Learning the ropes - and getting burned by them...

Wheeler Lake - Mouth of the Elk and near Lucy's Branch

Time: Morning Run
Air Temperature: 75 - 81F during trip
Water Temperature: 
Lake Level: 555.64

Weather Conditions: Nice, clear. Winds calm.

After spending about 2 years talking about it, I finally hooked up with Kevin to show him how I run big water trotlines.

YOUTUBE VIDEOS OF THE TRIP HERE:

I set out lines on Thursday afternoon and launched from Cowford and intended to run all the way down to the Elk river.  It is about a 30 minute boat ride, but I wanted to enjoy my time on the water and the weather was great.  I had two lines boxed and anchors placed in the front of the boat.

WARNING - GRAPHIC INJURY DESCRIPTION!!

I'm writing this after the fact, but I had the worst fishing related injury/close call that I've ever had while heading to put out these lines.  Shortly after I launched from Cowford, I had gotten the boat up on plane running about 30 MPH when one of my anchor lines and marker floats came unwound.  The pool noodle float flew up into the air like a kite on a string.  I was somewhat annoyed and never slowed down, but instead attempted to grab the line with my left hand and reel the line back in.  Suddenly, the float hit the water behind my motor wake as I grabbed the line and it was pulled underwater.  The line became tight and started smoking through my closed hand.  I felt the pain immediately, but couldn't get my hand off the line quick enough.  I managed to pry my hand open just in time as the float ran out of line and pulled a 25+ lb steel I-beam anchor out of the front of my boat as sailed it right by my face until it crashed into the water.  It all happed in just a split second, but it seemed to drag out forever.  I slowed the throttle and realized I just had an extremely close call.  The pool noodle marker float was in shreds behind the boat and the trotline anchor was gone for good.  

I realized I hurt my hand pretty badly.  I I took a look at it, it was bad.  I has sustained severe rope burns on all five fingers and the palm of my hand.   The line had burned away about 1/4" of flesh from my fingers and had cauterized them.  It never bled a drop even given the severity.  I was trying to figure out if I needed to go to the ER or exactly how bad it was.  I was close to my neighborhood boat dock, so I decided it was best to pull in and walk to the house to check out the damage a little closer.

There really wasn't any think left to sew up and all a Dr. would could do is numb it, pack it, and wrap it.  I decided I could do as much.  I sprayed it down with Dermoplast, packed it with triple antibiotic ointment, wrapped it in gauze and tape, and put on a thick latex glove.  That would have to do.

The pain was steady, but manageable.  My hard-headed, stubborn ass decided that putting out the lines wasn't too bad and I had help the next day to pull them in, so I carried another anchor and float down to the dock and hit the water to fish.  Gotta be tough to be dumb...

The culprit that made me cuss and left me with some new scars...

NOW BACK TO THE FISHING!!

I decided to put one line out on the west side of Lucy's Branch and the other in my favorite spot on the south shore across from the mouth of the Elk.  This is the first time I put lines out since installing the programmable trolling motor and MAN, what a difference it makes in ease of deployment!!

I baited alternating hooks with cut bait and my Kool-aide and garlic soaked chicken gizzards.  We returned at daylight to pull lines and it was a hit!!  I won't spend a ton of time writing detail about the pull, but please check out the YouTube videos of the day above.  

On the first line, we caught 41 cats which I believe is my best haul ever on a single line.  This was the line across from the Elk.  We caught 20-something on the second line, which is more typical.

We ended up catching 60-something and kept 58, I believe.  We had both livewells absolutely running over with catfish.  Kevin came to the house and we cleaned fish for hours over a few cold ones.  I believe we ended up with 50-something lbs of dressed fillets.  What a haul!!