Since last Sunday’s column, which focused on the drowning death of a high school honor student at Lake Waco’s Airport Park, two more people have drowned in the same area. Along with the rest of Waco, I offer my deepest condolences to their families.

In honor of the three people now missing from our community, I will underscore an important point: the recent drownings occurred not in the middle of the lake, but relatively near the shore.

It may appear that swimming near the shoreline —whether inside or outside the swimming beach ropes — is safer than in the middle of the lake, but this is a dangerous illusion.

The shoreline swimming areas at Lake Waco have been created and marked to provide swimmers with predictable footing and a gradual drop to deeper water. Outside the ropes, bottom structure is unpredictable and can be treacherous because of sudden drop-offs. There are plenty of other underwater hazards outside the ropes, as well, like submerged trees, trot lines and debris.

Even strong swimmers can get into trouble in the water — especially when factors like exhaustion and alcohol are in the mix — but if you aren’t a strong swimmer, don’t go in the water without a life jacket — no matter what. Walking into murky waters without the ability to swim or without floatation is like walking across a freeway with your eyes closed. Uneven footing and submerged debris are realities in lakes, and they can be deadly.

Kayak fishing

Andy and Matt McNew recently took a break from their plans to terrorize opposing quarterbacks this fall and went on an afternoon fishing trip to Tradinghouse, and it was a day of legend.

The brothers, who are students at Robinson and avid kayak anglers, put their boats in around 4 p.m. Within minutes, Andy hooked into a chunky largemouth near the boat ramp that registered 3 pounds on the scale, so their expectations rose sharply.

After releasing the fish, they paddled toward the dam, catching a few small fish along the way, but the boys were a little disappointed after such a strong start.

Then suddenly, the water in front of them began to roil, and within seconds, the surface had come to a full-boil with a fish feeding frenzy.

“We quickly cast into the school,” Andy said, “and we were both immediately hooked up with some quality largemouth bass.”

They kept catching them on every cast for a little while, and soon saw more schooling activity about 50 yards from the shoreline. “We paddled out to the schooling fish and hooked into some absolute monster white bass,” he said.

McNew said the schooling action started about an hour before dark, adding that they left the fish biting.

“We could still hear the splashing of bass launching themselves completely out of the water chasing the schools of shad as we paddled away.”

They caught over 70 fish total, with most being keeper-sized largemouth bass. Shad-colored medium-diving crankbaits, Rat-L-Traps and weightless-rigged flukes were top-producing baits.

Flukes brought in bigger fish, but crankbaits produced more numbers, McNew said. “It was one of the greatest fishing trips I’ve ever had.”

Remembering Dad

The sights and smells of recent mornings bring to mind summertime fishing trips with my dad.

My brother Derek and I learned a lot on those trips. We learned how to fish and shoot, set up a camp, drive a stick-shift, get ourselves out of quicksand and how to clean and cook fish over a campfire. Then there were the philosophical discussions that inevitably came up from resting a sleeping bag and looking up at the stars.

On this Father’s Day, the first one without my dad, I’m thankful for all the lessons I didn’t know I was learning at the time. Take your kids to enjoy the great outdoors.

Bassmaster title

Pro bass fisherman Kevin VanDam garnered enough points Saturday to close the deal he said he’s been focused on since his first cast this season: the 2011 Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year award, his seventh best-angler title and fourth consecutive.

He also became the first pro to land Angler of the Year and Bassmaster Classic titles in the same season for two seasons running.

“This one means as much if not more to me. Winning never gets old when you’re competing against these guys,” VanDam said.

Waco angler Alton Jones was the AOY front-runner from tournaments 2-5 this season. The award is accompanied by a $100,000 check.

Monday, VanDam is scheduled to be featured on ESPN’s Mike & Mike in the Morning.

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