Picture this: you’ve just made the catch of your life fighting a monster fish that spun your kayak like a top. You’re lined up for a classic photo with your catch when… the monster fish leans towards the water. Your boat leans too. Faster than you can process, you’re in the water, fish gone, viral video secured.

What’s next?

After taking a swim, you’ll need to self-rescue back into your fishing kayak. Here are three videos demonstrating different techniques anglers rely on for kayak fishing.

Deep water reentry with a stirrup, or rescue ladder

In this video, Chad Hoover walks through some very detailed instructions on how to get back into your fishing kayak in deep water. Hoover’s first advice: make sure to practice, and make sure to practice with a dummy rod and/or gear you wouldn’t mind losing to understand fully how your fishing gear might complicate your self rescue.

This video is especially great for all the practical advice it gives that can help make your self rescue smoother. 

For this rescue, you’ll need a stirrup or a rescue strap. We’ll also share instructions for making your own rescue stirrup in the third video below. Here is how Hoover breaks down the technique:

  1. You’ve capsized! Stay calm and make sure your PFD is snitched all the way down and not loose; a loose PFD will ride up on your neck and can make getting out of the water even more difficult.
  2. Without losing contact with your boat, locate your rescue strap or stirrup.
  3. Secure one end of your rescue stirrup to the handle of your boat on one side. Keep the side with the loop you will step into with you, or toss it over to the opposite side of the boat.
  4. Without losing contact with your boat, crawl hand over hand to the other side of your fishing kayak.
  5. Rest for a second if needed.
  6. Secure your foot in the stirrup and grip the rope. Use the strap to pull your capsized boat upright with your body weight.
  7. Try to lay your seat down and minimize things that may snag on your PFD or clothes and make reentry difficult.
  8. Put your foot into the loop on your rescue stirrup, and use it to boost yourself into your kayak.
  9. Belly, boat, butt: Pull up and launch your belly onto your boat. Stay low on the deck and bring as much of your weight toward the center as possible.
  10. Twist into a sitting position. You’ve recovered!

In addition to taking the time to practice reentering your kayak in deep water, Hoover also advises testing your edges, or how far your kayak can lean before tipping, to become more comfortable in your boat.

Deep water reentry without a stirrup 

While a stirrup can certainly make your self-rescue in a fishing kayak easier, it is not the only way for anglers to get back into a capsized kayak. In this video by Kayak Fishing Tales, Jim Sammons these steps to a deep water reentry without a stirrup:

  1. Turn your boat upright by reaching under the kayak and grabbing a handle or strap on the far side. Pull the far side strap towards you under the water while pushing up on the nearside of the boat.
  2. Kayak Fishing Tales believes it’s best to stay upwind of your kayak whenever possible because your legs can be swept under the kayak and it can be harder to get next to the kayak to get yourself up.
  3. Come up alongside your kayak while always maintaining contact with your boat. 
  4. Put one hand across the kayak and the other on the handrail that’s nearest to you. (Don’t try and pull yourself straight up! You’ll only reflip the boat onto yourself.
  5. Get your elbows high, float your legs, and push down on the kayak while flopping your belly onto the deck. You’ll want to get far enough toward the middle of the kayak that it’s relatively simple to…
  6. Twist into the sitting position or roll your butt into the seat while staying low, leaning your head over the centerline of the kayak.
  7. Once your butt is in place, sit up. You should find yourself in a seated position, sidesaddle on the kayak with your feet still in the water. 
  8. When you begin to feel stable and confident, bring your feet back into the boat.

While a stirrup can be helpful, it’s easy to see that reentry without a stirrup can be much faster. When cold water is involved, a fast self-rescue could mean the difference between life and death. 

DIY rescue stirrup and underwater reentry view

In this video by Steve Moore of Kayak Hacks Fishing, the angler shares how to make and use your own rescue stirrup for deep water self-rescue into your fishing kayak.

  1. Use a thick, strong piece of robe and PVC pipe to build your rescue stirrup. Use a loop just slightly larger than the size of your boot. Be careful not to make the stirrup too wide and consider customizing your loop to your boot size to avoid slippage. 
  2. To self-rescue: Attach the stirrup to the side rail of your kayak.
  3. Throw the stirrup to the opposite side. 
  4. Move to the opposite side of the kayak without letting go of your boat.
  5. From the side of the kayak you are now on, grab your stirrup handle and use your feet on the side of the kayak to push while pulling the stirrup to recover your kayak.
  6. Your kayak is now upright! Toss or move the stirrup again to the opposite side of the kayak.
  7. Without letting go of your kayak, get to the opposite side of the kayak and begin reentry with stirrup assist. 
  8. Remove obstructions from the kayak on the side that you plan to enter. 
  9. Put your boot in the stirrup and your hand on the rope. Stay low on the kayak as you pull yourself horizontally across the kayak. Underwater, use the stirrup to kick from the side rather than like a step ladder below the kayak.

Kayak Fishing Hacks also points out that putting too much weight on the edge of the kayak as you try to reenter is a common mistake; this mistake comes in pushing vertically down on the edge of your kayak rather than pulling yourself horizontally across the kayak.

football quarterback rescued at sea by U.S. Coast Guard. Former College Quarterback Rescued From Kayak After 12 Hours At Sea (Video)

Big takeaways for fishing kayak self-rescue

While watching videos is an excellent start to upping your on-water safety, practice is better. Moreover, practice in the conditions you fish in.

If you’re out fishing in two-foot waves and cold water, it’s important to find a controlled way to practice self-rescue in those conditions rather than practicing only on calm, sunny days. 

Bring a friend with you while you practice and have them shake your kayak while you try to re-enter to simulate waves; practice reentry while wearing the gear you wear fishing. How does a kayak full of gear complicate your reentry?

One thing missing from all the videos above is paddle placement while reentering. Deep water self-rescue is excellent to practice, but your fishing kayak self-rescue is going to be a lot more effective if you can continue to paddle after.

In order to do this, practice your self-rescue while holding your paddle in your hand so when your rescue is complete, you can head back to reeling in the next monster fish—one that, hopefully, doesn’t drag you out of your boat this time.

There are many ways to self-rescue into your fishing kayak; ultimately, the best rescue is the one that works best for you.

Angler dragged out of kayak by massive fish. Featured image: Robert Field | YouTube @yakfishfield

Kayak anglers doing a self-rescue on the water How To Self-Rescue In A Fishing Kayak

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