A safety question

[Fly Guy Dave]

I recently watched all six segments of the Simms video on how to wade safely on another (spey) site that was linked to this board a short while ago. The video had a lot of good tips on how to deal with log jams, swimming in your waders, and even how to get out of mud. However, they only acknowledged the problem of getting your foot caught on the bottom of the river, but no solutions on how to deal with it. I know that there are a million different things that could happen in this situation, but I was wondering if any of you folks had any general techniques or ideas to keep in mind, which would be useful when you face a foot entrapment on the river.

Any useful input would be most welcome.

Cheers!

--F.G. Dave

[Ralph]

That part of the video was filmed but inadvertently dropped during post production. Self rescue with foot entrapment is tricky. It usually involves cutting your boots off your feet. Sounds good in theory, but I've never heard of it being done for real.

If you have a partner who can wade in behind you and break the current, pulling your foot back and out of the entrapment is a piece of cake. The current Fly Fisherman magazine has an article on self rescue.

[Darian]

Fortunately, I've never experienced a foot entrapment while wading. Now that I've said that, it's only a matter of time before it happens and, at this point, I'm no longer a strong swimmer. So, would a wading staff assist in solving this problem if nobody else is available to help :question:

I have stumbled forward into a large boulder and landed on my knee cap. :shock: Nothing broken but I recall the current pinning me to that rock until I could gain my breath after uttering a bunch expletives.... :mad: Plus getting out of the water wasn't easy after that. :neutral:

[David Lee]

I wedged a booted foot once before on the Pit River .

As I have learned .... if it went in , it WILL come out . Biggest issue is keeping your mind together and don't panic . One of my few wading fears anymore is GSP lines w/ hooks that have been snagged and broken off on the bottom wrapping/snagging your lower half while you're nipple-deep . I keep a sharp serrated knife to deal with this remote possibility .

Panic (in any situation) is a bad thing .

D.~

[Jay Murakoshi]

Also, stumbled on dry rocks and screwed up your ankle.
Darian, Happy New Year

Jay

The shirts will soon be in production. Catch & Release, Ent. is going to print them

[Darian]

Yeah!!! But in my defense, I wasn't wading at the time.... :lol: :lol:

Happy New Year to you and your family, as well, Jay.

[Ralph]

I wedged a booted foot once before on the Pit River. As I have learned .... if it went in , it WILL come out .

D.~

Foot entrapment, flushing, and seining are the big three killers for waders/swimmers. I have run the foot entrapment drill enough times to know beyond a shadow of a doubt, there are many scenarios where your feet can get stuck and you will NOT be able to extricate them. Unfortunately, most of the times in real life (versus planned training drills) the victim falls face forward pretty early in the game and is dead before much can be done by himself or anyone else.

[Larry S]

Flyguy(Dave):
check out the safety thread under the Media - video, etc heading. Ralph discusses
this topic and gives some suggestions.

Darian:
Are there some other dark secrets in your past that we would enjoy learning about?

Best,
Larry S

[Darian]

Larry,.... You'd probably get a laugh out of it but I'm not sure I would enjoy retelling it.... :-\" Kinda sounds dumb.... #-o You can read about it in the fishing report at:

www.kiene.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21387

[BillB]

As I've grown older (old) I find I prefer wading in areas that have smaller rocks to sand! A matter of comfort, if you will. I am very leery wading bowling ball littered stream beds and surf deeper than my waist. Never was very agile and I know that coordination strikes every 13 seconds! At least in my case.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

At my age I seem to be either fishing out of a boat or wading in open safer places lately.

[Fly Guy Dave]

Thanks for all of the good replies, gents! I'm still reasonably fit and relatively cautious, but I often fish alone, so having knowledge of what to do if something bad happens is quite important to me. However, if the current is just too strong, the water too deep, I usually just skip it (or wimp out, whatever way you want to look at it) and I move on. I'm not going to risk life and limb just to cross a stream for a few trout.

Thanks again for the sage advice, I do appreciate it. You guys rule.

--FG Dave

[JasonB]

Thanks for all of the good replies, gents! I'm still reasonably fit and relatively cautious, but I often fish alone, so having knowledge of what to do if something bad happens is quite important to me. However, if the current is just too strong, the water too deep, I usually just skip it (or wimp out, whatever way you want to look at it) and I move on. I'm not going to risk life and limb just to cross a stream for a few trout.

Thanks again for the sage advice, I do appreciate it. You guys rule.

--FG Dave

I'm with you on the risk vs rewards factor, and some may well think I'm a bit of a sissy when it comes to wading but I just wont take some risks if I don't have to. Foot entrapment is a really tough nut to crack depending on the circumstances. There are some pretty big differences in each and every situation on the river, but to simplify, there are two main types that you should consider: heads up or heads down (underwater).
These are clearly very different issues, and if you're solo you can almost forget about dealing with the later issue as you probably wont be able to do anything about it yourself. The problem is that it is easier than most people think to loose your balance when the current is putting a lot of pressure on your body to move downstream and one foot is stuck in the rocks. Go slow and be careful with any of your movements here, a wading staff (or even your nice new fly rod if that's all you have to use) could be very helpful here to keep you upright and in balance. I wrote a bit more about foot entrapments in another thread somewhere here but this last point was probably the only key thing to consider if wading solo. Being very cautious about where you wade and which spots you plant your boots are probably the real key to minimizing the potential for a foot entrapment.
Cheers,
JB

[Larry S]

Darian:
Your Baja post reads like a good Russian novel! Appears that you're going back soon
according to some of your posts.
Looks like the Smith is finally getting a much needed blowout.
Best wishes for the New Year!
Larry S

[pgw]

Ralph's article in the Feb-Mar issue of Fly Fisherman Magazine is appropriately titled, "The Big Swim;How to survive dangerous circumstances"

Paul

ps-if you don't read the entire article, just reading the captions for the photos of him swimming should help.