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| photo: Rob Faubert |
The second most read article on this site is my commentary on two fly fishing deaths that occurred on guided trips, way back from 2012 (read the original article here). One of the stories involved a guided float trip, where the guide and a client fell out of the boat and drowned, neither wearing life vests.
The courts in Montana have decided on another, almost mirror image story, from 2014
(although the decision was only rendered in December of 2018). This is likely the first guided fly fishing case to land in court in North America.
In this case, a fly fishing client fell from a guided raft as it slid over a rock shelf. As the guide attempted to pull the client in, a second client in the boat fell into the river. Two clients in the water, one guide in the boat. The guide let go of swimmer 1 to grab swimmer 2 who could not swim. Swimmer 2 was pulled in. Swimmer 1 drowned. Nobody was wearing life vests, even though they were available in the boat. The facts of the case are pasted below, for context.
There is some legal aspects to this case of interest only to legal types (link below to legal opinion), but this is about guiding and life vests. Guided clients need to wear life vests while in a boat. Full disclosure: I own a fly fishing guide service (www.algonquinflyfishing.com). Everybody wears a life vest (recognize that in Canada and some states, it is the law!). Most American jurisdictions have legislation regarding boating safety and the availability of life vests, but not on wearing them. As a colleague Trevor Braun pointed out, in Canada, Transport Canada regulations require that on all 'guided excursions' a life vest must be worn by clients. I view fly fishing falling under a commercial 'guided excursion' even though it is not specifically identified, but I'm sure someone would debate that. See a summary of Canada's guided excursion regs here, and the actual law here.
I have occasionally hired guides to take me down fishing rivers. Check this tally:
Number of times I have been offered a life vest: zero
Number of times I've been asked if I can swim: zero
Number of times I've been given a 'safety briefing': zero
Guiding fly fishing clients is no different than guiding whitewater rafting clients - in many places they take place on the same stretch of river. Rafting trips wear life vests, get a briefing, and even sometimes practice climbing back in the raft from the water (most of this is in Transport Canada regs).
Fishing guides (and clients) ignore the obvious, potential inherent risk of ending up in the water.
Facts of the case, if you are interested further:
Yeager is a professional fishing guide and outfitter. On July 17, 2014, Yeager took a paying client, Charles P. McJunkin on a guided fishing trip in a raft on the Stillwater River. As Yeager was guiding and operating the raft, McJunkin fell into the river and drowned. McJunkin was 81 years old at the time of his death.
McJunkin had gone on similar guided fishing trips with Yeager for approximately 20 years. In fact, in the week preceding the July 17, 2014 accident, McJunkin had floated and fished the Stillwater River three times with Yeager. On each occasion, Yeager put-in at the Johnson Bridge Fishing Access, and used the Swinging Bridge Fishing Access Site for a take-out at the end of the day. The Swinging Bridge take-out is approximately one-quarter mile above a set of rapids known as the Beartooth Drop. Yeager had never floated through the Beartooth Drop with McJunkin.
On the date of the accident, Yeager was guiding McJunkin and his partner, Julia Garner (“Garner”). The plan was to again float from Johnson Bridge to the Swinging Bridge take-out. The river conditions encountered by Yeager that day were characteristic of, and consistent with conditions he previously encountered on that stretch of the river. Yeager approached the Swinging Bridge take-out in the same manner as he had on the three earlier days of fishing. As he approached the take-out, the raft crossed an underwater shelf of rocks. When the rear of the raft passed the shelf, the boat rocked and McJunkin fell into the water. Although the raft was equipped with personal floatation devices (PFDs), McJunkin was not wearing one at the time.
McJunkin swam toward the raft, and Yeager attempted to position the raft so that McJunkin could grab ahold of the side. During this process, the party floated past the Swinging Bridge take-out. To complicate matters further, as Yeager attempted to pull McJunkin into the raft, Garner fell into the water. The parties dispute what caused Garner’s fall. Plaintiffs contend Yeager accidentally hit her with an oar. Yeager indicated he didn’t know what caused her to fall in, testifying “I don’t know if I hit a rock or a wave or whatever, Julie went in.” Garner yelled to Yeager that she could not swim. Yeager made the split-second decision to let go of McJunkin and attempt to save Garner, fearing she would drown otherwise. Yeager was able to pull her back into the raft as they entered the Beartooth Drop. Meanwhile, McJunkin lost contact with Yeager and the raft and floated through the rapid. He ultimately did not survive.
Legal analysis on this case and its implications can be found here.