Hopefully, my misfortune will help someone else avoid similar anguish.

I was ready to go after calicos at Aliso sat AM--nice overcast, good incoming tide, wetsuit on, rod rigged, etc. Surf was small but appeared to be a tad bit frequent. I started to back in and waited for a lull on the steep beach. Just as I committed, a small wave appeared but I thought I was ok. The beach's steepness caused it to jack and I was flipped face forward over the falls towards the beach. It happened so fast--I couldn't grab my prescription glasses and they were gone in a swirl of sand and water (I used to wear contacts but can't anymore). Coarse sand was injected everywhere--ears, mouth, nose, inside my fullsuit. Fortunately, I held a tight grip on my calcutta 815XFA rod. The spare Abu 5500C3 on it was flooded and sand injected too. Lost my hat as well. I'm blind as a bat w/o glasses so I had to have my wife drive down with an old pair of contacts so I could drive home. Quite humbling--I'd heard of guys being flipped but never thought it would happen to me. The ease of flipping the tube was amazing. I ended up with a bruise and abrasions on my forehead, abrasions on my right hand and $200 poorer after visiting LenCrafters for new glasses this PM.

Lessons learned:

Never be too casual in what appear to be mellow conditions

Pack anything that can fly off like glasses inside a zipped pouch and take them out for use later

This is exactly why one shouldn't wear waders in open water

Get Lasik surgery ASAP

David - sorry to hear of your misfortune and thanks for sharing it with us (waking us up!). I've been close a couple of times and it is amazing how fast they can sneak up on you. It is also amazing how it doesn't take a very big wave to flip you over.

Glad it was just a couple scratches and a few bones lost. Easy to break bones when you hit wet sand at wierd angles.

Amish Ed
You Can't Catch it again if
it's Dead!

Hey fongster, I just had the lasik surgery done 2 weeks ago and I love it!!! Makes life so much easier and is definatly worth the investment. Sorry to hear about your crash but at least you didnt get hurt to bad.

It takes just one wave to flip you over like that! The scary thing...especially with surfing and to a lesser extent fishing is that bad injuries seem to happen on the smaller days and not the bigger days. For those who are not experienced waterman, remember if you go "over the falls" NEVER go head first! ALWAYS put your hand out to break your fall and/or fall flat on your back rather than diving into the water (very important in shallow water) so you don't break your neck! It takes just one wave to potentially put you in a wheelchair for life if you land wrong...please be careful!

Fongster,

Glad that overall your ok. Shaken up I'm sure but I'm sure you are counting your blessings tonight. I've had some experiences while surfing when I thought I had bought the farm.

That said, thanks for posting so others can benefit from it!

Tight Lines!

Thanks for your kind words everyone. In my surfing days (I do want to start again) I augered-in on an overhead backside left at HB State. It looked so clean and I wasn't too late. It just hit the bar hard and jacked w/o warning. I caught an edge and was thrown forward so fast I couldn't get my hands out and my head hit the bar instantly--it was so shallow. I thought in my stunned daze, "oh, oh, wheelchair...". Fortunately, that wasn't the case and I praised God for sparing me from that. I did suffer a huge abrasion from my hairline (took a chunk of hair out) down my forehead around my left eye and onto my cheek. Looked like a beltsander was applied to me. Be careful all.

Any of you familiar with the area just north of Santa Monica but south of Malibu where those old corrugated aluminum groins exist? It's a short ways up from Wylie's tackle shop. They're all rusted and jaggedy and covered with barnacles. There's a bit of kelp in the area too. It's an awesome spot. I've caught all 3 species of bass there. Awesome!
But a word of caution to you, here's my story:
I was up there one summer day having a ball & just rippin' lips. It was warm & sunny and the swell was flat. I lined myself up perfectly off the end of one of those groins so I could cast down the length of it and retrieve my swimbait parallel to it. Cool, I'm catchin' fish.
Then all of a sudden a rogue wave comes in and I'm damn near vertical on the face of it. I'm also staring straight down at the groin. I say to myself,"This is gonna suck... 4 years of military skydiving, 500+ jumps including 2 malfunctions and I'm gonna die fishing from an float tube." Just then I slide down the back side of the wave and I think COOL!!!! but then I think I'm gonna get reamed in the trough behind the wave. It didn't happen. I was VERY VERY lucky. I got out and went home very shaken up. I didn't fish that spot for a very long time after that.
The moral of the story is obvious. Don't line yerself up with those groins and ALWAYS have one eye watching the swell. Even on flat days.

I know exactly how you feel without those glasses..Good
thing you were able to get a hold of your wife..
Every now and then I guess the ocean likes to let people
know who's really in charge. Well it's good to hear that you
made it out with only a few scratches and bruises.


Henry,

Whats up fellow fisher persons (not to offend any gender, race, or ethnicity).
Been a while since I stopped in but this is a topic I rather enjoy. If you know anything about me, which you may hope you didnt, you would know I am one of the premiere Jackasses of fishing. Willing to go and do the dumbest things, just for the sake of it. Well, my stupidity isnt just limited to women, it extends heavily into float tubing as well. As Rob will tell you, I have charged many a decent wave in my float tube, only to be flipped...4-5 times??? Yeah, some people never learn. Anyways I have been flipped on them all and to date, no injuries and minimal gear lost (anyone find a tackle box of plastics around Rincon???). If you want some decent info on how to get through the waves look on the float tubing section about launching through the waves. I wrote it myself so you know its pretty much bull, but there are two decent photos of me getting slammed by some waves. Oh, and yes I did make it out without getting tossed, and yes, Rob is the wuss taking the picture from shore and never venturing out.

Later fishmasters
Jamon

"I wrote it myself so you know its pretty much bull"

Jamon, guest of all guests. Good to see you lurking. As I recall the day we got those pics, my float tube strap broke on a wave but I didn't flip. So I let you go be the smart one and charge the beach break. I went around the corner and almost got killed by a good one anyway but made it out. And then they were doing blasting on the oil piers and we had to go in anyway. That sucked. You get props though because you have been flipped more time than anyone I know. You been fishing lately? Where's the Alaska barni report?