Firefighters rescue Lake Sonoma fisherman

Firefighters rescued a kayaking fisherman Monday night after the man apparently became lost in an arm of Lake Sonoma.

The man and a companion had been in separate kayaks, fishing in the Yorty Creek area earlier Monday afternoon. The companion made it back to shore but the other man either became lost or distressed as night fell and called for help on his cell phone, said Geyserville fire Capt. Joe Stewart.

The Sebastopol man’s 5:27 p.m. call to 911 for a possible water rescue brought Geyserville, Healdsburg and Cloverdale firefighters to the lake, along with the Sonoma County sheriff’s helicopter.

Dispatch reports indicate the fisherman may have gotten disoriented in the dark. He had warm gear and wasn’t injured, he told dispatchers, but he wasn’t sure where he was.

The sheriff’s helicopter spotted him quickly and Geyserville firefighters launched a Zodiac boat. They loaded the man and his kayak into the boat and got him back to shore by about 6:30 p.m., Stewart said.

You can reach Staff Writer Randi Rossmann at 521-5412 or randi.rossmann@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter@rossmannreport