Or at least, this is not the preferred method....

I'm relatively new to kayak fishing, about 6 months in and prior to yesterday have managed to remain in the boat each trip, really haven't come close to dumping. Yesterday was my first baptism and while not a dumping, was quite the adventure.

Here's what I see I did wrong: 1. The yak was broadbeam to the wind/waves and pitching pretty good - not a condition I normally fish in. 2. I had the garmin head unit positioned further in than normal / too far in, partially blocking me from dropping down in the middle of the boat. 3. I fell out of the boat!

I didn't do anything yesterday that I haven't done many times before, kneeling down to get my net and land the fish, but this time I didn't consider the conditions. I was lucky in that where I dove was on the edge of a rock ledge and about 15' deep but the boat was sitting in 3'. Hopefully this might help keep someone else from doing the same thing, and finding themselves in a lot worse situation.

Wear your freaking pfd!

https://youtu.be/3-4Cq3vjnMM

But later in the day I caught this nice 6.88# in the same area so that made me feel better.

If a fish like that doesn't make you smile again then nothing would.
Glad all turned out OK and you busted a beast!

Oh my... Thank you very much for sharing how quickly things can go bad.

Good job on landing the fish anyway... and I am happy that you didn't lose any gear.

Thanks again for sharing. I am glad you (and your gear) will live to fight another day!

Great fish!!! It looks bigger than 6.88 lbs.

Thanks. I thought so too but the electronic scale was backed up by the boga.

Is self chumming legal? Congrats on the fish, glad you are OK and able to share your wisdom.

Maybe legal, but didn't seem to help any. Didn't catch any others off that particular spot

Glad you got the fish and didn't lose any gear, James. What a trooper!

Dang nice work holding it together and landing that fish while saving yourself and gear. So easy to lose focus. Humbling no doubt. Thanks for sharing.

Looks like you were wearing a life vest. Good deal, glad everything turned out good.

Looked like me while netting a fish in my partners boat except it was January and the water was 52 degrees. Didn't loose the fish and we got 3rd place.

I saw a guy flip at Boerne lake Sunday. Luckily he was able to get back in the boat.

THIS! I've been fishing out of canoes and kayaks for 45 years. I've never turtled a boat on a lake (I have flipped canoes in rapids). I have fallen out of my kayak. Just because the reviews say "you can stand" in a given boat, doesn't mean that I can stand in a given boat. I was fishing The Dead Sea (Georgetown Lake). Water and wind were dead calm. It was my third or fourth trip in my Old Town PDL. I decided to stand to get a better look into the water around some standing trees. Leaned over a bit, lost my balance...fell out. The boat didn't flip, I fell out. Water temp was only about 55 degrees and 15' deep. Took my breath away, but my PFD brought me to the surface and made it a lot easier to get back in the boat. Had I hit my head on the way out, the PFD would have been a lifesaver.

Also, beautiful fish!

I'm impressed you held on and landed the fish. Glad it turned out relatively good, could have been much worse.

Very nice fish! Glad it turned out OK after the dive.