Kenny Scham ,,, very experienced surf fisher lost to a rip at Martha's Vineyard I believe 2001 .. He went by the handle 10X10 because his tool of choice was a 10' 10 weight fly rod .. He had many friends that still frequent boards here today . Got a pm about my refferrence to 10X10 ... Thought you all should know .

Does anyone know the story? Was he alone or with anyone else?

That is a horrible and is something that many of us don't think about (that anything can happen). The recent happenings and talk of these tradgedies are definately an eye opener and will hopefully keep everyone awake to the possibilities out there.

his passing made the paper.

was an absolute shocker when we heard it.

he JUST moved from PA to MV to pursue his dream of guiding on the Vineyard, when he drowned or had a heart attack in Edgartown while guiding a client.

he is still missed. one of the great standup guys at SOL.

that heart attack thing has been mentioned before .. not disputing it but was said it may have been brought on by trying to tread water ..

I will always remember him for the deerhair flies he tied. Truly gifted.

I wasn't a member of this board yet, but remember the incident well. I was just getting into serious night fishing for bass on the Vineyard and was scared into going out and buying an inflatable pfd immediately. I have one that is a belt and i barely know its there when i wear it. Everyone I know and fish with has since gone out and purchased them. I dont wear it as often as I should, but always do in certain spots, where there is big surf or heavy current. I try to fish with someone as often as possible, but in all honesty, if something goes wrong in many places I fish, having someone there will only mean they will know where to search for me. Im not usually close enough to the guys I'm fishing with that if one of us goes down the other would be able to help. A dry top over my waders cinched tight with a belt and a pfd are a must for me.
I never knew 10X10 but because of his situation I am safer when on the water.

some of 10x10's posts were hilarious. "congraduations! you just invented the Lefty's Deciever!"

Do a search for his posts here and on SOL.. read them and learn.. man had a ton of knowledge.. and learn as well, from what took him.

I think he was guiding on MV at Eel pond when it happened..The person he was guiding made it out safe...RIP 10X10

one of Kenny's flies :)

I think he was guiding on MV at Eel pond when it happened..The person he was guiding made it out safe...RIP 10X10


So he was wading? So many stories.... must have been a great guy. Rest in peace Kenny and catch em up!

Like my brother said, Kenny was guiding a client on Eel Pond, which is just a small inlet/bay just north of Edgartown Harbor. To get to it is a walk of about a half a mile. When you arrive at the point where most people fish there is a drop off to about a 7' or 8' depth. The point of land or I should say strip of sand at half tide is only about a foot wide. The last 1/4 of a mile of the hike is in waist deep water at half tide also. You have to know the route at night, simply have to have gone out there during the day to become familiar with it. Kenny's client waded to far into the dropoff and was taking water over the top of his waders. Kenny got on the outside of his client, which placed himself in tremendous jeopardy, and pushed the client back up the sandy slope. Needless to say after doing that Kenny didn't have the strength to save himself with his waders filled up now. I have been there at night many times at many different tides. Its not the current because there really isn't one. Its just that nasty dropoff and the sandy slope. If the slope was gravel who knows things might have worked out differently.

RIP Kenny Schwam

I think it was 5 years ago this week :(

My god...those flies are ridiculous! How long would it take him to whip them up?

Horrible story but sounds like everyone took something from it...too bad it always happens to the good guys though...

He was good but he couldn't walk on water and that is what killed him, he was wading and got caught. No matter how good you think you know an area when it comes to surfcastong and ocean beach or teying to cross a creek entrance things change daily and zap, your a statistic.

I have a plug he made in my collection, a black needlefish.

Sad Story.......I'm sorry I never knew about him before this.....his work looks top notch!

I wasn't a member of this board yet, but remember the incident well. I was just getting into serious night fishing for bass on the Vineyard and was scared into going out and buying an inflatable pfd immediately. I have one that is a belt and i barely know its there when i wear it. Everyone I know and fish with has since gone out and purchased them. I dont wear it as often as I should, but always do in certain spots, where there is big surf or heavy current. I try to fish with someone as often as possible, but in all honesty, if something goes wrong in many places I fish, having someone there will only mean they will know where to search for me. Im not usually close enough to the guys I'm fishing with that if one of us goes down the other would be able to help. A dry top over my waders cinched tight with a belt and a pfd are a must for me.
I never knew 10X10 but because of his situation I am safer when on the water.

Given the recent tales of these tragedies. I think it would be smart of me to invest in one of these PFD's. Do you know the brand or model of the belt one your talking about?

I think back to a few times I've be out in gnarly places and how screwed I would have been If I never did regain my footing when I had fallen down.

http://cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0043183943220a&type=product&cmCat=search&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&No=20&noImage=0&Ntt=inflatable+pfd&Ntk=Products&QueryText=inflatable+pfd&Ntx=matchall&N=4887&Nty=1
this looks like the newer updated version.
It is all manual, so if you hit your head or something you are sol. It has a loop that comes out and you put over your head.
Luckily I haven't had to use mine, but last summer I put on my waders , surftop, and inflatable and went swimming to see how it felt.
It took a long time for my waders to fill, since I wear two wading belts, one just over my waders, one over my top and the inflatable. not until i dove down and swam along the bottom could i feel water start to fill me up.
I was actually pretty buyont with all of the air in the waders and top. i stayed there floating for about 30 minutes before i got bored and started trying to swim.
In that instance I never inflated the pfd, but I would recomend trying it on and manually inflating it while in the water to see how to put it on.

he JUST moved from PA to MV to pursue his dream of guiding on the Vineyard, when he drowned or had a heart attack in Edgartown while guiding a client.




I thought he lived in Conn.?

I didn't know him but I had "spoken" to him a number of times via email. He was really into flyfishing and loved the vineyard. Whenever I wade out far....I think of him and move back in. With the tides and currents the way they have been recently the risk of an accident is increased a lot.

He was from Pennsylvania but a longtime goal for him was to move to the Vineyard. He moved there shortly before his death.

Sadly I did not know him well but I was fortunate to meet him a couple times. He was a very knowledgeable, very nice guy who just infused everyone around him with with his enthusiasm about all things fishing. He has been truly missed...

http://cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0043183943220a&type=product&cmCat=search&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&No=20&noImage=0&Ntt=inflatable+pfd&Ntk=Products&QueryText=inflatable+pfd&Ntx=matchall&N=4887&Nty=1
this looks like the newer updated version.
It is all manual, so if you hit your head or something you are sol. It has a loop that comes out and you put over your head.
Luckily I haven't had to use mine, but last summer I put on my waders , surftop, and inflatable and went swimming to see how it felt.
It took a long time for my waders to fill, since I wear two wading belts, one just over my waders, one over my top and the inflatable. not until i dove down and swam along the bottom could i feel water start to fill me up.
I was actually pretty buyont with all of the air in the waders and top. i stayed there floating for about 30 minutes before i got bored and started trying to swim.
In that instance I never inflated the pfd, but I would recomend trying it on and manually inflating it while in the water to see how to put it on.

What kind of dry top do you wear??

It is a shame to hear stories like this. It also is terrible that the loss of a good person is enough of a kick in the rear to get us to become safer. Since I have had a few lessons in the surf it is time for me to spend a few $$ and be safe.

What kind of dry top do you wear??

It is a shame to hear stories like this. It also is terrible that the loss of a good person is enough of a kick in the rear to get us to become safer. Since I have had a few lessons in the surf it is time for me to spend a few $$ and be safe.

I now have a skinz top, but at the time I was wearing the NRS endurance top, with the cuffs and neck velcroed tightly.

These stories are sad to re live , but maybe the begining of the season we need to .. If it could happen to a world class fisher like Kenny it can happen to any of us ..

I never had the opportunity to meet him but was always amazed at his fly-tying skills. Reading this thread brings back a lot of memories ....