Wendy Fell Out of a Boat

Disclaimer, this story happened last spring while the blog was on a break.

There are good days on the water and there are bad days in the water. Then there are days that seem to bounce from one type of day to another. Wendy had one of those days. 

Wendy’s dad had come to visit us from Iowa and one of the reasons was that he wanted to fish at some farm ponds that I had taken him to in the past.  I was fortunate enough grant his wish and even got to bring Wendy along since she had been nice lately.  We had some good fortune at one pond and decided to press our luck a little by heading to a second pond.  While we were there, Wendy's dad fished from the bank while Wendy, Waylon (important note), and I fished from a recently acquired Jon boat I had bought.  

Wendy and I were both catching some fish and having a good time.  As the sun was setting, Wendy hooked into her 6th or 7th bass at that pond.  She was sitting at front of the boat and on a pedestal seat (another important note).  As she was reeling in her fish, I offered to unhook it and toss it back.  She swung the bass to the left side of the boat while I leaned over the left side of the boat to lip the fish.  Waylon was interested in what was happening on that side of the boat, so he shifted over the left side of the boat as well.  Since we were all on the left side of the boat, the boat began to pitch.  It pitched so much that water started to come over the gunwale.  As the water started to fill with water, it also started to pitch more.  

Wendy was the highest center of gravity and things went from bad to worse quickly.  The next thing that I remember seeing was the button of her baseball hat hitting the water.  After than, she vanished in the murky water.  She popped back up and quickly grabbed the side of the boat.  After securing her floatation device, she handed me the fishing rod...with a fish still attached to the end of the line.  I tossed both into the boat and grabbed her by the arm.  

I instructed Wendy to hold on tight to the boat and that I would fire up the trolling motor and take her to shore.  As we approached the bank, I told her that once she felt her feet touch the bottom of the lake to start walking to the edge of the lake and not stop until she was on land.  My fear was that she was going to get bogged down in the muck and then have a problem to deal with.  As luck would have it, she made it to the bank.  Her dad came running toward her to see what the commotion was all about.  When he realized what had happened, his first response was to start snapping pictures and uncontrollably laugh.  It wasn't to ask if she was alright.  It wasn't to ask if she was cold.  It was to document the events that had transpired.  Even while wet and cold, Wendy still mustered a genuine laugh at him as well as what had happened.

Ladies and gentlemen, that's my wife.  She's graceful in victory as well as embarrassing moments.  And while her day had ended in a fashion other than what was intended, she got a kick out of seeing her last fish swim off as I released it while still in the boat.  Good and bad of a fishing trip can sometimes come together to make a great story!