Loss of life

The incident on the Ohio River Saturday when Danny Edington lost his life just before he made sure his wife and children were safe once again shows the importance of wearing your floatation device and being aware of large boats that make large wakes. There is a vast range of boat sizes on our waterways these days, and if small boats don't follow certain safety precautions, they may be put into a serious situation before they realize what happened. I think on busy weekends on large lakes, small boat owners should stay off the lake or at least stay close to shore, especally if you have your families.

Then you must be a big boat owner. Maybe they should just split the lake and rivers in half, 1 half for big boats and the other for small boats. I tell ya some of you guys that think up these things.

I think that the Big Boat owners should pay more attention to what they are doing and have to take a safe boating class before they are allowed on the lake. We don't call the holiday weekends on Cumberland, amateur weekend for nothing.

I usually don't post, but some people need to pay more attention to what they do on the water.

Many people are unaware, or don't just care, about the damage their wake can cause. I have a bass tracker so I really pay little attention to wake caused by larger boats, but my father owns a small jon boat and fishes dale hallow in the summer for bluegills and we all know that with the traffic it is about like fishing in the ocean. We always stay in the backs of major creeks just to stay out of the way. One day we were passed by a ski boat/cabin cruiser going in the same direction. They passed us like you would pass a car on the road, passing about 6 feet from the boat. It was the nearest I had ever come to being swamped in a boat. These were not kids, the driver and his wife looke to be in their 50's along with the other 4 passengers. They just laughed as they passed by. And by the way...It was in the middle of the week. It is not right to say that a group of people have to stay off the water because others are not mature enough to handle it.

[QUOTE=cumberlandguy1;296484]I think that the Big Boat owners should pay more attention to what they are doing and have to take a safe boating class before they are allowed on the lake. We don't call the holiday weekends on Cumberland, amateur weekend for nothing.[/QUOTE]

Preach it brother.... The wake that comes off your boat is your responsibilty and the damage that it does is your baby, that is the law, check into it. That is why I hate, and I mean hate Cabin Cruisers, Most of the owners of these boats are freaking morons who have no clue the nine foot swell they leave everywhere they go, going half throttle. I don't carry my gun in the boat at Cumberland because I've got a little temper at times and would probably be in prison for murder by now if I did. Sorry for the rant but this is a pet pieve of mine. I've actually heard people say, Anybody that brings a little boat like that to this lake deserves whatever he get's. What kinda mentality is that, like the caveman on the Geico commercial say's, Yea I've got a response...... Huh WHAT......

This thread is starting to become the "Little Guy" Vs. "Bully". What should really be stressed here is the Life Jackets save lives. I don't care who or what kind of boat you are in they don't descriminate. It was horrible about the boy up in Lewis Co. It is a free country and people can boat as they please. It would be nice though if they would be considerate. I was fishing Yatesville a few months ago and a boat passed withing 8-10 foot of me running full throttle. Dang near washed me up on the bank. Each of us should take it on our selves to do the right thing. Just remember answering for what you do on this earth, won't be nearly as bad as answering for it when you leave it.

Have a great weekend.
BP

Barkley Pup hit the nail on the head, we all have stories of getting hit with large waves from the wake of large boats, but the point here is Life jackets or vests do save lives!!!

Bonefish has always been a small boat fisherman. I started as a kid with a boat made from two 36 Chev car hoods. Then graduated to a one man pondjumper and then to a Colman Crawdad, and just in recent years do I fish out of a Stratos. I have been foolish in the past when I have took my Crawdad with my 6 hp on it to Cumberland and found out real fast that it could be sank with normal waves if the wave hit my boat just right. Sometimes people like me do not think things through or it is just from the lack of experience. It is so easy to jump into our boats with the desire to just go fishing or enjoy the day out on the lake and find themselves ill prepared in certiain situations before we know what happened. The point I was trying to make is if your boat is too small for the traffic around you, and if you do not wear your floatation device, you need to reconsider things before going out on the water.

[QUOTE=td176;296517] but the point here is Life jackets or vests do save lives!!![/QUOTE]

so does common sense.

I guess my 195 Stratos would be considered a mid sized boat. I always try to be courteous around smaller boats and give them room as I spent most of my life in a smaller boat. I've seen dummies in johnboats, bassboats, and the bigger houseboat/cabin cruisers. Its just the bigger the boat, the the more tragic the mistake? I'll tell you, last weekend it got downright ugly on the northern end of Kentucky lake. Mostly with the wind and the boat traffic from the BIG boats (where did they all come from???)
I could handle it, but because i had my young daughter with me, I moved into the creeks.

NKY, rough last weekend,???? no way, rough isn't a good word for it.

When the gentleman lost his life last weekend, the "big boat" involved was a barge. The law is a little different in a situation like that. Basically, it's up to US to get out of HIS way, period. True, he has certain speed restrictions and stuff, but a barge in the channel has right-of-way at all times over any recreational boat. It's just common sense; you can't turn that thing on a dime. Everybody needs to keep their head on a swivel out there.

To the guy that stated it's a free country and you can boat as you want to. Sorry, but you are wrong about that. There are LAWS governing this type of thing. If you cause damage to another boat, especially my boat, you will be held responsible for the damage. I once painted a boat with my paintball gun due to the fact that he thought it was funny to run between me and the bank twice while I was fishing. You should have seen his face when when the side of his white boat got painted red. It of course washed off and he got the point.