should be right next to it. As Ike says, never give up. But yea, I was calling us Gilligan and Skipper at work today and was just kind of shrugging it off. I'm not mad at you, it was an accident. I'm glad we are both ok and thanks for helping make sure everything was cool with me immediately after the tip.

At least we saved what we could, got your oar back too. Good thing you had cell insurance. That's great. Like my dad said the most important thing is we are both ok and that we learned a lesson. Had those vests not been on we would have either lost a lot more or possibly could have been trapped under the boat if injured when flipping or something. Wear your pfds guys, even on ponds. They may have saved lives yesterday. Never knowing what might happen. No matter how nice the boat.

rondef reply :

I just found a scuba diving club that is close to my house. They have stated that they will go with me and get the rods for $100 an hour. They further stated that if I know where we tipped over which I do they should be able to retrieve them in less than an hour. I am going to have them go out with me to the pond this afternoon and see if they can find them. They told me they do stuff like this all the time for people.

thetr20one reply :

That sux bad. Like everybody said I am glad to here you were not hurt physically. I broke a BPS Extreme rod a couple weeks ago taking it out of the rod locker and about went nuts. I can't imagine losing so much stuff. Sorry for your loss!

SimonSays reply :

good luck on getting your gear back ron!

I would have never thought of getting a scuba club to help get them back, good thinking!

rondef reply :

I just heard from the dive club, they stated they will do it tomorrow afternoon. That means I have one shot trying to recover the gear on my own this afternoon and early evening by dragging some stringers over the area where we tipped. Hopefully I can find them today rather than paying them $100 for an hour tomorrow.

shorefisher reply :

I was sorry to hear about this Rondef so it's great you have a local dive club. They will find it guaranteed. I'm a certified diver and would do it for you for the cost of a tank of air and a hot meal but I'm 800 miles away.

jrhennecke reply :

Glad you are both ok. Hope you get your stuff back.

NitroMan reply :

d**n,

$100.00 an hour thats crazy!!! LOL Well good luck Ron!!!

dallas0996 reply :

Glad you guys are both safe.

....If I were you and had that dollar value of gear on that silty bottom, I would just leave it and let the divers do the work...It's gonna cost a hundred bucks- but you may bury or scatter some of the gear by dragging the bottom...making it less likely they will find all or most of your gear... 2 cents...

rondef reply :

Well the scuba diving club called and they need a permission to dive for the gear and they do not expect to get that any sooner than tomorrow afternoon. He recommended that I drag the bottom and try and snag them until he can obtain a permit for this location.

fishinfiend reply :

Sounds like they might be able to help. I hope you get your gear back and I am glad to hear that you guys are safe.

I fell out of the boat this summer and once I got back in the boat and laughed it off I realized how much different things could have been if I was by myself and it was in the middle of winter. Before I buy any more gear, I am going to buy a nice PFD that can be worn at all times that is not a hassle to wear.

Mepps reply :

I did this years ago, fishing the Ashburn Village lakes. We were out in the middle and lost it all. It was kind of scary at the time, but we got through it and are alive and well, and thats all that counts. On the other hand like Jason said, its a good laugh.

My buddy and I still laugh out loud about it whenever we go out. ;D

rondef reply :

Well the first attempt at dragging the bottom was a bust. I lost two stringers and pulled in a lot of large sticks. Attempt number two will be tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully the divers can get the permit situation squared away. They sounded a bit concerned aout being able to obtain one for this location.

Now one thing that caught my eye late tonight was a good size shiny object on top of the beaver dam but it was to late to check it out. Could a beaver have picked up one of the rods and placed it on top of his dam? This may sound silly to some and I don't know if they would or not. What do you guys think? I am checking out the dam first thing when I get there tomorrow.

firefightn15 reply :

Rondef, if the beaver did, remember possession is 9/10ths of the law. Be sneaky when you retreive. He may dig in and put up a fight!

rondef reply :

I am going out to buy a retrieving magnet from Harbor Freight after work and will try that to recover my gear. I like the description they have. I will also check the beaver dam to see what is on top of it, It looked like it could have been one of my fishing reels but I could get close enough to see. That beaver will be in for one heck of a fight if he has my fishing rod.

Retrieving Magnet, 250 Lb. Pull

Retrieve lost fishing gear, separate scrap iron from waste, clear your garage of nails, screws and sharp metal after your next project.

Movarus reply :

Wow, I know I'm a little behind, but that is terrible. Again like everyone said, it's good to hear that you guys are ok. I'm actually just getting into using small crafts on lakes/ponds and I know that is always a fear.

Good luck with getting all the stuff back! I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

Zel... reply :

This thread is sure intriguing. I keep tuning back to see what happens next. Good luck, I hope you get your gear back. Be careful of them dam beavers.

I tried helping Muddy find a rod and reel that he lost in the lake. We used my underwater camera system to no avail. Saw some good structure and bass swimming around, but alas no rod and reel (but it was about a week after it happened, and the spot was in casting distance from the shore so we figured someone hooked into it).

rondef reply :

For those of you that have been following this saga the good lord has answered my prayers. This afternoon my buddy and I went dragging magnets on the bottom of the pond and I felt something hit the magnet however the magnet could not pull up what it attached to. I dropped the magnet a second time and then had my buddy use an old rod with a hook on it reach it down into the same spot and he felt the hook catch something. When he pulled up the hook we saw some line and then all of a sudden the tip of one of my rods. I immediately grabbed the rod and pulled it into the boat and noticed the line from the second rod tangled on it. I started pulling this line in by hand for what seemed like an eternity. All of a suddenthe second rod tip surfaced and I immediately grabbed it and pulled the second rod into the boat as well. The saga is finally over as I got the two expensive items back and I have no problem writing off the tackle as lost.

Thank you to all of my Bass Resource family members for your kind words and offers, you guys are the best.

firefightn15 reply :

That's GEAT news rondef. Glad you got them back!

fishinfiend reply :

That is good to hear. Unfortunately, the monkey already knows that you mentioned you were going to get a replacement rod. ;D

NitroMan reply :

HELL YEA RON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That is freaking awesome!!!!! I wish I didn't have to work this whole weekend or I would have offered to help you out. I'm glad you got your 2 week old poles back!!!! LOL Now its just something you can sit back and joke about since now everyone is okay and you at least got back $400.00 worth of the $600.00 you thought you were going to loose. AT least now you can go get all the tackle you never thought you would have!!!

Just watch out the bait monkey is on to you!!!

-Nitroman

Big-O reply :

We knew it was only a matter of time Ron, you were gonna find'em no matter what. Glad to have you back on track and now get out there and slam some more fish real soon....

Big O

Movarus reply :

Awesome! That is some great luck that the second rod was tangled in the first. Great to hear!

rondef reply :

I just got done taking apart the reels and lubricating them and then putting them back together. The two reels were full of dirty water I am glad I got this done right away. It only took me a couple of hours but the reels seem like they are ready to use again in the morning.

The only potential issue I have is that the corks look a little rough right now from the time spent in the water. Hopefully they will be fine, if not it is off to BPS to replace them with new ones and maybe buy some of my missing tackle. Dam bait monkey has my number.

Simp reply :

Quote
I just got done taking apart the reels and lubricating them and then putting them back together. The two reels were full of dirty water I am glad I got this done right away. It only took me a couple of hours but the reels seem like they are ready to use again in the morning.
The only potential issue I have is that the corks look a little rough right now from the time spent in the water. Hopefully they will be fine, if not it is off to BPS to replace them with new ones and maybe buy some of my missing tackle. Dam bait monkey has my number.

Glad you got them back!! I know personally I would have went swimming for them but that's second nature to me. I used to be a very good competetive swimmer back in the day and I have no problem just jummping into ponds or lakes. I saved about $50 in lures this year doing that ;D.

Sam reply :

Great story.

Maybe you can pen an article for a bass fishing magazine and have it published?

Paul Roberts reply :

Very nice! Magnet eh?

basser89 reply :

Awesome Ron! Glad you were able to get the rods & reels!

1488

My Nightmare Came True Today 2024

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