Went fishing to Rock lake yesterday, fishing was good but saving two young mens lifes,off the chart! God bless I was there fishing, I had made plans to go to the Snake river to go for steelhead, but the last two times out we've been skunked, so we went to Rock lake. The lake is, to those who know it, very dangerous and unpredictable. With the people I take out to the lake I showed them the rock towers that shoot up from 200 ft. to 300 ft. down up to 1 ft under the waters surface . We had seen these two boys go down the north side of the lake to the far end to the incoming creek. We were on the south side trolling. I still was showing Don the spots to look out for when we heard the small boat coming back on the south side of the lake where we had been trowling. I had just been telling Don about the two boys that had died on the lake several years ago. Don and I were now trowling on the north side of the lake when we heard load hollering from the south side of the lake where we had last seen the boys. I looked through my binoculars and saw no boat only debris. We started the boat up and headed to help the boys as fast as we could. We pulled both boys into our boat as their boat had already sunk. They were both suffering from hypothermia. The boat had hit one of the under water towers of rock and they had to swim 100 yards fully clothed to shore, which if you know Rock Lake you can't climb the cliffs out and swiming in 28 degree water to get out isn't going to happen. It was the boys first time in the boat and it was way over its weight limit, the first time in Rock Lake and they didn't tell anybody they were there and we were the only other boat there. The boys could have died, the moral of the story is to research the lake and its trouble spots, know your boat and its limits, weather is unpredictable,

The Fisherman

2/16/2012 10:18:00 PM

I guess you were their hero, good job!

goodtimesfishing

2/16/2012 10:26:00 PM

I do not know that lake, but there should be some kind of buoy or something to show people of this spot that is so dangerous. Thank god you where there and able to save the boys. They will remember you for the rest of their lives.

tomnordman

2/16/2012 10:52:00 PM

Great job!!!! when ever I fish Rock I always let people know where I am going and call when I am in cell range (always before dark). This lake has some danger areas and I stay clear of them. I have been fishing this lake for a few years and spent the 1st year just learning what the bottom looks like while manageing a few fish in the process. The most important thing I have learned is to respect the lake. If the wind starts to pickup leave, if you don't know the area stay away, and be prepared for anything. I did not travel to the far end until the 2nd year. Fished it today and had lots of take downs but only boated 2 (browns close to Johnson beach area) the fish are there you just have to work for them. Water temp 37 degrees and murky at Rock creek area.

fullybuilt2.0

2/16/2012 11:58:00 PM

Very kind of you. We need more people like you in the outdoors. Im sure those boys are forever in your debt. I hope this is lesson learn for them too.

ericksg

2/17/2012 8:40:00 AM

good job dave, good job.

P-FITZ98

2/17/2012 11:50:00 AM

WOW.Great job.I would sure like to know where the hidden dangers are at Rock. Ive fished it a few times and got blown off once.More info would be great from you local guys.

P-FITZ98

2/17/2012 12:26:00 PM

WOW.Great job.I would sure like to know where the hidden dangers are at Rock. Ive fished it a few times and got blown off once.More info would be great from you local guys.

Anglinarcher

2/17/2012 3:01:00 PM

I don't know how one could put buoys on every dangerous spot on Rock, there are too many of them. The spot that I suspect they got in trouble at is one I call the mine field, and it is about 500 yards by perhaps a mile. How do you mark that?

I have GPS marks on almost every spot, but I have not transferred them to any map.

Here is my concern! Let's say that I, or someone that knows the spots, posts this information and someone hits one that we missed. Who do you think the lawyers will be after. Personally, I won't take the legal risk, even to save lives.

That is a sad commentary on how America is. I would rather that someone die than be sued by some money hungry family or lawyer.

Sad enough is the fact that I have similar GPS data on Sprague Lake, another lake of concern.

Honkster

2/20/2012 10:41:00 AM

Anglinarcher - How about posting some of your informaton on this sites map for the lake? Possibly sketch some general areas of lake hazards and email a PDF of it to the editor for incoporation into their online map. Just a thought. Fish On!

P-FITZ98

2/23/2012 8:58:00 AM

Great article by Landers in the paper today. Anglinarcher's concern is right on with WDFW about the dangers.Sad but true.Honkster has a good idea, and I like to fish Rock as much as anyone, but sure dont want to end up as another victim.

blood-water

2/27/2012 7:08:00 PM

what if we all tried suggesting to fish and game that instead of marking the rocks and pillars they just simply placed a big warning sign at the launch stating Warning random rock pillars, Boating and swimming at own risk. just an idea hope that helps

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