C'mon. I need some paddle fishing stories!

Post Reply
User avatar
snooker56
Posts: 214
Joined: Sun Mar 29, 2009 12:22 pm
Location: Pinellas Park

C'mon. I need some paddle fishing stories!

Post by snooker56 »

It's been nearly three years since I've been on the water. My shoulder problem just kept getting worse until I couldn't paddle...Heck, I couldn't get through a fifty round box of .45s on the range! Last July (on my birthday, but that's another story) I finally had some major surgery on my left shoulder to remove two matched sets of bone spurs, repair a partially torn labrum and the big finish - cutting a piece of dead bone from the outside-top of the humeral head and replacing it with a cobalt chrome cap.

The first two were done through an itty bitty, one stitch hole in my back. The biggie was done by slicing me from near the top of the shoulder to almost my armpit, cutting through the muscle, dislocating my shoulder and, well, doing as said previously with the cap. After a few days of sitting with an ice machine attached to my shoulder and a combination of Oxycontin and Oxycodone running through my veins I started to feel better.

Working was a whole other interesting feat. But I aint going there. Six weeks of supervised pt and continuing home pt to this day. I am supposed to be fully healed by the end of July. I have been shooting with no pain and am up to about 48 arrows down range with my bows lowered to 52 lbs. before I am too fatigued to continue. BUT I STILL CANNOT PADDLE FOR ANY LENGTH OF TIME! (Although my rowing exercises with resistance bands is helping. But then, that's a bit different than windmilling a kayak paddle.)

Sooo, I have been living vicariously through the stories here. But for the last few months, the tales are very few and very far between.

Help a guy out here! Give me some fish tales...PLEASE!
"Bugman" Tom

Heritage Redfish 14
Chevy Silverado
Rik
Posts: 14006
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 1969 7:00 pm
Location: Sarasota
Contact:

Re: C'mon. I need some paddle fishing stories!

Post by Rik »

I'm with you Snooker. There's a lot of lurkers who don't post anything. Yes, I can see everybody who comes on the forum and I know that some of the lurkers are out fishing.

While not as serious, I too have been off the water due to leg surgery - wanna see my scar? - followed by a miserable case of shingles. Not only has it kept me off the water, it also means I haven't been able to see my grand daughter for over a month. I too would love to fish vicariously while I'm mending and missing her.

Simple fact of forum life is this - Posts breed Posts.

So, unless you all want to read about my experience with shingles (warning - I have pictures), please put up some fishing posts.

PSA - if you are of age, get your shingles vaccine. Knowing what I know now, I'd have paid $5,000 for it.
Over every mountain there is a path, although it may not be seen from the valley
User avatar
H2Oz
Posts: 49
Joined: Tue May 12, 2015 2:21 pm

Re: C'mon. I need some paddle fishing stories!

Post by H2Oz »

Bugman & Rik --

Always sorry to hear from paddlefishing compatriots that they're also suffering from musculoskeletal problems. My old man was half right when he told me, "It ain't the miles that wears you out, bub, it's the sudden stops." Now, well into my geezerhood, I'm pretty sure it's BOTH.

Bugman: I switched to a proper-length single-blader years ago, and my shoulder/back problems disappeared.

To you LURKERS out there that Rik was talking about:

CONTRIBUTE! You don't have to burn your spots, nobody will think less of you if you're just starting out and don't know what a "mullet mud" is, or if you're dirt poor like me and run an older, less "prestigious" SOT, or don't have the latest laser-etched $1,000 reel with the hydrosploobium gears that are soaked in Pilsner-Urquell by virgins at the factory. It's a COMMUNITY. You're all supposed to be carrying SOME kind of SIGNALLING DEVICE *and* VISIBILITY AIDS.... so SOUND OFF.

Some of us will agree with you, and some will not. Don't just let us know what FISH you're catching, or what you're using TO catch them -- what's the condition of the waters you're in? Picked up any good (or unusually bad) litter lately? Suffered interesting new punctures? Seen some fine booty over on the beach? Watched some idiot try to practice his Eskimo roll over an oyster bar? Got a tip for altering a treasured plug, or some new and demented way to adorn a milkcrate?

In the marvelous vernacular of the young: "OPEN UP THIS PIT!"

Love,

Ol' Sarge

PS -- More posts coming up, especially if the weather turns to crap.

____________________
We regret to inform you that today's seminar, "Dealing With Disappointment", has been cancelled.
User avatar
snooker56
Posts: 214
Joined: Sun Mar 29, 2009 12:22 pm
Location: Pinellas Park

Re: C'mon. I need some paddle fishing stories!

Post by snooker56 »

Rick- No! I do not want to see your scar. Just as I'm sure you don't want to see mine. So sorry about the shingles. My dad's had them three times. GET THE SHOT FOLKS! I sympathize with you about your Grand-daughter. Mine lives in New York and I haven't seen her in over a year.

Old Sarge- I thought about the single paddle, but it isn't just that right now. It's also the loading, unloading, loading and unloading again. The cleaning of the gear. And all the stuff that goes with it is very fatiguing still for my shoulder. The Doc said the pain, etc. could persist for a year, but even though that anniversary is just over a month away (and even though I'm doing my exercises) I still have shoulder pain (not as bad as before thank goodness) and if I move suddenly it will sometimes feel like I'm being stabbed (the Doc said that was the scar tissue on the muscle still stretching out). Oi!

Thank you both for the support and hopefully I'll be back out soon and posting about fishing and camping again!
"Bugman" Tom

Heritage Redfish 14
Chevy Silverado
User avatar
H2Oz
Posts: 49
Joined: Tue May 12, 2015 2:21 pm

Re: C'mon. I need some paddle fishing stories!

Post by H2Oz »

Gotcha, Bugman. They must have done some Thanksgiving-style carving on you. I wore out the t-shirt from THAT club. Yeah, the loading/unloading, cleaning, etc., is a bugger when you're on the injured list. We're all pulling for you to get better, buddy.

Hey, you know what would make a cool topic? Maybe some of the rigging hacks/tricks different folks used, are using, or have used to compensate for our various age/injury-induced "gimpisms" -- or maybe something you've just SEEN somebody else doing. I converted a small Tractor Supply trailer so that (once unstrapped) I can lift the stern handle of my fully loaded Tarpon about four inches (with my one fully functional hand and shoulder) and roll it right off like it was styrofoam.

(Sorry, I don't own a camera -- yeah, yeah, I'm a Luddite dinosaur -- or I'd post some pics.)

Maybe some of the HOTW or Wounded Warrior guys can chime in with... well, ANYTHING that makes things easier/safer.
User avatar
jbdba01
Mr. Fishing Reports
Mr. Fishing Reports
Posts: 1173
Joined: Mon Oct 11, 2010 8:09 am

Re: C'mon. I need some paddle fishing stories!

Post by jbdba01 »

Well...not exactly a paddle fishing story...Apologies for the large format pics.

Image

Executive Details: 1 bite, 1 poon, but it was a good one.

Details: With the son (aka. Wonderboy) heading off to Cape Canaveral for his summer internship next week I opted to take a day off and see if we could get on some Poon.

It was a rough go of it early on - he's a slower riser and we found ourselves leaving the house at 6:15; hitting traffic along the way and filling up with gas we finally hit the water around 7:30. Bait was a major hassle and we really didn't find ourselves fishing until well after 9. Cruising the beach we found poon but we just weren't getting the bite that we had hoped for.

With the tide slowing down I decided to see if there was any poon in the pass. With the pass becoming more like Boca Grande every year I'm not a big fan of the pass, but figured we might be able to increase our odds. We drifted through the outside part of the armada and eventually settled in on a spot where apparently we saw poon, but with the exception of one other boater most people had not.

Using the only available chum I (some old frozen whitebait) I started getting the stink in the water. So did the other boater. 20 minutes later I watched a fish fly and the boater toss anchor. He was on - we watched him go by. Anchored up behind me was the only boat that could get in is his way and as luck would have it the fish tangled itself up in the anchor. The angler climbed aboard his now new-found friends' boat and after 5-6 minutes of passing th erod under/over the anchor somehow managed to get the line out. He jumped back on his boat and appeared to have landed the fish. I commented to my son that was unbelievable. I was convinced that the fish would have broken off.

5 minutes later I watch another boat go by with yet another fish.

With the frustration and anticipation building I chopped the tail off my thread and free spooled it out. With a solid thwack we were on and boy were we. I set the hook hard 3 times and hoped for the best. Just as we were backing down the fish presented itself; I called over to Evan, "Holy cow this is not one of those 100 pounders. Big fish. Real big fish!!"

Image

I scrambled to the bow and started to cringe as I saw where we were headed. Right to the same boat. Getting closer I could feel the line tugging on the anchor line. Not exactly sure what to do I watched as the captain pulled the anchor up using his anchor windlass; as we passed by I felt the line come off the anchor, but now the motor was a headache. I shoved my rod as far down in the water as it would go and hollered over to the captain. "Guys, could you raise your motor." I flipped to free spool - line was still going out. "Guys now!!" This time they hollered back - "We're trying." I apologized and realized that I had switched to poon mode where things get let's just say a bit testy. As I saw the line go passed the boat, I apologized and thanked them at the same time. They clearly were not seasoned poon guys and were there more for the beer than the fish. That said, they were in good spirits and said "Good luck."

I'm not quite sure how that worked out, but eventually I found myself in open water with one "Boat Tour " boat respectfully keeping his distance. Seems he brought the touri to see the fun in "The Pass".

They got a speacial treat as the fish not only presented itself, but quite possibly executed the most magical tail walk I've every seen a poon do. With 6' of fish out of the water it tail walked not 10 feet, but 10 yards, turned around and tail walked back another 5 yards. It was spectacular to watch and I cold not contain myself as I hollered out. "Wooooohooooooo!!" That said as soon as the fish landed I was quite sure that the gig was up. Nothing but slack. I cranked for all I was worth and somehow managed to stay on the fish.

"Evan get the camera. This ones a show boater."

He grabbed my Canon T2i and we managed to get another series of jumps. The scale of the picture does not give the fish any justice. This was a big fish for sure...

Image

Image

Image

You can see in my technique that I do not "bow to the king." I save that for when they are about 5' from the boat. People argue it's the wrong thing to do, but I'm staying with the one that brought me to the dance.

After those jumps and shenanigans we settled in for what I like to call "The grind." Slowly I added more pressure and with the timer hitting 25 minutes I could not believe the amount of energy this fish had. Most times at the 20 minute mark I'm gaining control of the situation; not so with this fish. With the heat and humidity wearing me out I tagged out to Wonderboy and he proceeded to get his butt whooped on for a bit.

Image

Hydrated up again we swapped out a couple times and finally at the 35 minute mark leadered the fish.

Image

At this point I really applied the heat. I moved to the stern sat in the seat and using the gunnels I grabbed the spool and pulled for all I was worth.

Image

Image

I was pretty sure something was going to give, but it didn't. I looked around and saw that we were moving. I've no clue how this fish had so much energy, but we were being pulled stern first into the current. Wanting this fish to the boat I clamped down on the drag more and grabbed the spool again. Finally realizing the the gig was up, the fish relented, but was still somewhat green.

I put on the gloves and went to grab it's mouth and got a face full of water. I did this two more times and had had enough. I grabbed the leader and said "Enough!!" Course the fish had other plans tail slapped the boat, snapped the leader, and swam off strong. I told Evan, "That may have been for the better."

We discussed size, but I'm not very good on that. What I can say is that it was probably in the 135 range. +- 10%.

Both of us were pretty worn out, and prior to going to get the anchor ball we hydrated up some more. On the way to the ball we stopped by our new friends who had assisted with pulling anchor. I apologized and again, but they were more curious about the status

"You guys get him."
"Yup."
"They're still here."
"I think were one and done for the day. Thanks again."

They chuckled and we parted ways. We grabbed the buoy and decided to go go grab some lunch. A commemorative photo closed out the day.

Image

Some additional misc photos...

Image


Image

Image


On a side note..I like the B&W shots better; wife liked color. Any comments?

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image
JB
User avatar
snooker56
Posts: 214
Joined: Sun Mar 29, 2009 12:22 pm
Location: Pinellas Park

Re: C'mon. I need some paddle fishing stories!

Post by snooker56 »

Definitely color. Thanks for the story and pix! Looks like a good time was had from start to the 19th hole!
"Bugman" Tom

Heritage Redfish 14
Chevy Silverado
User avatar
DoubleM
Posts: 1178
Joined: Tue Dec 30, 2008 10:09 am
Location: Sarasoda

Re: C'mon. I need some paddle fishing stories!

Post by DoubleM »

Wait are we talking paddle stories or shingles? I wish I had some paddle stories for you, haven't gone out in months except for a tournament where I misplaced the small ass token in the dark within 15 minutes of it starting.
As for shingles, it's not just for you geezers. I caught a case last year at the ripe age of 33. I believe it was a contribution of life's stress and a low immune system. I thought it was from poison sumac but finally had to see the dr due to the pain and he filled me in on what it was. Shit sucked, felt like I got burned from the inside out. Worst part was I couldn't catch a buzz because of the Prednisone. Thought I caught it again this year but luckily(?) it was poison sumac. I had a rash on my left elbow and right forearm, Doc explained that you cannot get shingles on both sides of your body at the same time.
Mark .aka. Man of Purpose. Original Chincy Jones

Ultimate 14.5 sand & blue Indian River Outdoorsman.

The jig is up and weedless.
Rik
Posts: 14006
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 1969 7:00 pm
Location: Sarasota
Contact:

Re: C'mon. I need some paddle fishing stories!

Post by Rik »

Yes. It does suck. Major suck. Seems like it will never end suck. Grind up pain pills with your teeth so they work faster suck.
Over every mountain there is a path, although it may not be seen from the valley
User avatar
shamus
The Beaver Tickler
Posts: 3133
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 1969 7:00 pm

Re: C'mon. I need some paddle fishing stories!

Post by shamus »

Here's the story of my Tarpon season:
Awake at 5:30 -pour coffee an load kayak on truck
Beach by 6:15
Paddle out - drop a Sabiki for bait. Sabiki is Chinese for little fucking hooks snag everything in kayak.
Remember why thy call them Pin fish.
Paddle up to my"LUCKY" spot
Sit in kayak and watch Tarpon swim past my bait for 3- 4 hours> Days when Noles is around spend countless hours praying he'll fall in while standing in his kayak
Go home do it again next day.
0 0 1
User avatar
snooker56
Posts: 214
Joined: Sun Mar 29, 2009 12:22 pm
Location: Pinellas Park

Re: C'mon. I need some paddle fishing stories!

Post by snooker56 »

Thank you all for the great stories and pics. Keep 'em coming. However, you don't have to post them in this thread. You can start a new post with the stories. That way more people will see them! Thanks again!
"Bugman" Tom

Heritage Redfish 14
Chevy Silverado
Rik
Posts: 14006
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 1969 7:00 pm
Location: Sarasota
Contact:

Re: C'mon. I need some paddle fishing stories!

Post by Rik »

Good idea Tom.

I split out Walt's and Shamus' into their own posts
Over every mountain there is a path, although it may not be seen from the valley
Post Reply