"Hot Head" Gets Cooled Off in a Hurry

Seems there was this angler who was fishing a 1,500-acre lake in North Carolina, catching spots in 30 feet of water on the stump-covered edge of a main creek channel. Suddenly, a man and a woman in a nice Caymas bass boat came flying by, made a big circle, and stopped about 10 yards from the angler.

The guy fishing for spots subsequently heard the woman say, "We can't fish right next to that man."

Her partner responded, "Shut up, (bad word). I'll fish wherever I want."

About the time the Caymas boater then reached down to deploy the trolling motor, the wake from his own boat hit, and he fell headfirst into 44-degree water. While the woman yelled "quit clowning around," the spot angler went over to render assistance because he knew the man was in trouble. It was all the fella could do just to hang onto the side of his boat. Meanwhile, the woman was seriously panicking.

The angler climbed aboard the Caymas, grabbed the man in the water by his shoulders, and pulled him into the boat. He was shivering and barely could talk. The angler then told the woman that she needed to get him back to the landing. She said she could drive the boat but didn't know how to get to the landing.

As a result, the angler told her to follow him. When they arrived at the landing, the angler helped get the victim out of the Caymas and into their truck. He then backed their trailer down and loaded their boat while the victim sat in the truck with the heater on.

Turns out that these folks happened to meet again a couple weeks later. The victim said he was ok after he got warm. He also said he never had fished right on top of someone before.

"Perhaps the good Lord knew this fella was going to fall in the water," said the angler, "and put him near me so I could get him back in the boat. He wasn't wearing a life jacket. Had he not grabbed the side of his boat, he might have died right there. I don't know how long he could have lasted without my pulling him back into his boat."

After this incident, the angler admitted he also routinely didn't wear a life jacket but said he now wears one anytime it's cold enough to wear a coat.

"I further now leave a rope tied from the bow to the stern cleat with a slip knot in it," he said. "If I fall into the water, I can pull on the rope, making it sag down in the water so I can use it as a step to get back into the boat."