No good deed goes unpunished.

So, if you remember from my previous post two days ago

Originally Posted by Drake

My friends are in from out of town and want to kayak LJ. I'm going to peddle out while they do the tour and take some photos. I'm leaving all my gear at home and just taking a pleasure day, been fishing 11 out of the last 15 days.

Well, the pleasure day went well. Had a lot of fun on the water, got to take my friends all around La Jolla and into the caves. They had a blast. The pup was soaking up the sun and was pretty happy to be out.

Everything was going great until I was on the beach.


Like I said, I left my fishing poles at home. I had zero gear on the boat. 20 years I've been fishing, and this is the first time I had an accident.

I was loading up my car and I saw out of the corner of my eye, a yellow hobie loaded with fishing gear about to get pummeled by the surf. I drop what I'm doing and I sprint out to the surf and try to catch him before he rolls over. I got there to late and he had flipped. The surf was pumping and the shore line was loaded with tourists on rental kayaks. I got between the steamroller kayak and people on the shore and was able to prevent any sort of possible injuries. The kayak guide was more than appreciative and I managed to get the unknown kayakers kayak and all his gear safely on shore while he was trying to get his bearings. He was pretty dissoriented.

When he got the the shore, I told him to check he had everything while I went and picked up anything I saw floating. When I got back he told me he was missing a rod. Thankfully I had my snorkel and fins since it was just a fun day in the cove. I run out into the surf and in a few minutes I found his rod.

I popped up all excited like I was the superhero of the day. I hold it in the air to show him I got it and then I get blindsided by a tourist kayak. I go over and on the way down I bury a 2/0 mustad in my finger. The ones with the HUGE barbs.

THE ONE DAY IN OVER 100 KAYAK TRIPS I DONT BRING MY POLES!!

Well I was like "fuggit, I'll man up" push it through, pinch the barb and pull it out. Too bad the hook was pointing right into the bone.

Well, to the ER I go.

40 minutes of a wait and I get a "We've got a specialist, hooks in skin is kind of his thing"

They numb me up nice and good, and pull the hook away from the bone and push it through the other side. They had some surgical sheers, the ones we all see can cut through pennies.

They give those sheers a go and they break. Next, they bring bigger sheers. Those break too, Ok, so we're thinking what else can we try to cut the hook. "THE RING CUTTER!!" says a nurse out of left fields.

They bring the ring cutter over and it doesn't make a dent

"I've got a leatherman in my truck" another redneck Dr says. Bring in the leatherman. Doesn't work.

Wire cutters? Yeah we can try those.

90 minutes later, the wire cutters arive and finally the hook is cut and out of my finger.

What a pleasure day

In the end, I'm glad I was able to help a fellow angler out, I've been the victim of many a surf wipe outs. I wish it didn't end with a hook in my finger, but it made for a good story.

See everything was going great!




And then....