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We were fishing Nehalem Bay today and two boats flipped over at the jaws in separate instances. I don’t know the stories behind what happened so I don’t want to draw any conclusions but with some hot reports I know a lot of people will be heading down to troll in the costal bays.
Here is a picture that we took of where this guy was trolling.
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As you can see from the picture he was too near the breakers on the North Jetty. He got turned a little sideways and flipped his boat in the surf. It did not look like he was wearing a lifejacket, but I am not sure. He ended up making it to shore and looked to be ok.
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About an hour later another guy by himself got over neat the North Jetty. The tide was slack and the bar had about 5-6ft swells. It is easy to get lulled to sleep then all of a sudden you can take a few breakers. Here are some pics of the action.
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The guy was rescued but it was very iffy for a while. The boat in to help him could not pull him in then 3 huge waves headed in and the rescuing boat almost flipped… he had to climb straight up them and jump them. I don’t know how the dude kept it afloat but it was some great boat work. They ended up pulling the man out.
The second boat you see in the pic (one with windshield) charged in there after the first rescuing boat had the guy out of the water. He almost hit the rescuing boat and the flipped boat. If you get in this position you should standby to act incase the first boat has to pull out but don’t charge in if the situation is under control. Often times it can lead to worse accidents!
Even small waters like Nehalem can be deadly if you don’t know what you are doing. If you have never fished water like this then take someone on your boat that has, or go with someone in their boat. Places like this and Astoria are not places for first timers without experience. For those of you that have been on this board for a while you know I am talking from experience here!
Don’t think that if you have a big boat you will be ok. The first boat was probably on 14 or 15 feet but the second was a good 17 to 19 feet. Be careful!
Please wear your lifejackets. The first guy was out of the water fast on his own and he was lucky. If the second guy was not wearing a lifevest I am sure he would have died. It took about 5 minutes to get him out of the water and was in heavy surf and breakers. Everytime I go out there I have put mine on. Do the same thing. If you think a lifevest is too uncomfortable go splurge and buy an inflatable one like I have. You hardly know it is on and if you ever do have an accident it is the best $100 you ever spent!
Please, please know the water you are fishing. Both of these guys were way out of position on their troll. Maybe they had engine trouble but if they were in that area trolling it is bad news. We also witnessed 3 other close calls from people that were too far over.
This is fast current, close combat trolling quarters. You have to know what to do when the person next to you gets a fish, when someone else in your boat gets a fish or if you get a fish. Where are you going to escape to? What if the fish runs? Can I hover where I am? Is the net ready? If I take my had off the tiller to net a fish will we get sideways and get flipped over? If you think you cant handle this stuff you are probably right. I am very lucky to have guys that have done this sort of thing before that I am learning a lot from.
Take the time to learn the water you are going to fish or it could be your last time out!
Boat safe and take care this weekend!
[ 08-15-2003, 08:43 PM: Message edited by: 5-Cents ]
Here is a picture that we took of where this guy was trolling.
As you can see from the picture he was too near the breakers on the North Jetty. He got turned a little sideways and flipped his boat in the surf. It did not look like he was wearing a lifejacket, but I am not sure. He ended up making it to shore and looked to be ok.
About an hour later another guy by himself got over neat the North Jetty. The tide was slack and the bar had about 5-6ft swells. It is easy to get lulled to sleep then all of a sudden you can take a few breakers. Here are some pics of the action.
The guy was rescued but it was very iffy for a while. The boat in to help him could not pull him in then 3 huge waves headed in and the rescuing boat almost flipped… he had to climb straight up them and jump them. I don’t know how the dude kept it afloat but it was some great boat work. They ended up pulling the man out.
The second boat you see in the pic (one with windshield) charged in there after the first rescuing boat had the guy out of the water. He almost hit the rescuing boat and the flipped boat. If you get in this position you should standby to act incase the first boat has to pull out but don’t charge in if the situation is under control. Often times it can lead to worse accidents!
Even small waters like Nehalem can be deadly if you don’t know what you are doing. If you have never fished water like this then take someone on your boat that has, or go with someone in their boat. Places like this and Astoria are not places for first timers without experience. For those of you that have been on this board for a while you know I am talking from experience here!
Don’t think that if you have a big boat you will be ok. The first boat was probably on 14 or 15 feet but the second was a good 17 to 19 feet. Be careful!
Please wear your lifejackets. The first guy was out of the water fast on his own and he was lucky. If the second guy was not wearing a lifevest I am sure he would have died. It took about 5 minutes to get him out of the water and was in heavy surf and breakers. Everytime I go out there I have put mine on. Do the same thing. If you think a lifevest is too uncomfortable go splurge and buy an inflatable one like I have. You hardly know it is on and if you ever do have an accident it is the best $100 you ever spent!
Please, please know the water you are fishing. Both of these guys were way out of position on their troll. Maybe they had engine trouble but if they were in that area trolling it is bad news. We also witnessed 3 other close calls from people that were too far over.
This is fast current, close combat trolling quarters. You have to know what to do when the person next to you gets a fish, when someone else in your boat gets a fish or if you get a fish. Where are you going to escape to? What if the fish runs? Can I hover where I am? Is the net ready? If I take my had off the tiller to net a fish will we get sideways and get flipped over? If you think you cant handle this stuff you are probably right. I am very lucky to have guys that have done this sort of thing before that I am learning a lot from.
Take the time to learn the water you are going to fish or it could be your last time out!
Boat safe and take care this weekend!
[ 08-15-2003, 08:43 PM: Message edited by: 5-Cents ]
