10-28-2012, 03:50 AM
Skates put up a pretty good fight. I remember jigging for squid at night when I used to live near Seattle and watching a guy in a dinky pool toy type rubber raft getting towed around by one for like an hour. He finally got it to the surface, and ended up cutting the line because there was no way he could get it in the boat. Unfortunately he managed to opo a hole in the boat during the process and barely made it back to the boat launch.
Smallmouth for me, though maybe I should have voted for the channel catfish that took off with my pole. I was about to leave, so I set it down against a bush. I had caught another and it was on a stringer tied to the roots. As I bent over to untie the stringer, another one hit the bait, causing the pole to launch right off my back. I stood up and saw the pole under the water. Waded in after it, but the fish made another lunge and it was gone. Ran back to my car where I had another pole and threw my wet shoes and in the trunk. I tried to snag it unsuccessfully by casting around for an hour.
When I gave up, I went to get my other fish and found the stringer had come loose and it had swam away. I was pretty ticked off at myself, but not as ticked as when I found my keys were missing. I ended up walking barefoot to a gas station a half a mile away, waiting for my dad to get home after his night shift ended and having him drive for an hour to come pick me up. We had to come back the next day to get my car. The only lucky thing about that day was I didn't have to call a locksmith. It turned out I had dropped them on the trail where the park ranger found them instead of locking them in the trunk.
[signature]
Smallmouth for me, though maybe I should have voted for the channel catfish that took off with my pole. I was about to leave, so I set it down against a bush. I had caught another and it was on a stringer tied to the roots. As I bent over to untie the stringer, another one hit the bait, causing the pole to launch right off my back. I stood up and saw the pole under the water. Waded in after it, but the fish made another lunge and it was gone. Ran back to my car where I had another pole and threw my wet shoes and in the trunk. I tried to snag it unsuccessfully by casting around for an hour.
When I gave up, I went to get my other fish and found the stringer had come loose and it had swam away. I was pretty ticked off at myself, but not as ticked as when I found my keys were missing. I ended up walking barefoot to a gas station a half a mile away, waiting for my dad to get home after his night shift ended and having him drive for an hour to come pick me up. We had to come back the next day to get my car. The only lucky thing about that day was I didn't have to call a locksmith. It turned out I had dropped them on the trail where the park ranger found them instead of locking them in the trunk.
[signature]