Are You ALWAYS Safe on the Water?

Tournament days are one thing. Anglers realize they have to stay on their game all day long or run the risk of having a fellow tournament angler report a rules infraction to the tournament director, which ultimately can lead to their being disqualified.

All too often, however, commitment to safety practices are found lacking on fun-fishing days. Maybe you decide to leave your lifejacket in its storage location, or perhaps you elect to leave the kill-switch lanyard disconnected from your lifejacket. Make these lapses in judgment often enough, and they soon become a bad habit.

I've learned to leave my lifejacket tethered to the kill-switch lanyard, rather than reattach it each time I decide to run somewhere. Why? Because I too often find that I don't remember to reattach the lanyard, especially if I'm in a tournament and trying to make good use of the last hour or so by hitting several different spots for just a few minutes each. Keeping the jacket and lanyard connected while searching for one more keeper is simply one thing less I have to worry about.

I raise this issue because of an item I read online a little earlier today. Here's the link to that story: https://www.boatingmag.com/story/how-to/the-true-story-of-the-bass-boat-hero-who-broke-the-internet/. Next time you have a few minutes, take a read, and while you're at it, take a look at the accompanying video (it'll explain the accompanying photo here). If nothing else, it perhaps will cause you to stop and consider your own habits when you head out the door on another fishing trip.