by Bruce Allen

HEADLINE: Fisherman missing at Lake Fork

STORY: A member of a local senior citizen fishing club, the Lake Fork Anglers (LFA), while fishing alone must have fallen out of his boat. The boat was found floating but no body has been found YET. The game wardens and sheriffs office is conducting searches.

Family members said he was fishing with the club on Thursday June 23rd as he does every Thursday. He really enjoys doing this and usually goes with another fisherman.

For some reason he was fishing alone on Thursday.

HEADLINE: Fisherman has seizure while fishing at Lake Fork but fortunately the other fellow in the boat was able to pull him out of the water, called the ambulance, after which he then drove the boat to the ramp where they picked him up.

He is reported to be recovering in the hospital.

In the winter we deal with cold water. . Fall out of your boat in anything short of a 5 mph wind and the boat will be gone when you pop up. That is if you are smart enough to be wearing your Personal Flotation Device (PFD) all the time. Not wearing it may mean you will never pop up.

When do you ever see a 5 mph wind?

And of course we fish in a very woody stumpy lake. The chance of hitting something when you enter the water is probably fair so you may also get knocked out or injured.
Gored by a metal stake perhaps.

In the summer even though the water is swimable the chance of a heat stroke or seizure is enhanced by the hot weather.

I'd sure like to have the other guy be there to at least call for help.

The LFA pairs it members so that we never have to deal with one guy in a boat. But on rare occasions a member will call in at the very last minute and stick his proposed partner for the day and then that person has to go alone. We have penalties for that but they are always dealt after the fact.

With LFA fishing boaters and co-anglers, with Faze 4 which is a team event, and with Hard Core, which fishes a Major League Fishing format and takes up every Thursday throughout the year rarely happens, but once is to much..

Members are not required to fish every tournament. After all we are retired.

So what about you? Do you fish alone all the time. Are you comfortable to going out at night, or on cold or hot days by yourself? Yes I to am independent and want to go alone. But the there is that "what if" factor.

Ask your neighbor, wife, girlfriend, son, grandson/daughter. Think that you want to be fishing for a long time and one bad decision puts all of that in jeopardy.

Or join a bass club like the LFA. Dues $5.00 a year. Contact Bruce at [email protected] for info. Do it for you and your future. We are looking for both boaters and co-anglers.