my great great grandfather used to flag fish, pretty similar to the hay hook thing, but it was never tied to him he was just drug about a quarter mile down stream then won the battle, they say it was bout an 80lb yellow, but he could have let go of the hook.

+1 on jumping out a window.

A guy I knew in school got bit my a moccasin(spelling). I wouldnt try it!

One Aggie I worked with on Boriskie Ranch (my Aunt's mother owned it), was a real tough guy. Never used gloves for barb wire & so on. He came by after he finished college to tell of his adventures on the Mississippi River noodling. He got a hold of one cat while underwater & "spotted" (surely he did not see it) another one, so decides to get it also. He said he struggled trying to get both to the surface, but they tried to keep him don. He finally won. But I can say he would have drowned before letting them go. That's just the way he was. Tough, but not knowing when to try it another day.