Stories of mishaps have been coming in like crazy, and they all pretty much end the same I should have known better or been better prepared. We cannot deny that our sport has its dangers weather fishing in freshwater or saltwater mishaps can happen. If you are not thinking of safety then you need to start thinking of it. Let's finish with this stories, I pulled it right from the forum "Whale of an Encounter" SP Dan a member of our forum had this happen to him while float tubing in Newport this is a scary but pleasant store that I think most of us would enjoy to share.
while float tube fishing Newport Harbor at the moth of the harbor about 0620 I heard an air blow from what I thought was a seal but ended up being two dolphins that were cruising next to the jetty about 150 feet away from me .... so I continue to fish along the jetty and at about 0640; and just before I get to the end of the jetty, I hear another air blow back behind me along the jetty where I had already been fishing; I suspected it to be the dolphins again from earlier, so I watched for them to come up and breach for air and this time it wasn't a dolphin Shocked .... it was much longer and massive!! It was a 25' to 30' whale. I was in approx 15' of water and I could see that it was heading straight towards me.
I was approx 50-ft away from the jetty and I could see the 8' dia water disturbances rings every 25'; caused by it's tail movement,
coming right at me!!! Shocked Oh Crap!! The last disturbance ring stopped approx 20' from me and I was in it's collision course ... I raise my fins (like that really would help and the way I figure it for 15' of water, the whale was maybe 2' to 3' beneath my fins) and I could see and could have almost touched it's massive body as it slides directly beneath me and then I saw another 8' dia water disturbance ring approx 20' to my other side! Phewwwwww!!! Once it reached the main channel (approx 150' from me) it came up and breached for air one more time in the main channel and that was it. What a whale of an encounter!!
Our sport is safe, but like all sports there are dangers. We should always expect the unexpected, be prepared for the worst. You really never know what could go wrong on your next trip out. The more you prepare and plan for possible dangerous situations the better you will be able to handle them when you come. And once again we are back to PFD's wear them as you can see from above when the worst happens it happens quick, sometimes really no way to react. Enjoy your time on the water, think safety first and always.
By: Jeff Bernier