Well, it happened today. While fishing Lake Palestine with some new friends, I tipped over on the left side and found out just how cold the water was. My first tip over! Luckily, I only broke one pole and lost a small box of lures/tackle. Big thanks to MJMFC and Iconn 4 (Michael and Lewis) for helping this kayak noobie out today. Don't know what I would have done if they weren't there. Can't thank you guys enough. Sure learned alot today. Hope you guys finished well today. Gotta love the kayak community, always willing to help somebody out.

Glad to hear everything worked out! At the least,you now know the limits of your boat a bit better.

Glad all ended well!

Funny thing is, I have no idea how I went in. One minute I'm in the kayak, next thing tipped over left side with kayak upside down.

Glad all is well!

Safety in numbers especially in the colder months

Man, good to hear it worked out okay. I went out for my first time on Texoma today. Was doing great all day, then about five hours in I got ballsy and decided to head out to the middle of the lake. I ended up soaking wet. Luckily I had a dry bag with a change of clothes in my car. The one thing I'm trying not to find out the hard way is to come prepared for the worst, for when I inevitably take the plunge also.

Did you catch any fish before you went down? I got skunked.

Yeah, I caught one LMB on my third cast. Thought I was gonna wear em out today. Turns out I was the one that got wore out!

Glad it came out ok. Gotta think ahead on some dry gear!

Good job!

Glad it all worked out ok

I haven't fallen in yet luckily. "Knocks on wood" but its something we should all practice for when it comes. Happy you made it out safely

+1

Dustin in happier times.

Guys if you've never experienced getting dunked its only a matter of time, its usually kind of funny when it happens to your buddy or the other guy if its warm water and no gear is lost, its serious as a heart attack when it happens to anyone in cold water.

We all took it very seriously from the start in making sure Dustin got warm (toweled off, change of dry clothes, socks, gloves) instead of just attempting to make a mad dash back without checking to see what had caused it. It took two of us to drag the kayak on to land which is where we discovered and emptied a ton of water from his kayak and also found two rear flush mounts weren't sealed. Since myself, mjmfc and his bud had all been in the water before it was agreed that somewhere on the paddle to the fishing grounds the waves had come over the side and come through the flush mount. After checking to make sure there weren't any obvious gapping holes in hull, everything loaded back in kayak, we all headed back to truck stopping halfway back to check again for leaks. It was over a mile back through stump patch in 15 to 20 winds. No problems other than it took about 40 minutes in wind and some rain.

Hope everyone realizes taking water in hull can happen no matter how experienced you are. If you were fishing alone and it happened to you, do you carry a dry bag with clothes and towel? Do you have a way to make a fire? Do you have a light for signaling for help? Do you have your cell phone and does it always work in the areas you fish or do you leave it in the car for its safety. Be prepared. If your kayak somehow developed an unrepairable leak and you knew it, are you going to try to march out by land at night without light while cold, wet, windy or are you going to try to keep from getting hypothermia and make decisions that will keep you alive.

Get a dry bag and carry it with you every time you go out.

http://southwestpaddler.com/docs/hypothermia.html

Heh, heh, heh.... My first one was the same way; I was reeling in my bait, then swimming. I asked my buddy what happened (he was laughing hard) and he said he didn't know, it looked like I did it on purpose. My second dump came as I was sitting down. I routinely stand and pole or paddle while looking for fish; I got off balance and dumped it as I sat back down. Fortunately, no one saw that one.......

Iconn4 said:
"If your kayak somehow developed an unrepairable leak and you knew it"

I haven't tried it, but I'm told that the two-part epoxy sticks that you break off a section and knead the two parts together will adhere to a kayak hull for an emergency repair. The stuff sets up pretty quickly, and you can use it wet or dry. I know that Walmart carries it in their marine products section. If anybody can confirm that it will adhere to a kayak hull, that'd be a handy piece of information.

Great read guys and glad that all turned out well, safety in numbers is the key for sure in the winter months. Even in the summer months its always better to hook up with a friend, you never know what you face on the water.
Knock on wood I haven't fallin in yet? ( key word yet). But I always carry extras in a dry bag for that yet moment.