--------------------------------------------PART II - 2nd Fish Story------------------------------------------
Location: Also Marco Island
Date: The week following the Fishing Contest
Fishermen: Me and my fishing buddy, Todd.
The week previous, Todd had entered the contest in (3) freshwater categories. Bass was one, Catfish was another and I don't remember the 3rd. Todd was a pretty hardcore fisherman, very disciplined, very methodical and was regularly referred to by me as "A Bitch!". But he was a really good and talented fisherman. He was bound and determined to learn how to catch Bass (and being a "Bitch" he was truly "Bound" and "Determined") to the point of being an anal little bitch half of the time! He was still my buddy though, but now he was being extra-bitchy because I'd slayed him (and everyone else) in this Fishing Contest the week before. He'd been skunked, because he was bound and determined to catch a winning Bass. I wasn't a Bass fisherman, and I'd never even caught single Bass in my life, but I told him I'd go out with him and try to help / participate. I didn't catch squat! (Maybe some weeds, but that's about it). I can't believe I'm saying this, but to me (back then) Bass fishing was 'hard'! I've since learned they're one of the easiest freshwater fish to catch, but I still don't consider myself a Bass fisherman.
Todd had all these places he'd scientifically studied and mapped out in detail (yes, this was Todd for you). This one particular day, Todd wanted to go fish this lake which was adjacent to the Marco Golf Course (which wasn't really even permitted. It was legal, but the golf course residents were big-time snobs and would chase you off). So, we're out there fishing for these Bass. I was really more just getting sunburned than anything else; I wasn't catchin' nothin! But not from lack of trying. Figured I might as well "try" to learn. You know the old saying...'A bad day fishing is better than a good day at work'.
While I was standing there fishing for monkeys, sunken logs and birds, baking in the 4,000 degree sun, I noticed there were (3) alligators sunning on the far bank of the lake. Gators were a pretty common sight to see lounging around on the river and lake banks around Marco, so I didn't think much of it. From what I could see, one looked like a real monster of a gator, then there was a medium sized one and a smaller one. Don't know if it was a family of them or what (didn't know much about Gators other than to not play grab-ass in a lake with one of them). Okay, enough about gators, back to fishing.
Seemed like a few days went by (probably an hour and a half or so) when Todd hooks this Bass. He's got it on the line for about 60 seconds when it jumped and threw the hook. Back to fishing. About 5 minutes later Todd is zeroing in on this one spot where he caught the Bass when he hooks another one. Looked like he had this fish hooked pretty well. Hard to say for sure, but this fish looked a shade smaller than his first one, still a decent sized fish though from what I could see (and what did I know anyway; I've never even caught one of these things!) Where he hooked this fish was a long ways from where we were, so he's busy reeling it in. I'm 'spectating' at this point, standing ready with the net.
Todd gets this fish about 1/4 of the way to him, when I notice one of those gators casually slide into the water to take a dip and cool off. It was the smallest of the three gators. The gator was clear across the lake so I wasn't too worried about it, but I mentioned it to Todd anyway..."Hey Todd, don't know if you saw that, but one of those gators just rolled off into the water. Might want to keep your eye on him." Todd tells me he saw it (he always saw everything...bitch!). Almost told him he could go jump in the lake as far as I was concerned, but right about then the Bass leaped for the sky trying to shake the hook. He came down with a big "slap". About two seconds later he jumped again, and slapped back down in the water. The fish is also busy thrashing around just below the surface, but he's still pretty far away.
Then, out of the corner of my eye, I see this gator perk up, and he kind of looks in the general direction of all the commotion. Right after that he casually starts swimming in the direction of the fish. "Yo, Todd...that gator is onto you now!" Again, Todd says he saw him...bitch! Gator is just slowly swinging its tail, casually moving in the direction of the fish. Todd starts reeling faster. Gator picks up speed. I still figured this gator was too far away to actually have a shot at getting this fish. Still, Todd starts reeling even faster. Now the gator has his homing beacon set up on this fish, and he's moving much more quickly. I laughed out loud! Todd says..."Yeah, yeah...I saw it" (bitch!) Todd starts REALLY cranking on this fish. Now this gator is movin'! It's a race to the bank. Todd cranks even harder, and now the fish is half skipping across the surface! Never saw a gator do what this guy did next. ...
Todd starts cranking as fast as he possibly can. Fish is now completely out of the water, skipping over the surface. And, with about two flips of his tail, that gator is up on a plane (just like an airboat) on his chest, his front legs are no longer even swimming; they're just down along his sides. This gator is now coming for this fish like a guided missile! He's flyin'!!
Todd gets the fish to the bank at the exact same second the gator got there! We're both standing right at the water's edge. Todd says..."Net him!! HURRY!". I lunge for the fish with the net, and at the exact same moment the gator grabs the fish by the tail. Without even thinking about what's going on, I whack the gator on the head with the net hoping he'll let go. Todd has his pole lifted up as high as he can over his head, and this gator is hanging onto the other end of this fish! The net was having no affect on Mr. Gator, but I didn't have anything else...except a 5 gallon bucket behind me. So I grabbed the bucket and tried to clobber this gator over the head with the bucket (totally oblivious to the fact this gator could have easily grabbed me). And you know the sound an empty bucket makes when it hits something "BONNGK!". Now the gator, Todd, me and the fish are all in the exact same space. He's 3/4 of the way out of the water on the bank now, and he chokes up further on the fish. Todd is trying to wrestle this fish away from him, and I'm busy playing 'Baba-Loo!' on this gator's head with this bucket! (the only thing missing was Ricky Ricardo himself). The gator chokes up once more. Now the only part of the fish outside the gator's mouth is the head. The valiant battle was lost; it was over. The gator had won.
It was only then the reality of what was happening hit us. Only one brave thing left to do now...RUN!! And this is exactly what we did, dropped everything and ran like little schoolgirls up the bank. That gator wanted no part of these two crazy people; he just wanted the fish, and now he had it. Mr. Gator looks at us, and we look at him, and in a flash he was gone, back into the lake; that gator swam off with a fresh Bass lunch and a full belly, and we collected up our gear then hung our head's in shame. Bass fishing that day was over.
What a freaking 'adventure'!
The End.
(Also a true story)
Location: Also Marco Island
Date: The week following the Fishing Contest
Fishermen: Me and my fishing buddy, Todd.
The week previous, Todd had entered the contest in (3) freshwater categories. Bass was one, Catfish was another and I don't remember the 3rd. Todd was a pretty hardcore fisherman, very disciplined, very methodical and was regularly referred to by me as "A Bitch!". But he was a really good and talented fisherman. He was bound and determined to learn how to catch Bass (and being a "Bitch" he was truly "Bound" and "Determined") to the point of being an anal little bitch half of the time! He was still my buddy though, but now he was being extra-bitchy because I'd slayed him (and everyone else) in this Fishing Contest the week before. He'd been skunked, because he was bound and determined to catch a winning Bass. I wasn't a Bass fisherman, and I'd never even caught single Bass in my life, but I told him I'd go out with him and try to help / participate. I didn't catch squat! (Maybe some weeds, but that's about it). I can't believe I'm saying this, but to me (back then) Bass fishing was 'hard'! I've since learned they're one of the easiest freshwater fish to catch, but I still don't consider myself a Bass fisherman.
Todd had all these places he'd scientifically studied and mapped out in detail (yes, this was Todd for you). This one particular day, Todd wanted to go fish this lake which was adjacent to the Marco Golf Course (which wasn't really even permitted. It was legal, but the golf course residents were big-time snobs and would chase you off). So, we're out there fishing for these Bass. I was really more just getting sunburned than anything else; I wasn't catchin' nothin! But not from lack of trying. Figured I might as well "try" to learn. You know the old saying...'A bad day fishing is better than a good day at work'.
While I was standing there fishing for monkeys, sunken logs and birds, baking in the 4,000 degree sun, I noticed there were (3) alligators sunning on the far bank of the lake. Gators were a pretty common sight to see lounging around on the river and lake banks around Marco, so I didn't think much of it. From what I could see, one looked like a real monster of a gator, then there was a medium sized one and a smaller one. Don't know if it was a family of them or what (didn't know much about Gators other than to not play grab-ass in a lake with one of them). Okay, enough about gators, back to fishing.
Seemed like a few days went by (probably an hour and a half or so) when Todd hooks this Bass. He's got it on the line for about 60 seconds when it jumped and threw the hook. Back to fishing. About 5 minutes later Todd is zeroing in on this one spot where he caught the Bass when he hooks another one. Looked like he had this fish hooked pretty well. Hard to say for sure, but this fish looked a shade smaller than his first one, still a decent sized fish though from what I could see (and what did I know anyway; I've never even caught one of these things!) Where he hooked this fish was a long ways from where we were, so he's busy reeling it in. I'm 'spectating' at this point, standing ready with the net.
Todd gets this fish about 1/4 of the way to him, when I notice one of those gators casually slide into the water to take a dip and cool off. It was the smallest of the three gators. The gator was clear across the lake so I wasn't too worried about it, but I mentioned it to Todd anyway..."Hey Todd, don't know if you saw that, but one of those gators just rolled off into the water. Might want to keep your eye on him." Todd tells me he saw it (he always saw everything...bitch!). Almost told him he could go jump in the lake as far as I was concerned, but right about then the Bass leaped for the sky trying to shake the hook. He came down with a big "slap". About two seconds later he jumped again, and slapped back down in the water. The fish is also busy thrashing around just below the surface, but he's still pretty far away.
Then, out of the corner of my eye, I see this gator perk up, and he kind of looks in the general direction of all the commotion. Right after that he casually starts swimming in the direction of the fish. "Yo, Todd...that gator is onto you now!" Again, Todd says he saw him...bitch! Gator is just slowly swinging its tail, casually moving in the direction of the fish. Todd starts reeling faster. Gator picks up speed. I still figured this gator was too far away to actually have a shot at getting this fish. Still, Todd starts reeling even faster. Now the gator has his homing beacon set up on this fish, and he's moving much more quickly. I laughed out loud! Todd says..."Yeah, yeah...I saw it" (bitch!) Todd starts REALLY cranking on this fish. Now this gator is movin'! It's a race to the bank. Todd cranks even harder, and now the fish is half skipping across the surface! Never saw a gator do what this guy did next. ...
Todd starts cranking as fast as he possibly can. Fish is now completely out of the water, skipping over the surface. And, with about two flips of his tail, that gator is up on a plane (just like an airboat) on his chest, his front legs are no longer even swimming; they're just down along his sides. This gator is now coming for this fish like a guided missile! He's flyin'!!
Todd gets the fish to the bank at the exact same second the gator got there! We're both standing right at the water's edge. Todd says..."Net him!! HURRY!". I lunge for the fish with the net, and at the exact same moment the gator grabs the fish by the tail. Without even thinking about what's going on, I whack the gator on the head with the net hoping he'll let go. Todd has his pole lifted up as high as he can over his head, and this gator is hanging onto the other end of this fish! The net was having no affect on Mr. Gator, but I didn't have anything else...except a 5 gallon bucket behind me. So I grabbed the bucket and tried to clobber this gator over the head with the bucket (totally oblivious to the fact this gator could have easily grabbed me). And you know the sound an empty bucket makes when it hits something "BONNGK!". Now the gator, Todd, me and the fish are all in the exact same space. He's 3/4 of the way out of the water on the bank now, and he chokes up further on the fish. Todd is trying to wrestle this fish away from him, and I'm busy playing 'Baba-Loo!' on this gator's head with this bucket! (the only thing missing was Ricky Ricardo himself). The gator chokes up once more. Now the only part of the fish outside the gator's mouth is the head. The valiant battle was lost; it was over. The gator had won.
It was only then the reality of what was happening hit us. Only one brave thing left to do now...RUN!! And this is exactly what we did, dropped everything and ran like little schoolgirls up the bank. That gator wanted no part of these two crazy people; he just wanted the fish, and now he had it. Mr. Gator looks at us, and we look at him, and in a flash he was gone, back into the lake; that gator swam off with a fresh Bass lunch and a full belly, and we collected up our gear then hung our head's in shame. Bass fishing that day was over.
What a freaking 'adventure'!
The End.
(Also a true story)