re: Mandeville fisherman missing in Lake Pontchartrain. Update 1/17 body recovered in lake

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don’t know a whole lot about the lake but the few times I’ve seen it, it’s choppy as hell and reaching

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It's pretty shallow overall, any wind makes it get bad pretty quick and easy.

I thought I saw it was a 15' whaler. I don't know, I'm a novice but I'd have serious doubts about straying far from anything solid in that boat.

Another article said the boat was a 12-14 foot Whaler.

In Lake Pontchartrain.

In the Winter.

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Many moons ago I was fishing with my brother and a friend of his. The guy kept his vest on the entire time. He might unzip it when we were stopped, but would religiously zip it and buckle it when we were underway.

The guy was from around Thibodaux and an outdoorsman. I made a comment like "I'm surprised you can't swim." He laughed, and said "I can swim like a fricking fish, but I can't swim if I'm unconscious. I've got a wife and two kids who depend on me coming home, so I tolerate the inconvenience."

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I'm lucky to be alive. I was in a boat that went down. The throwable cushion popped up nearby and I swam to it. I'm very lucky. I wouldn't have lasted long in the 5' swells that came out of nowhere.

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Ever since, I wear a PFD.

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The only time I take it off is if we're on anchor which is almost always great conditions. If they weren't we couldn't fish anyway. And I'm never alone.

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Another article said the boat was a 12-14 foot Whaler. In Lake Pontchartrain. In the Winter.

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Oof

If you're going fishing, wear a PFD. It doesn't need to be a cumbersome Mae West type offshore PFD. Right now they make some narrow suspender like pfd's that auto inflate (and can be blown up by mouth as well. Just a little more flotation can make a difference especially where hypothermia is n't a guarantee once you enter the water.

that’s some Final Countdown stuff there baw

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Another article said the boat was a 12-14 foot Whaler.

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I used to have a 13 foot Whaler sport and took it out in all kinds of snotty conditions in the marsh and offshore a couple miles. The bigger risk is that there are no gunnels to speak of and it’s easy to fall out if you standing up. If the chop gets to 1-3 feet, it can wash over the sides. They really aren’t made for rough open water. They won’t sink, but that isn’t really the definition of potential disaster in a 13 foot Whaler. I love the design and versatility of that boat.

For everyone who goes over the water, if you don’t like the fit of a foam life jacket, get an inflatable. They are easy to wear and they can save your life.

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Before Thanksgiving I got my line knotted up, was working on it for a few minutes & looked up, fog came in out of nowhere & you couldn’t see anything.
Maybe 15 minutes later it was gone so we kept fishing, 30 minutes it happened again & slowly made our way back to the landing
All around the landing it was perfectly clear, it was really strange

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Sounds like an anamoly. I went sailing and swimming in the lake a fair amount of times as a kid. I agree the water can get a bit choppy, and it's cold af, but I don't recall anything especially dangerous unless there are some currents or something I'm unaware of going on.

I tell this, not on reference to this baw, but hope it helps someone in the future.

I had an insurance agent tell me one time that most drowned boaters were found with no life jacket, pants unipped, and dick out. This was due to baws standing as close to the edge as possible, to keep from getting a drip on the boat, when a little wave came along, rocking the boat, and causing him to fall in.

Let's be careful out there.

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Out of curiosity, how so?

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For a given wind speed shallow lakes like Pontchartrain and Maurepas get much bigger swells than deeper lakes.

I had been on the water all my life but the first summer storm I got caught in on Maurepas had me wondering if the boat or I was going to survive. I swear to this day the troughs were exposing bottom. I have never worked a throttle so hard in my life and my heart rate probably dropped 80bpm when we finally got into the mouth of Blind River.