Peter Charles wrote in
:

Solitude + wisdom = no problems.

Spoken by the guy who waded into a fast run today, without using his
staff.

For the first time my time fly fishing, I got myself in some serious
trouble wading. Not that I was in any danger, but I panicked and
stopped thinking clearly, which was the real danger.

I was fishing the very lower Battenkill close to the Hudson for the
first time. I saw a nice fish working just off the opposite bank, but
my bank had deep, fast water up against it. I walked up my side, wading
out now and then to test my ability to get across. When I found a spot,
I made it out to ankle deep water in the middle of the river -- the
deepest part getting out was about 6 inches below the top of the
waders.

I got the fish I was targetting and I lingered out there as the white
fly hatch got going. As it was getting darker and no rise got going, I
thought I would head back. Though I thought I made a good mental note
of where I crossed, in the fading light I could not recongnize it for
the life of me. At one point I was a mere 5 feet from the bank, but a
huge boulder in front of me spooked me. It was then I started to get
nervous.

I backed out to the shallow water in the middle. I decided to make for
an island on the other side. Once again the water started to get deep
and then I panicked thinking I am now stuck out here. Back to the
middle again. It was getting very dark now.

I tried walking downstream and up, but as anyone in this position could
testify to, it's like looking for a needle in the hay trying to find a
way out in unfamiliar water.

Evenutally I paused, took a few deep breaths and realized that if worst
came to worse, the 5 feet gap in my first attempt is barely even a swim
and could easily get out that way.

To cut a long story short, I tried the opposite bank again and with a
clearer head and bit more confidence, I made it to the island. I had
to trek a few hundred yards to cross a muddy back water. From there I
climed up the other side and walked the road back to my car.

Lesson learned? Keep a clear head. At dusk leave 10 mins before you
think you should. Don't be a wading hero in unfamiliar water.