Falling in again

[BoldBear]

Have you ever fallen in or had to dive in after a rod or umbrella? I have a few times.

I remember falling in when I was a small lad after standing on top of an undercut bank on the Thames which collapsed with my weight; because I had not learnt how to swim someone had to dive in and get me onto dry land.

I spent the next few hours with my clothes hanging on the fence to dry while I sat next to my dad with a see-through plastic mac over me, and turned red with embarrassment when a boat load of sightseers all laughed and pointed at me from a boat.

I also remember falling in after a friend took a picture of me with a flash gun holding a nice Tench.
The flash was so bright that when I stepped forward to return the fish to the water my foot missed the bank and I went flying headfirst into the water and lost my weighing sling in the process.

Another time when I was surface fishing for Carp on a local estate lake I had to strip off and swim after my favourite rod which had been pulled in by a Carp when I momentarily put it on the floor to look for something in my bag.
Luckily the rod butt was floating so I could see it heading towards a large lilly bed out in the middle of the lake.

I thought that I was the only person on the lake that evening but there was a guy there with his wife watching me play the small 7lb Carp while standing in the middle of the shallow estate lake, and watch me climb out without any clothes on.

One of my mates told me about when he was fishing a small stream and there was a herd of cows in the field behind him.
One of the cows had started to nose around at his fishing tackle and he heard a voice from the other bank shout "just knock him on the nose! that should get rid of him!" so my mate did, but it had no effect, as the cow just looked my mate in the eye and carried on nudging his tackle.
"No!, give him a proper whack on his nose" came the voice from across the stream; so my mate clenched his fist and gave the cow an almighty whack on its nose wherebye the cow just head butted my mate and his tackle into the stream, soaking him, and the voice from across the stream shouted "RUN!!" as he saw a figure scurrying away.

[geejayy]

when i left school i worked on the river for about 14 years on n off,
i spent the first 6 months falling in on a regular basis, record was 3 times in one day ( not counting when i was actually supposed to be in the river but includeing events such as-when water is deeper than wellies/ thigh boots or chest waders are high.
it became less often as i became more experienced.

i've fallen in in the morning , in the afternoon, the evening and also at night narrowly avoiding getting dragged through a set of hatches into a 15ft deep plunge pool the idea of which gave me a huge adrenaline rush and the strenth of 10 enabling me to make a lucky escape.

i've fallen in because, :-
the bank collapsed.
a bridge collapsed.
exessive liquid lunch at the john of gaunt public house.
just plain overbalanced ( both when sober & drunk).
pushed in (both intentionally and unintentionally)
pulled in- by large raft of weed on my grabrake,
team working the other end of a set of gang scythes.
boat full of fellow water keepers etc i was trying to hold stationary against the flow.
by a fish .
by a small tree i was trying to pull out.

i've fallen into ;- deep water .
shallow water.
dirty water.
clean water.
no water , just mud.

i've fallen in ;- alone ,( most often.)
with collegues,
while onlookers laughed.
while others showed concern for my plight
while i hoped no one had seen me.

i've fallen in with;- fishing tackle.
petrol strimmers..
chain saws.
scythes , pole scythes , hooks , rakes and other random hand tools, and a walk behind mower and ride on mower which anoyed brian the boss.

sometimes i fell in on pourpose, but not very often.
usually to cool down in summer,but sometimes just for the hell of it.
that river was part of me and the test valley is where i belong, should never have left.

[Maceo]

When I used to go to the Great Ouse with my dad at Newport Pagnall when I was a boy of about 9 or 10.

I'm quite envious when I read these stories of anglers today whose fathers patiently taught them all about rigs and techniques. Mine used to set up my rod for me and disappear down to the next swim, leaving me to spend the session trying to sort out enormous tangles, or trying to retrieve the float and hook out of a tree or mountains of stingers, or slapping the water with the tip of the rod in another aborted cast!

I remember several episodes of slipping and putting one leg in and one full frontal belly flop when trying to retrieve some tackle out of an overhanging tree. That brought loud 'tutting' from the next swim!

[northern eye]

Falling in? Me? Many, many times...
The first time was on holiday in Somerset with my parents years ago. There was a lake on the caravan site and I speant the week fishing it. One day, I lost my footing, slipped in and snapped my rod - I remember it more for the fact that my Dad bought me my first decent rod at the nearest tackle shop that week, a Daiwa Match and I was the envy of all my young fishing pals when I got home.
Wearing trainers on a wet day has been the cause of many a dunking and drinking a bit too much on a night session has been the cause of many more boot fulls, wet legs or full on 'in the drink' calamities!

The worst, and coldest soaking was back in a freezing winter a few years ago. It was the day after Boxing Day and I fancied having a little fishing session to try out some new gear whilst my girlfriend went to visit relatives.

The nearest pond to me back then was about 15 miles away and I didn't have a car at the time. I got a lift to the entrance off my girlfriend, walked the 1/4 mile track and realized the pond was completely frozen over. Considering it was bloody freezing outside I should have known. Anyway, I thought if I could smash the ice I could have a fish before she came to pick me up at midday. It was 9am.

I walked around the pond, testing the ice at the edge with my foot, it all seemed pretty frozen until the next bit cracked and without any warning my foot went straight through. It my panic, I slipped on the frosty bank and went in up to my waist in the icey water. Took my breath away to say the least! I hauled myself back onto the freezing bank and realised that my mobile had gone the journey into the depths and I was'nt going back in for it. I scrabbled around the bottom with my landing net but the phone was gone. I was 15 miles from home, about 5 miles from the nearest town, no mobile, no cash on me and it was so cold that my trousers had frozen stiff.

I decided that the only thing for it would be to walk to the town and find a phonebox. Luckily, after about 2 miles I found one but I couldn't remember my girlfriends number, everything was stored on my mobile! The only person I knew who would have her number was my sister so I had to make a reverse charge call to her, for her to ring my girl with directions to come and get me. By the time she arrived, laughing her head off, I had lost the feeling in my feet and legs and spent the rest of my Xmas hols in bed with a cold.

The things we do for a session on the bank.

[Ripple]

Have fished all my life (I'm 59) and up to being 51, I had never fallen in, that is until I began Salmon fishing ! Inside of a fortnight I "went for an early bath" twice ! Once in the River Nith whilst deep wading on the Mid Nithsdale stetch and again in the North Tyne ! Bummer !
Not "been in" for a few years now but then again I dont go Salmon fishing these days !

Ripple.

[chazyboi]

as yet i havnt fellin but a dear mate of mine did last year while fishing from a harbour wall in wales ,,it was dark about 2 in the morn i was behind tranny heeding the call of nature when i heard a faint cry i shouted to my mate mick "whos in" he shouted back "i think its graham" ,i shouted to graham "are you in bud no reply" so i ran back to wall only to see 20ft down a pair of hands and a pony tail making an attempt to get someones attention the rest of the portly fellow was submerged i shouted mick who thinking he had caught a fish proceded along the wall with a large drop net as we were after bull huss at the time i shouted "no hes fallen in get somthing else he wont fit in that ya pillock " we have a crab pot that we take for the odd lobster and crab why waste the guts of your bait eh ,,i hauled it in shouted to my mate to catch it i threw it and you guessed it hit him square on the head he wasnt amused ,any way as he had a heart condition and steps were a good walk along the rocks he had missed at the bottom it was also pitch black and the pools inbetween the rocks deepish , we called the good old rnli to come fetch him he tied himself up with the crab pot still attached and we tetherd him to the van lol and carried on fishing till the speed boat arrived to get him and check his ticker out ,when they brought him back 30 mins later they were laughing as we were still fishing and a bit non plussed the rnli lads were a laugh and gray took a lot of ribbing but next morn as we passed thier office 30 nicker we collected went in thier box funniest night fishing ive ever had we still call him flipper now
ps if anyone finds a flat cap a pair of glasses and a head lamp floating around gis a bell he dont shut up about the hat

[tjnorton]

I had never fallen in a lake until I took up fly fishing and went to Avington stalking the big browns was spellbinding until I forgot where the bank was and splash. Went there again later in the year saying to myself don't fall in but again stalking a large rainbow and splash. Lol

tj

[Ripple]

Originally Posted by Ripple

Have fished all my life (I'm 59) and up to being 51, I had never fallen in, that is until I began Salmon fishing ! Inside of a fortnight I "went for an early bath" twice ! Once in the River Nith whilst deep wading on the Mid Nithsdale stetch and again in the North Tyne ! Bummer !
Not "been in" for a few years now but then again I dont go Salmon fishing these days !

Ripple.

Forgot to add;
Once "slid-in" down the boat slipway at Mudiford Keys whilst "Crabbing" with the kids in 1997 !

Family loved it !


Ripple.

[Bluesbro]

Never fallen in, got my feet,legs, ar*e wet by big waves a few times tho, I have also lost my two front teeth on a sea wall whilst trying to walk back up it after a cast.

I have also caught my mate by his hood at a local lake lol, as i held him hanging over the water I asked him how much he loved me lol

Joe