A lost fisherman on the Missouri river

[Wild and Free]

To piggy back off of Lycans post, I ride my motor up. I can stand on the lower unit, and press the up switch right on the back of the motor and it raise me up to where I can step right onto the back.

Would be hard to do with the engine running and in gear like in this case.

 

[Lycanthrope]

Would be hard to do with the engine running and in gear like in this case.

Pretty sure neither of us were talking specifically about this case... ;:;banghead

 

[Wild and Free]

:;:sorrySorry Lycan was just sticking to the facts of the original story line. Don't want to get my chops busted by not having my facts straight again.

 

[b52beaver]

Yeah if there ever was a gut check to put life into perspective this is it. there's a lot of dots that don't connect, fact is they never will. we've been running Humminbird Mega Imaging from Hazelton to Rice. Doesn't help when the lake is as high as it is. Just need to bring him home.

 

[buckhunter24_7]

Sad deal I always wear my life jacket at all times if I am by myself I think the odds of me catching up to the boat with all my clothes on with even just the trolling motor on low would be tough. Just something for everyone to think about.

 

[Allen]

I'm not going to lie, falling in out of the bow of my Fisherman came to mind when I bought my last two trolling motors (one was actually an upgrade). I wear my IPilot remote control around my neck every time I am in the boat. Now with the ulterra, I can actually get the motor to deploy and boat to "anchor". I also found it an easy argument to slap a good ladder on the back when the kids asked for it last eyar. The he-man in me said I was getting tired of pulling the kids back into the boat. The reality is I had to swim after my boat a few years ago up at Misty Waters to catch it before it got out of the harbor (crappy job of tying it up). I didn't get into the boat until after we exited the mouth of the harbor and that was by crawling up the motor as it idled in neutral.

Moral of the story, don't short yourself on anything that makes it easier for you to return home at the end of the day!

Sincerest condolences to the family, this has been a very sad deal.

 

[b52beaver]

Bump

 

[ffjr]

Is there anyone one on this thread that could give me some information (water speed/depth/contour maps/ etc.) about the Ft. Rice area? I do understand that the river changes often, but anything help would be great. Reason for asking is that myself and some others from my department have been asked to help in the search tomorrow. Thanks!

 

[Vollmer]

^
Im not familiar. Wish I could help.

 

[dean nelson]

That area is a half and half with it being part river part lake so it doesn't change all that much from sandbars but changes dramatically depending on the level of the lake. Big thing is that's into the very southern portion of the other headwaters marsh and that shit can be a jungle! This pic is due east of the ramp on the east shore. Even though it looks like land in front of us the nearest dry shore are the pine trees way in the background on the left. This is smart weed and it's five feet deep in the weeds and eight in the open hole for perspective. Hopefully the water was low enough that most of the real bad chunks like this were out of play but it's definitely not an ideal location to find someone with so many things to get snaged on good luck.

 

[Chas'n Tail]

I'm almost 100% sure it's already being done, but just to make sure it's said, I hope drones are being used. Amazing what they can do, and when teamed up with a HD display, it really does speed the search up.

 

[Allen]

Is there anyone one on this thread that could give me some information (water speed/depth/contour maps/ etc.) about the Ft. Rice area? I do understand that the river changes often, but anything help would be great. Reason for asking is that myself and some others from my department have been asked to help in the search tomorrow. Thanks!

Deepest water in the area is a little over 20 ft, current at the max is about 2 mph with LOTS of slower water. There are lots of eddy's and slackwater areas. I'd contact NDDES to ask for any latest aerial photos and analyze them for the noted eddy's and slackwater areas. Perhaps Civil Air Patrol could help in that regard.

 

[ndfinfan]

Sad deal I always wear my life jacket at all times if I am by myself I think the odds of me catching up to the boat with all my clothes on with even just the trolling motor on low would be tough. Just something for everyone to think about.

Excellent point buck...I never throw a lifejacket on when fishing alone...will in the future. Just think we take so much for granted and never consider the possibility of something bad happening.

 

[shorthairsrus]

Sad to hear about loss. Hope u find him. My gmpa bank ratted that river for years and years. He was unsteady when he got in his 80s. More then once did he fall in and the river current took him downstream. Little scary but somehow he would swim to shore and climb out.

 

[ffjr]

Thank you all for the useful information and was a lot help during yesterdays search.

 

[tinker]

bump
They have a search organized for tomorrow fyi

 

[Wildyote]

The fisherman missing is my uncle darv gratz. I wish I could tell you what we think happened but the sad fact is we have no idea and might never. Right now our focus is just finding him so there can be closure. with the boat being in gear when they found it makes it tough to narrow down a location. boat was found about 200 yards south from the Ft. Rice dock running against the rocks. It looks like whatever happened happened sometime after 6pm last Wednesday evening, it is a 2014ish black aluminum Lund Tyee. everything in the boat was put away so it seems he was done fishing and possibly getting ready to load up and leave. like I said its entirely speculation. truck and trailer were still in the parking lot so our best guess is somewhere between Hazelton and the low water ramp at Rice he fell off. Which also gives us a ton of water to search. if anyone happened to have seen anything odd or even the boat in a ballpark area after 6 the info would be great. If anyone is fishing from Hazelton South in the next week or so I ask you just keep an eye out. like I said the accident is tragic enough , not being able to find him is worse. any info can be relayed to the Morton County Sheriffs dept. or you can call or text me 701-527-6162 Thanks

Our prayers are with you and your family. I was talking to my wife about it and she said that Darv's mother used to babysit her.

 

[b52beaver]

Drones were being used. State patrol is flying the area every day now. There's a few of us that won't be stopping till we find him. I've zerolined the bottom of the river from Hazelton to south of rice. Deepest cut is 31.5 ft seems more like he's probably closer to where we found the boat. Even being in gear i don't think it went far after whatever happened. Next few days will be the most important. Big thanks to everyone on Saturday who came out. Also thanks for getting the word out. We're gonna find him.

 

[guywhofishes]

Godspeed.

 

[labhunter66]

Drones were being used. State patrol is flying the area every day now. There's a few of us that won't be stopping till we find him. I've zerolined the bottom of the river from Hazelton to south of rice. Deepest cut is 31.5 ft seems more like he's probably closer to where we found the boat. Even being in gear i don't think it went far after whatever happened. Next few days will be the most important. Big thanks to everyone on Saturday who came out. Also thanks for getting the word out. We're gonna find him.

Good luck with your search and prayers to your family. From having been on multiple dive rescue teams I can tell you to keep your sonar searches close to the area where you think he may have entered the river. Even in heavy currents bodies don't move until they start to float. With drones and the highway patrol flying they'll spot him from the air eventually if you don't find him. Hopefully for your families sake it's sooner rather than later.