flying fish

[176champion]

They do actually have a flying fish in Florida in the Gulf of Mexico they are really cool.

[Daryk Campbell Sr]

When I was just a kid, I fished to the city ponds exclusively.   There were many ducks and geese.  As a kid who was not catching anything would do, I practiced my casting by aiming at the geese and ducks.  I never got one.  Quite a few years later, while fishing in one of my favorite ponds, I casted out.  To my surprise I finally caught one of the ducks that I had come to believe to be impossible to catch, truly by accident.   Luckily for me, and the duck, a friend's dad who was also there knew that if you pulled a certain way on the leg, it would put the duck in a state that would not allow it to move.   Essentially you straighten out the leg, and the duck could not move.   Made it much easier to remove the hook and tangled line.   That day will always be in my mind.   Funny, I couldn't tell you how many times I tried to hook one.  Not even  knowing what I would do if I caught one.  Luckily the day I did, and adult was there to guide me.   Thanks Triple E, wherever you are.   

[m&m]

Well I guess I have tell my Loon story. A few years ago our family was vacationing near Merrill WI at a private retreat house owned by a group of nuns. The mother superior was a friend of the family and we spent a week with her there every year. They have an 80 acre private lake nestled in a 275 acre parcel of land. My brother-in-law, one of the nuns and I were fishing and enjoying a beautiful day. There are a mated pair of Loons who are permanent residents on the lake. As we were casting a crankbait for bass one of the Loons went for a dive. Just then my brother set the hook and the fight was on. Eventually the Loon came to the surface with the crankbait dangling from the bill. We got the Loon to the side of the boat and while I was removing the hook, my brother-in-law was consoling the nun who was crying uncontrollably. The nun made us move to the other side of the lake away from the Loons.  

Mike