Learning from Tragedy: On-the-Water Safety in Early Spring

April 14, 2025 By: Bob Romano

Editor’s Note: This is the nineteenth article in our series on fly fishing conservation. This series appears with the support of Epic Fly Rods. In this installment, Bob turns his attention from fish to fishermen…

As winter releases its months-long grip on northern New England and pictures of flooded rivers start appearing on social media, I am reminded of the risks of early-spring fishing. And with the recent anniversary of the tragic death of my young friend Jonathan Zukowski, I know firsthand just how real the threat is.

While working at my desk, I received a group email about an angler who had just gone missing and was presumed drowned on the Connecticut River in New Hampshire. My email, message, and text inboxes started filling up with related news. The gist was that a 31-year-old fly fisher had entered the water to retrieve a raft that had kicked its anchor, lost his footing, and was swept away by the swift current. Unable to reach him, his friends attempted to throw him a personal floatation device to no avail.

I checked the news to see where the purported drowning had taken place. I knew the location well, a big-fish tailwater section popular with guides. There were no names, and no body had been recovered yet. I hoped that the angler had made it to shore somewhere downstream or onto an island, and that the story would have a happy ending.

Soon, an email caught my attention as the heading contained a familiar first name. I opened it, and was stunned to learn that the missing angler was someone I knew and a member of Native Fish Coalition. I knew the two other anglers involved as well, both of whom were also members of NFC.

Sadly, this tragic scenario plays itself out across the nation each spring as winter-weary anglers hit the water for some early fishing. In fact, Jonathan’s death was not the first or last angler drowning I heard about that season.

Water Hazards

While perceived as relatively safe compared to many other activities, fly fishing—or anything undertaken on the water for that matter—is not without risk. In fact, according to the Center for Disease Control, close to 4,000 people drown in the United States each year, many of whom are recreational anglers.

According to one report, there were roughly 6,000 water-related deaths in Canada between 1991 and 2000. Of these, almost 900, or roughly 15%, were described as anglers. Anglers drown more than swimmers, and more than power boaters, sailors, canoeists, kayakers, and scuba divers . . . combined.

Jonathan operated Mountain High Fly, a fly shop in Lincoln, New Hampshire. He had a blog that spotlighted his fly tying and offered tips on travel, tackle, and technique. Jonathan was a fly designer, a skilled fly fisher, accomplished backcountry hunter, skier, and musician. There wasn’t much he couldn’t do, and well.

Jonathan was always somewhat guarded around me. I was older than his father and the head of an organization he belonged to. We spoke on the phone from time to time and swapped the occasional email, talking about fly fishing, fly tying, conservation, and fly-fishing retail. And I made a point to stop by his shop whenever I was in the area.

I followed Jonathan on Facebook, impressed by the outsized fish he caught, especially by New England standards. While much more of a free spirit than I ever was, in some ways Jonathan was what I used to be before life and responsibility got the best of me.

I spoke with the two anglers who were with Jonathan when he went missing to try to get my head around what had happened. They explained the chain of events and how things went bad faster than anyone could do anything about it. A broken fly rod and an armful of tangled fly line recovered from the river stood as a testimony as to how quickly things happened. A floatation device had washed up downriver, the would-be lifeline Jonathan’s friends had thrown to him.

The Long Wait

A couple of weeks prior to Jonathan’s passing, we sat down for a beer at a speaking engagement I was doing near his shop. We agreed to get out on the water as soon as things stabilized. Before leaving, I handed him a box of signed copies of Favorite Flies of Maine, a book I wrote that he contributed several pattern photos to.

For days after Jonathan went missing, family and friends gathered at the river while search-and-rescue teams combed the water for his body. Government vehicles lined the banks, and boats moved up and down the river. Small groups of people walked the banks peering into the murky water.

With all possibility of finding Jonathan alive exhausted, hope had turned to despair. I spoke with several of the searchers, some of whom had sons of their own. While they didn’t know Jonathan, they were as connected to him as the rest of us.

While the streamside vigils tapered down, search-and-rescue personnel from New Hampshire Fish and Game and other agencies continued their search for Jonathan for weeks. It took roughly a month before his body was found, bringing some closure to those who knew him.

I drafted Jonathan’s obituary, the toughest writing assignment I’ll ever have. I went as far as I could, and handed it off to his family to complete. I blogged about his passing on the NFC website and dedicated our New Hampshire chapter to his memory. But for various reasons, I never wrote about what had happened to my young friend.

Lessons Learned

Three years after Jonathan’s passing, I am finally writing what I should have written at the time. If not for Jonathan, then for the countless other anglers who head out in the spring never believing for a minute that it could be their last trip. And for the family and friends who would be forever changed by the loss of a loved one.

Jonathan was neither inexperienced, unskilled, or careless; he was a seasoned, competent, and accomplished outdoorsman. He was the last person you would expect to lose their life in an accident afield. Jonathan didn’t do anything reckless or irresponsible. He chased a boat that was drifting away as many reading this would do.

High flow and cold water, reported to be 8,000 cfs and 36 degrees at the time, turned what could have been a minor inconvenience into a tragedy of immeasurable proportion. Had it happened a month later the outcome would have been very different.

As an industry, we have gone to great lengths to protect fish. We promote catch-and-release, barbless hooks, and keeping fish wet. But we have fallen short of what is needed to protect anglers. It’s time we put a bit more focus into protecting us. Seasonal reminders warning of high and cold water would help. So would the occasional proactive safety article.

Be Prepared

There are things we can do to make spring fishing safer. And when it comes to safety, there is no such thing as being too careful or too well prepared. This is especially true in the spring when water flows are high and water temperatures are low.

High water propels you downstream faster and farther. Cold water saps your strength, slows your reaction time, and lessens the amount of time you can remain in the water and in control. You are basically facing a higher degree of difficulty with less strength and time to deal with it.

Below are some things you can do to lessen the likelihood of an accident while fishing in the spring. While it may seem like common sense, familiarity, experience, and confidence can cause you to overlook things. These oversights can have much higher consequences in the spring than they do during the rest of the season.

Avoid using undersized, poorly designed, or poor quality boats. Driftboats, rafts, and jetboats are the safest boats for use in high water. Canoes, recreational kayaks, rowboats, and small motorboats are best left at home until things settle down.
Don’t exceed your skill and experience level. Going out in water that is higher than what you are accustomed to is risky, as you may not be able to respond quickly enough to keep yourself out of trouble.
Don’t overload your boat. Excessive weight resulting from too many people and/or too much gear can impede your ability to control your boat properly.
Wear a Type III or Type I life jacket while in the boat. Some states require this by law at certain times of year. If things go bad, having a life jacket on greatly improves your odds of surviving.
Always have a Type IV throwable boat cushion and whitewater throw rope handy. These items can be invaluable in the event of an accident.
Always secure your boat when you get out of it. As someone who owned a driftboat for close to forty years, I learned to walk my anchor well up onto the shore in case the water came up.
Always wear a wading belt and make sure it is tight. Filling your waders in high and/or cold water greatly decreases your likelihood of survival. A tight belt also keeps some air in your waders which will help float you.
Consider wearing a Type V Automatic Inflating life jacket when wading. It won’t get in your way and it could save your life.

It’s easy to say what you should do to protect yourself while fishing in the spring. In fact, most of us already know. But many of us, including yours truly, have failed to do everything we should do to lessen the likelihood of an accident. We’ve been lucky. My friend Jonathan wasn’t.

Jonathan’s death has had a profound effect on me. To lose someone in their prime to a fishing accident is beyond comprehension. Three years later, I still think of Jonathan often. I think about the impact his passing has had on his family and friends.

Unfortunately, nothing can bring Jonathan back. The best we can hope for is to lessen the number of these types of tragedies going forward. It’s on us, all of us to do what we can to make a difference. We can do better; we must do better, there is too much at stake. . . .

BOB MALLARD has fly fished for forty years. He is a former fly shop owner, Registered Maine Fishing Guide, and fly designer. Bob is a blogger, writer, and author. He is also a founding member and Executive Director for Native Fish Coalition. Look for his books 50 Best Places Fly Fishing the Northeast, 25 Best Towns Fly Fishing for Trout, Squaretail: The Definitive Guide to Brook Trout and Where to Find Them, and Favorite Flies for Maine: 50 Patterns from Local Experts. His next book, Fly Fishing Maine: Local Experts on the State’s Best Waters is due out late 2022. Bob can be reached at BobMallard.com or [email protected].