Overturned boat in Lake Michigan

[6 lb Smallmouth]

This was posted on one of my local boards.  Scary how fast things can happen.

http://www.glangler.com/_blog/Great_Lakes_Angler/post/MULL%27s_BLOG_Stupid,_Adrift_and_Thanking_God_for_a_Coleman_Cooler/

[Firefighter Jeff]

  WOW   !!!   

[Waterfoul]

A great read and a lesson to be learned by ALL of us!

[djkimmel]

Another reminder to do more on safety on this website. Too many boaters take too many chances and often don't even realize it.

[Mcfish]

The best reminder I can give is to make sure that everyone has a life jacket on board that FITS them.  

Myself and two companions were tossed around on Saginaw bay a few years ago and after pulling the jackets out I realized that I had never "sized" one for myself.  I rode that storm out (waves over the bow of my Pro V) with a jacket that wouldn't go on, holding it in the crook of my left arm steering while running the throttle with my right.  

I'm lucky to have lived through that bone headed mistake.

[Dan]

If  you don't have a Mustang PFD, you need to buy one. When people say it's awfully expensive, it reminds me of a time when I was buying a helmet to use for a triathalon I entered. When I asked the guy what I should spend on a helmet, he responded with, "How much is your head worth?" I bought the more expensive one that had a much better rating. Right now Mustang is running a promo. If you buy one of their PFDs you get a Tech Dry pouch for a camera or cell phone. I got two of the pouches at the Green Bay Challenge. Mustang had a booth there and you could win a pouch by tossing a lawn dart type thing in a hoop. My wife and I both won one. They work great. If you end up in the lake, even with a PFD on, it's nice to have a cell phone that you can still use. You could dial right through the plastic to call for help.
You are much more likely to fish with PFD suspenders than a full vest. When I fish alone I always wear mine. Hardly notice I have it on.

[Revtro]

Wow, what a story.  Very sobering.

[motocross269]

I have been getting better and better about wearing my PFD even in practice...I went back to a regular vest for safety reasons after my Auto Vest failed to inflate....I may get another Auto to wear full time while fishing alone, I hear the HIT vests are alot more reliable but man they are pricey...

Dan is right about the Helmet thing...you get what you pay for...I remember Bell helmets having an add along those same lines back in the 70s

[Team houston]

I have heard many stories and witnessed one myself where the CO2 type does not deploy. Old school all the way for me now.

[djkimmel]

The first one I owned deployed really well. In my boat storage box! Popped the locked lid open like a pistachio! I know that one worked once... Just don't trust that it will work again (anyway, I think the 'fishing' cats ran their own 'test' on it and they have claws...)

I have a fancy, smancy hydrostatic Mustang now that a very nice person gave me 3 years ago. I wear it most of the time I'm on the water.