While I'm in the mood... here's another far-fetched story that only I could live through.... Another one that I just about didn't survive...
Was probably about 14-15 at the time... my father was the captain of a laiden down tanker, headed from Pascagoula MS to port of Tampa FL... I was a frequent "deck-hand" in the summers when I was off from school... mind you, this was before the thought of "liabilities" and such....
... Being a commercial fisherman at heart, my father had developed a technique by which to catch fish even while at speed.... typically 12-15knots.... At this speed, only open/blue water fish would be a viable target to high speed trolling lures which were our only choice... My father developed a technique by which he drug 12-24" Marlin lures at the end of a quarter mile long length of 1000# longline mono... tipped with 800# stainless braided cable....
... We typically drug 4 lures... two on the edge of the "wake/bubble trail" of the leading outside edge of the ship, and two on outriggers(extension ladders suspended way out off the edge of the ship)... which allowed the baits to skip along in clean water... Our target was WAHOO... a tiger striped member of the mackerel family... known for TREMENDOUS fighting strength/screaming runs..... known to "smoke" a fishing reel by the intensity of their run.... We often caught Wahoo well over a hundred pounds as we crossed the shelf...
.... Being who I am... I was keen to become involved, although my father and crew all warned me to be carefull...
"I got this"
.... and I sure as hell almost "got it".....
....SO.... it was about 10am on a hot summer day out on the gulf... slick calm... we were literally out in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico... headed for Tampa... the lines were set, my father was off shift sleeping and the mate was oblivious at the helm, only occasionally glancing forward to make sure a random sailboat was not in line of sight...
... being the "hunter" that I am, I was obsessed with production... and tending to the lines was my constant focus... as we traversed the Gulf, we would encounter "weed lines" of sargassum weed that would "foul" the hooks on the lures... AT WHICH POINT.... I would go out onto the slick deck and pull the line in by hand to clear the debris so as to make the bait again... but this time was different...
...as I went to pull the now skipping, ball of sargassum in to clear the hook... I was pulling the line in, hand over hand, building a "coil" of line in front of me.... about half way in... I felt a tug....
... this tug became a screaming, smoking pull as the line whipped through my gloves... before I knew it, it jerked me forward, RIGHT INTO THE COILS I HAD LAID.....
... THAT fast, a loop jumped up and cinched down on my calf(I had shorts on), and began to "saw" into my leg instantly.... in disbelief, I watch the line literally eat into my upper calf so fast, smoke actually came from it... it went through my skin, and began into my muscle before I could react by slapping it down.... which then came fast around my ankle....
... Now at this point is where my eye still twitches.... the line jerked me to my stomache and very quickly began to drag me toward the edge of the ship, of which, there was no rail.... just flat steel deck, 20' drop off..... then drag backwards by my leg until shift change.... several hours away... good times.
.... So as I was dragging along on the burning hot steel deck... I remember digging my fingernails into the deck, desperately trying to get ahold of anything... it was the first moment in my life that I truly understood what it meant to see one's life flash before their eyes...
... the fish made surges... about 15' from the edge the surge lulled for a brief moment and my slide eased... out of the corner of my eye I spotted a 1/2" x 3" nipple sticking out of the deck to my right.... about 10' laterally... I lunged to it and, by the grace of God got aholt of it..... I sat there for over a half hour as the fish surged, then drug..... I cannot tell you how hard it was to hold onto that nipple.
.... I remember screaming for help, but the roar of the engines negated my attempts as I saw the mate's feet on the helm... kicked back waiting on shift change...
... as my hands began to tire and slip, I felt the fish still making surges... suprising, as most usually succumb, drop back and skip... but this fish was a fighter... ... he finally made a strong enough surge with the ship for me to reach down and slip my shoe off.... allowing the rest of the line to whip off the boat and me the opportunity to hobble down into the galley for help.
.... They wanted to fly me off the boat the wound was so severe... the line had cut through and cauterized all at once... could not straighten my leg for over a month after...
... Went back out on the deck to help pull in a 90# Wahoo with abnormal strength... lucky for me... lesson learned....
....Have pictures from that time period... maybe I can put a few up when I get time so you all believe me.... although I still got a dandy scar for the rare nay-sayers....
