Pulled from water?

[TubeDude]

Over many years of float tubing I have extricated a lot of things from the water...besides fish.  One of the most memorable was on Cherry Creek Reservoir in Denver.  A hot air balloon recently launched nearby had a malfunction and a sudden loss of hot air (floatation) as it came low over the reservoir where I was fishing in my tube.  It was late fall/early winter and air temps were around freezing and water temps were in the low forties.  The basket of the balloon hit the water about 50 yards from me and I threw up a roostertail in my tube to get there to help if I could.  Neither the man or the woman in the basket had on a PFD or any kind of floatation device.  I gave up my PFD to the woman and the man helped her get it on before they had to leave the basket.  He had radioed for help but it was not yet in sight on shore.  So I had them get in the water and hold onto the sides of my tube while I kicked us all back into shore.  They were both hypothermic by the time we got there but rescue vehicles were arriving and we were able to get them safely ashore and in capable hands.

On Magic Reservoir...near Twin Falls Idaho...a sudden wind came up and I was kicking my way back in to the ramp when I hear the sound of waves slapping on a boat behind me.  I looked around to see a humanless canoe being blown almost directly at me...and a guy standing on the dock a couple hundred yards away, watching his poorly tied craft blow away from him.  He didn't holler and ask for help but I kicked over and grabbed the untied bow line and almost got a hernia (or hisnia?) fighting the wind and kicking back to the ramp against the wind.  The rest of the story?  He took the rope I handed him and retied it to a cleat on the dock...AND DIDN'T EVEN SAY THANK YOU.

Can't recall how many rods and reels I have brought in while jigging or bottom bouncing from my tube.  Most were the worse for wear after long immersion.  But some have been in good shape and with a bit of cleanup and lubing they joined my tackle arsenal.

I have also caught innumerable lures and fishing rigs.  Have caught a couple of large crankbaits that pulled loose from their snags and fought a good fight all the way back to my tube.  The best was a string of pop gear I caught off the point of the island at Deer Creek.  That was a worthy battle indeed.

Can't begin to count the rocks and sticks I have hoisted aboard my inflated craft.  I release them all, even though there is a regulation somewhere that says you can keep any that are "forkhorn or better"...or something like that.

And anchors.  Almost every year I find anchors exposed by seasonally falling water levels.  I don't use them but sometimes keep them and use them for tradesies among my boating acquaintances.

Then there are the keys and cell phones that are revealed as the water drops...particularly around popular launch ramps.  I try to imagine the "stories" behind each of those lost items...and whether any of them resulted in divorce or homicide. 

One of the dest things I ever found while tubing was a brand new kayak paddle...early one March on Willard Bay Reservoir.  I just knew there was a story behind that one.  And there was...belatedly.  I retrieved the paddle and took it home...standing it up in my garage.  Several days later there was a story in the paper about a guy from Idaho who had committed suicide by drowning at Willard.  He had bought a new kayak and since there was no open water yet in southern Idaho he drove to Willard Bay, launched and then just rolled over in his kayak with no PFD.  Some other "citizen" had found the kayak and tried to sell it on KSL.com.  When I read the story I called the rangers at Willard Bay to ask if the paddle I found might be from that incident.  It still had the price tag on it.  They sent someone to my house to pick it up and divulged some of the confidential info they had gleaned about the guy and the circumstances surrounding the situation.  I was glad to get rid of that paddle.