Fisherman Rescued From Lake Allatoona

According to Larry Parris, of Acworth, it was divine intervention that a local fisherman was rescued from the chilly Lake Allatoona waters on Oct. 20.

Larry, (Crappiepappy on the GON web forum), his wife, Carol, and Stewart Wright (Crappieking), of Euharlee, were fishing for crappie below Little River at about 1:30 p.m. Larry and his wife fish weekly but usually are off the water by lunch. However, circumstances had them fishing a little later than normal. As they fished, Carol heard someone yelling, “Help!”

A man was in the water trying to get back in his bass boat.

Larry Parris, of Acworth, caught this 2-lb., 13-oz. slab from Lake Allatoona on Jan. 20, 2014.

“We headed in that direction,” said Larry. “There was another boat that got there just ahead of us. That guy was holding on to the fisherman who was in the water.”

The man in the water was noticeably larger than the man who had just pulled up in the other boat and was holding onto him. Luckily, Larry had just installed a ladder on his boat.

“We got my boat turned around, and Stewart and myself helped him get into my boat,” said Larry.

After the man had calmed down, he said he fell out trying to put the plug in his boat. The life jacket was on the back deck, and he was able to grab it and put only half of it on.

“He said he had been in the water an hour or two,” said Larry.

They were able to get the rescued angler back to the Little River boat ramp and his boat on the trailer.

They all sat in the parking lot for a little while to make sure the man was going to be OK.

“He told us thank you over and over again,’” said Larry.

Larry Parris, of Acworth, aka “Crappiepappy” on the GON web forum, caught this 1-lb., 8-oz. slab from Lake Allatoona on March 29, 2014.

The man, who appeared to be in his 60s, had a pretty bad gash on his head and complained his side hurt. He thought he hit it on the way out of the boat.

“He said at one point, he thought this was his last day on earth,” said Larry.

It’s still a mystery who the man was, other than he lived pretty close to the boat ramp.

“All I know was on his truck he had a Jesus fish, and one of my good friends said, ‘God has made you a fisher of men, literally,’” said Larry.