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).

Taking Robin Roberts fishing.

As a youngster growing up in Phila. around 1950, and an aspiring pitcher, it was only natural that Robin Roberts should become my boyhood idol. The Phillies were my team, and he was their star pitcher. I followed his career closely over the years, and eventually our paths converged when he became the baseball coach at the Univ. of South Florida in 1977. I had been on the faculty since 1966 as a Professor in the Psychology Dept. We met several years later when we both attended a function of the USF Women's Club with our respective wives. When I learned that Robin Roberts was there I couldn't pass up the opportunity, so I went to where he was seated and introduced myself. After chatting briefly about baseball, he asked about my activities. When I told Robin that I moonlighted as a commercial grouper fisherman, he said that he would like to go along on a trip "just to observe." Several weeks later we made a day trip on my 25 ft Delta. After several unproductive stops I decked a couple of nice gag grouper. At this point point Robin said "hey Bob can I try one of your spare rods." After a little coaching( most inexperienced anglers hold the rod under their armpit, but you need to stick it in your gut to get enough leverage to keep grouper out of the rocks) he was able to land several decent fish. Robin went on several more trips with me and brought along some of his family. On one trip he hooked a nice fish which was giving him a particularly hard time. I snidely asked him if it felt like he had Willie McCovey on the line? Robin said "I hope not, I had enough of that fellow." Those were truly memorable fishing trips for me. Few people get to meet their idols, let alone take them fishing. And Robin Roberts was congenial and unpretentious just as advertised.