Cold water

[Oldfart9999]

With the water getting colder don't forget to wear your PFD all the time you're in the boat now. Hypothermia can happen in water in the 60s. We want you to stay around the site.
Rodney

[Mike Cork]

Great reminder! 70 degree water will take your breathe from you 60 can stop your breathing when you hit it

[Thornback]

Cold weather can also bring on hypothermia if you are exposed without adequate protection. A friend and I went to a large lake in just cool weather. It was misting rain when we launched, nothing bad, but later it started raining a slow cold rain and the wind picked up. We were miles from the ramp and across a stump field. Then came the white caps. We started shivering. I suggested we make our way to the ramp but he wanted to wait-out the rain. There wasn't another boat in sight and I felt the rain would last all day. I told my buddy if we set-it-out we could die from hypothermia. I tried to traverse the underwater stump field but the wind was overpowering my trolling motor. So I had to idle my outboard through the stumps, bouncing off a few. We finally made it to the channel and I was so cold and shivering I had to run at a much slower speed than WOT. When we arrived at the ramp there were no trailers and that proved to me we should have also checked the weather report. I asked my buddy if he wanted to get in the truck and run the heater for a while. He wanted to load the boat right away and leave. We were freezing and I mean chilled to the bone. On the way home with the truck heater as hot as we could get it I believe it took us about a half hour to "thaw out". After that day I vowed to always check the weather report and to never again fish in the rain.

[Oldfart9999]

That's why my rain gear never leaves the boat!
Rodney

[Donald Garner]

I always check the weather prior to any trip and my rain suit and 100mph suit never leave the boat.  If they get used during the trip once I get home they get dried and repacked back into the boat.