I made probably the most retarded mistake I've made while fishing ever just this weekend. Last night had a break-off with something big, lighted bobber started floating. I went back to the cabin, put-on the waders, and hauled out in the water with the extension net to retrieve my prized bobber. Thought I'd be able to reach it with the extension net and not get wet. Yep, I was wrong. Water 1/4" over the waders probably and soaked me through. $400 cell phone down the drain that I forgot to take out of my pants
We were pre-fishing for a salmon tournament on Lake Michigan three years ago, and not doing very well. With three guys in the boat we had nine lines in the water and had been making small changes in our spread and running to different areas all morning. We were pretty close to running in and re-thinking when we got a triple -- it turned out to be a coho on a dipsey rod and two chinooks on riggers. We finally found fish! I ended up with the dipsey rod and was going to have my fish to the boat first. Anybody who has done this type of fishing knows what sort of pandemonium ensued. We were passing rods around each other, pulling other lines, and laughing our heads off. As Kirk and Steve were fighting their kings, I decided to net the smallish coho myself. I got the extension net in the water and horsed the fish toward the net. Stupid. The hook popped out and the dipsey came rocketing back directly into my face. I came to lying on the deck with a bloody face, and a fuzzy head. I was only knocked out for a moment, and my buddies, being the quality fisherman that they are, chose to continue fighting their fish. We got the fish in the cooler and took a look at my face. I had about an inch long y-shaped gash in the center of my forehead. It would need stitches, but we were only a day from the tourney and we wanted to fish this new area some more, so we stayed. The first aid kit, which has since been replaced, had somehow gotten wet at some point in the past. The gauze, tape, and butterfly bandages were all either moldy or had lost their adhesive. I was forced to improvise. I got the bleeding under control which can be a pain with a gash to the head. I cut off the sleeves of my t shirt and held them on my forehead until the blood stopped. But what to do now? I could hear them re-rigging up on deck, but I wasn't going to be able to fish with my hands on my forehead so I had to think of something to attach the shirt sleeves to my face. I tried a number of things including mono and a gallon size zip-top bag. I finally came up with what may be my greatest improvisation to date. I cut the elastic band off my underwear and tied it around my head, Rambo style. It held the shirt sleeves perfectly. We finished practicing, I went for stitches, was both laughed at and commended by the ER staff, and we finished in the money. I still have the bloody dipsey... and the scar.