Top_Heavy's World

The sun felt great on my shoulders as I waded out from the beach. The tide was falling, perhaps half way thru it's cycle. The day was beautiful, light wind, high sky, very minimal wave action, a typical day on Sunset Beach Island. I fished about knee deep in hopes of catching redfish, black drum or any one of countless small fish that search for crabs and blood worms at the waters edge. I was using blood worms, a strange looking worm, it resembles a night crawler with spines down each side. These simple snake like creatures turned out to be a fantastic bait. I caught several 1 to 3 pound fish and after throwing the first few back, I felt like eating a couple. I used the long stringer I had brought from Iowa and I strung up the fish in usual style. I inserted the pointed end through the mouth and out the gill of the first fish, then ran the point back through the ring on the end. This effectively tied the first fish to the cable and the rest of the fish, slid gills to mouth, were held on by the bulk of that first fish. This stringer was a 9 foot long, multistrand aircraft cable that was sealed in heavy vinyl. I had the fish on one end and I tied the other end around my waist. I had 3 or 4 nice black drum on the stringer, floating next to me, as I worked my way deeper, along a sand hump.
Saltwater fishing is very much like freshwater, but the fish are much stronger, swim much faster, and everything in the ocean eats everything else in the ocean! The normal rig for the fishing I was doing is a harness set up. The main harness is a very heavy monofilament, perhaps 100 pound test, that has a clip on the bottom and a swivel at the top. The clip is attached to a weight or sinker and the swivel is attached directly to the line coming from the rod and reel. In between these two anchoring points is a pair of lines that are tied so that they stick out 90 degrees from the main line. The out line is kept stiff by a thin wire that is wrapped around it to prevent bending. The line is loose and can present bait naturally while being held from tangling by the wire. The entire rig is cast into the breaking surf and the line is kept tight. The weight holds the rig in place and the two baits float back and forth in the crashing white water. The lower hook gets most of the bites from the drum and the redfish, which have a lower type of mouth, and the upper hooks get more bites from croakers and saltwater fish more like a bluegill.
I was enjoying fishing for these small edibles, as I waded along a sand hump. This hidden ridge ran parallel to the beach about 15 yards out at low tide. During high tide this had to be under at least 6 more feet of water, by looking at the water line. There is a deep channel that runs between the ridge I was on and the shore, a perfect structure for bait fish trying not to be swept into the ocean and awaiting predators. My stringer was moveing with the wave action, towards the shore and then down and then back toward the shore. My attention was drawn to the stringer by a strange feeling. I still don't know why I stopped and looked at those dead fish, lazily floating in the surf, but as I watched a long dark shape swam by. I was now in tune with the world and I affixed my gaze with purpose. As I watched a big sand shark moved up to look at my lunch! He slowly moved towards them like a bass moves up to take a grasshopper. The protective eyelids shut and the mouth opened! I was amazed and in awe at what was happening about 3 feet from my legs in almost waist deep water! My first reaction was to snag the shark with my rod. I reeled up the rig quickly and realized that there was too much slack line to be able to control the hook. If I was using a crankbait, I could have reeled in the line until the bill of the bait was tight to the top eyelet and I could have reached over and hooked it easily. The floppy hook rig on my line was worthless. The mouth was opening as I went through this, the world slowed and my brain went into overdrive. The rows of teeth grabbed onto the fish! It hung there, chewing and slightly shaking it's head. I grabbed the stringer and pulled up the slack... I was going to pull him in and stick a hand into his gills! I slowly pulled the mass towards me, so as to not pull it free. The head of the shark was at the surface and the eyes were now solid looking, the eyelid was still closed. I held the cable in my left hand and I reached with my right. The shark must still be able to see in this state because as my fingers got close to touching it, the eyes opened wide again!! I realized how big the fish was now, with my fingertips only inches from it's skin. The eyes were easily 10" apart, as the tip of my thumb to the tip of my pinky finger were almost 2" short of touching both eyes! At this point the shark decided my hand wasn't a friendly object and it started to thrash and pull. It turned enough to get its thick tail into the action and it's leverage increased. I could not hold the cable and it was pulled taut against my body weight... it was still tied around my waist! The power of the shark was incredible, every swish of it's tail made me step forward to prevent being pulled off balance. I have no idea how the fish didn't get bitten off, but with only a few pulls I was as deep as I could go and still have enough weight to keep my feet on the sand below. My bouyancy was now becoming a problem, I had no desire to be swimming, into the deeper water no less, while trying to keep my head above water as a shark used me as a cork! I grabbed the cable with both hands, my rod was tucked into my waist band so it stuck straight up over my head, and pulled as hard as I could. I was gambling that the stringer would come free as my head went under water. I could no longer touch the bottom and breath at the same time. I pulled one big time and I was at the surface again. I kicked like crazy to right myself and move towards my sand ridge. My feet hit solid bottom and I worked my way to the beach. I was excited and fierce as I stepped from the water. I pulled my fishing rod from my waist band as the shakes and nausea finally set in. I had to sit down to calm myself. "No one is going to believe that" was my only thought, then I looked at my stringer, that thin cable that had held my lunch just moments before... everyone is going to believe me now!

I don't wear a stringer around my waist anymore while I wade fish, the reason is easily seen!