Fell out of the boat? 2024

S. Sass reply :

Just for humor how many of you or your fishing partner ended up in the water?

No I haven't yet but a couple times had a little bit of a scare.

j bab reply :

One time we were dropping a brush pile and it got real windy, so there were some big waves... We couldn't hold the boat still on the spot where we wanted to put the brush, so I went up front to drop an anchor and sure enough I lost my balance and fell in. Luckily I let go of the anchor and grabbed the side of the boat and my dad's arm on the way overboard. However I broke the windshield on the driver console while trying to grab hold of something before going in.

Looking back, I could have very easily drowned in that situation. I was wearing rubber boots (can't swim in those), the anchor could have pulled me down, my dad's grip could have slipped, etc... Very fortunate to make it out with only some wet clothes. Yeah it was stupid for us to attempt that in such conditions.

Bluebasser86 reply :

I've had some close calls, none as close as prefishing for a tournament on Table Rock in late February. Going straight into the wind and waves, dragging a jig. Got a bite, set the hook, could tell it was a good fish. It started to come up and right when I leaned to stick my rod in the water a wave hit the front of the boat hard. I leaned and just kept on going. I caught the trolling motor and spun so my back was just above the water. I was 16 or 17 and still in good shape so I managed to muscle my way back into the boat with just barely dipping the back of my Guidewear into the 40 something degree water. The fish was still on but had swam about a dozen laps around the trolling motor head. Pulled up the trolling motor, unwrapped the line, landed the fish that was 5 pounds even and still my biggest Table Rock largemouth.

Catch 22 reply :

Bad timing caused me to fall in. Where I was fishing was not to bad,but at the ramp it was kickin with two to three foot waves. I got tied up to the dock ok,but trying to get onto it proved different than a normal exit.On an up cycle of a wave,I tried to step on the dock,but waited about one half a second to long until it started down.I fell between the dock and boat in 45 degree water at which point I just walked on up the ramp. Water was running out of my gear all the way to the truck.I hit the coffee shop a short time later.

C22

BiteFiend reply :

On 8/2/2016 at 2:14 PM, Catch 22 said:

Bad timing caused me to fall in. Where I was fishing was not to bad,but at the ramp it was kickin with two to three foot waves. I got tied up to the dock ok,but trying to get onto it proved different than a normal exit.On an up cycle of a wave,I tried to step on the dock,but waited about one half a second to long until it started down.I fell between the dock and boat in 45 degree water at which point I just walked on up the ramp. Water was running out of my gear all the way to the truck.I hit the coffee shop a short time later.

C22

That's almost exactly how I fell in. Water temp was upper 70's though, so I got pretty lucky as far as the water not being cold. 45F water will take your breath away. I did however just get done putting my phone and wallet in my pocket, and my keys were in my hand when I fell in. The wet phone and key fob I wasn't happy about, but things could have been much worse.

Catt reply :

That's a part of bass fishing I never experienced

My nephew & I were night fishing when I hear a huge splash from the back of the boat. I to to see ass & legs sticking up in the air. He had a hold of the side of the boat, while pulling himself out of the water wet hands on fiberglass slipped & right back in he went!

By this time I'm laughing hysterically!

But that wasn't the end, he was a flight engineer in the Air Force & upon returning to base his doctor grounded him with a cracked rib!

Bankbeater reply :

I'm glad to say that I have never fallen out of the boat, and I hope I never do.

Senko lover reply :

I have an elderly friend who was fishing once on a very steep bank, fell in, and couldn't climb out. He said he was in the water holding onto the bank for 30 minutes.

N Florida Mike reply :

I can only remember falling out once,lost my balance in the front of my Jon boat and went over into a weed bed.I was laughing before I hit the water,along with my friend who was Safely in back.Came up looking like a tossed salad.

Another time I nearly fell out when the trolling motor ( which was in 5th gear) came unhooked as I was leaning into a turn.I hung on for dear life,trying to right myself and the motor as it took me for a ride. Saw Bill dance do this on a blooper one time.

Rick Howard reply :

Pops rolled us in a row boat while retrieving his lure from a tree. Saved the $8.50 lure... Killed $1000 in cell phones. Rods and tackle boxes were safe as the boat did not totally capsize. Just enough to end up in the water.

ottosmagic13 reply :

I have never fallen out of a boat. I have, however, slipped down a few banks pond fishing trying to land a toad.

My buddy that I often went with in college fell out of boat on one trip. We rented a skiff with a electric motor for scooting around the small lake (read: large puddle) near our school.

Late summer frog fishing the slop on the leeward side of the lake in some thick scum. We had caught a couple of small ones already but nothing huge. I was in the front and my buddy was in the back controlling the motor. He gets a 4-5 pounder to miss a blow-up, come back and blow-up his frog again. In his excitement he stepped back to get leverage on his hook-set and in the process swung the arm of the motor to lock almost 90* from the direction of the boat and the resulting jolt put him in the lake. It was only 5-6 feet deep but the mat was so thick he came up looking like the Jolly Green Giant Swamp Thing.

dave reply :

I once set the hook on a fish sitting perpendicular to the boat. The seat pedestal screws gave way and I back flipped into the pond. I was back in the boat in a matter of seconds after going over.

GORDO reply :

I was on the front of a little jon boat and my buddy was controlling the trolling motor at the back of the boat. We were going forward and he meant to put the motor in neutral but missed it and went into reverse. It threw my weight towards the front of the boat and out I went lol luckily the water wasnt too cold and we were only 200 yards from the launch.

N Florida Mike reply :

Another time I took a large friend(500 pounds and 6'9 fishing on a small lake.I told him before we left not to make any sudden ( or just any) movements or the 12 ft Jon boat might go under.

Sure enough, he leaned over slightly and water started pouring in.After quickly assessing the situation,I yelled at him to PADDLE,and as we got to the bank the boat settled to the bottom.

Then a security guard appeared out of nowhere and said You can't have a boat in here!And I thought I wish he would have told me sooner!

fishballer06 reply :

The closest I ever came to going out of the boat wasn't from standing. It was on the Allegheny River here in Pittsburgh. Myself, my father, and his friend were running up river to the dam to jig for walleye. We were in a Blazer 202 Pro, and there were a bunch of pleasure boats out running. They were in the seats, I was seated down in the bottom of the boat, holding our buckets of fatheads. We had a big 30' + open bow cabin boat buzz right beside us, throwing a wake probably 4' high.

We turned into the wake to skip it (rather than get rolled). Whenever we hit that wake, it threw me out from the bottom deck out of the boat. I flew over top of my Dad and his friend in the seats. My only saving grace was that I grabbed a hold of the back deck seat. Had that not happened, I would have likely bounced off of the outboard and into the water. I had no life jacket on. It very easily could have killed me and I'm lucky to still be here today.

Glenn reply :

I went fishing with a buddy of mine in his little Bass Hunter boat. It was next to the dock as I stepped down into it...the drop was bigger than I expected (about 2 1/2 feet), and the "impact" of my weight all on one side of the boat made it shoot away from underneath me. As I lost my balance, I instinctively reached for one of the seats to catch myself....only to discover it wasn't attached the boat!

In I went, seat in one hand, rod in the other. It was early spring...I was wearing a snowsuit and no life jacket. Fortunately I was just feet from the shore, so I was able to safely make it to dry ground.

After all that, the only thing my buddy asked was, "What's the water temp?" (no joke!). I replied, "About 54 degrees". He dropped his thermometer into the water, and wouldn't you know I was right?

--------------

Another time I was fishing with a different buddy in his Skeeter SK170...early spring (mid 40's air temp), and he wanted to check the engine because it wasn't running right. He was all bundled up, including wool fishing gloves.

He got on his knees next to the engine, and leaned over to look at the back. Guess he didn't realize his gloves + wet cowling = slick surface. As he braced his hand against the engine, he just kept going forward...slowly. It was like in slow motion as he slowly slid beneath the surface.

I was panicking, wondering what to do next, then he quickly surfaced. I ask if he was alright, and he said, "Ya, I'm a little..." PHHHHTTTT-POP!!

His Mustang vest deployed! Suddenly, he looked like he had his head stuck in a toilet seat! And I mean jammed in there! LOL!

I was able to help him get back in the boat (between laughing), and fortunately he had a spare set of clothing in the boat for just such emergencies. So it all came out well.

Really wish I had snapped a picture of his face pushing out from that life vest though!

Rhino68W reply :

I once decided to hop off my kayak on a flat to cool off. Only problem was where my transducer was was about 2 feet more shallow then where I was. I got a lot more water than I had anticipated.

But no, I have never fallen out myself on accident. Did watch a guy turtle while trying to get in his kayak once. I may or may not have laughed all day about that.

Red Bear reply :

almost fell off a friends 14ft jon boat into a pond while boarding it, i was the first one getting on and i walked down to the other end of the boat pretty good, when i went to turn and sit the boat started rocking left to right back and forth as i would swing my weight the opposite direction to counter balance it, eventually i found the seat and the boat settled down

also, not a boat but i did get thrown off a wave runner once while driving it. i was out by myself on it ripping up the lake when i "turned wrong" and went flying through the air, i have no idea how deep the water was but i never hit bottom. was wearing a pfd and came shooting back to the surface like a rocket with my hands above my head in case i happened to come up right under the wave runner, i didnt want to hit my head and get concussed or knocked out. got to the surface and the wave runner was about 15 feet away. swam on over and climbed back on. glad i was in a quiet cove just off the main lake that sees very little boat action. after that i would ride out to the cove shut the wave runner down and jump in the water and float around for awhile as the water was quite nice out there actually...

scaleface reply :

I fell in twice . Once when pulling a chair out of a pedestal and once from throwing a casting net .

Alrab23 reply :

Me and my buddy had a bad day in the boat recently. I fell inside the boat and broke 2 rods and the windshield and also sliced open my knee and bruised my ribs

About 30 minutes later he lost his balance and fell in. Ruined his iPhone he had in his pocket. I was laughing hysterically. Watching him try to climb in the boat was also funny

Siebert Outdoors reply :

So far only close calls. I have had 3 different guys fall out of my boats though not paying attention to what they were doing.

Gundog reply :

Tipped my kayak over first time on it. Luckily I was in about 2 ft of water and it was mid summer. Other than that I've been pretty lucky.

tiredbobmarley reply :

Never fell in personally but I had my buddy fall in while we were docking. I had him reach out and grab the dock and before I knew it the boat had moved away and he was still hanging onto the dock. He just stared at me with this panic in his eyes but there was nothing I could do for him. He stretched as far as he could go before falling in between the dock and the boat and was so scared of gators (there is a swimming area right beside the dock that they keep gators out of) that he kept grabbing onto my jon boat and telling me to pull him in.....while the dock was literally 2 feet behind him and the water was only a couple feet deep. He almost dumped the boat over before I got him to walk ashore, haha

Team9nine reply :

Been in twice over the past 30+ years of fishing.

first time was when I was in my early 20s in a club tourney. I was a co-angler (no such thing really back then) and in the back. Fishing with an older retired gentleman whose trolling motor had been acting up. Got in a canal and the wind was blowing us right into some wooden pilings. I went to help and push off one of the pilings with my foot so his boat didn't get damaged. Sure enough he hits the trolling motor at just the right time to try and avoid hitting them. I one-step it right into the drink.

The other time (another club tourney) I had walked out on a dock to unsnag a lure and was walking back to get into the boat. One of the straps on my life jacket wrapped over a metal dock pole right as I jumped back into the boat. Strap and momentum grabbed me and whipped me into a circle and I dropped my a** into the water right beside the dock. Had to remove my life jacket to get myself off the metal post.

-T9

Mswen reply :

At a family reunion in Oregon, my brother-in-law and I went kayak fishing on the Pacific. We had actually gone over our alloted time, but since everyone was having fun, our guide wasn't rushing us back. He had showed us that we could grab kelp bulbs and slip them under our ropes to hold us on a certain spot. I was reaching for a bulb that was just a little too far when I suddenly realized that it was too far, and tried to lean back, but it was too late. The whole thing flipped over. Everything important or valuable was either attached by bungee cords, floated, or in the guide's boat, so that wasn't an issue. But the water was cold, and even with the wet suit I was ready to get out immediately. With a little help I flipped the kayak over, held on, kicked my feet, and finally pulled myself out of the water and onto the kayak, which then rolled over and dumped me face first off the other side! Eventually I did get on, and stay on, and that was pretty much the end of the day. Luckily we were only about 200 yd from the beach.

YoTone reply :

just give me more time before i can contribute to this thread. i say by the end of the year.

soflabasser reply :

I have not fallen off a boat when bass fishing,but I jump off the boat into saltwater often when it's hot.

Avalonjohn44 reply :

Haven't fallen out of my boat yet. I did jump off and began swimming away last weekend to try and freak out my wife and kids.

..They didn't really care...

flyingmonkie reply :

Fell off for the first time about a month ago. It was pretty comical. Trying to free a crankbait from a tree and came in a little hot with the trolling motor. Luckily I leave my phone in the glove compartment (who takes phone calls on the boat?!) and had enough time to throw my rod on the deck before going in.

Almost did it a second time the next week. Set the hook on a very unexpected bite, was in the wrong position, and tripped over my trolling motor pedal.

papajoe222 reply :

I've done it more than once. First time I was leaning over the side of the boat pulling on a limb of a submerged tree in an attempt to retrieve my crankbait. The limb pulled back and in the drink I went with both my wallet and iphone in my pockets. Luckily my TM tangled with the tree and my boat didn't drift off without me. The other two times I hit a submerged boulder with the TM turned up and got ejected into the water. Both times I had to swim quite a bit to catch up to my drifting vessel and, oh yea, my iphone was in my pocket. Now I wear an inflateable PFD and my phone and wallet are kept in my gear. With my luck, next time the boat will sink just after I take off my jacket (PFD first) with my wallet, phone and keys. I can't win.

Red Bear reply :

i figured fishermen wouldve learned by now about keeping their phones in their pockets while on a boat...lol

buzzed bait reply :

i fell out of my kayak not too long ago and a few years back while fishing with my dad he fell out of the boat while he was talking trash to me....

Mswen reply :

On 8/3/2016 at 10:12 AM, flyingmonkie said:

Almost did it a second time the next week. Set the hook on a very unexpected bite, was in the wrong position, and tripped over my trolling motor pedal.

But did you land the fish?

My boat is only 12' long. Between the lack of extra space and the wind easily re-positioning me, I find myself making a lot of awkward casts. More than once I've tried to throw something a bit too hard and almost sent myself over the side. About a month ago I had a close call where I dropped my rod in the lake. Luckily I found out it floats.

nosdog2 reply :

Not yet.

Fisher-O-men reply :

Just a matter of time for me, I'm sure. For you guys that jump in to cool off, make sure you know which way the wind is blowing your boat before you jump. A few years back a guy here jumped in to cool off and died trying to catch up to his wind-blown boat. To make matters worse his girlfriend was in the boat but did not know how to start or drive it. True story!

Gundog reply :

On 8/9/2016 at 12:01 PM, Fisher-O-men said:

To make matters worse his girlfriend was in the boat but did not know how to start or drive it. True story!

Yea, that's what she told the cops. Now she has a boat and a new boyfriend.

Red Bear reply :

On 8/9/2016 at 12:05 PM, Gundog said:

Yea, that's what she told the cops. Now she has a boat and a new boyfriend.

maybe she didnt know, the real questions is was she that stupid that she couldnt throw him a PFD or float cushion/tube?

the reel ess reply :

I went in Feb with a couple guys. one had a little too much to drink and fell out. We had to call it a day and get him in the truck with the heat on. It was a big boat with high gunwales but he still managed.

I fell out of my SOT kayak once in the spring, which takes some effort. It was brisk. I set the hook on a bass that wasn't there and just went on over with my iPhone in my pocket. When I went over, the kayak stayed upright so i didn't lose any rods or tackle. I was wearing my PFD, but I got braid wrapped around my foot about 10 times. I had to swim to shore with my arms. It scared my daughter, but it was no biggie. Lesson learned. I got a new iPhone 6 out of it because I was due the upgrade.

My dad and a friend were putting out brushpiles at night so as not to tip off the locals to their location. They had a big tree across the bow of our pontoon and tied several cinder blocks to it to sink it. They tossed the whole thing over and a loop of rope took the other guy overboard by the leg. He was very fortunate not to drown.

Gundog reply :

On 8/9/2016 at 11:22 PM, Red Bear said:

maybe she didnt know, the real questions is was she that stupid that she couldnt throw him a PFD or float cushion/tube?

She couldn't find any cushions. Only orange pillows.

Bluebasser86 reply :

Well, so much for never fallen out of the boat.

Gundog reply :

On 8/10/2016 at 1:45 PM, Bluebasser86 said:

Well, so much for never fallen out of the boat.

Well at least you caught the fish.

S. Sass reply :

On 8/2/2016 at 1:40 PM, Bluebasser86 said:

I've had some close calls, none as close as prefishing for a tournament on Table Rock in late February. Going straight into the wind and waves, dragging a jig.

Man thats a 8 day jinx right there. Went your whole life and then 8 days after telling the world you end up in the water.

On 8/10/2016 at 1:45 PM, Bluebasser86 said:

Well, so much for never fallen out of the boat.

Good job still getting the fish.

Bluebasser86 reply :

On 8/10/2016 at 2:16 PM, S. Sass said:

Man thats a 8 day jinx right there. Went your whole life and then 8 days after telling the world you end up in the water.

Good job still getting the fish.

I flipped my kayak early spring this year, but that's the first time out of the boat. That fresh wax didn't let my legs stick to them at all like I'd planned.

WRB reply :

Operating a friends Bass Cat several years ago with OMC trolling motor that had a habit of turning sideways when you take your foot off the control peddle and the on/off switch button on the side.

While landing a bass my heel hit the trolling motor switch, the bow turned the opposite direction and ended up in the lake. This happened during the winter with lots of clothing on and the wrong type of shoes and still holding my rod.

Lessons learned; practice getting into your boat with clothing and don't wear shoes you can't get off fast. Cold water zaps your energy very fast and you need help getting back into a bass boat fully dressed. I was able to get to the stern and with a partners help use the engine trim to lift me up and into the Bass Cat.

I am now prepared and have a folding foot step and rope loop on my boats stern to get back into my boat when fishing alone and never fish with laced walking shoes. Be prepared!

Tom

Neil McCauley reply :

Last summer around this time actually, I was on the water in my canoe for a full day of fishing. It was an awesome summer day aside from the wake from all the boats. After having a couple ice cold beers from my cooler I was fishing later in the day and stood up to cast. Was parallel to shore about 50 yards out, in 20 fow. Lots of people out on docks and boats around. Big wave came along from behind and next thing I knew I was in the water, fell right backwards overboard. No life jacket, but no problem really- amazing how quick you pull yourself back in as if nothing happened. Except for being soaked and having 3 inches of water in the bottom of the canoe. The water was warm as bathwater and it was actually kind of refreshing. Luckily none of my tackle or my rods went into the water. Mainly I was embarrassed if anyone saw me, but I'm not even sure anyone did. It happened so fast.... my samsung S6 phone that was in my pocket actually still worked...partially. Somehow the SIM card that allows making calls and getting texts was fried, but the GPS and wifi, everything else still works fine. I got a replacement and now I use the old one as a dedicated Navionics chart. Also I am a lot more careful about standing in the canoe later in the day when waves are big and if I've had a few.

scaleface reply :

On 8/10/2016 at 1:45 PM, Bluebasser86 said:

Well, so much for never fallen out of the boat.

Way to go , Slicko.

soflabasser reply :

Everyone who spends time on the water needs to be a strong swimmer,there are no exceptions.Take some swimming classes if you don't know how to swim,it might save your life one day if you fall off your boat without a life vest on.

Ncflats reply :

I have experienced a few fall outs. Never on camera though lol that was great.

Trolling motor bumped a log in a local lake and went right over the bow on a cold February morning.

Worst one was when I was duck hunting in a beaver swamp....birds were locked up over the deeks and my buddy got a bit excited. We were in a 10' jon boat and got about two shots off before we were both in water approximately 8' deep. Lost cell phones, gear, and almost lost our guns. It took forever to get the boat back afloat. Thankfully it was a fairly warm winter morning in the south. Good times...

A-Jay reply :

On 8/10/2016 at 1:45 PM, Bluebasser86 said:

Well, so much for never fallen out of the boat.

That feeling you get when you go to reach over the side - and realize (just an instant too late) that you might have gone just a little too far . .Yup - I hate it when that happens.

But that one was Pretty Smooth.

A-Jay

BankBassing reply :

My wife, son and I went to a local state park with a small lake where you could rent a jonboat. No motors, just paddles. My son is 10 years old and has never been in a boat before. I handed my cell phone and keys to my wife and asked her to put them in the Jeep while we got in and started to untie from the dock. My son can't wait, so I told him to go ahead and hop in. I go to step my 265 lbs into the boat, step about 6 inches shy of center, my son panics because the boat moves (Not sure what he thought would happen to a boat on the water), he decides to bail out. He steps on the side rail by the dock, suddenly I'm falling, my weight hits the same side rail, and the small boat literally flips completely over. Somehow the opposite side missed my head when it came down, and as I pull myself up on the dock, it's just in time to see the people beside us looking on in horror, and my wife just rounding the corner laughing her tail off. My son, of course, made it safely to the dock and is completely dry. We get the boat turned over, the guy who works there comes out and says, "How did you do that?! Never seen anyone flip one of those!" before laughing and saying he'd get the pump. My son is now frightened and saying he doesn't want to go, to which I reply "Oh no, we're going now." Long story short (too late?) we have a nice boat ride, I spend the next hour soaking wet, my son actually enjoys himself, and my wife will never... EVER... let me live it down.

AndrewJ reply :

I'm fairly new to bass fishing (1 year seriously into it) and therefore only have one small story to tell. I went fishing with a buddy of mine mid march. I was using a drop shot while my buddy was throwing a grub on a jig head. The fish were in a biting mood and we were catching one after another in quick succession. I was starting to get slightly annoyed because for every fish I would catch, another would rip my worm off the hook; mean while, my buddy was able to just use the one bait. I was starting to run out of my drop shot baits when I noticed one of my worms floating on top of the water near the boat. I leaned down quickly to grab the bait, and before I knew it, i was going end over end into the 50 degree water, pole and all. I somehow managed to keep my pole out of the water (sort of a "saved my beer" kind of move). My buddy helped me back into the boat and I fished the rest of the day shirtless and dripping wet. I did however land my PB that morning, so it has been a running joke that if I want to catch quality fish, I need to go for a swim first.

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