# List of dumb things that actually occurred while fishing or fishing related



## KodiakZach (Mar 16, 2005)

Here is a list of dumb things that have actually occurred while fishing or fishing related...

Not all of these are mine, some are from friends on another forum and I thought you'd get a kick out of them. 
Enjoy - KZ
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Went fishing and near the end of the day wanted a bit more bait. Tossed by 1/4 inch 10 foot net and got about 500 baits. Unfortunately about 300 were gilled. Rather than clean it out I stuffed it in the bucket and went home. While cleaning the boat I threw my net out in the lawn to let the sun cook some gilled baits out. Let it sit for about 3 hours. Almost dark when 
I go outside wearing just a swim suit to pick up the net. Now being the smart guy I am I thought, "I'll load and toss the net hard and spin some of these rotten baits out." Being a 10 foot I load it across both shoulders.... Yep. Full of fire ants by now. Got about 100 bits from the neck to the knees.

Good news is the ants ate most of the baits!


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OK - so I am living in an apartment, get up at 600, go to the Skyway and catch 4 small mackerel. Drive home. Shower, get dressed and see I have 10 minutes before I have to leave for work. Plenty of time to fillet 4 macks! 

Roll up sleeves, take off fillets, rinse them, and realize I have to get going to work. Not enough time to take the bones with the bloody guts hanging from them to the dumpster. Don't want to leave in the garbage as they will stink.... Tornado goes into GENIOUS MODE!!!! The garbage disposal!!! I mean, you can put chicken bones down it and if it breaks, heck - I'm renting.

So, turn on water and disposal. Suspend aforementioned mackerel carcass by tail and lower head into disposal. Disposal grabs onto head and begins to spin entire fish around at about 5 revolutions per second!!! Blood and guts spray around apartment in 15-foot radius and even reach 10 foot ceilings. Looks like an ax-murder occurred.

The Mrs. was NOT happy. 

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So since I am getting into fishing at the Skyway, realize the helpfulness of chum, do not want to spend $$$ to support my fishing addiction (after having po'ed Mrs. Tornado and having to pay to paint the apartment) I decide to make my own chum (not wanting to cut blocks in half per Stumpmaster). I go to the Skyway and Sabiki about 50 nice threadfins. Come home and fillet them - I CAN fillet. Place the carcasses in a pot with a bit of water and boil them (a chef may say "reduce") to produce a thick broth. Then I put the fillets in with the broth in the food processor with a bit of oatmeal stirred in. Pour into some containers, place in the freezer and I have created the world's finest chum! 

No one may believe this, as I am married. But Mrs. Tornado was a nurse and was working a double shift so not a problem.

As Ron would say, Life is Good. Until.... (Evil music begins to play...)

Mrs. Tornado is hosting a home woman's bible study a few months later. Mrs. Tornado being the young Baptist wife with the older ladies in her house wants to impress them with her cooking. However she is late from work so grabs the container from the freezer labeled "Lamb Stew" and tosses the contents into a casserole dish and places it the oven as the 12 older ladies arrive. They are studying the Book of Revelation as a revelation of its own begins to drift from the kitchen.... Yep! She just cooked 48 oz. of threadfin chum at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Imagine the smell!!!! Imagine the HORROR. Imagine how long before I got any action on the lure at home!!!!

You know, now that I think about it, she was WRONG not to take the label off the container I used...... T

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It happens with age as I lost a lot of what I called smarts and at this point in life trying to get some of it back but old age makes one do things that when younger would not attempt. But hey it’s not like you’re the only one that done things as you say. To me jumping in a sharks cage with a great white bashing the cage to bits is not using one's noodle.

Or pulling on a line holding a bait bucket thats attached to a friends waist to see what is dragging him further out into a hole is not smart but when we both see that 8ft bull shark's head I'm pulling it close and he is in tears. Dumb but interesting. I guess before I head on yonder I surely make more blunders as we all do as age creeps in. I would say think but it would not be the right info as I consider myself one of the dumbest there is.

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Borrowed the old mans canoe one year to do some night fishin under a bridge that was known for holding some good size crappie. I got all my gear stored poles, lantern, bucket of minnows, etc.. I paddle out and tie of to the bridge just before dark. I couldn’t figure out what to do with the lantern so I just sit it on the front seat unsecured while I fished from the back. Well after a couple Mt. Dews and a couple hours of catchin fish the dilemma came of draining of a little bad water. I didn’t want to paddle to shore so I looked around and decided to do my business there. I stood up the canoe shifted the 
lantern fell of the seat and into the side of my Styrofoam bait bucket which melted almost immediately. I rush to grab the lantern pants still undone as I was wearing a pair of button fly pants. I get to the lantern just in time for my pants to drop to my ankles and for the canoe to flip over. I managed to save my paddle and the fish that where tied to the canoe the rest went to the bottom of the lake. Trying to get back in it and get it turned up right untie it and pull my now soaking wet pants up had to have been has funny as how I got there.

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Well I went fishing this weekend for the first time in months. We stayed at the in-laws in Port Ritchey. Now after a long day yesterday I just put our fish on ice and decided I would filet them this morning. Got up had about 3 cups coffee and decided it was time.
Ask Ma In-law for a filet knife. She hands me this nice Henkle out of her set. I go out and filet red #1 and chunk carcass in river. I filet red #2 and throw carcass in river but as it leaves my hand I realize I only filed one side. Dang I was PO’ed and embarrassed at the same time as I look around to see who was watching. I figure oh well I guess I’m still half asleep. I continue on to the trout and throw trout #1 in river along with filet knife that slips from my hand. I am in deep you know what now! I tell Ma in-law and she takes it pretty good, but she didn’t offer me another knife and I thought just as well I would probably fall on it and kill my self the way things were going. I will be buying her a new knife to make her set complete again. Wonder what thats gonna cost me?

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OK, it my first year living here (start out good huh!) and I'm wade fishing (getting even better) and I'm into a good school of trout early in the day so I string a few up to keep and tie them to the drawstring of my bathing suit (I told you, I'd just moved here).

So a while later, I'm thinking to myself "maybe I should go ice those fish down" but I say "nah, look at them, they're very energetic" It was at that time I realized my feet were slicing on the bottom and that I was being dragged toward deeper water. The part that was unsettling was it was a shark had a good grip of the stringer of fish.

OK, so I'm unsuccessfully trying to untie the stringer but I got half the loop undone from the swim trunks, but the draw sting won't feed through the waistband. Doh! So, I made the decision right then to give away my swimsuit and off it went with the shark, the trout, and the string. It disappeared into the murky water of Tampa Bay. Relieved, I began to realize the implications of my situation (and it wasn't that I needed a new swimming suit. I was naked from the midsection down and had to walk up the bank and to the car not knowing if I even had extra clothes in the car. 

It was on this day that I found out: A t-shirt can be fashioned into a makeshift pair of shorts if necessary. But the neck hole gets a little drafty.

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In about 1995 was fishing in my long-sold Hewes at Coquina Beach. Has a nice morning then the wheels fell off.... 
literally....

1: Decided to get a bit more bait. Tossed the net and had about 300 sardines, put net in boat and laid it down on top of 7-m 
Mirrolure. Killed bait and ripped net up.

2: Went back to the flat and no action. Wife decides to fish with two rods like I do. However, does not secure 2nd rod. Red 
hits and drags rod into ocean. Wife screams, "What do I do" and as it is about 3 feet of water I tell her to jump in. Red 
runs past boat dragging rod into wife who picks it up and fights red to boatside. Made bad decision in landing wife before 
red, and lose red but keep wife. Stradic 2000 soaked to the core.

3: Finally give up and return to ramp. Very low tide. Back up truck and hear "THUNK". Get out and look and sure 'nuff, 
dropped rear wheels off apron so now stuck. Tell wife to drive and I strip to shorts and will dive to bottom lifting trailer. 
First time I do it (in 6 feet of water!) I hear engine race but no movement. I come up for air. She left parking brake on! Do 
it again and this time she floors it and trailer flies out dragging me up ramp!!!!

4: Get dressed and leave. About 3 miles up the road I realize I left my favorite hat at the dock. I was afraid to go back so 
I just left it, went home and hid.

Maybe not as good as wading in naked, but a pretty pathetic day!


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## KodiakZach (Mar 16, 2005)

*More*

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This happened to my Cousin Jeff many years ago.
He was fishing at a lake in Winter Haven with his sister Diane.
They were fishing for Bream and Crappie. Jeff had just baited his hook with a big wad of red-wigglers (hook was rigged about 
3 feet under a floater).
As he prepared to cast his trusty Zebco combo, he heard a loud scream at the end of his back-swing. 
"STOP!!!" his sister yells. Normally as all brothers do, he would have ignored her, but the slight tension he felt on the rod 
convinced him to turn around and see what was causing her to yell so loudly.
Jeff turns around (with the Zebco combo still cocked) to see that the wad of red-wigglers was stuck to his sister's eye. The 
hook had actually snagged her eye-lid!!
Needless to say, she was frozen in terror and screaming.
My cousin was only 14 at the time and did what any teenager would do in that situation, panic.
Diane was yelling "Get it out!!", and he was yelling "I can't, I can't!!"
Diane finally tells him that they need to get to the emergency room.

This is where it gets real funny........
Jeff can't drive, and Diane has a hook impaled in her eye lid. Don't forget, the red-wigglers are still on the hook as well!
So picture Jeff holding his trusty Zebco combo with the hook, worms, and Diane's eyelid all still attached, trying to get in the car. 
The only way they could make it work was for Jeff to get in the back seat, then push the button on the Zebco reel to let out enough slack for Diane to get in the driver's seat.
Naturally, once she was in the driver's seat, he had to reel in the slack.

They make it to the emergency room, and have to reverse the procedure that got them in the car. Again, picture this, A girl with a wad of worms on a hook in her eyelid, with a boy following behind her holding the rod and reel still connected to the hook, walk into the emergency room.

By this time Diane is really starting to panic, she starts yelling "Somebody please help!!"
A nurse walks up to her with a pair of scissors and (I'm sure you guesed it..) clips the line right at the hook. 

Diane said she was so embarassed from not thinking about cutting the line, that she didn't even notice when the Dr. removed 
the hook.

Jeff said he was pretty embarassed to, and waited for her outside......

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So, who wants to go fishing with me now!?! 

I will close MY posts with my best... I grew up in Wisconsin and we always had hounds. In December and January we would head 
to the upper Wis. and Mi. areas to hunt snowshoe hares. Lots of snow and deep woods. The only way to get through the woods 
was on snowshoes....

The night before the "infamous hunt" we ate dinner at a supper club that featured all you can eat seafood. Clams, oysters, 
fish, crab..... All deep fried. Well the next morning as we released the hounds nature called. Being miles from civilization 
I found a tree. Relieved myself. "WHEW! That smells bad!!" so I snowshoed a couple of hundred yards. The smell was still 
there. Checked my hands and they were clean so kept walking... Smell seemed to lessening - of course it was about -10 degrees. Finally came up to my Uncle Bob.... Who broke out into laughter... You guessed it. I pooped on my snowshoes and was carrying 
it behind me all the time!

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"Getting home one evening from fishing (the night before I restrung my reels) I find my girlfriend on the floor with the 
vacuum tipped over and fishing line bundles strung all over, her hair hanging down in her face, sweaty and red. She says to 
me "what's wrong with the picture?" I replied "You wasted 200 yards of good fishing line" STRIKE ONE!!

While going to college (same girl) she moved another city to finish her degree
Things started to fizzle between us. I had to travel and still comeback to work the next morning. One night she said to me 
"Andrew, I don't get you? You'll travel 2 hours to hunt for 45 minutes but you won't travel 45 minutes to see me for 2 hours" 
I said "But I love hunting"...Strike 3 don't know what happened to strike 2??


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Quite a number of years ago, I was fishing off Dunedin Causeway, and I really nailed the trout, and the limit back then was 
50 believe it or not. Anyway, I had a bunch. I drove home, cleaned them and placed the guts in my Ford Bronco and I was going 
to take them back to the water for disposal. Well, I get a phone call from a young lady that I was really interested in, and 
she told me that she was interested in going to see a movie. Well, here I am all nasty, tired, bloody, but also very excited 
about the evening. We made plans, and I got cleaned up, picked her up, drove to the drive in on Park Blvd. Well we talked, 
had a bite to eat, and yes I even stole a kiss or two, well at this point I can tell she is getting well, moody if you will, 
and yes I was getting extremely turned on. Out of the blue she says we better go, now things are getting hot..... I dropped 
her off, and didn't hear from her, or she wouldn't return my calls. Two months later, my best friend tells me that she told 
everyone that I smell like fish, and my treasured Bronco was garbage can.
So the lesson is: Fish like hell, and release everything you catch. You never know who you will be sitting in your vehicle.


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A pelican is caught in someone's discarded bait net someone got caught in the rocks on the Skyway causeway. Pelican's barely 
keeing his head above water. I get down onto the slipperiest of rocks and am able to grab hold of the bird, create some 
slack, and then separate the bird from the netting.... All done without even scraping my skin on the oyster sharp rocks all 
around me.

I turn to my new friend the pelican and think, "Oh, he must be really happy to know me!" and this pelican opened it's mouth 
and grabbed hold of my arm. This is when I learned that they have a big "hook" under their beak. Great googly moogly... this 
bird tore a gash in my arm about 3 inches long, just for being a good samaritan and bird-itarian... I bandaged it up and went 
fishing anyway but there's a lasting scar from "expecting a pat on the back" from a bird in a predicament.

That pelican sat right in front of those rocks the whole time, almost irritated that I stuck around afterward (Neil shaking 
his head at himself). I still refer to them as "my friends the pelicans" anyway.

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1. First time fishing in the Hillsborough River, Using shiners, I get an enormous bite, it was the biggest "bass" I had ever 
caught. I was so excited, reached down to lip it......felt the most excruciating pain I have ever felt. I had just stuck my 
thumb right into a bowfins (mudfish) mouth. Lucky to still have that thumb!

2. Got my first pair of suspender waders for Christmas a couple of years ago.
Went out to Weedon Island the next day, it was great and I was dry and enjoying the day. Went across a small channel to get 
to the oyster bar, fell into a very deep pothole and my waders filled up with water. I must have been under water for over 30 
seconds when a gained my facilities, found my knife and cut the suspenders. Of course I had an audience of three other 
anglers, that seemed to enjoy my near drowning immensely. Another lesson learned!

All part of paying the dues!

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OK - this was NOT me, but a friend named David. David was/is a pastor and really seemed to be a "Man of God" who walked the 
walk. So, I took him fishing at the Skyway about 10 years ago.

Walked out a far piece on the South End. Fishing and Pastor Dave gets a nice hit on a threadfin on the bottom with a 5 oz 
pyramid sinker. Fights it for about 10 minutes and about a 40 inch cobia is laying there below us. Being new we have no gaff 
or net so we decide to lean over the rail to keep the line off the concrete and pull it up hand over hand. Fortunately it was 
on 50# test! Well, we get it about 2/3 the way up, the fish wiggles, and the hook pulls free - which sends the 5 oz. sinker 
at approximately 40 MPH into El Pastor's groin! Nope, he did not cuss, but he sure looked deflated.

So later on, he is still grouchy and catches about a 5# gafftop sailfish. Flips in onto the bridge. Uses pliers to remove the 
hook and still being grumpy KICKS the fish over the railing! What's that?

No fish sailing over the water????!?!?!

Yep, the side fin went through his shoe and stuck into his foot.

He was really quiet after that.
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OK, two years ago, I'm into smaller sharks in the waters off Dunedin Causeway. I decide not to let them just have my nice 
Owner hooks and I'm gonna do hook removal inside my anchored kayak. Hmmm. Hindsight says: ?

Anyway, big tip for all you first time shark handlers: Don't grip the shark in the center of his back. In one of the most 
flexible moves I've ever seen, the shark did a 360 degree reach around and grabbed onto the sleeve of my shirt 

So while he's chewing on my shirt the leader gets cut by the teeth and I've got an angry shark in the kayak with me, no 
longer accountable with the line he was attached to. I made an executive decision to abandon ship. Well, you've gotta 
realize, he was in the sensitive between legs region that I figure I didn't want to risk shark bite wound that you couldn't 
show people. 

Happy that no one saw, I was able to get the shark out of the kayak, terrified that he'd take revenge while I was trying to do a deep water, reentry to the boat maneuver. But I survived it and I still look at the rips in that shirt and remember to either give the shark the hooks or grip them A LOT closer to the top of their heads.


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## KodiakZach (Mar 16, 2005)

*Part 3*

I was transferred to Bahia Honda Key in 1977 and the preferred fishing method was to use chum blocks. In my conservative state I decided to cut a block in half and get two trips. Well, I used the radial arm saw in the shop. It did smell around there for a few days....just a few. My bad. Saw dust and chum dust is not a good mix on a wall. Ah to be young again, heck I'm lucky to be old.
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The posts about people eating jacks reminded me of this escapade, in the same apartment where I tried to put the mackeral 
skeleton down the garbage disposal and made the chum for dinner....

Caught 8 small jacks at the Skyway when first fishing. Took them home, gutted them, gilled them, brined them and put them in 
the Brinkman Smokin' Grill on the porch. Smoked them for 1/2 day slowly... They looked awesome with the golden skin.

But I was using a really low temperature and was worried if they were cooked so I placed them on a cookie sheet and put them 
in the over. Turn to bake at 350 degrees. Everything is going swell when I hear WOOOF! and this mushroom cloud of smoke comes 
from the oven. Apparently all the fishy oil had accumulated under the skin and ignited when the oven got warm enough! 

I cannot begin to tell you the stench of ignited jack oil that permeated that apartment.... We even had to have the furniture 
and drapes cleaned.

Any wonder when I wanted to move out early they let me break my lease without a penalty? T

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About 10 years ago I hooked a big king fish on a # 12 rapala. When I got him to the boat (with rod bend over double..a very 
stiff rod I might add) he shook the three Big treble hooks free. The Lure went flying about 150 mphs and hit me square in the 
mouth. One side of the hook went into my top lip and the other side into my bottom. Neadless to say I couldnt even open my 
mouth a little. Had to go to the ER to get numbed up. The swelling last a couple of days. In the mean time everyone called me 
bubba.LOL! My wife though they should have kept it there to help keep my mouth shut.LOl

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I do have one about a cast net. I just bought a brand new 10 footer and I launched it off a pier to realize my friend thought 
I had the other end of the rope. Before I realized he didnt have it, it was to late. There goes a wasted $125.00...  The 
worst part about it was the pier had a few people watching me performing my "skilled" cast net throw.LOL

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The first time I backed the float on trailer down the ramp at Ft. Desoto I backed it down so far it started to float.

John was yelling something at me and I just assumed he was telling me to back it down further so I did. What a cluster that 
was. Yes, I forgot the parking brake when I leaned out to hear him but caught in just in time. It took about 14 times of up 
and back before I got it right. 

I am sure it was quite a sight and provided plenty of laughs to whoever was watching. 

Lets see, I fell off the bosses boat. Bret was poling John and I on the flat inside Shell Key. He must have seen something 
and spun the boat around. I went flying off and landed on my butt.

Left the lure dangling over the side of the canoe a couple of weeks ago while tagging fish. A catfish grabbed it and swam 
away with the whole shebang. John casted until he caught the rod, handed it back to me and I even landed the little criminal 
hardhead. Believe it or not the Stradic is not dead.

Dove off the boat and went for a short swim in Boca Grande Pass on a dare 4-5 years ago. Watched a big hammerhead eat Capt. 
Jill Sapp's released tarpon in the very same spot the next day. Swimming there was a pretty bonehead thing to do.

Slipped more than once on the flats boat and have fallen on it, in it and off of it.

I blame these lapses on the hair color. It's a long list.
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To anyone whom may have lost a net at Johns Pass in March of 2003, I caught it while jig fishing off the bank next to the 
piles. It still looked brand new no corrosion of barnicals. Too bad I can't give it back. I was on the Alifia this summer and 
was having miss snookums drive with the current along the shore line. First cast I pull the rope tight only to find I had 
hooked a hidden stump. With the swift current the rope came tight and before I had time to yell. Yep, you guessed it, from 
the front of the boat I flew, up and over the windsheld just missing my poles and miss snookums, into the motor and out the 
back head first arm still fully extended. The all day smurk on miss snookums face (priceless).

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I was in the keys with my dad looking for bonefish. Up on the poling platform, while dad was on the bow, I kept telling 
myself with every push with the pole "don't break the crust". Well, some tails pop up off to the right and buck fever set in. 
I gave the pole a good push and broke the crust. Next thing I know, the pole is quickly going several feet through the marl 
and I'm way off balance. Instead of falling on the motor, I jumped and landed on my feet. I certainly didn't want to look 
like an idiot and do a belly flop......

Well, the belly flop would have been much better. Going in feet first meant I broke the crust. There I was waist deep in mud, 
water up to my chin and absolutley helpless. All my Dad could do was double over in laughter as I looked like a head floating 
on the water. Thankfully we didn't have a camera on board.

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Honeymoon debacle. John drifts me towards a school of tailing reds. Lets see, I tangle the fly line a half dozen times on the 
paddle blade, I cast short to each side of the school about a half dozen times, I finally hook the redfish that rides the 
short bus to school. He runs right at the canoe and I can't strip fast enough to keep him hooked...tails pop up again and I 
say, "Honey, you just have to get me closer to the fish".

Just as he pushes the boat forward I cast and whale about ten feet of flyline right across all those tails.

And they are gone.

I can't even post the words that followed. 
Needless to say, it wasn't one of my most feminine moments. After I cooled off I couldn't help but think, thank goodness he 
mailed the marriage certificate off before we launched. 

Many of you are better anglers than I am. It doesn't feel so bad knowing that you guys have had similar experiences.

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Last winter-December to be exact... I'm anchored on my seabass spot, nice limestone bottom in about 10 feet of water. I get a 
nice gag grouper up (not a keeper by any means but a nice 18 incher caught on medium spinning gear.) I brought my new toy 
with me BOUGHT THE DAY BEFORE, a hand held gps that I was going to fish all of my favorite spots and program the numbers into 
the unit so I could get on these spots in the pitch dark. Mr. Groupa did a tail slap on the kayak that sent my GPS up in the 
air and "reverse, rotation....SPLASH" Thanks a lot! 

Ten feet of water, not a big deal right? Well, in that current it was. I had to watch that unit (luckily it was yellow, 
bounce around rock to rock in the current before it finally settled in one spot. Two hours later the tide slowed enough to 
where I dove down, retrieved the unit and headed on home. Remember how I said this was in December? Brrrrr. I was so cold I 
had to get in the car with the heater on for a while before I could load up the yak on the roof.

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Back in the early 70's I was fishing with my dad and his boss from Connecticut. We slowly motored our 17-ft boat up to the 
fence at the Weedon Island outflow (this was long before the area was ever posted). My dad's boss gets up and grabs the fence 
to hold onto it and to keep us close as my dad attempted to get a rope through the chain-link and back to the boat to hold us 
in place. The current was rippin'.

The boat starts to drift away and my dad's boss, instead of just letting go of the fence and leaving us drift back, starts to 
lean out to try and hold us up to the fence. The current was too strong. In a moment's notice he falls in. His head and 
everything went underwater for a moment.

My dad, always quick, grabs his boss by the collar and back of the pants and manages to drag him in the boat.

His boss lost his hat but still had his cigar hanging out of his mouth. Go figure.


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## KodiakZach (Mar 16, 2005)

*Part 4*

OK - hunting immersion story. Nice 30 degree morning in Central Wisconsin and hunting ruffed grouse with a man named Bill 
from PA with a championship English Pointer. Dog runs down ditch bank and 3 mallards come flying back towards me. Bang! Bang! 
Bang! Two down!!! One in the water and one on the other side of the 15 foot wide ditch. I send the dog to retrieve and the 
guys laughs at me. "Son, he points them, he does not retrieve them! That is why he's called a Pointer."

Well, it is about 2 miles round trip to walk and get the ducks. So, I decide to swim for it. It is sunny, but about 30 
degrees. I do NOT want to walk around wearing wet clothes for the next two hours so I decide to do a "naked polar bear duck 
retrieval" and strip. DANG! That's cold! Actually broke some skim ice! And deeper than I thought. I get the one in the water 
and swim across to pick up the other.

Alas, foresooth and anon!!! The other duck is WOUNDED and starts to dart around the underbrush - which I may add is primarily 
blackberries. Good thing the "vitals" retracted due to the cold water or the damage could have been worse.... I dispatch the 
duck, swim back across, get dressed and keep on hunting.

About a month later I receive a package from Bill. The man from PA sent me a trophy from a Labrador Retriever field trial!!!
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OK years ago I had a friend that was working in St.Augustine.(yes tornado I had a friend!)
He had his 17' skiff there and I went to visit his. It was in winter really cold from what I remember.We go out in the boat 
and decide we will fish under a bridge.It was a big bridge from what I remember.
He says lets tie up to one of the pileings.
Being ever so helpful I grab the anchor rope and hop off the front and onto the base of the pileing.
I start walking backwards to wrap the rope around and off the other side I step.
It was so freakin cold I did a reverse dive from the water back onto the pileing.
I watch where I walk now.
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I didn't grow up on boats, or in FL for that matter. So when I got my first boat I took it out with my buddy who was a 
skilled boater, and he was with me the first 20 times I took it out. One day I had company in town and wanted to take them to 
Disappearing Island before the sunset, and my buddy couldn't make it. So I decided I would take it out without him thinking I 
had learned enough with my prior 20 lessons. 

Well, my visitors didn't know much about boating either. After dropping the anchor and playing on the island for a bit, the 
tide had gone out and left us almost high and dry. So I asked my visitors to get out and wiggle the boat around while I tried 
to get the boat off the sand and into the water, skillfully maneuvering the prop. After minutes of trying, I turned the 
ignition off and decided to figure out how to MacGuyver us out of the situation. On my next try, the engine wouldn't turn 
over!

As dark was fast approaching, I gave up and called TowBoat U.S. to come save us. While we were waiting for our tow, we 
managed to wiggle the boat off the sand and into the water. Only problem was, the engine still wouldn't turn over. Several 
minutes later, it occured to me that maybe I should put the boat in neutral, and then it would crank, which it did =). So 
much for impressing the company. At least we ended up canceling the tow before they got there and we had to pay.

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Some of these mentioned in the "what I've learned fishing" section bear repeating, like the time where I sprayed OFF insect repellant directly in my eye, and washed it out with cold Coors light. Or the time my wife was fishing below a bridge on A1A and cast up-and-over, directly into oncoming traffic. And then the time when the 3-lb Bluefish slung all 3 treble hooks on my lure into my favorite windbreaker. Trying to tighten my PowerPro knot down with my bare hands, despite numerous warnings against it =) Dropping my reel in the saltwater, wondering why it isn't reeling too good any more, spraying WD-40 on it and wondering why it no longer reeled at all? And I think that fishing 64 days straight --DURING THE WINTER!-- was not the 
brightest thing I have ever done (frostbite and 25 knot winds = not very fun). Not latching the tackle box all the way, promptly spilling many dollars of tackle across a crowded parking lot = just plain dumb. Leaving the fish carcass in the 
trash can for my neighborhood raccoons to knock over onto my wife's new Mercedes ~ just brilliant! 

Oh yeah, learned this one the hard way, even if you still have hair -dont fish without a hat!


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## fisherkid (Jun 30, 2005)

*That was funny*

Which ones are from you


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## KodiakZach (Mar 16, 2005)

I'll never tell =) =)


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## fisherkid (Jun 30, 2005)

Then I'll be forced to ask more questions


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## REELBIG (Oct 3, 2005)

*dumb questions....again*

of course you will fisherkid...you are full of dumb questions. as a matter of fact, almost everything that ive ever read that youve said has been dumb


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## Otter (Jun 18, 2004)




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## PullMyFinger (May 29, 2005)

*Owch!*

Geez, Otter. That pic's making my eyes water. Ow!


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## beachbum (Jun 18, 2005)

REELBIG said:


> of course you will fisherkid...you are full of dumb questions. as a matter of fact, almost everything that ive ever read that youve said has been dumb



Give it a rest.


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## barty b (Dec 31, 2004)

You need to add somthing to your user name,
REELBIG JACKASS!


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## yogai (Oct 21, 2005)

reelbig, dont hate. I'm sure theres a forum just for haters, but it aint here


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## VICIII (Apr 8, 2005)

*That Pic Needs A Story...*

How did it get through your nail?? It does not look like you stepped on it.. What happened next? Can you still hook a live shrimp with out thinking about your toe?
Does your foot cry for shoes before you head out fishing..?


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## Otter (Jun 18, 2004)

VICIII said:


> How did it get through your nail?? It does not look like you stepped on it.. What happened next? Can you still hook a live shrimp with out thinking about your toe?
> Does your foot cry for shoes before you head out fishing..?


http://www.pierandsurf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=21148


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## chipotle (Nov 24, 2005)

sounds like fun.


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## KillerWhale (Feb 27, 2005)

*yo kodi!!!!*

i been slappin some brim and crappie too,,,,where was they fishing son,,,keep it real kodiak,,,your friend Big R.,,,the ole brim master


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