Behind the Badge - How to Sink Your Boat
How to Sink Your Boat
District Game Warden Kylor Johnston
Some things you only hope to witness one time.
The first time I got a call for a capsized boat in the Missouri River it ended up being in late fall.
Some anglers were drifting the chutes at the Garrison Dam Tailrace and capsized their boat.
Tragedy was avoided on this one as they were wearing their life jackets and another boat happened to be heading into the ramp and saw them floating down river.
After everyone was taken care of, I started to figure out what had happened to cause this incident.
This is where I learned the boat was drifting in the river with anchors hanging down from the bow and from the stern of the boat.
The idea for the anchors was to help slow or control their drift.
The anchor on the stern caught and almost immediately the boat was taking on water.
The anglers were forced from the sinking boat into the frigid water.
The battle was on from there, but like I said the anglers were fortunate that day.
As a game warden you often see a lot of interesting ideas play out, some are ingenious and you will use, some you just hope no one will try again.
Drifting in the river with an anchor attached to the stern of the boat was something I hoped to not see again.
As you could imagine that is not the case.
This summer a boat was drifting the Missouri River fishing.
The boat capsized and the angler was able to make it to shore.
I again was able to talk to the angler and figure out what had happened.
Once again the angler was drifting with the anchor down to help slow/control his drift and was tied off on the stern of the boat.
The anchor caught and the boat filled with water and eventually sank forcing the angler out and fighting to get to shore.
Fortunately, again this one ended as good as it could also.
When I was thinking about what to write I thought to myself, I was surprised to see this happen once, but after a second time it must be more common than you think.
So, if I explain the outcome of two boats that drifted the river with an anchor down and tied off to the stern maybe it will help prevent a tragic incident in the future.
Either way as a game warden we just hope everyone enjoys the resource and stays safe.