by Fishin’ Frank
Dad starts reeling in a fish, so I go to reel in the other. Too late, I notice the wind, not the fish, has blown the line from one rod across the other rod and then one in the next one and cluster! Get out the line cutter and re-rig. Dad is still fighting the fish. One of the tangled lines is tangled with the one with the fish, so I get his line cut loose and he lands the trout, just a bit too short. So, we moved closer to an island to get out of the wind a bit, good idea, right? Stopping just a couple islands north of Pirate Harbor, we anchored the boat and cast up close to the island with one rod, using a sinker on the leader with a live shrimp. Second rod we put a float on and cast it in front of the island, where we knew there was a slight trough. Then fish on; Dad got a hit. Weird thing is, the fish had not pulled, but instead swam a little towards the boat, then off to the side, wrapping that line with the other two we had out. So, he did not know the fish was hooked up until it was a tangled mess. I saw where the fish was headed and tried to get the lines in. What I should have done was reel in my line from the front of the boat, as while I started reeling in the last one, the fish saw its chance to make life really miserable and shot straight to the front of the boat and tangled that line as well. So here we are holding rods that are tied together with a huge knot in the middle and 4 lines going everywhere. Still a fish on. And yes, it was a cat fish- a 2 ½ pound hardhead catfish who decided to get even for any bad things I have said about them and we let it go after cutting the lines and hauling it in hand-over-hand. This trip was about tangles and busted lines.
OK the fish won the first two rounds, so we switched up. Only one rod for each of us and we started drifting. Dad with a shrimp and a split shot, me with a shrimp under a float. Fish on. Yes, it was steady fishing and catching easy as you please. My lesson of the day, one rod, one line when the wind or tide is really going fast. Two rods don’t make a catch. I went back to Mark Twain saying “Put all of your eggs in one basket and watch that basket”