To my fishing guysm

1to392831weretaken

1to392831weretaken

New Fish
Bad enough that the first two hours of the family camping trip at Baker Lake were spent setting up camp in a complete downpour, but in the hour or so that the rain broke on Friday, the kids asked that I take them fishing. So my two kids and the nephew and I head down the trail until we find a suitable place to fish. Before I can even get my kids in the water, my nephew has managed to catch his lure in a tree and is asking for help.

It's in there pretty good, so the only course of action was to break it off. So I aimed the tip of the rod at the snag and pulled straight back as you do, averting eyes to avoid the line snapping back, when I hear the snap of a branch instead, then a size-large Rooster Tail with giant rusty treble hook flies into my shin at 100 mph, sinking two barbs balls deep. It's at this point I notice this kid must have last been fishing for barracuda or something, as there's a steel leader at the end of his 5,000,000 lb. test line. No wonder it didn't just break off...

So I fished with the kids (read: unsnagged them, untangled reels, and donated half my lures to their cause) for about an hour or so until it started pouring again, Rooster Tail dangling out of my shin the whole time, then headed back to camp and tried getting the hooks out. Yanking it out was a non-starter, so I disinfected my camp knife and tried cutting the barbs free. Turns out stabbing your own shin is WAY more painful than I had thought it would be!...

So off to the ER in Sedro Woolley (cool fucking city!°) for lure removal. Never been operated on with side cutters and bull nose pliers before, so that was cool. The doctor said it was his first lure removal but had those tools on hand for when he had to extract taser barbs. After seeing how much cutting into me he had to do to free the barbs, I'm glad I didn't continue trying to do it myself. On the bright side, I stayed dry for three hours while my family continued to be dumped on. Also am now up to date on my tetanus shots...

So what did I miss while I was gone? How many five-stars committed?
 
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Back in my fly fishing guide days (FO @puppylove_sugarsteel ) I would occasionally get a father and young son or daughter who was barely old enough to cast a rod. Rule number one of fishing with kids is crimp the god damned barb down. Rule number two is wear snug fitting sunglasses.
 
That's fucked up. As much as I hate a barbless hook, it sure makes hook removal easier in the event of children being involved in your day.

Every time a silver does that coho death roll or the twisting snake move and my fucked up barbless shitass hook pops out, I'm going to think of your story. I've seen some shit in my fishing days - if you get hung up on something, don't look at it. If you're about to net a fish, you should have glasses on and be ready to get smoked in the face by whatever lure your buddy is using.

csb - did you pander your way into some good drugs?
 
I had no idea that fishing is as dangerous as going hunting with Dick Cheney
 
csb - did you pander your way into some good drugs?
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Yeah, barbs because--even with barbs--I drop more than I catch. I'm not a technically gifted fisherman, although I do quite a bit of it.

As for drugs, no. Not even stitches, as he preferred to leave it open and let it drain. Interestingly, it never hurt. Not going in, not dangling there, not even when I tried tugging it out. Only hurt (like a MOTHERFUCKER) when I started stabbing a hot knife into my leg. Doc numbed me for the cuttin', and I was sure I was going to feel those cuts once the lidocaine wore off, but nope. No biggie. Looks like a giant snake bit my leg.

Oh, and I always fish with glasses and always look away when hung up on something.
 
Get this: This afternoon, I'm out in my yard hosing down all my nasty wet camping gear and leaving it out to dry because fuck camping, when a bee decided to sting me right in the soft webbing between two of my toes. The camping/fishing trip that just keeps on giving!
 
Get this: This afternoon, I'm out in my yard hosing down all my nasty wet camping gear and leaving it out to dry because fuck camping, when a bee decided to sting me right in the soft webbing between two of my toes. The camping/fishing trip that just keeps on giving!
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Tape yourself to your couch for two days. Anything you do might kill you. You are caught in a vortex of suck. I've been there many tims myself.
 
Get this: This afternoon, I'm out in my yard hosing down all my nasty wet camping gear and leaving it out to dry because fuck camping, when a bee decided to sting me right in the soft webbing between two of my toes. The camping/fishing trip that just keeps on giving!
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I've had some close calls just like that.. my own gear has bounced off me a few times but i was lucky enough not to get hooked. I watched my friend get stuck by dual, barbed trembles one late, drunken night in a little boat. The steelhead he was trying to bring in jumped into the boat, hit him in the chest, and hung there for a few seconds before dropping and leaving him with a plug stuck to his chest. That was an ER visit.

Change your lures to single hooks. Treble hooks don't hold fish well sans barbs, and mangle the fuck out lof them with barbs. Single hooks may miss a strike or two, but stick way better once in there, with or without barbs. They also have a longer shank than the individual hooks on a treble, which makes it a lot easier to rotate them through skin and cut off the barb when something like this happens.

I hate taking kids fishing. I don't have the patience for it.
 
I've had some close calls just like that.. my own gear has bounced off me a few times but i was lucky enough not to get hooked. I watched my friend get stuck by dual, barbed trembles one late, drunken night in a little boat. The steelhead he was trying to bring in jumped into the boat, hit him in the chest, and hung there for a few seconds before dropping and leaving him with a plug stuck to his chest. That was an ER visit.

Change your lures to single hooks. Treble hooks don't hold fish well sans barbs, and mangle the fuck out lof them with barbs. Single hooks may miss a strike or two, but stick way better once in there, with or without barbs. They also have a longer shank than the individual hooks on a treble, which makes it a lot easier to rotate them through skin and cut off the barb when something like this happens.

I hate taking kids fishing. I don't have the patience for it.
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I should note that trout lures with tails, like rooster tails and panther Martin spinners, lose some appeal if you switch to single hooks since the tail is attached to the original. I only use those spinners if fishing for brook trout, and don't switch the hooks or clamp the barbs. I never release brook trout so fuck em.
 
Rooster Tail just happened to be what the kid had on there. I find that brand of spinner stops spinning and gets shitty a lot faster than others. If I'm spinning, I like the Mepps with the gears on the inside for rattling. 90+% of my fishing is lake trout. I'm at the point where I almost never take off my 1/4 oz. rainbow Kastmaster. I've caught just about every kind of trout and the odd accidental smallmouth bass here and there with that lure. Can throw 'em out a mile, too.

F10437_Rainbow%20Trout!01.jpg

 
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I've had some close calls just like that.. my own gear has bounced off me a few times but i was lucky enough not to get hooked. I watched my friend get stuck by dual, barbed trembles one late, drunken night in a little boat. The steelhead he was trying to bring in jumped into the boat, hit him in the chest, and hung there for a few seconds before dropping and leaving him with a plug stuck to his chest. That was an ER visit.

Change your lures to single hooks. Treble hooks don't hold fish well sans barbs, and mangle the fuck out lof them with barbs. Single hooks may miss a strike or two, but stick way better once in there, with or without barbs. They also have a longer shank than the individual hooks on a treble, which makes it a lot easier to rotate them through skin and cut off the barb when something like this happens.

I hate taking kids fishing. I don't have the patience for it.
Click to expand...

I should note that trout lures with tails, like rooster tails and panther Martin spinners, lose some appeal if you switch to single hooks since the tail is attached to the original. I only use those spinners if fishing for brook trout, and don't switch the hooks or clamp the barbs. I never release brook trout so fuck em.
Click to expand...

Those brookies are some over populating little bastards aren’t they?
 
I've had some close calls just like that.. my own gear has bounced off me a few times but i was lucky enough not to get hooked. I watched my friend get stuck by dual, barbed trembles one late, drunken night in a little boat. The steelhead he was trying to bring in jumped into the boat, hit him in the chest, and hung there for a few seconds before dropping and leaving him with a plug stuck to his chest. That was an ER visit.

Change your lures to single hooks. Treble hooks don't hold fish well sans barbs, and mangle the fuck out lof them with barbs. Single hooks may miss a strike or two, but stick way better once in there, with or without barbs. They also have a longer shank than the individual hooks on a treble, which makes it a lot easier to rotate them through skin and cut off the barb when something like this happens.

I hate taking kids fishing. I don't have the patience for it.
Click to expand...

I should note that trout lures with tails, like rooster tails and panther Martin spinners, lose some appeal if you switch to single hooks since the tail is attached to the original. I only use those spinners if fishing for brook trout, and don't switch the hooks or clamp the barbs. I never release brook trout so fuck em.
Click to expand...

Those brookies are some over populating little bastards aren’t they?
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We call them river rodents at work. Once there, they're in there forever.

I know of a few lakes where they are abundant enough to usually have good fishing, but the population is controlled enough that they get big. They are the only resident trout that I keep as a rule as theyre the only real tasty ones.
 
Rooster Tail just happened to be what the kid had on there. I find that brand of spinner stops spinning and gets shitty a lot faster than others. If I'm spinning, I like the Mepps with the gears on the inside for rattling. 90+% of my fishing is lake trout. I'm at the point where I almost never take off my 1/4 oz. rainbow Kastmaster. I've caught just about every kind of trout and the odd accidental smallmouth bass here and there with that lure. Can throw 'em out a mile, too.

F10437_Rainbow%20Trout!01.jpg
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I use the same in a variety of colors If I'm not after brookies. I also have a few other spoons..Rebel, Krocodile, and Little Cleo that work. Rainbows and cutts love spoons.
 
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