I've done this post before but its helpful, educational and not to mention entertaining. Lets hear your stories about dangerous times you have had (or witnessed) while out on the water.

Any Saturday or Sunday on Lake Austin! With the other area lake so low everyone filters into Lake Austin. Too crazy for me.
JR

Agreed!

Went to Conroe once to watch the fireworks from the water on the fourth of July.....Once......

Fireworks are over, it's dark, 1000's of drunk party boaters shooting in all directions at once,half of them with no lights......tied up next to a dock and waited quite awhile for the nuttiness to calm.

Happened today. While we were cruising back to the marina on Ray Roberts my two year-old reached over and turned the ignition key off. Sudden stop threw two adults to the deck! Kids ehh?

Microburst and straight line winds out at lake of the pines two summer back while me and my dad were in our boat. Sky was partly cloudy and we saw one odd cloud (fyi, microbursts and straight line winds are known to occur on days where the sun is still visible). We figured it might bring some sprinkles but the sun was still out. No wind.
Suddenly it picked up to about 40, and my dad and I put our fishing gear up and he hit the 12 volt power trolling motor. Should have used 24. We were pushed back too far into the cove we were fishing. He popped into 24, and by this time the winds were up to 70 mph. Couldn't use outboard motor cause the swells would have swamped us. So we did what we had to and let the waves beach us. It was rough but we lived and the boat was fine. This ALL happened in about 2 minutes. ALL from ONE cloud. Cloud was maybe the dimensions of a football field and dipped down very low, directly above us at one point. The pine tree tops were actually not but 20 feet from the cloud bottom. Never seen anything like that in my life. Sun shone brightly right after cloud moved.
Learned: If you can get outta there in time, and safely, do it! Don't dillydally around in 12 volt mode lol. If you cant get out in time, wait it out. Your life is more important that your boat.

I was fishing Texoma one spring morning and was out in the middle on tabletop. It was hazy and cloudy but no bad weather in forecast. The wind was about 10 mph out the SE. Since the western sky was obscured by low clouds we had no idea what was going on behind them. Wind went dead calm and I just had a funny feeling. I yelled at the guys tied up behind us that it was time to roll. It was a good thing we did. We got back in a protected cove and ducked in to a private slip just as the wind and rain it. Straight line winds hit at 70 mph. Me and buddy watched our whole camp site get destroyed. One tent out of 6 survived. We were talking about jumping it the lake before we went over there becuase we were dry to the bone.

Grew up in Florida and we used airboats to get around the swampy stuff. Bass fishing with my stepdad and an older friend and we were fishing an old quarry with a bunch of ponds- had to pond hop with the airboat, which is pretty easy with wet grass. Anyway, the banks had steep walls in parts. We were drifting close to a wall when stepdad decides to fire up the airboat. Well, someone had laid a fishing pole across the throttle cable and when the airboat cranked, we were wide open immediately. I bailed off the back as the boat flew toward the wall- stepdad wrenched the steering handle away from the rocks and bailed. Friend bailed also. Boat porpoised and immediately swamped and sunk. Stepdad was wearing boots and jeans and isn't a strong swimmer, so he yelled for help and went under. I dove and found him, got him on top (luckily he wasn't fighting me) and helped him to shore about 25 feet away. Boat was in about 15 feet of water- we winched it out with the truck, pulled all spark plugs and electrical stuff and let it dry out. After a couple of hours, put it all back together, started it up and pulled it up on the trailer to head for home. Interesting day that could have been really ugly. Great lesson about always wearing PFDs also.

A couple, wife and husband, high school sweet hearts. Husband was long time fisherman on Texoma and was very good at it. They built their own lakehouse at sunset by my parents. They would always fish off the rocks on the point that comes out on the south side of sunset cove - used to be known as cruisers beach before it eroded away. The sand point was mostly underwater about 6in to 1ft and the point rises at the end just above water when it turns to rocks. The point is about 150 yards long. Wife is wearing blue jean pants over sweatpants. Their both fishing off the end of the point on the rocks when a storm rolls up, wind picks up, waves pick up. Water now 1-2ft over the mid section of the point. Wife goes back to the shore, gets weighed down by her wet pants, then the waves push her off south side of the point which is a straight 20ft drop. She drowned and husband drowned trying to save her.

I was fishing just west of Buck Creek on Ray Roberts in the morning during the middle of May back in 96'. Dark cloud bank just seemed to sit there for hours until about 10:30 AM. Then I realize that there's a black rotating wall cloud moving west to east right down the slot on Buck Creek. I motor as fast as possible to the bridge but the winds kick up to 60 mph. I try holding the bridge with my bare hands standing up in my boat. It gets so bad that I can't hold on any longer (waves too big) - my boats starts drifting fast towards the timber. A guy on my left has a rope hanging off the back of his boat and I grab it. Then we both start rocking up and down until his bow rope snaps. Then we both start flying towards the timber. By the grace of God, the wind just shuts down and I can breath easy. About ten minutes later, we get a report that two tornadoes touched down just to our east.

The only time that I've had the shakes after being on the lake. Great learning experience - I don't test the weather anymore without some type of escape route.

Fishing on Texoma one night for Stripers. Just past Lowes High Port a cabin cruiser comes by and throws about a 3 foot wave and almost sinks me.Well I was driving the boat my ex brother in law in back on the pedestal seat(we were trolling),anyway he gets thrown overboard and hits the rail on the top of the boat with his back. I did not know he was overboard until I heard him call my name! It was pitch dark and by the grace of the almighty I find him and pull him unto the boat. Take him to Sherman Hospital after driving back to Lighthouse where we launched. I was so shook up I wanted to sale my boat.

Dang...Texoma is starting to be a theme here.

I was floundering with my dad in the Intercoastal near Port Aransas in about hip deep water. There is a pretty dramatic dropoff maybe 60 yards in. Its about midnight. Suddenly a HUGE tanker comes through and starts pulling a huge draft and sucking water out like crazy. We are both being pulled toward the ship and the dropoff. The water went from hip deep to about ankle deep in seconds. Then all that water started rushing back at us. my dad stayed upright but it knocked me down. He scooped me up everything was ok. Except our lantern had died. So we shuffled out of the water blind, got to the beach and it was pitch black. So we had to wait for cars to pass on the road to the ferry to see our tail lights to head for our car. We had been pulled pretty far down the beach. All the while packs of feral dogs are barking at us from not too far away.

I don't post very often but thought I would share my dangerous moment.
Years ago my dad and I used to fish the norht end of Cedar Creek Lake up in the timber for catfish. One time I brought a friend with us. At the time, we did not respect the wind and it was howling that day. As we approached the trees my dad cut the engine. Big mistake. We were tossed into several trees and got stuck on 2 stumps just barely under the water. The wind and waves knocked us around on those stumps to the point they were banging a hole in the hull. My dad got the boat started but it would only go in reverse. As we backed up, we were going right into the waves. The waves were coming up over the back of the boat, filling it up. Instantly, we were all 3 in the water hanging onto a tree looking at the tip of our boat sticking up out of the water. Fortunately, some duck hunters were scouting that end of the lake and following all of our floating items right back to us. They came by and got us all in one pass. They took me and my friend back to the dock. My dad went back with them and they pulled the boat out and towed it back to the dock.
2 lessons learned. 1. Respect the wind. It doesn't have to be a storm for it to cause you a major problem. 2. Do not cut your engine until you are securely and safely tied up or anchored where you want to be. My boys can tell you that if the wind is up, we just wait for another day to get on the lake.

Probably the scariest was when I tried out the baby bass boat that fit in the back of your pickup.They were close to the water,and I was in a cove putting a fish on a stringer sitting down,and a water moccasin(yes,I was sure what kind)slithered up in the boat and stared at me face to face.
I was still as I could be and after a minute he slitheres off the boat.I got rid of the boat.

By far 4th of July night watching the fireworks with 500 other boats on Eufaula and all the booze. That's a scary boat ride back with all the drunks driving their boat back after drinking literally all day