SECTION THREE
The week before this tournament, Paul was speaking to
his wife about purchasing a VHF radio for the kayak. He
purchased one a couple of days before the event and used
the radio to call for help. After the call, he continued to
paddle towards the angler. Paul could tell the overturned
fisherman was getting colder by the second. He also
noticed that his legs were dangling dangerously close to
the still running trolling motor.
The tournament directors arrived in their kayaks and
together they put together a plan to save this fallen angler.
They first attempted to get him into another kayak, but
that almost resulted in another man falling in the water,
so they made a new plan. Paul left the man with the
tournament directors and paddled as fast as his could to
shore to get his truck warmed up and ready for the arrival
of the man in the water.
“I started paddling to the ramp and it seemed like it took
me half an hour, but really only took me 10 minutes. By
the time I stopped paddling and got out I couldn’t move
my arms, and my chest was hurting”, said Paul.
Meanwhile, another angler and the tournament directors
had the angler hang onto their kayaks while they towed
him to shore. As fast as Paul paddled, it wasn’t fast
enough for those still on the water with the angler. One
of the the tournament directors was able to wave down
a passing car and they gave the man a ride back to the
launch. Paul arrived a short time later with his truck and
took the man’s kayak back to the launch.
around with him to ensure his safety, and eventually he
warmed up enough to drive himself home.
Once he was gone, Paul and the other anglers weren’t
scared off by the incident, and headed back out to fish.
Paul didn’t catch a fish all day, and only four fish were
caught out of the field of 20 anglers.
It was determined the man who fell in the water forgot
to attach his drainage plug resulting in the back of the
kayak slowly sinking. When he went to turn around and
look for the problem, the weight of the water caused the
boat to flip over. Luckily, this kayak tournament makes
PFDs mandatory so the man was able to stay afloat in the
cold water. The tournament directors had no motorboat
available to them.
When asked if Paul looks at safety on the water differently
now, he said all kayak anglers should have a radio on board
and offered this: “One thing I will be doing at the end of
the year is buying a dry suit. If he would have had a dry
suit, it would have been a totally different situation”.
Despite all this, Paul is still a passionate kayak angler and
is looking forward to his next tournament in this series.
He really enjoys the accessibility fishing from a kayak
offers, but now understands how quickly things can turn
bad.
Paul Lopes next tournament will be on June 10th in
the saltwater. He is hoping for warmer weather, better
conditions, and if he’s lucky, a fish at the end of his line.
“It was pretty insane”, he added.
Upon arriving at the launch, another participant of the
tournament had his truck warmed up and supplied the wet
angler with a change of clothes. The man was eventually
put into his own truck and had his gear, minus a lost rod
and reel, loaded up for him. Everyone involved waited
HORIZONS | 29
to paddle with one hand...So meanwhile my hands are
freezing and my feet are still cold, but I went over there to
make sure everything was okay. As I’m getting closer I said
‘Oh my God’. His kayak was turned over. His propeller
was sticking up and still going, and he is clinging onto the
top of his kayak.”