The killed cellphone wasn't a disaster. It was only the phone that died and by putting the SIM-card into one of my older ones, I had a working one again... with the same number.
The wrist story was 2006, the first time I tied at Sowbug. It was a "dry fall", but that pain really made me wish that I had fallen in the river instead. Tying two sessions a day after this fall wasn't the paradise that it could have been. The wrist ached on and off for months after it. Another fun thing about this wading story was that the day before, we took a bath in the lake that this river comes from (or goes through, I don't really know). Northern Swedish lakes aren't famous for being warm, especially if they are deep and the water is moving. But it was a reeeeally hot day. The other two guys started chatting about going down to try out the lake. I got terrified and just prayed that they would get second thoughts when they felt the water temperature. But young crazy boys with no common sense... of course they had to dive in. And after they had gotten up I couldn't be worse. I told them to be ready with CPR and then I jumped in too... and it was the coldest water I've ever had around me. My entire body ached when I got back up. I was quick to promise myself "I will never swim in northern waters again!"... and the following night I was swimming in the same water, only colder. LOL /Nick -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]on Behalf Of jim phillips Sent: 30 June 2009 01:48 To: [email protected] Subject: FW: [VFB] Wading experience... FOR MARK May your GOD be your fishing partner. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- From: [email protected] To: [email protected]; [email protected] Subject: RE: [VFB] Wading experience... Date: Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:04:52 -0600 for the list WOW!!!!! what a GREAT story...........i'm still rotflmao...........i was thinkin' of a certain time when we were on the White in Cotter right at the park, and you hurt your wrist.........but you still tyed the next day if i remember right. That was '04 maybe? Well, glad your ok, and you got all your flies........cell phones are easy to replace. Misa left hers along the river "somewhere" in Colorado, back in Aug. of last year when were there for the http://www.theamericacup.com We were "practicing" on the Arkansas River before the compitition days had started.....and i guess it fell out of an open pocket.....who knows. But when she got a new one.....she was even able to keep the same number. i once fell twice back to back, down ....up....down again.....on the Battenkill River in Vermont.........NOT a fun experience.....but a good experience. Never let it happen again..........single falls yes.....but not doubles. Thankx for sharing Nick. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: [VFB] Wading experience... Date: Mon, 29 Jun 2009 22:26:28 +0200 I have just come home from a nice week of grayling fishing in the northern Swedish river Hårkan... with a wading experience richer. The only "wader dip" I had before this was in White River 2006. That one must have been in the America's Funniest Home Videos league. Tony can testify on that. Water that's hardly moving... barely one foot deep... with a gravel bottom flat as a pancake... stumble on virtually nothing and landing on my chest. This time the water was waist deep though and pushing quite hard. The bottom was rocky and far from wading friendly (and I had been close to fall several times during the week). It wasn't a "without wading stick" place (at least not to me, who is a careful dude). I heard the sound of a fish rising to my left and when I quickly turned my head to see where it was I felt a sligtht sign of losing balance. So I took a little step backwards... maybe 5-6"... slipped and fell backwards... and suddenly I was under the water. After fighting a couple of seconds I managed to turn around so I had my toes facing the stones and when I got a grip between the stones the stream towards my chest "helped" me to get up again. I turned to get up from the water and in the very next step I slipped again and fell face down. This time it didn't come as the same shock kind of thing as the first fall and I was able to actually THINK about how to get up, so I got back up standing without major problem. I looked down and was going to reach for my wading stick and saw that the left pocket in my chest pack was empty... just as empty as the left big vest pocket. Downstream I saw three boxes getting smaller... a big compartment/slit foam box with dry flies, a slit foam box (swing leaf) of the same size with nymphs and another slit foam box with soft hackle flies. I had packed my boxes with flies before this trip, so there were more than a couple of flies disappearing there... and instincts took over. I started to run downstream (as fast as you can, jumping on rocks with water up to your waist). The water got deeper though and when it reached just below my chest I stumbled and fell again. I had just reached the boxes, but at the same time I also reached a hole where it suddenly got much deeper. Trying to stand up again wasn't on the menu anymore and I started to swim. Swimming with the rod in one hand and 'catching' all three boxes was impossible. I knew that much. So I started to hit them one by one to get them upstream and closer to land. Then I swam a bit towards land myself until they reached me and it was time for the next "hit/swim" move again. After a couple of times repeating this I was at a depth where I could stand up again and just collecting the boxes coming towards me... and finally focus on leaving the water. The night before this I had landed my (by far) largest grayling after a long fight on a #3 rod and in fast moving water,,, but I still think this was the took the prize as the "adventure of the trip". How I actually managed to salvage all three boxes and the rod (and myself) is beyond me. I must have had Him on my side. But you can't have anything. Back in the wind shelter we sat by the fire and I had changed into some reserve clothing and my wading jacket that I didn't wore when I fell. My soaking wet fleece sweater was hanging on a nail on the wall... right above my opened backpack. The water was dripping RIGHT down in the pocket where I kept the cellphone... and that was the end of his adventure. :oP So, what have I learned from this trip? *Be careful where you put your feet in the water. (I already knew that, so it was more of a reminder.) But keep your pockets closed. Careful or not... eventually you will still fall. Having given the extra second to close the pocket after putting the box back down can turn out to be worth both the time and the effort. *When you have fallen, gotten up and are sitting there happy over still being alive and not having lost anything... it doesn't have to be over. Luck can turn quicker than you can imagine. Just because you keep stuff on land to keep it safe from the water doesn't have to mean that it's actually safe from the water. ;o) /Nick (Attached: 'drying_table.jpg') ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- Hotmail® has ever-growing storage! Don’t worry about storage limits. Check it out. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the "VFB Mail" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/vfb-mail?hl=en VFB Mail is sponsored by Line's End Inc at http://www.linesend.com -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
