Hooked Up

On Facebook, I recently read of someone who caught themselves twice in one week while fishing. This reminded me of my own mishaps in that regard, which also numbered two, but were several years apart. The unique aspect of my experiences was that the circumstances were virtually identical. In both cases I was using a large planer and a Rapala Magnum CD-22 lure to troll for Gag grouper. This lure is approx.10 in. long and has 2 sets of large tandem hooks. I was fishing alone both times, and had pulled in grouper in the 6-8 lbs class. In the first incident, the hook-up occurred as I pulled one set of hooks from the mouth of the fish, I drove a hook from the second set into my thumb. Although these hooks are large,they get good penetration. And once they go in past the barb, there is no pulling them out. So my only alternative was to navigate back to the dock, and go to the nearest emergency room.

While the second experience was quite similar, it turned out to be much more challenging. This time, as I was attempting to unhook the fish, it thrashed around and I lost my grip. The gyrations of the fish caused one of the hooks from the second set to embed in my finger. So now both I and the fish were hooked to the lure. Problem: how do I hold onto the fish and extract the hook, with only one free hand? In a minute or two, it occurred to me that I could clamp the fish between the lid and case of the large fish box that I kept frozen bait in, and hold it with my foot. Then I could remove the hook with my free hand. After this was done, it was back to the dock, and on to the emergency room. And by the way, they remove the hook by cutting it off at the shank and pushing it through. This would be extremely painful except for the novocaine. And to put things in perspective, in the 35 years I fished for grouper, I caught somewhere between 15 and 20 thousand of them trolling(about 500 per year).