Fishing ocean.....alone

[bgreene]

Two safety advantages to two or more on board:
1. In case you fall overboard
2. In case of medical emergency

Other than those situations, I don’t feel less safe alone, I most frequently do fish aloneand often prefer it . I fish how I please, where, and when plus less responsibility regarding guest comfort. I wear an auto inflate PFD with sports whistle, and the GPS locator to signal coast guard if I fall in. On board, two VHF, flares etc plus charger that can ( supposedly) start my outboard if battery too weak. Would I survive cold water till the rescue boat arrived ? Maybe......depending on temp.

How do others feel about this ?

[Redloon]

You might consider a safety line tied to the boat and yourself - say a light 25-50 foot nylon rope tied around one ankle and the other end to a close cleat. You have to be careful not to trip yourself but if you fall overboard and there is a 5 mph wind you would be surprised how fast the boat will drift away. Unless you are Michael Phelps whose top swimming speed was about 6 mph you'll never catch that boat.

I came up with that after fishing alone on a close by lake late October a couple of years ago. It was probably 10-15 mph winds. I was standing up in a 16' PowerCat casting to a submerged hump in the lake. Suddenly the boat rocked an odd way and I fortunately fell into the boat instead of going overboard. I never would have caught the boat and the lake was probably 55 degrees. Even with my life vest I probably would not have survived as i was about 1/2 mile from shore.

I jokingly tell my wife if I don't come back and they find the boat, just pull the rope and there you'll find my body.

[spareparts]

I've got customer that do this, I tell them not to go out till their check clears. There is so much false confidence with some of these guys with heavy dependence on electronic devices. Way too many things to go wrong. Besides, I look at fishing the way I do drinking, its more fun when you do it with a friend

[bgreene]

Originally Posted by Redloon

You might consider a safety line tied to the boat and yourself - say a light 25-50 foot nylon rope tied around one ankle and the other end to a close cleat. You have to be careful not to trip yourself but if you fall overboard and there is a 5 mph wind you would be surprised how fast the boat will drift away. Unless you are Michael Phelps whose top swimming speed was about 6 mph you'll never catch that boat.

I came up with that after fishing alone on a close by lake late October a couple of years ago. It was probably 10-15 mph winds. I was standing up in a 16' PowerCat casting to a submerged hump in the lake. Suddenly the boat rocked an odd way and I fortunately fell into the boat instead of going overboard. I never would have caught the boat and the lake was probably 55 degrees. Even with my life vest I probably would not have survived as i was about 1/2 mile from shore.

I jokingly tell my wife if I don't come back and they find the boat, just pull the rope and there you'll find my body.

Red...........tied around your ankle sir ? So if you fall overboard your boat will drag you backwards and complete the drowning much faster. What a way to go.....

[Redloon]

I think I'd be okay. My wife taught me how to handle that situation and there is a picture of me practicing. Refer to attached pictures.

[Redloon]

Just kidding. Those are a couple of images I snagged off the internet.

I've only got the rope on when I'm drift fishing or at anchor when I'm fishing.

[bgreene]

It’s trolling alone that’s more dangerous but doesn’t keep me from it .

[wellcraftv20step]

Seriously fishing alone is just a bad idea. I was always that guy that loved to be alone as I too liked the idea of not having to worry about others onboard! But as age creeps your just not the same guy,and anyone who's spent any real time on the water has experienced a time or two all the reasons you need someone along . Besides it's just not worth the absolute living HELL my wife puts me through when she gets wind of the fact that I'm thinking about going alone OMG.

[Redloon]

Wellcraftv20step wrote:

'Besides it's just not worth the absolute living HELL my wife puts me through when she gets wind of the fact that I'm thinking about going alone OMG.'


That is the best reason right there not to go alone! I couldn't stop laughing when I read that.

[spareparts]

If you cant find someone to go fishing with you, it probably says something about you