Wearing a life vest is essential, especially now
You won't last long in the water during the colder winter months
Clear Lake is a popular fishing destination throughout the year. During the summer months the water temperature can reach 80 degrees, but during the cold winter months that number falls to as low as 40 degrees. It’s during this time of year when fishermen need to use caution going out onto Clear Lake, or any body of water for that matter.
For example, the water temperature at Library Park in Lakeport on Monday was a chilly 42 degrees. If you fell in the lake at that water temperature you would be unconscious within 30 minutes and dead within an hour. The condition that sets in when a person is in cold water is called hypothermia and it’s deadly. Your body loses heat faster than it can be replaced and as a result you can barely move much less swim.
It is amazing the number of people who venture out onto the lake without wearing a life vest. Just last week I saw a person on a stand-up paddle board off Lakeside County Park. He didn’t have a life vest and the wind was coming up, which is a perfect scenario for disaster.
Luckily we have very few drownings on Clear Lake, but that’s not the case on other major lakes in Northern California where drownings are more frequent. Many people believe they are safe when in a larger bass boat or pontoon boat, but that’s not always the case. Whereas it is more dangerous in a small boat, larger boats also present a danger. A lone fisherman fishing from the front of a bass boat can easily slip and fall into the water. If he/she isn’t wearing a life vest it could spell real trouble. In fact, wearing a life vest is so important that all the bass tournament organizations have a rule requiring fishermen to wear life vests whenever the big motor is running. If you don’t follow the rule, you can be disqualified.
A few years ago a friend of mine was fishing in a tournament at the Delta. Luckily he was wearing one of the newer type of inflatable vests that automatically inflate when they hit the water. He and his partner were fishing in 30 feet of water and he was running the trolling motor from the front deck. The trolling motor hit a submerged log and the sudden stop threw him off the deck. He said the next thing he knew his feet hit the bottom. Lucky for him the life vest inflated and brought him to the surface where his partner grabbed him. The water temperature was a chilly 45 degrees. If he wasn’t wearing the life vest he most likely would have drowned.
Make no mistake, the water at Clear Lake can be very cold during the winter months. With the water temperature currently holding at 4248 degrees, the survival time for someone tossed into Clear Lake is about 30 minutes. Even so, it’s amazing the number of fishermen and boaters who don’t wear a life vest when out on the water. More than once I have seen fishermen head out onto the lake in a small boat with no life vest.
Statistics have shown that more than 70 percent of drowning victims weren’t wearing a life vest. This is amazing because winter storms are common, especially on Clear Lake. We are fortunate we have very few drownings despite the fact it can be a busy lake, especially during a bass tournament.
There have been some close calls. A few years ago a well-known local duck hunter fell out of his boat without a life vest. Luckily for him the unmanned boat made a large circle and he managed to grab the boat as it went by. He climbed back into the boat and was saved. If the boat hadn’t circled back to him he would have most certainly drowned.
A bass fisherman told me several years ago he was fishing with a buddy and they were going across the lake at high speed when the lower unit of his outboard motor came off. The boat made a sudden lurch to the left, tossing both him and his partner into the lake. It occurred in early March and the water temperature was only 50 degrees. According to the fisherman, the impact of his body hitting the water was so hard that it tore the shoes off his feet. He said what saved their lives were the automatically inflating life vests they were wearing. The vests inflated and they managed to flag down a passing bass boat and were rescued. He said that within 10 minutes of being in the water he already was starting to suffer from hypothermia.
A boat can sink in almost no time. I know because 40 years ago I was duck hunting with two companions when our boat went down and we had to be rescued after spending more than eight hours in the frigid water in the Yolo Bypass, which is located near Sacramento. On that particular day two other hunters drowned in the flooded bypass. We were extremely lucky.
That episode taught me a valuable lesson. I never go out in a boat unless I am wearing a life vest and know the weather forecast.
Many people don’t like to wear a life vest because they can be bulky and uncomfortable. That has all changed with the new inflatable vests. Even if you’re knocked unconscious you will float. These are lightweight vests and can be worn throughout the day in comfort. They cost about $150 and are well worth the price. They are Coast Guard approved and most of the bass fishermen use this type of vest. There are other types of approved life vests that are also effective, but none of them can work unless you wear them.