02-18-2012, 12:19 AM
[cool][#0000ff]I don't have any problem admitting a skunk. But it is kinda strange that my last skunking happened on Willard exactly 2 years ago...[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?post=572093;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;page=unread#unread"]3/16/2010.[/url] (link to post). That was an eerie trip. Not even a bite. But I did bring in a brand new kayak paddle and thought I had scored something anyway.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The rest of the story is that it turned out that the paddle was part of the kayak and paddle used by a guy who committed suicide the night before. He was terminally ill and from Idaho...where there was no open water. So he bought a kayak and paddle and drove down to Willard to launch in the partially ice free waters. Evidently he loved kayaking and that is the way he wanted to go. He just rolled it over and sank. They didn't find his body for about two months.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Believe me, I was reliving that experience on the lake today. Hope there is not another similar situation involved. That really got to me when I found out about it. And I still had the paddle which I turned into the State Park as part of their investigation.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]About the waders. Been there done that. No fun. Quite a few years ago I was tubing early ice out on Starvation. I was wearing a pair of snow pants under my lightweight waders. The bulk was too much and the crotch seam split shortly after I kicked out into the water after launch. When that cold water poured into my nether regions I almost launched like a missile. First I was afraid I was gonna die...and then I was afraid I wasn't. Bummer to drive to a fishing spot...with great anticipation...and then to have the trip cut short in such an inglorious manner.[/#0000ff]
[signature]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The rest of the story is that it turned out that the paddle was part of the kayak and paddle used by a guy who committed suicide the night before. He was terminally ill and from Idaho...where there was no open water. So he bought a kayak and paddle and drove down to Willard to launch in the partially ice free waters. Evidently he loved kayaking and that is the way he wanted to go. He just rolled it over and sank. They didn't find his body for about two months.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Believe me, I was reliving that experience on the lake today. Hope there is not another similar situation involved. That really got to me when I found out about it. And I still had the paddle which I turned into the State Park as part of their investigation.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]About the waders. Been there done that. No fun. Quite a few years ago I was tubing early ice out on Starvation. I was wearing a pair of snow pants under my lightweight waders. The bulk was too much and the crotch seam split shortly after I kicked out into the water after launch. When that cold water poured into my nether regions I almost launched like a missile. First I was afraid I was gonna die...and then I was afraid I wasn't. Bummer to drive to a fishing spot...with great anticipation...and then to have the trip cut short in such an inglorious manner.[/#0000ff]
[signature]