So, here's a fish story for ya

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So, here's a fish story for ya by Chuck Warren

I'm down in Marathon, and all I really wanted to do on my trip is catch at least one tarpon. I really miss fishing for them. I got to go a few times, but the tide was wrong every time, and I didn't even get a bite.

The last night, I decided to give it one last try, so down to the bridge I go, and since no one else could go with me, I was alone.
It was about 9:00 in the evening and very dark when I got to Vaca Cut bridge, but the street lamps up by the road gave off enough light for me to find my way down the rocky path to the waters edge.

There was nobody else around when I got there, which was just fine with me. The tide was still coming in, and there was a good running current, which were perfect conditions.

I made my first cast, and immediately got a bite.

I got a few more bites on the next few casts, which made me pretty happy. Sooner or later something had to latch on to the lure I was throwing. It always amazes me that a fish can hit one of those things and get away, since they have two very sharp treble hooks of impressive size on either end with only about four inches in between.

It's not that easy to avoid the hooks when you're handling them, so I don't know how the fish get so lucky.

On my next cast, something comes shooting out from the shadows and slams into my lure.

I finally had a fish on! I couldn't tell what it was in the dark, but he was putting up a pretty good fight, so I didn't really care. When I finally got him up to the rocky shoreline I was balancing on, I could see I had hooked into a barracuda about three feet long.

I was disappointed, but still glad that I had at least caught something. As I stood there looking down at the thrashing fish, it occurred to me that, all though I was prepared to catch a fish, I wasn't prepared to catch a fish that was not only very unhappy about it's predicament, but also hade a mouth full of very nasty teeth.

I didn't think to bring any kind of tool to remove the hooks. Now I had a bit of a problem.

I stood there for a minute trying to decide what to do. I had caught lots of 'cudas before, and I wasn't afraid to handle him. You just grab them by slipping your hand into his gill slit and lifting them up.

However, I still had no way to remove the hook. It didn't look like he was hooked too badly, so I bent down, grabbed him by the gill, and lifted him up. He seemed to be tired out by this point, so I figured I might as well see if I could remove the lure and drop him back into the water.

He had other ideas.

As I reached to grab hold of the lure, he went off like cannon. He threw his head and body, violently trying to get free, but succeeding in making himself even more attached to me. He had sent the free end of the lure whipping around until one of the hooks went completely through my left middle finger.

Now I don't know how many people have found themselves standing by a bridge in the moonlight with a three foot Barracuda hanging from their arm, but I can honestly tell you I would not recommend trying this at home.

He was pretty unhappy about being out of the water, and I was not really interested in putting him back until I was no longer attached to him. Of course, I still had no way of removing the hook from his mouth, which means I also had no way of removing the hook from my finger.

Now, if the hook had gone through a small layer of skin, the next time he thrashed, the problem would have been solved. But, I have always believed in doing things right, so I had the hook bury so deep into the skin that I was able to hold him completely out of the water suspended from my finger like some freak in a circus side show.

I can't believe Barnum never thought up that one. To make matters worse, there was no one around, even within yelling distance, to ask for help.

I had no idea what to do. I thought I was going to have to kill the fish, and then drive down the road with it hanging out of the window of the car. I thought about going to the emergency room just for shock value, but being in the Florida Keys, I might actually sit in the waiting area unnoticed until my hand fell off.

Nothing much throws the medical people off down there, they've seen it all.

Just as I was trying to decide how to kill the fish as humanely as possible, it freaked out again, spinning his body, and the flesh on the tip of my finger, completely around in a circle, and managed to pull the hook, and a substantial amount of my skin, free from my hand.

I was bleeding a little, but at least I was no longer attached to a garbage disposal with a bad attitude.

He went back in the water, still on the hook, and I had to dive for my rod to save it from disappearing into the sea with the fish.

Of course, I was back to square one, and I still had no way to get the hook out of his mouth.
They say that God looks out for babies, drunks, and stupid people, so I guess he got tired of laughing and decided it was time to intervene on my behalf.

As I was holding the rod under my arm and trying to slow the bleeding from my finger, the fish gave a last mighty thrash and threw the hook.

I don't know where fish go, but I'm sure right now he's sitting on some underwater barstool with a bunch of his friends around saying "You're not going to believe this one!"

After I did the obligatory male "It doesn't hurt at all" dance, I went up to the car to find something to wrap around my finger.

The only thing I could find was a plastic shopping bag, so I decided that would have to do. I managed to wrap it tight enough to keep it on, and it was still pretty early, so I figured there was only one thing to do. I went back down to the water and went back to fishing.

The bag made it a little hard to cast, but I managed. I fished for another hour and, although I never landed one, I did end up fighting a couple of tarpon. Just having them on the line for a few minutes made everything worthwhile. I'm sure there's a moral to this story buried in
there somewhere, but for now it escapes me.

That's probably why next year, if you want a good laugh, come down to the Vaca Cut Bridge in the heart of the Marathon Keys and look for me. I'll be easy to find. Just ask P.T Barnum for a look at his new act, "The Amazing Barracuda Boy".

That is some story and it makes me feel that I should just stay in my woodworking and craft workshop and start on the next project after a cup of coffee of course.See you there
http://woodworkingnews.blogspot.com

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