Hooked on fishing

After years of fishing, I have come to learn a painful lesson. Sometimes you catch the fish, and sometimes the fish catches you. On a recent fishing trip, it was the latter.

 

Things started out uneventfully. It was late in the afternoon, and I asked Brody, the amazing fish-finding and stock-trading dog, if he wanted to go fishing. Of course, the answer was a resounding “YES.”

 

As we walked down the dock to the skiff, Brody suggested that I fish a topwater lure. The sun was low on the horizon, and the wind was light. Perfect topwater conditions. Plus, I had a brand-new, still-in-the-package, Yo-Zuri finesse popper in the skiff.

 

Upon arrival at our fishing location, I quickly unboxed the lure and tied it onto my fishing rod.

 

Typically, I smash down the hook barbs on topwater lures. This makes releasing fish much easier. However, the finesse popper hooks were small and did not have a lot of barb. So, I did not smash them down. Brody gave me a wary look. Which I disregarded and started to fish.

 

A few casts later, a large redfish crushed the lure. It put up a good fight but came to the skiff pretty quickly. I lifted the fish and grabbed my iPhone to take a selfie.

 

About then, the redfish slipped out of my hand, and I was impaled by both hooks on the popper.  Mayhem ensued. 

 

The redfish and I were hooked to the same lure. Brody barked. I issued a long string of curse words. The redfish gave me a “now you know how I feel” look.

 

It took a minute to extricate the redfish and myself from the lure. This was made more difficult – and painful – because I left the barbs on the hooks of the lure. The redfish swam away. I sat down to collect myself.

 

Contact Captain Greg Peralta at captgregp@gmail.com or call (843) 224-0099.