Bye, Bye Fish

[Reel Addiction]

I received a call from my Oldest Son yesterday who wanted to go fishing with his good friend from college. He wanted to show him how we do it up in he Panhandle so I fel obligated to offer my hospitilaty. What my Son didn't realize was that I was about to give them was another one of my mis adventures that I have become so famous for and given my family and friends countless hours of entertainment. The plan was to take The Polar and launch at The Fort and shoot up river and try our luck at these fictional Black Holes that hold countless trout and Reds. Well, I start loading gear and go to start the boat and it will not crank. The battery was dead and it had a bad terminal. I could charge the battery and make a parts run but the day was sliping by so I called my Son with the news and said the boat was a no go. Wtih the weather as nice as it has was, I asked if they wanted to go wade fishing and chase some Red Fish. He agreed so the gear leaves the boat, into the truck and off to Alligator Harbour we go. A quick stop at Chrums (I love that place) for some shrimp and we get to the water at 2PM. High tide was peaking, the water temperture was not to cold and the wind was hardly blowing. Conditions looked great and we started fishing. Now I must say, wade fishing is not for everyone, but I have been doing it my entire life and just love it. I feel at one with the environment I am fishing and have a real peaceful experience while waste high in he water. I can cover a lot of ground in a stealth like manner and I have cought as many fish wading as I have off my boat. So, I get out to my Honey Hole in Alligator Harbour and I am in about 3.5 feet of water when the trout bite turned on. I was fishing with live shrimp and that was the ticket. I got my Son and his Bud to fish the hole with me and for two hours it was "on"! When it was hot, we would hook up on every cast. When it slowed down, we hooked up every five cast. A day I have not experienced fishing this area in many, many years. The trout were all between 13 and 17 inches and we all limited out many times over. Now, I must tell you all that I enjoy fish twice, once catching them, and once eating them. I am a meat hunter and I keep my limit. I find great joy in sharing fresh fish with family and friends and it is not often that I limit out. Well, this is were the story gets fun. My Son and his pal have stringers to keep their catch. They had two trout on a stringer when they came to my spot. Wanting to pound their chest as the great fishers they are, they held up their stringer and nothing was there. A shark and cut them off and they never knew. It happens and has happened to me in the past so I purchased a bait ring many years ago that is about 12 inches wide strofoam ring and mesh that extends under the ring by about two feet. It allows plent of room for the fish and they stay alive up to the point when you remove them from the water. I has a long leader and I extend that out away from me by about ten feet as it is attached to my body. So, I tell the boys to start putting their trout in my floating ring. They do so and by 5PM we all had our limit and it was time to go. We never found any Red Fish so the boys tell me they will work the shoreline walking out. I decide to work the deeper area while walking out. At this point I must tell you all that I have a problem. I have a mental block on leaving fish biting. I know it's a problem but I did not choose my forumn name by chance. I am addicted to fishing and I can't get enough. A smart person would have simply walked out and thanked the Good Lord for a Epic day, but not me. Nope I have to stay at it and continue getting my fix. Well, I am slowly walking back in about three feet of water when I feel the ring behind me full of 15 trout get pulled downward and away. I turn around and wee this big hole in the water and knew a shark was after my fish. My first instinct was to pull my fish to me and away from the shark. I worked hard to catch them and he was not taking my dinner. At that point the beast emerged and showed himself. He convinced me in a nano second that I didn't need them and I had best re think my position. I reached down and un tethered myself to his dinner to not escalate my problems with him and started to watch the show. The shark was rolling over and over the bait ring and getting more pissed that the fish were traped in a contraption that was not giving him easy access. Parts of the bait ring was flying all over the place and he was flinging water everwhere. The shark was hugh! My guess was an easy 8 footer but could have been more. His upper tail fin was much larger than the lower tail fin so I am thinking it was probably a Bull Shark that eat my dinner. The entire episode lasted about 15 seconds and was an amazing thing to see. It took him more effort to shread throught the mess than he is accustomed but he got to dine on 15 fine trout served to him on a nice platter. I on the other hand just stood there, getting pissed that I no longer had any super and thinking it was probably not a good idea putting so many fish in that ring. I looked over at the Boys and they are high tailing it to the shore why telling me to get out of there. The shark was long gone by now and I am sure he had a bellly full of fish so I simply started walking back to the shore and resumed fishing in hopes of re catching some dinner. I managed some undersized trout and could have could have stayed longer, but the boys wanted to leave while they still could. What is wrong with the youth today? Anyway, I made it back in with no dinner and asked my Son's friend if he enjoyed his time on the water. He said if all the fishig in he Panhandle is like this, we have to be some of the craziest fishermen in the world. All my Son could say was " I told you so, my Dad is nuts when it comes to fishing"! Looking back at the day, I may have dodged being eaten by a shark and lost my dinner to a far superior fisherman but the memory of the day my Son will share with his family and friends will live on in infamy!

Tight lines everone

[charlie tuna]

Great story -- thanks for posting

[rockyg]

Great post.

I too enjoy being at one with nature and observing the Bull sharks, and Stingrays, and big Alligators.....while standing in my BOAT.

[guthooked]

That shark had better like the taste of crap if he grabs ahold of something attached to me.

[bbb]

Seems all your stories start with a broken down Polar boat.

I think your crazy to wade with chum around your waist.

[mjsigns]

Dang Good Read there Reel Addict !
Too bad about the fish you lost , but a life-long memory will remain, and a what a great story. This time, truth is even stranger than fiction. .

[Reel Addiction]

I'm trying to unload that thing and buy your gigging boat there Mr. BBB but just don't want to let it go.

[RCS]

Cool story, glad you came away in one piece. I've basically grown up down at St. Teresa, and I've seen more big sharks down there than anywhere else BY FAR. Decided one summer in highschool to try and catch one of the big boys...of the 2 attempts made, both resulted in hookups with huge bullsharks within 5 minutes of dropping a bait. The second night we tried it, I didn't even make it back in to shore before my drag was singing. Sure made me nervous the next time I swam out to the buoy in the early AM to bring the boat in for dad.

[DEMON]

Good story. Thanks for sharing.

[Tidedancer]

Great Read. I know you are the talk of the campus back at college.

[bman]

wow

[tin can]

Great post.

I too enjoy being at one with nature and observing the Bull sharks, and Stingrays, and big Alligators.....while standing in my BOAT.

X2

[SS-342]

You are a good STORY TELLER. Great read!

Thanks for sharing!

[MarkM]

I bet your heart was beating! Good story.

[MudDucker]

Only thing missing is pictures of the attack and your parties underwear post attack! Great story!