| Got Stripers |
04-24-2016 07:28 AM |
Mike I'd say pick up freshwater fishing out of your tin boat, but it can be painful; here is how my Friday went.
Sometimes the fish can turn the tables on you and with a flip of their tails, your the one getting caught. For me it's always been two species that do me in, pickeral mixed with three hook floating rapala and smallmouth bass and a black jitterbug. I was out this week on my favorite spring spot, with light winds, 60 degree water and I had all day to explore. I was surprised at the slow bite with the conditions and warm water temps. Just before lunch and after just a few small bass and pickeral, I peddle up to a guy in a Basstracker to ask if he too was having a slow bite. We talk for a while and then as move away I hook up with a pickeral of decent size, just large enough to cause you trouble, so I reach for my fish grip (ironic I know) to avoid the trebles. Well pickeral as many know aren't very cooperative about opening wide to help your cause and with a sudden jump, the front treble goes deep into my right thumb and yeah I'm a righty.
So I reach down immediately to immobilize him with my left hand and even though I now have him firmly behind the gills, in his head I know the slimmy MF'er is thinking; I finally caught me a keeper. Well he trashes wildly an now catches my right thumb with the middle treble and now I'm thinking, OMG this is my worst nightmare. I'm lucky I hadn't moved far from the fellow angler and call him over to assist and in trashing more, the first treble is now driven back up through the flesh of my right thumb, which actually probably made hood removal easier in the end. As the angler moves close on his trolling motor, I see his yellow lab getting a bit excited pacing back and forth on the bow and I'm thinking please don't jump over to say hello. I instruct him to grab my pliers and just rip hook number two out as it had just grabbed a part of skin and wasn't past the barb and while doing that, the fish finally shakes herself free and I can finally focus on just getting myself unhooked. I'm thankful my pliers had a wire cutter and that the hook bard was now exposed and he was able to cut point and barb off and I was able to painfully back the hook back out.
Ironically the last time I got snagged by a pickeral, it was the same time of year, same body of water and yes; the exact same three hook floating silver Rapala. Even though I was tempted to throw a bandage on and keep fishing, I opted to call it and head home to give the thumbs a good cleaning. Luckily the lure was brand new and I'd had a tetanus shot in 2012. The only other time the fish got revenge was a nighttime excursion on the Braintree reservoir, back in 1979 I believe, as it wasn't exactly legal to fish and I loved to hit it with a float tube in the summer. I was having a banner night with large and smallmouth to 4 lbs and hooked a nice 3-1/2 lb smallmouth on a jitterbug and while I thought I had a good grib on her, one more thrash of the tail set her up and down on that same right thumb. I had fun trying to get her off as the hook keep going deeper and remember sitting in the SS Hospital ER that night getting some strange looks while I'm holding that black jitter bug in my now swollen bloody thumb.
Can't wait for the schoolies and single hooks and plastic:)
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