No matter how experienced a bass angler you are, danger lurks. Just ask Roland Martin, a veteran of more than 30 years of tournament fishing. In a tournament four years ago, a cold front with freezing temperatures and howling winds set in. Martin and his partner, driving as safely as possible in the heavy weather, were pitched into the Tennessee River as their big bass boat hit an unseen underwater stump. Fellow competitor Mark Davis noticed the situation and rescued the pair as hypothermia was setting in.

Serious accidents, including fatalities, have occurred at national tournaments in the last few years, as anglers race to the weigh-in or take-out ramp. When boats run close to 70 mph without lanes or stoplights, sense calls for a careful throttle, even in optimal conditions. Defensive driving on the water is paramount.

We rarely discuss water safety. It’s not that we don’t consider it important. Like most of you, we’re consciously and subconsciously aware of potential danger. Statistics on boating fatalities suggest that most victims aren’t drunk boaters, careless jet skiers, or testing the Great Lakes or the ocean. The most likely scenario for drowning involves a man between the ages of 30 and 50, weekend fishing on a lake or river in mild temperatures and calm conditions.

Of 815 boating fatalities in 1998, 254 were anglers, far and away the most threatened group. These figures from the Boat Owner’s Association of the United States indicate that failing to wear a PFD is the primary cause of drowning.

One important step toward safety is availability of the new inflatable PFDs, pioneered by SOSPENDERS (circle #010 on the InfoNow card, phone 800/858-5876, or visit & click on InfoNow to request product info;), and joined by four inflatable models from Stearns (#002, 800/328-3208). They’re so light and comfortable to wear, there’s no reason not to. If you were rendered unconscious by a fall, you’d need an automatic style, but in other cases, the pull-tab models work fine.

Lightning strikes are a more obvious threat, but one too often ignored. Lightning tends to hit the highest object, like a boat on a lake. Graphite rods attract electricity so take shelter at the first sign of static electricity or when you sight a telltale anvil-shape cloud approaching. Determine the distance to a storm by counting the time between a flash of lightning and the resulting thunder. For every second between the two, lightning is 1/5 of a mile away, so if you count to 5, it’s just a mile away, and a strike is eminent. This formula has long been misquoted, indicating that each second between lightning and thunder counts for a mile.

A longer-term threat to anglers is the sun. Few today can plead ignorance of the cancerous effects of long-term ultraviolet exposure. Protect yourself and your fishing companions with sunscreen, sunglasses, hats, and appropriate clothing. New greaseless sunscreen formulas exist, designed for golfers but perfect for anglers as well. Note, though, that PABA, a common ingredient of sunscreens, is unpleasant to bass and often causes them to spit a bait flavored with it. Wash hands with a biodegradable soap, or else rub underwater plants and algae on your fingers to mask the flavor.

Additional threats exist—insect and arachnid bites, dangerous snakes, fish hooks, catfish spines, ticks (fishing from shore), battery hazards, fetid Moon Pies, and even, should you take an excursion to the Amazon, the infamous candiru, an unpleasant little fish that may seek a new home in the confines of your urethra. Avoid hazardous boating, lightning, and excessive sun, though, and your chance of surviving even the worst of the rest is far improved.