Lessons Learned (or not)

[Shawn_H]

So I had an incident the other day that made me think of posting this thread. These would be those lessons you have learned the hard way - and possibly more than once. Shamed to say it but what made me think of this was that both things that immediately popped into my mind have now happened twice - so apparently I don’t learn my lesson.

I fell hard the other day and in pretty shallow water - banged my knee and wrenched my shoulder so bad that I sat down on the bank and honestly thought I was going to vomit from the pain. It seemed really odd for me to fall where I was and I had been having trouble the whole morning. As I was making my way back to my truck to regroup and eat some lunch I realized my boot was all messed up - the felt was flapping loose in the front. Exact same thing happened to me about 2 years ago. If you feel like you are having trouble wading when you shouldn’t be - CHECK YOUR BOOTS. First lesson I should have learned by now.

Other is that I have broken 2 rods when taking them apart in a hurry. So dumb. And the 2nd time I even thought I shouldn’t do this here. But I did. And broke the rod. Don’t break down your rod anywhere that there are things over head for the tip to smack into when the rod pulls apart.

Bonus round (this only happened once and I swear it will only happen once) - don’t lose your keys in the river!

 

[Kms]

Sorry. Falls suck. I hope you had a wading staff, but if not, maybe consider getting one. Also, this from a Browning-Silaflex rod booklet older than I am:

 

[6xAdams(Jones)]

I stumbled in shin deep water and bruised a knee, the other shin, and jammed my wrist. If I hadn't caught myself, a would have face planted into a rock. That was the eye opener that started me using a wading stick.

 

[PennKev]

My orvis sling pack has a convenient clip for keys in one of the zip pockets. Very convenient for wet wading as there is zero risk of losing them. Honestly, aside from getting seriously injured, losing my keys seems like the worst thing possible considering some of the places I end up fishing.

The advice regarding boots is good. Wading boots should be inspected frequently. Not just for loose felt, but also worn or loose studs. Even boots with good stud/socket systems need checked.

 

[FisherOfMen]

So I had an incident the other day that made me think of posting this thread. These would be those lessons you have learned the hard way - and possibly more than once. Shamed to say it but what made me think of this was that both things that immediately popped into my mind have now happened twice - so apparently I don’t learn my lesson.

I fell hard the other day and in pretty shallow water - banged my knee and wrenched my shoulder so bad that I sat down on the bank and honestly thought I was going to vomit from the pain. It seemed really odd for me to fall where I was and I had been having trouble the whole morning. As I was making my way back to my truck to regroup and eat some lunch I realized my boot was all messed up - the felt was flapping loose in the front. Exact same thing happened to me about 2 years ago. If you feel like you are having trouble wading when you shouldn’t be - CHECK YOUR BOOTS. First lesson I should have learned by now.

Other is that I have broken 2 rods when taking them apart in a hurry. So dumb. And the 2nd time I even thought I shouldn’t do this here. But I did. And broke the rod. Don’t break down your rod anywhere that there are things over head for the tip to smack into when the rod pulls apart.

Bonus round (this only happened once and I swear it will only happen once) - don’t lose your keys in the river!

I had a very similar experience once when I was younger. I went down knees first in shallow water. Right knee cap right on a fairly big sharp pointed rock. Thought I broke it. I did vomit and then crawled out of the creek. After awhile sitting on the bank I began the slow walk back to the car. It was only 100 yards away down a long wide, flat trail. Took forever.

 

[Swattie87]

My orvis sling pack has a convenient clip for keys in one of the zip pockets. Very convenient for wet wading as there is zero risk of losing them. Honestly, aside from getting seriously injured, losing my keys seems like the worst thing possible considering some of the places I end up fishing.

The advice regarding boots is good. Wading boots should be inspected frequently. Not just for loose felt, but also worn or loose studs. Even boots with good stud/socket systems need checked.

We think alike. Keys always get tethered somehow in an interior (pocket within a pocket) pocket.

I consider boots the most important piece of gear I own. I’ll skimp on rods/reels/waders even/whatever, but I will buy Korkers with studs for life. May have saved my life already for all I know a couple spots I’ve found myself in. (Not recently.)

 

[Oregon_OwlII]

Lost keys once on a very vegetated trail on the way to the river, and did not discover my loss untill I went back to the truck at the end of the session. Panic immediately set in. Miraculously, I retraced my steps and found them within the first 100 yards of the truck, My pouch pocket in my waders developed a hole in the seam that I was unaware of, and they slipped through the crack. Lesson learned.

 

[tjsingle]

S*** happens. Don't be too hard on yourself.

Two years ago I took a bad step on a river in Maine and fell through a sod bank. Had a terrible high ankle sprain, that took a while to heal. This past year I irritated the same injury and had some issues this past spring, went to the podiatrist and found out I had some torn ligaments. What it taught me was make sure you have good boots, check the laces stay tight, and take your time.

 

[Gibbon]

I have a hide spot inside my truck. My spare set of keys is always in there. Between fishing and hunting I can't imagine trying to back track my steps unless it was a gravel trail.

 

[tomgamber]

Not fishing related but this stuff happens. Last February in Mexico I was walking on a rocky beach with all confidence when I went down in a heap. Cut my knee, broke a finger and was just kind of PO'd at the whole incident. I took it as a reminder that I'm getting older and regardless of how I feel, I just need to be more decelerate and careful. (I got Covid two day later and forgot all about the fall 🙄 🤣 )

 

[Streammagic237]

Oh the extra fun we have in outdoor pursuits ,
Getting lost on Moyers mill with out gps and fear hiking for few hours , losing keys and looking for an hour or 2 only to find there down my wader leg lol my mistakes are legendary , main seam letting go with water to my chest in plumbers hollow , walking out as 2 fishermen showed up looking like a Maytag emptying from my boots

 

[JeffP]

When we were kids, we were at Poe Valley State Park and my uncle lost his keys. An hour or so later, we found them on the dock of the boat rental. He had put them down when we took of on the boat. Yesterday, I discovered my fly rod was broken at the ferrule. I had put my fishing equipment on a pile at the front of the garage after a recent Penns Trip. Laziness eventually costs you. It was a rod I had built for my father-in-law and got from him when he passed away. It was a St. Croix Imperial so not super expensive but it became my primary rod and had sentimental value.

 

[poopdeck]

Wading staff is a must for me since I fall with boots in great condition. I never take my rods apart. Never lost my keys in the river but I have dropped more than one AirPod in the river until I switched to Bose open ear buds.

 

[Cougarbaby]

My keys get tucked under a rock or by a tree with some leaves thrown on top near my truck,my keys never go fishing,I've fallen more times than I can count, my back went out on me once up on the clarion I sat on a rock out in the river till this guy came close enough to hear me ,he helped me out and left,I couldn't pull hard enough to get the top 2 sections of my rod apart and broke it,good thing it was under warranty lol

 

[dryflyguy]

I always carry an extra set of car keys - both of them zipped into separate pockets in my vest.
Been FFing almost 50 years now, and have never lost a vest - at least not yet!

I usually dont carry my phone on the water with me - unless I'm meeting someone else, and need to be in touch with them to meet up.
Or fishing a new spot, where I need access to GPS
Other than that, I really dont mind being out of touch with the rest of the world for awhile.

As for the rod - once its strung up, I leave it together for the rest of the day.
Regardless if I move around a lot to try different spots.
Unless I need to go to a different size rod.

Rod allways gets taken down at the end the day though.
If it's hard to get the ferrules separated, leave it together.
Try again later, or even the next day
Leaving it sit overnight often does the trick

 

[Solitariolupo]

I’ve learned by watching my bro. He always stepping on big rocks and going down. So I always say step on the smaller rocks. 😉 And if I go on big rocks I shuffle my feet and go slow

 

[Swattie87]

Just funny, but my FIL lost (and fortunately found after some effort) his keys twice while checking trail cams at his cabin. Once while I was there with him.

After the second time we instituted a new camp rule. There are only three acceptable locations for my FIL’s keys while at camp:

1. In the ignition of his car, but only while it is running.

2. In his pocket, but only while in direct and immediate route to or from his car to inside the cabin. Do not pass go, do not collect $200.

3. On the designated keychain holder inside the cabin.

No issues since.

 

[jifigz]

Sorry. Falls suck. I hope you had a wading staff, but if not, maybe consider getting one. Also, this from a Browning-Silaflex rod booklet older than I am:
View attachment 1641254664

If a rod is stuck together, plunge it into the cold trout stream. It will pop apart like butter. Usually, this happens when you put the rod together while it was colder, and as the day warmed up, the rod has expanded. A minute or two in a cold stream causes it to constrict again, and the rod pulls apart effortlessly.

 

[dryflyguy]

The behind the knee trick has worked a few times for me on stuck ferrules, too

 

[Bamboozle]

I learned most stuff the easy way or by seeing or hearing of other's issues...

When I was a kid, a buddy of mine slammed my best spinning rod in a car door. Fortunately is was a Garcia Conolon fiberglass rod that escaped unscathed. After that, I never mixed friends, cars & rods. If there is more than one person in a car with me, I put MY rod first or last when everyone else is far away from the vehicle. If I am alone, the rod ALWAYS gets put away first.

I was with a buddy who left his wading shoes in a parking lot at the Connetquot River State Park Preserve. He got them back the next day, but after that, I ALWAYS check around and on top of my vehicle before driving off.

Even though I ditched a vest decades ago; a fishing shirt with a few EMPTY zipper pockets is always part of my fishing attire when wading. Car keys & my phone always go in those zipper pockets high up, secure and out of the way.

I always have beer in a cooler back at the car for pre & post fishing enjoyment and if I need the ice or ice pack to help me with stubborn ferrules. I also have a swatch of this stuff to enhance my grip when pulling.

With the exception of nickel silver ferrules, I also re-seat the ferrules on my graphite or glass rods once or twice during the day. This helps to prevent loose ferrules during the day or stuck ferrules at the end of the day.

I always carry a wading staff when fishing shallow or deep. I only slipped ONCE in my life when fishing and that was on a huge dry sloped very hard rock containing lots of quartz. I had carbide tipped studs in my wading shoes and the hard carbide was like ice skates on the hard rock.

I almost broke my elbow saving my rod & reel from damage so to this day, I always have several different types of studs with me and will change them out at the car from carbide to hardened steel when fishing places like this.

I was fishing the Yellow Breeches on a really hot day and when I got off the water I was REALLY hot & thirsty. I walked past the King's Gap General Store and would have killed for a drink or ice cream but as I was wet wading, I had no money in my pants pockets.

I walked a mile or so back to my car in the hot sun, had a few of the ever present beers in the back and put $20 in cash in one of those zipper pockets in my fishing shirt so THAT never happens again!