Snag it & Leave it
Casting a large pogie kills him by a 1/5...(and 5ths are only good for drinking)
Pogies unlike a scup do not dive deep when casted or fished...they mostly stay
around the sub-surface level, a scup automatically dives. For the most part, you want that pogie down deep and struggling...AWAY from the
sub-surface attacking, ....smaller blues and stripers...(the weight of the snagger helps you accomplish this)
Of course fishing it this way decreases the life of the pogie quite a bit.....but if you live-lined a pogie for an hour, kudos to you...
Here's something to picture in your mind - Think deep....and think BIG.
A large school of pogies have been herdled up into a tight ball, constantly changing direction within the ball itself... but not moving the ball much at all. They're trying their best to replicate a large ocean creature, something intimidating to a Striper or Bloo. They also try taking advantage of the current but it only works against them, slowing their reaction speed in comparison to the attack of a predator.
Suddenly, something rockets overhead and lands 20 feet behind this large ball of menhaden. It's silky trail sinks quickly into the mass of fish...finally, the silky line starts to form and tighten up within the school...
bumping signals are then sent to the origin of the rocket through the line indicating that the rocket has hit it's target....suddenly in a ripping motion, 3 welded hooks come roaring upward through this unknowing group of fish, clipping scales off as it screams towards the surface......Suddenly one of the hooks finds a home just behind a gill plate. The fish is painfully violated...it starts to dance erratically, blood starts flowing into the water...oily blood, oily pogy blood
...it starts to circle with the weight of the snagger on just one side...the rest of the school senses it's paranoia and dodges left and right...breaking into smaller pods until they're away from this wounded target and then reform again.
The wounded pogy struggles to stay on the surface, it trys to rejoin the school but can ony swim circles due to the snagger...the weight becomes too much...he can't hold his own...he slowly gives in and points his head down. As he approaches the bottom he can sense that he's not alone. In a frantic motion, he raises his head and makes a futile attempt at the surface...powerless, he stops midway feeling the weight of the snagger dragging him down...but something is watching him...something that's been waiting in the darkness for quite some time, waiting patiently for an injured prey.....................
...the pogy continues to sink, quivering in pain as it feels the barb draining every last drop of strength from him........
OK, let's have some endings........
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