TexasKayakFisherman.com

I'm now a believer in the fact that you can flip over so fast you're underwater before you really realize you're going over.

Anytime I'm going to be throwing the cast net from my kayak(standing) I take very minimal gear in case I go in the drink.
So, I caught plenty of bait with the cast net without any problems. I paddled over to a big underwater log jam near a train bridge and started casting with my live bait. Caught a red and a speck right off the bat, then the light breeze turned into a light wind. I got tired of having to readjust my position from being blown around and got my stake out stick ready to deploy.
I probed the bottom and it seemed to be about 6ft deep where there weren't logs. I stuck the stake out stick into about 3" of mud before it stopped. I put some serious weight into getting it a little deeper. Next thing I know I'm getting my head above water and looking at my upside down kayak and my gear floating around me.
I grabbed the side handle underwater on the other side of the kayak and pulled it down and toward me while using the other nearest handle to push the side up and over. I jumped into the kayak as soon as I was righted. No water got into the bilge, and I started getting my stuff from the water. Only item that was unaccounted for was my cast net. I fished for it and hooked it pretty quick. My bait bucket with my live shad was floating off down the river and when I went and picked it up it surprisingly still had the bait in it.(wide open 5 gallon bucket)
There were a couple of bank fishermen there, but I don't think anyone saw what happened. I just continued to fish for the rest of the day without issue. Just wanted to post this up as a heads up that no matter how comfortable you are on the water you can end up in it. I'm just thankful I didn't have my tackle box on board, and that it wasn't in the dead of winter or I would have had to go home and change into dry clothes.

What I assume happened is that I was pressing the stake out stick into a rotten log or between two logs under the mud. It went from full resistance to no resistance in a hurry and I didn't have time to react since I had a good bit of pressure being applied off the side of the kayak.

Stay safe out there.

Thanks for posting. I've had similar experiences, and like you, I was in the water even before I realized I was turtling. There is a point of no return. Get the body weight far enough from the center of gravity, kerploosh!

Throw artificials and stay dry! Glad you're ok!!

Glad you're ok.

Keep your nose over your belly button. A wise man taught me that.

Good description of what happened and reminder to stay controlled. I'm lucky so far I suppose cuz I've definitely put both hands and full weight leaning on my 6 ft stake out pole more than once to get it driven downward.

Staying centered can't be over estimated.

Big Kahuna wrote:Keep your nose over your belly button. A wise man taught me that.

Only time I turtled I was reaching into my milk crate -and boom! Happened in a flash....belly button over my nose ! Dat damn yak bucked me off before I could say #@&*

It's good to see posts like this. We all need a reminder from time-to-time.

Happened to me a couple of years ago. Paddling out from the launch just before dawn, realized I was dragging my anchor, reached back for it . . . a rush of dark cold water and next thing I see is my headlamp shining off the hull of my overturned yak as I'm bobbing about in the water, gear floating all around me. Life vest did it's job, flipped me over and pushed me up to the surface before I understood what had happened. Still a bad situation as I'm floating about in the dark, just off a busy boat ramp. Struggled to get my self back in the yak, but managed, and paddle back to the ramp. Only a few things lost, mostly my pride.

Lesson is if you kayak long enough, you WILL turtle.

- wear a life vest at all times;
- dress for the water, hypothermia kills, a special danger in Spring or Fall when the sun is warm, the water cold, and the wind is up;
- practice deep water re-entry, on a warm sunny day, calm quiet water with land near by;
- be visible, if paddling dusk or dawn have a good on board 360 light and a personal light or strobe attached to you;
- minimize gear on the yak, especially rope, it snakes in the water and tangles about arms and legs;

Most important, don't put yourself in a bad situation: high wind, rough water, cold, darkness, and boat traffic. Any two of these is bad, three and you're pretty much screwed.


Sorry to go on, don't mean to lecture, but I needed a reminder myself.

I too had a similar experience a few weeks ago...now that enough time has passed...I can talk about it laughing at myself...BigKahuna witnessed the entire event unfold...smooth calm waters and a wayward left handed cast to the grass...the rod flew from my hands and I being the noob I am...reached far beyond my pescador 12.0's capability and found myself face down in the water (wearing PFD) and rod at the bottom along with my crate contents. Multiple waders were nearby but only one showed even the least little bit of concern...btw Thanks BigKahuna! I gathered my gear and tucked my tail between my legs and high tailed it far from those waders to save the little pride I had left!

It can happen in a instant and at times you can be not so fortunate to only be in <3ft of water...But if you keep nose above belly button and wear your PFD there is an exponentially better chance of fishing another day! Stay safe out there Yall!

First time kayaking in a very long time and first time taking my new Tarpon 120 to Jamaica Beach 2 weeks ago, water was choppy but I didn't think much of it, just when I got to the second sandbar a wave flipped my yak knocking me into the water. Had a heck of a time flipping it and trying to get back into my yak since the water was choppy. Ended up getting pushed back to shore by the waves smh Luckily only a few people saw.
Good news was I didn't take anything with me since it was my first time getting her in the water, bad news was somehow I lost the right footpeg which controls the rudder