Most Fly Anglers Who Drown Aren't Wearing PFDs–Here's Why That Matters

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The Patagonian river was high, fast, and flooded into the willows. No one wore a PFD. Everyone wore waders. The raft had no lean bars and a soft floor. For most anglers, this looked like a routine float trip–but to anyone who has worked river rescue, it was a terrifying storm of risk.

An hour’s drive downstream, and across the border, this is a renowned Class IV/V whitewater river where I guided whitewater kayaking in another life. That experience provided me with context on this river and its power. Our section on this day was fast moving water with no rapids.

With a stack of river and whitewater credentials, including mentoring the examiners who certify whitewater kayak instructors, extensive training and certification in river rescue, and having guided on big scary rivers on three continents, I was eminently comfortable on moving water. However, this perfect storm of risk factors was a bit unnerving.

I immediately thought of guests who are perhaps older, less agile, and not as strong. With a swim to shore protected by a labyrinth of willows, getting a swimmer to shore was out of the question. The only rescue would be from the boat. And how difficult would that be to perform? Given that the swimmer would likely be exhausted and hypothermic? Perhaps with mobility issues? And wearing waders that are full of water?

PFD wearing by floating fly fishermen, with an outfitter or private trips, seems to be a quaint suggestion, done only by those who can overlook the idea that other anglers might not find this particularly “cool.” In this article we’ll take a look at the numbers, and the rationale for wearing PFDs on your next float trip.

River Deaths By the Numbers

Few people in the world know more about death and carnage on moving water than Charlie Walbridge. Charlie was one of the people who created more form-fitting PFDs for athletic pursuits. Along the way he became involved with examining and cataloging river deaths and near misses. That effort was not as a macabre past time, but so that the river community could learn from the mistakes of others. This effort has not only informed, but has evolved the way that we train swiftwater professionals and execute swiftwater rescues.

Charlie’s interest led to American Whitewater’s (AW) Accident Database in 1975. Since then, it has catalogued over 2,600 deaths and near misses. Note that these numbers only account for moving waters, and for human-powered craft.

Deaths on Moving Water by the whitewater classification system since 1975 per AW are as follows:

• Percentage of all deaths from Class I – II moving waters: 16%
• Percentage of all deaths from Class III moving waters: 36%
• Percentage of all deaths from Class IV moving waters: 26%
• Percentage of all deaths from Class V moving waters: 22%

Number of victims not wearing PFDs: 20 percent.

While AW’s Accident Database is one national resource that we have, the sort function does not provide the granularity needed for our task. Without reading through each of the 2,600 plus reports we can’t identify how many deaths were attributed to floating fly fishermen, or if they were wearing PFDs, or if they were in cold water environments.

Getting a bit more detailed and looking at states that may see a higher percentage of floating fishermen and cold-water environments tells a bit of a different story.

According to Michael Haskins, Colorado’s Swiftwater Investigator, in almost 90 percent of the fatalities in Colorado waters, the victims were not wearing PFDs. Michael went on to state that, “…most of the drownings on swiftwater are also from victims not wearing PFDs.”

Aaron Kerr, Wyoming’s Law Enforcement Supervisor, had similar statistics. Of the deaths on Wyoming’s rivers, 80 percent were not wearing PFDs (opposite of AW’s data). Ten percent of those who were wearing PFDs and perished were fully equipped and experienced river users who were just in a bad place, and a PFD would not have changed the outcome. 

Maddie Johnson of Teton County Search and Rescue, also in Wyoming, adds a bit more context as its jurisdiction includes the fast-flowing Snake River. Of the fatalities that they responded to on the Snake, none were wearing PFDs.

The Case for PFDs

Besides the obvious aspect of displacing water and assisting one’s ability to float, a PFD serves many other purposes. Jim Kerr, owner of Rain Coast Guides on the Olympic Peninsula floats a wide variety of waters from the Class III Calawah, to the log choked Hoh, and more placid lowland marsh creeks. Jim has stated that with PFDs on his guests, he has one less thing to worry about as a guide. If someone goes in the water, the process is more of a paced recovery than a sprint to save someone’s life.

For many river professionals, a properly fitting PFD is also essential for recovering that swimmer. If in a boat, the shoulder straps serve as easily accessible haul loops that provide rescuers with an amazing point of leverage to quickly get a swimmer back in the boat–an aspect that Jim embraces as a guide. If the rescuer is land based or wading, those shoulder straps still serve as amazing haul loops to get an exhausted swimmer out of harm’s way.

Other advantages of wearing PFDs include insulation and impact abortion. On cold-weather trips, my PFD rests underneath my outer shell layer, providing an inch or more of closed-cell R value. And if I were to fall and hit a gunnel or raft frame with my torso, the result would likely be a slight bruise.

The Case for PFDs for Fly Anglers 

It appears that non-PFD-wearing participants experience a higher rate of fatalities in states with cold-water fisheries. The culprit being the very thing that trout need to survive–cold, highly oxygenated water. And it doesn’t matter if you are a 45-year-old mountain town athlete fishing in British Columbia or an octogenarian floating the Bighorn. The river does what the river does. It doesn’t care about your life.

Attorney James Moss, who literally wrote the book on liability in the outdoor industry, correctly observed that, “Sudden cold-water immersion is how most people drown in cold-water rafting. It is an internal heart attack. Not wearing a PFD increases the shock and decreases the warmth around your body.”

The case for commercial outfitters is even more compelling. Every state has very different PFD requirements. In Washington and Montana, for example, outfitters on rivers are required to follow the recreational guidelines, which means a PFD for each person in the boat, but no requirement for their wear. When asked about exposure to liability for a commercial outfitter, Moss replied, “Not having guests wear a PFD when you are a commercial guide and the case is almost no brainer.”

Finally, waders. While waders that are full of water will not “pull you down” because the water in your waders has the same density as the water in the rest of the river, waders that are full of water severely hamper mobility. That lack of mobility will exhaust a swimmer trying to reach safe harbor, and once exhaustion sets in, especially in cold water, it can be game over.

Michael Haskins of Colorado correctly stated that, “…newer fishing-specific PFDs from manufactures like NRS, Kokatat, and Stohlquist offer decent floatation, are approved for whitewater and are more comfortable than PFDs of the past.” There is little reason not to embrace a bit more floatation. Think of it as FlyAgra for your body. Float high, like your dry fly. And while a PFD will float you, nothing will beat using your brain and your sense of situational awareness.

Points of Resistance

Having a foot in the fly fishing and the river-running worlds, I’ve spent some time pondering points of the resistance to wearing PFDs in the fly-fishing community.

One aspect for frequent river users may be the “Familiarity Halo.” This is one of the six major heuristic traps that have been well studied when making decisions in high-risk environments–be it going on patrol with automatic weapons in a hostile country, entering avalanche terrain, or when running a river. The “Familiarity Halo” basically has the user rationalizing, “I’ve done this dozens/hundreds of times, and nothing bad has happened.”

Another aspect may be the heuristic trap of “Social Proof.” This may be especially prevalent in states where guide certification is the ability to fog a mirror and write a check to the state. Recreational users see guide boats putting on without a PFD in sight and don’t want to buck that social trend.

Corinne Doctor, Operations Director of North Point Brands (RepYourWater and Cheeky), nicely encapsulated Social Proofing with her comment, “…most people simply don't think about using a PFD on rivers. Unless the guide or the owner of the boat insists on it, the anglers and friends tend to not even give it a second thought as they put the trust in the person rowing them down the river both for their skills to keep everyone in the boat and in knowing whether there is higher danger in that section.”

Social Proof is a real thing, and it is well studied in choking victims. According to Jason Martin, Executive Director of the American Alpine Institute: “Many people who begin to choke hide. They're embarrassed so they go to the bathroom and are either able to spit up the blockage, or they die alone by the toilet.” Jason went on to state that, “The person who's choking is fully aware that they're making a dangerous decision, but their pride and fear of embarrassment override their self-preservation.”

Finally, the wearing of PFDs is not fashionable and does not complete the fly-fisherman “aesthetic.” In speaking to most major PFD brands and reps, they have related stories where fly fishermen, both wading and floating, desired some sort of floatation, but they don’t want to be an outcast. Anja Mueller of Mustang Survival stated that, “When I’ve been at consumer shows and shown some suitable PFD options, which are both fairly low-profile, the main concerns tend to be around visibility, standing out, and the fact that they don’t often see others wearing them.” Another aspect of Social Proof.

Skiing and cycling had the same dynamic with helmet wear. Logic prevailed over fashion, and fashion evolved to a new point.

Your Comfort Level with Risk

The decision to wear a PFD when floating is ultimately up to you and based on your personal choice, in many states.

In training whitewater kayak instructor candidates and working with the general public, I have formed “The Four Questions” as a tool to assess risk. I find that these questions perform equally well if on a river, or in a board room:

• What are the moves to get from Point A to Point B?
• Do I have the ability to make the moves?
• What are the consequences if I don’t?
• Am I willing to accept the consequences?

If you answer “no” to any on the above, the trip/run/move should be a no-go. The river does what the river does. It doesn’t care about your life.

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