Two Rods, Good Friends, and an Ice Bath

Two Rods, Good Friends, and an Ice Bath

 

Recently, on a cold winter morning, I gathered up a great group of friends for a day of paddling and fishing on Lake Jocasse in South Carolina. We awoke early filled with the thrill of adventure in our souls, but little did we know how our day was going to turn out. This will be a day that I will never forget for many reasons.

 

It was a brisk and cool 27 degrees when we arrived at Devils Fork State Park. We rushed out to the non-motorized boat ramp and immediately started to unload our kayaks and canoes. Jon, Kris and I were in our kayaks, while Dave and his two boys were in canoes. Our game plan was to seek adventure with each other through fishing for Smallies and Trout. Lake Jocasse is known for its fantastic Small Mouth and Trout fishing, but there is also the monster Large Mouths that lurks in the lakes beautiful crystal clear waters.

 

Jon and Kris were the first ones in the water; as Dave and I squared the boys away in there canoe. We paid very close attention to the boys to make sure they were being safe and moving into the cove to fish for trout. Dave and I positioned our boats on the edge of the water, and Dave made his way off the shore. I was pushing off from the bank, and I started to make my way out into the open water. All of a sudden I looked up and Dave had rolled his carbon fiber race canoe. I was about 25 yards from him, and yelled out to make sure he was okay. It only took me a few seconds to get to him, but boy did it feel like an eternity.  I asked Dave to swim in, and get into a change of clothes, while I dragged his canoe back in. In typical Dave style, while he was changing clothes, he said, “boy JD this is a heck of the way to start out the day.” I could not help but to smile as I made sure he was okay. We did not want to panic the boys so I paddled towards them to make sure they were having fun, and to check to see if they needed anything.



 After spending about 15 minutes with the boys and watching CJ land a nice Rainbow Trout, I focused my attention back on Dave. Dave is an expert paddler, and really knows how to handle himself on the water, but it goes to show at anytime something can go wrong, quickly. As I arrived at where Dave was standing he seemed a little bummed out. I did not realize but Dave lost two of his rods when he rolled into the cold waters of Lake Jocasse. The thing that made it so bad was that Dave’s brother hand crafted one of the rods, and Dave’s father signed that very same rod, so it was irreplaceable to say the least. We both made our way to were the accident happened and neither one of us could see rods, which was odd because the lake is extremely clear.  Little did I know Dave was marking land marks so he could later find his rods.

 

As I paddled my Wilderness Systems Ride over to where Jon and Kris were fishing, I could not help but to think about what all just happened. Needless to say our first 45 minutes on the water were quite the adventure. The three of us made our way up towards the Bad Creek Dam area to enjoy the rest of our day, while Dave and the boys fished the coves around the boat ramp.

 

The fishing was slow but the paddling and scenery were absolutely spectacular. Lake Jocasee is completely surrounded by mountains and has a good many mountain waterfalls that dot its shoreline. As we were taking it all in I looked up and right over our heads were two Golden Eagles, and one Bald Eagle. That alone made the hour drive to the lake worthwhile.  These are just a few reason why this is one of my favorite places to paddle and bring people.

 

After spending almost the entire day on the upper end of the lake we arrived back at the boat ramp. We noticed that Dave and the boys had left. Jon also had to leave, but Kris and I were dead on staying until around dark. So Kris and I maneuvered our way back into this amazing little cove, and all of the sudden the trout fishing blew up. The cove was smack full of Rainbow and Brown Trout. Almost every cast we were landing a fish, and the two of us were really enjoying ourselves.

 

As we drifted back out of the cove towards the boat ramp, I explained to Kris this is right were Dave rolled his canoe. By this time it was around 4:00pm and we could see all the way down to around 25 feet. So we started searching around to see if we could see Dave’s rods, and low and behold Kris said there they are. We could see them sitting in about 15 feet of water. I look at my Lowrance, visually marked the spot, and noticed that the water was a chilly 48 degrees.

 

I could not stand the thought of leaving the lake and not trying to get Dave’s rods back. I knew I would only have a few minutes to try and retrieve them because of the chilly water temperature coupled with the 46 degree air temperature. So I made my decision and ran it by Kris, so he could keep an eye on me and the rods.

 

I ran up to the restrooms and took off all my layers besides my thermal shirt and waterproof pants. I made my way quickly down to the edge of the water, and asked Kris if he was still on the location where the rods were. As he said yes, I dove right into the fridge waters and made my way out to him. When I arrived to where he was at I immediately dove down to try and retrieve the rods.  No luck, so I tried again, no luck. I grabbed onto Kris Wilderness, as I was gasping for air. The coldness of the water was really setting in.  I could not stop shaking, my chest was starting to burn from the cold, and it felt like someone was sticking 10,000 needles into me. I told Kris that I really need to get out of the water, and he agreed. I was only in the bitterly cold water for around 3 minutes, and hypothermia was knocking on my door. I moved quickly to get up to the restroom so I could change into warm dry clothes. As I was changing I noticed that my thighs were turning blue, along with my feet. I jumped in after the rods to try and help a fellow paddler out, to test my body in cold water, but I really did not realize all of the effects it can quickly affect the body. I would not change a thing, but boy is this a day that I will never forget for many reasons.

 

There are three points to this entire article. One, you never know when something can and will go wrong, so be prepared in all situations. Secondly, wear your PFD at all times. Luckily Dave had his on, but it amazes me how many people do not even bother to wear one. Take the time, and try out several different kinds and find that right one for you. It just might save your life one day, especially when you least expect it. Lastly, think twice before jumping into ice cold water.

 

Oh yeah, Dave went back up to Devil’s Fork State Park the next day, and was able to retrieve both rods from his canoe.

 

JD Desrosiers

Wilderness Systems and Adventure Technology Pro Staff

Why I am Not Into Tournament Fishing

Why I am Not Into Tournament Fishing

I grew up in the Foothills area of South Carolina, and have been an avid outdoorsman and my entire life. My earliest memories of fishing were with my grandfather on the Eastatoee River for trout. Many life time memories have been made with him. I grew up on Lake Cunningham in Greer, SC which is a small reservoir with an abundance of fish and wildlife. I have also spent a lot of time saltwater fishing in and around the Pawleys Island area of South Carolina.

 My fishing style is light tackle, big fish. I really like a good fight no matter what species of fish I am after. As far as fishing the state of South Carolina I can cover about the entire spectrum from river fishing to amazing saltwater action, and everything in between.      

I have always been big into hiking and exploring new lands, this lead me into snowboarding and downhill mountain biking. My passion for these to sports grew quickly, and that passion actually developed into a life style. I quickly found myself driving several hours to get to the mountains, several times a week to do both.

Every day that I had off from my 9-5 job, I was tuning my skills to a competitive level.  The stress level escalated in the snowboarding arena, and I found the enjoyment, and passion was quickly fading away. One day I made the hard decision to give up snowboarding, and stuffed all my boards and gear into a dark closet to forget about them.

 It was very easy for me to dedicate my time off from work to downhill mountain biking. I meet a core group of guys that were on top of the scene in the southeastern part of America. My skills rapidly developed and before I knew it I was riding some of the hardest terrain in my region, hucking 30 foot jumps, and ripping through the woods like there was no tomorrow.  As my riding progressed, competing was just around the corner, and I started competing in downhill races. Traveling from West Virginia to Georgia to race I quickly made a name for myself in the industry.  I managed to place well, and helped promote events. This landed me 14 semi-pro sponsors from the mountain biking community. Trying to uphold terms of sponsorship and stay on top of the downhill racing scene, the pressure built to an all new level. I had to dedicate a ton of time to stay at this level, and this meant time away from my family. With all of this constantly weighing on me I made the decision to sell off all 4 of my bikes, parts, and gear. I was a very tough decision, but once it was all completed it felt like the world had been lifted off of my shoulders.

 

When I made the choice to start kayak fishing and paddling, I fell right in love with it. I made a promise to myself that no matter what I would keep paddling enjoyable. Do not get me wrong, I have goals and accomplishments that I would like to try and meet in the kayak fishing industry, but one that I do not want to meet is competing in kayak fishing tournaments.

The amount of time you have to spend pre-fishing each location, the cost to get to each location, the expenses for entering each tournament, and the time away from my family just does not equal out the “pay-out” in my point of view.  Not to mention the pressure of trying to place well, and land that one magical fish that could make the tournament for you and it is just not attractive.

 I have nothing against tournaments or tournament paddlers; it is just not for me. To me kayak fishing is more about exploring new waters, connecting with fellow anglers, meeting and learning from new people from all over the country, and connecting with nature.

 Being that close and low to the water is special, I love the fact that I am almost in the fish’s environment. There is no pressure in my paddling world. If I land fish great! If not no big deal. It is all about being outside and sharing my journeys with as many people as possible. Along the way I hope that I am fortunate enough to teach other kayak fishermen what I have picked up.

 

Currently I am on the Pro Staff Team for Wilderness System and Adventure Technology, and use my RIDE 115 and AT paddle to cover a very diverse amount of fisheries in the southeast. Being located in Upstate South Carolina I am surrounded by rivers, ponds, small reservoirs, lakes, swamps, and only three hours for the Intercostal Waterway.