Dog Paddle

I was fishing with my friend Rick this day. It was about 38 degrees this day. Rick had on neoprene waders and was cooking due to them. He complained the entire outing.

We went again about a week later. He had on breathables and had his belt on to be safe. They were new waders and the whole wearing a belt was new to Rick. He wore the belt it a little too high and the air could not escape. He looked like the Pillsbury Dough boy.

I typically don't wear a wading belt if the water is not over my head. The deepest hole in the stream was maybe 5 feet deep.

We fished for 4 hours and we got to near the end of our outing. I directed Rick to the other side of the stream through the shallows because the other bank gave him optimal cast retrieval. Rick scored 4 trout in the run. We were both tired and decided to call it a day.

Rick asked me how deep the run was because it was quite a walk up or down stream to cross in the shallows. I told him 3-4 feet maximum. Rick decided he would cross in the run. Rick sat on a boulder and slid into the water. What happened next was hilarious.

Rick new waders were water and air tight and so was the belt he had on. His waders worked like a flotation device and promptly whisked his feet off the bottom and there Rick was padding for all he was worth in four feet of water.

His feet were actually fully out of the water which force his face to submerge a couple times. I told Rick to just stand up because it wasn't that deep. Rick could not regain his feet due to the air trapped in his waders. Rick was flailing and swearing and having a really hard time getting to shore.

Rick finally quit trying to stand up and he swam the 10 feet to the other shore. I was not a good fishing partner that day. I was busy laughing my butt off. In the end I started walking towards him to help. He had made it to the shallows and crawled out. The width of the stream was maybe 10 feet and tapered upward on the banks. The dog padding only lasted for maybe five seconds.

He was wet head to toe. I went back in the hole and retrieved his fly rod. Luckily, we were really close to the car or that would have been a cold walk back soaked in 40-degree weather.

For more of Len’s work visit; https://lenharris.blogspot.com, Small Streams Trout Monsters Club, or www.facebook.com/len.harris.