Today promised to be stellar, weatherwise on Lake Corpus Christi...Not nearly has hot as it was during August. Fairly light winds.
I have a new 2020 Basstracker XL w/50 hp Mercury I bought this summer,,,,Engine still doesnt have enough hrs on it to be broke in...
My granddaughter, who likes to accompany me was out of town, and my brother in law had his son and grandson coming in for a fishing trip with him in his boat. Since my wife, and my son both declined for various reasons, I struck out to the lake to enjoy the day by myself, put some break-in hours on the Mercury, and practice working the trolling motor which is mounted on the bow.

I did locate my relatives my BIL's favorite fishing hole, Visited a minute, wished them luck, and told them to let me know if they needed anything...I was just a phone call away.

I then spent the next few hrs exploring and refamiliarizing myself with the lake....It has been many years since I had a boat.

I had run down to what my B-I-L and I have always called Goat Island, when I saw birds working...Staying well away from the activity I idled upwind with the idea of coming back toward them with my trolling motor.
Now I am 73 yrs old, out of shape,and as big as a barrel, and when I stood and bent over to pull the release cord for the trolling motor, I lost my balance and rolled right off my boats' deck. (I did have my life preserver on).
TRY AS I MAY, I COULD NOT HAUL MYSELF BACK INTO THE BOAT! When I was a kid, I remember crawling back into boats by crawling up on the motor....That did not work today....I guess 60 years and 150 lbs make a difference!
Here I was in the middle of the lake...all I could do was stay with the boat....

I reached into my shirt pocket and retrieved my cell phone...thankfully it worked....I called my Brother-In-Law requesting they interrupt their fishing to come rescue me. They were beside me within 15 minutes.

His boat, an 1860 Grizzly has a stepped sponson on either side of his engine....As wore out as I was, I was able to pull myself up and straddle the lower step of a sponson, then using the hub of the propeller, to push up with get up on my knees and pull myself onto his rear deck...I felt and probably looked like a big old elephant seal.
Oh yea, and I didn't catch any fish either.

Bottom line, thank goodness for water resistant cellphones, and Brothers in Law!

Glad you’re still here to post this, might not have been if the water was cold. They sale ladders that you can bolt onto the back of the boat, just in case you weren’t aware of them. Might be a great time to invest in one.

Whew! Glad it worked out for you.

Kudos for the PFD!

Oh yea, I will be in the market for one!

Yep, sooner or later we all transition from a ladder on our boat being handy to being necessary. 👍

Glad you are ok. The ladder on the back of my boat has saved me a couple of times. I have lost my balance more than once throwing my cast net. If you buy a ladder make sure it has plenty of steps. Some of them are pretty short and it's hard pulling yourself up on that first step when your clothes are soaking wet.

Someone posted a while back about using your motor's tilt to lift you up out of the water and suggested practicing before needing to do it. Luckily you had a life jacket. I am always amazed how many fishermen die each year here in Texas falling or jumping into a lake.

Life jackets and ladders - wouldn't go out without both

Great lesson. This is why I wear my PFD when I'm fishing by myself too.

Thank goodness you had your PFD on, I’m guilty of not wearing mine unless the big motor is running. I might have to rethink that since we’re the same age and sounds like the same physical condition.

Scary moments for sure. Glad it turned out OK

it might be a good idea to keep your trolling motor remote on you so if all else fails, you may can troll to some shallow water.. but i have this so i didn't have to mount a permanent ladder to my boat.

Rope Ladder

I'm going to start having that thing ready to go so i can reach it from the water and pull it in if need be. when fishing by myself, i always wear my life jacket, too.

I think it should be your fondest memory, you lived to tell the story. Don't be someone elses fond memory.

I glad it all worked out for you.