Last year, not too long after I first start learning how to fish, I was out and it got dark and late - probably 9:30 or so during late spring. When I went to crank my motor, the battery just started giving out. It was too dead to turn the starter. The battery had gone bad and wasn't charging correctly, but I didn't notice.

After trying furiously for thirty minutes to pull start it with a rope I rigged up from my anchor, I finally gave up. Fortunately, I did have a strong flashlight, and I used it to try to flag down any boat that passed. Problem was, I was in a cove, and few boats were around.

It got later and later, and I was getting a bit worried - not really looking forward to sitting stranded on the lake all night. Finally, another boat came down the lake. As it passed, I held my hand over the end of the flashlight, making SOS flashes....only they were pretty far away - probably 350 yards away. But I kept at it, I sure got excited when I saw them slow down and turn around.

Sure enough, they came to see if they could help me. Turned out they were fishing a tournament, but insisted on using their fishing time to tow me to the dock, which was at least two miles away. They would not take any money, but just wanted me to pay it forward. We pick on the "green carp" boys, and maybe some of them are careless, but many are not. Meant a lot to me for these fellows to take a significant amount of time from their fishing tournament to help me out.

I have had the pleasure of towing others since then, and it's sometimes inconvenient, but always worth the while. And, although I'm always willing to pay for help, I would never want to charge someone else for my help. The way I see it, if they're in a bad enough spot to need the help, then they're having a bad day already - no need to make them pay for it, too.