I read an article in today’s Globe & Mail on drowning in Canada that really made me think. It said that fishermen are more likely to drown than swimmers, sailors, kayakers and other water enthusiasts. It also remarked on the low PFD-wear rate in the fishing community. While I don’t doubt the stats, I’d like to believe the aversion to PFDs is changing. I admit that I used to be one of the weak-swimming, non-PFD wearing fishermen referenced in the article, but I - and many around me - have changed. In the last few years I have seen a dramatic increase in PFD wear within the fishing community. Many are moving to inflatable PFDs which allow them to maintain mobility and comfort in warmer weather, and many are wearing flotation suits as protection from the elements in open boats. While we still have a long way to go, I believe fishermen are realizing how easy it is to become a statistic and how equally easy it is to put on a PFD and stay out of the stats altogether.

The full Globe & Mail article can be found online..

Great reach is shown here by Steve Chambers, one of our Security & Rescue Business Development Representatives, as he nets a nice salmon last week. Decked out in Ice Rider waist pants (MP4235) and Integrity Flotation Bomber Jacket (MJ6224), Steve enjoyed a great day of fishing with his brother and nephews. Have a boating picture or story of your own you’d like to share? Send it to media@mustangsurvival.com with the subject “OutThere” and we’ll get it up here on the web. In the meantime, have fun and stay safe OutThere!

Night fishing is an exciting way to experience the water in a different way. Our friend Dave Mercer dedicated a show to this great way to hone your fishing skills and catch lots of fish. Dave also shares some tips for some extra safety precautions to take when you’re out alone at night.

We just got these pictures in from the Valley Fish & Game Club, located in Lake Cowichan, BC, Canada. For each of the past five years the Club has led a chinook net pen project to help improve the survival rate of tens of thousands of chinook salmon fry. It was a tough spring for the salmon fry with below normal temperatures in the rivers causing reduced appetites and in turn reduced sizes. The net pen project took in 19,000 of these salmon from the local hatchery, each with an average weight of 6 grams, and located them in a protected environment in San Juan Bay. Fed twice a day for 20 days, they more than doubled in size before being released. It is volunteers like these from the Valley Fish & Game Club that help ensure our fish stocks will last for years to come. Congratulations to all of the volunteers and supporters on another successful net pen project. The pictures of the netpen launch and release can be accessed from this link: http://www.valleyfishandgame.com/netpen_2008.htm.

There have been some great industry trade shows and events this summer and while they’ve definitely eaten into my fishing time, they’ve got me all excited about some of the really neat products on the market. From polarized sunglasses that stayed firmly in place despite my best attempts to shake them off (perfect for paddling and fishing) to self-casting rods and electric reels (essential aids for fishermen with arthritis or Parkinson’s), I had more fun viewing and testing all of the products at the shows than I probably should have given I was there with specific business objectives in mind! I even sampled some of Camelbak’s new hydrating Elixir that promises not to turn your CamelBak reservoir into a science experiment and tried some tasty Clif Shot Bloks that I definitely need to scout out at a store near me before my next athletic endeavor. So go visit your local outdoor retailer when you have some time and check out the neat stuff they’ve got in stock - it could make your next trip OutThere! that much more enjoyable.

Well this was it: the 2008 Rio Tinto Alcan Dragon Boat Festival was finally here. As we gathered at the race site on Saturday morning, there was a nervous anticipation in the air. More than 150 teams from across North America had gathered in Vancouver for the biggest dragon boat event in North America. Some of the teams were fun recreational teams full of team spirit, positive attitudes and crazy costumes that included wigs and super-hero capes; others were more serious competitive teams that had trained hard all year for this weekend with an intense mix of dry-land training and on-water practices. It was a fantastic weekend of festival fun and on-the-edge-of-your-seat racing that was capped off by the Guts & Glory race. The top 16 placing teams of the event (including that of yours truly - yay team!) competed in this 2000 metre race - the equivalent of 4 races in 1 - that required sheer determination and grit. Crazy passes, sharp turns and near-collisions excited the crowd as the 16 boats progressed the course. In the end the FCRCC team proved the victors of both the overall event championship and the Guts & Glory competition. Kudos to them and congratulations to my own team for such a great showing this weekend! Go team go! Thanks also to all the crew of 450 volunteers coordinating teams in the racers village, at the marshalling area, down on the docks and OutThere! on the water.

This past weekend marked the 16th annual Painter’s Lodge Women’s Salmon Fishing Derby. Hosted by the great folks at Oak Bay Marine Group, my fishing buddy and I took to the water with almost 100 other women in search of the derby winner. We were skunked on Friday and had a bit of a wild ride back to the dock as we took “Greenies” (waves) over the front and side of the boat…but it was more fun than any roller coaster we’d ever been on! Our guide got a good chuckle out of it as we shrieked and laughed with every wave. Thankfully we were bundled up in our flotation suits that kept us warm and dry throughout the day and protected us from the gallons of water pouring into the boat!

Saturday and Sunday were absolutely gorgeous with calm water, a light wind and beautiful blue skies. Jill caught her first-ever salmon on Sunday and was pretty ecstatic about it as you can see in the photo! We caught another one just a few moments later and then spent the rest of the day taking in the scenery as our fishing weekend came to a close. Chalking up my first weekend of fishing this season as a successful one with nice fish and LOTS of fun, I can’t wait for my next fishing trip in a couple week’s time. Until next time, stay safe on the water and have fun OutThere!

Click here to see more photos from our trip.

I was out paddling last night when a fellow paddler got caught by a bad combination of wind and waves that capsized her boat. Thankfully she was wearing a properly fitted PFD and popped up to the surface right away. She’s not a strong swimmer, but with the assistance of the PFD and another paddler she was able to get her boat flipped back over and haul herself out of the water within a few minutes. Crisis diverted, right? Wrong. It didn’t take long for the effects of shock and hypothermia to set in. With intense shivering and difficulty breathing, she was helped out of the boat, re-dressed in dry clothes and wrapped in blankets. A call to the ambulance and a trip to the hospital later, she is now at home recovering from the incident. She was lucky, though her experience should serve as a reminder to us all to always be prepared for the unexpected and to never underestimate the effects of cold water. It’s worth noting the paddler had just purchased her new MV5801 Deluxe Paddling PFD on Thursday of last week; it sure didn’t take long for it to pay off. Paddle safe and have fun OutThere!