happened twice to me.1st time was at the scalm park fishery nr selby.was walking over to my mate in the next peg and didnt see the hole under the long grass and the next thing i was in the pond and the water was up to my neck.2nd time was on the river swale at helperby when i slipped down the steep bank but managed to grab a tree branch a couple of feet out.i'm sure i'm not the only one on here thats had these misfortunes.
come on be honest, who's fallen in?
- Thread starter riverman
- Start date
Aknib
Well-known member
More times than I care to remember!
Probably the most memorable was an excited descent down a steep river bank early on a dawn Summer's morning... so excited that the weight of my tackle gave me an insurmountable momentum which saw me unable to stop at the bottom, before demolishing a reed bed and going slap down head first in the river!
Never again...
Until next time
Not to mention of course the classic old chestnut...
Stood on a landing stage trying to force a bankstick into a lake when it suddenly decides to play ball and you have that much body weight behind it that you follow the bloody thing in!
Probably the most memorable was an excited descent down a steep river bank early on a dawn Summer's morning... so excited that the weight of my tackle gave me an insurmountable momentum which saw me unable to stop at the bottom, before demolishing a reed bed and going slap down head first in the river!
Never again...
Until next time
Not to mention of course the classic old chestnut...
Stood on a landing stage trying to force a bankstick into a lake when it suddenly decides to play ball and you have that much body weight behind it that you follow the bloody thing in!
steve2
Well-known member
Once when after a flood the normal bank had been undercut and it gave way. Another time when I stepped off a platform when adjusting my nets before a match and got accused by some jokers of beating whistle. Sat there for 4 hours in wet trousers. But I won my section.
barbelboi
Well-known member
The short answer - yes. When you spend most of your time on natural, rarely fished, overgrown rivers you can only expect the unexpected. Thankfully rarely...............
ian g
Well-known member
I have fell in a few times , once in the winter grayling fishing on the upper Severn . Freezing day, hailstone and a strong wind . The bank gave out below my feet luckily not to deep and I was wearing chest waders . I got a bit wet and as I went to get out I looked up and saw a big dog on the bank , luckily his owner was just behind him and helped me out . Another time I was fishing in the river Dane , wading and trotting a float , took a step forward into a hole , soaked to the skin and my mobile knackered .
seth49
Well-known member
A couple of times at least, only in rivers not Stillwater though, the worst was on the ribble, I stood on the edge of a gravel bank, and the gravel started sliding from under my feet, into about 8 feet of water, which resulted with me backpedaling like mad to stop me going in, finished up sitting water up to my waist, but away from the shifting gravel thankfully.
I came close this winter. Lure fishing on a drain that had recently flooded but then receded.
The matchmen had put up some wooden platforms which looked like a sure enough place to stand.
My toe barely touched the wood and I found myself sliding towards the drink. The receeding flood water had left a thin layer of mud that was as slippery as ice. Barely stopped myself with the rod itself.
The matchmen had put up some wooden platforms which looked like a sure enough place to stand.
My toe barely touched the wood and I found myself sliding towards the drink. The receeding flood water had left a thin layer of mud that was as slippery as ice. Barely stopped myself with the rod itself.
Alan Whitty
Well-known member
Once, at Anglers Paradise in Devon, I gone fishing for the evening leaving the missus in the caravan, it was a typical misty mid-May Devon evening, cold and damp, I'd caught plenty, but it was past my quoted return time, I started packing and put one foot over my rod(bad move) but slipped on the damp wooden platform, it was either fall through my normark, or go in, so in it was, straight down, over my head, pushed up from the bottom and grabbed the platform, yanking myself out like Flynn,it was bloody freezing at that time I didn't swim, not brilliant now, bit proficient enough, now for the best part, got back to the car shivering uncontrollably, stuffed the gear in quick, then I thought how am I going to drive the car soaked as I was, so took my socks, trousers, sweatshirt, and t-shirt in the car and towelled myself down with my fishy smelling towel, jumped in the car and threw my underpants into the back, driving back was most embarrassing as several groups of people were walking up to the clubhouse for the evening and there was I naked with a fishing towel covering my credentials, my missus wet herself when I told her, lol...
Keith M
Well-known member
The first time was when I was around 8 years old and was standing on an undercut bank of the river Thames when the bank collapsed under me and found myself struggling frantically to keep afloat.
I couldn’t swim and neither could my dad but luckily the guy in the next swim could and he dived in and saved me.
I spent the rest of the day sitting by my dad with a see through plastic Mac over my shoulders while my clothes dried out on the fence behind us; and every time a passenger boat went passed everyone seemed to be pointing and cheering at me.
The last time I fell in was when a mate took a shot of me holding up a nice Tench that I’d just caught and he was using one of those bright bulb flashes which was so bright it temporarily blinded me, and after the photo I stepped forward to return the Tench onto what I thought was firm ground and ended up stepping straight into the water.
Keith
I couldn’t swim and neither could my dad but luckily the guy in the next swim could and he dived in and saved me.
I spent the rest of the day sitting by my dad with a see through plastic Mac over my shoulders while my clothes dried out on the fence behind us; and every time a passenger boat went passed everyone seemed to be pointing and cheering at me.
The last time I fell in was when a mate took a shot of me holding up a nice Tench that I’d just caught and he was using one of those bright bulb flashes which was so bright it temporarily blinded me, and after the photo I stepped forward to return the Tench onto what I thought was firm ground and ended up stepping straight into the water.
Keith
Last edited:
I've slipped in up to my knees a few times, but it's not surprising. If the water's reasonably shallow I like to put my box in the water in the edge. The bottoms often flat and solid enough, and I'm not one for scaffolding and footplates. I like to get my toes next to or even in the water. But a couple of scary ones come to mind. A club I was in used to book at least one winter match on the Wye at Hereford. Back in the day there were none of the stages and steps that make it safer now. I was very dubious about my "peg" - a narrow shelf of mud at the bottom of a steep slide. It was going ok though for 10 mins until me and the ledge began slowly sliding down onto the river. I thought I'd better shout for help, but only a little squeak came out. I was up to my thighs before I got a grip on something that gave me a chance to dig my heels in and reverse up/out. After I'd recovered a bit - I was in a lovely roach swim, 9' deep and steady but definitely not a place to learn to swim - I found the match organiser, told him my peg was too dangerous and asked if I could move. You can move if you want, he said, but you can't weigh in. Thanks, pal.
That was the last time I fished with these dangerous idiots. The match before, I'd gone to my peg, an end peg, on the Shropshire Union and found they'd put it right under a power line. I passed a message up the organiser that I was moving one peg away due to the clear risk of electrocution. In the car park at the end when the weights were announced, the organiser plus a couple of cronies complained "He only won it because he picked his own peg".
Their do or die approach to small matches for pin money wasn't for me and I never fished with them again.
That was the last time I fished with these dangerous idiots. The match before, I'd gone to my peg, an end peg, on the Shropshire Union and found they'd put it right under a power line. I passed a message up the organiser that I was moving one peg away due to the clear risk of electrocution. In the car park at the end when the weights were announced, the organiser plus a couple of cronies complained "He only won it because he picked his own peg".
Their do or die approach to small matches for pin money wasn't for me and I never fished with them again.
@Clive
Well-known member
I've only had one dunking and that was around 1972. I was setting up on a wooden fishing platform that required the rod rest to be placed in front of the platform. I leaned over to push the rod rest down and it found a soft spot. I remember kneeling on the bottom in about four feet of water wondering how I had got there. Back then the dam was owned by a paper mill and as I trudged back through the yard dripping wet the boiler man saw me and told me to go in the boiler house to dry off. He brought a huge towel and left me to lock myself in. It was red hot in there and my clothes dried in no time hung over the pipes. I was back fishing again with the hour. Better than a 2 mile trek through town centre to get home.
The bad one
Well-known member
Me! Just the once, but it was in the smelly Tame just outside Stockport at Tiviot Dale. I was perched on a high bank and fishing a slack. Stood up, feet went from under me and I took a header right into that black ozzy stuff. Boy I stank of that anaerobic smell that only Anglers seem to know.
Steve Arnold
Well-known member
Since moving to France I have only accidently got wet legs once, on a very slippery grassy bank that had a layer of silt from a high flow the night before. A very close call!
But I have found myself getting a soaking voluntarily after hooking carp here. The last time was Febuary 2023 when a hooked carp was going around a river bend 100 metres downriver and my line was pulling through the trees. I waded out into the shallows with my wellies on, I was at least thigh deep before I could manage the situation.
But it was worth it......
Incredibly I dried off in the strong sunshine and later managed to catch a barbel! What a river!
But I have found myself getting a soaking voluntarily after hooking carp here. The last time was Febuary 2023 when a hooked carp was going around a river bend 100 metres downriver and my line was pulling through the trees. I waded out into the shallows with my wellies on, I was at least thigh deep before I could manage the situation.
But it was worth it......
Incredibly I dried off in the strong sunshine and later managed to catch a barbel! What a river!
Keith M
Well-known member
I’ve also gone in on purpose when I was surface fishing for Carp on my local estate lake and momentarily placed my rod down while looking for something in my bag and not engaging the free spool on my reel.
In an instant my rod was pulled in and heading for the middle of the lake with the tip of the rod handle still visible above water.
I thought I was the only person around the lake so without a thought I quickly stripped down to my underpants and dived in after it and managed to play the fish standing up in the middle of the lake before climbing out again; to the cheers and jeers of a group of women from the estate whom I hadn’t seen before and had been watching the whole thing.
Keith
In an instant my rod was pulled in and heading for the middle of the lake with the tip of the rod handle still visible above water.
I thought I was the only person around the lake so without a thought I quickly stripped down to my underpants and dived in after it and managed to play the fish standing up in the middle of the lake before climbing out again; to the cheers and jeers of a group of women from the estate whom I hadn’t seen before and had been watching the whole thing.
Keith
Last edited: