I suppose we all find ourselves in the intersection between fate and destiny at times. This was where I found myself at the moment my heart stopped! Ol' Gato had hung yet another good fish and Tom had to release me so he could help Gato wrangle his fish into the boat. I dropped to one knee to leverage the fish. And it happened..... The line goes slack! Tom barks, REEL, REEL,REEL, she coming at the boat. I reeled until I once again felt a fish but this felt much smaller. As I hoist the fish into the boat we realize that I'd hung a small Blue that had been swallowed by a bigger fish during the initial fight. The fish was all skinned and bloody down one side which looked like 50 grit sandpaper had stripped it. We took a picture of the good side of the fish so the PETA folks wouldn't come after us. My guts hurt at the thought of loosing the beast I'd waged battle with for so long. It was devastating to say the least!! Tom lights another smoke and turns the boat into the wind proclaiming, "we'll do another drift and try and hook her again".....

The morning was inching ever closer toward the noon hour as we continued to drift. Oh, we weren't dunking for skunks, I guarantee! We kept catching eaters until the bag of gummies had depleted to nothing more than salt remnants and a pretty plastic sack. We switched over to bar-s hotdogs for bait but they just didn't sparkle in the eye of these Blues near like those derned Gummie's! I kept hoping for the big girl to eat again as I longed for return of the ear ringing adrenaline I'd experience earlier. This is when I looked down along side the boat and saw what looked like a clear wine bottle floating with what looked like a piece of paper in it. I drew Tom's attention to it and he got out the net to retrieve the bottle.....

As Tom eased the netted bottle over the gunwale I could clearly see that there was indeed a rolled up paper in the bottle. Tom hands me the bottle to investigate the contents within. I gently remove the weathered ol cork from the bottle neck and unfurled the paper from within. I was not at all ready for the message scribbled in old weathered ink. These were words obviously written by a wise old fisherman with decade's of fishing experience. Tom and Chris remained on edge as I read the note aloud.

It read, "NEVER LET TRUTH STAND IN THE WAY OF A GOOD FISHING STORY"!

Sounds like 3 had some fun for sure, getting in the prelim of a BC day!

Reminds me of an episode during the Kid's Catfish Tourney in June 2011. Nick had a special flat bottom made for him of SS & almost was a high side barge of a thing. He had a group of kids up on the north end of Lake Limestone. I think they were up in Big Creek (known for giant Yellows). All of a sudden, one of the kids had one hit & started taking him from the front to the back. Nick realized what was about to happen & darted after the kid. He managed to grab him about the time they hit the end of the "barge" wall. I forget what went down next, broken line or lost rod-n-reel. But the kid did not go swimming, Thank Goodness!

Or like the time Roy, a friend of mine, was out with his two brothers in a huge flat bottom off the coast (around Santa Fe area near Galveston). Gary, his oldest brother, was situated at the rear of the boat. He hooked one & it circled & headed the other way. It took Gary over the middle seat. Had his knees not gone below & wedged under the front seat, he would have taken a flying trip off the front end. Roy said their boat was moving on (with the motor off). Gary is like Roy, as he never lets go. I forget how it ended, but Gary decided to stay in the boat. No, they did not get to see what it was, nor follow it on down to the depths.

Anyway, glad ya'll had fun & everybody arrived safely back, except that poor stripped Blue.

I think west TX guy got winded lol ..

That's hilarious! Never a dull moment on Toms boat.