With the water temps dropping and winter on the way thought I would share a tip that was passed on to me that could save a life.

From what I have read on this board it appears that most of us wear life jackets when fishing. I usualy dont in the summer but allways do in the fall and winter. The problem is that a life jacket is TOTALY useless in the winter if you dont have a means to get back into the boat after you fall out. If you cant get back in after falling out you would be better off to just drown instead of suffering thru hours of hypothermia.

A freind passed this tip on to me and I will do the same. What we do is find us a wore out ski rope. then rig it to the boat by whatever means you can (trolling motor bracket, boat cleat,ect). You want the rope to be just long enough so you can put your feet in the handle and use it to help you back into the boat. A peice of PVC on a rope with knots on both ends to keep the PVC from moving would work as well. The thing is it must be tied on and ready to use and not stored away in the rod locker. It doesent take a second to tie it on and you dont even need to keep it in the water. Just keep it where you could reach up and grab it if needed.

I fell in on a duck hunt years ago when I was in the top physical condition of my life. If it had not been for 2 of my college football teamates I could not have gotten back in the boat. I would guess that at least 90% of us are in the same boat as far as that is concerned. A 250 pound crappie man in dripping wet coveralls and clothing ends up weighing 400+ to the fishing partner who is trying to pull them back over the side.

Now once back in the boat your still gona die if you dont get warmed up and quick. What you do there is have a old blanket or comforter vaccume sealed in some plastic. Some cleaners offer this service. You can stash it away in the boat for the winter time trips. I also have a few of the foil blanket body warmer things to help with retaining some heat. And finally a 2 pack of Sterno heaters is a must. The whole survival pack of vacume sealed comforter, foil blanket and sterno heaters is about the size of a marine battery. It allong with the rope ladder cost less than 20 bucks and can save your life.

Bet you spent more than 20 bucks on that B&M pole and it cant save your life.