Misty’s Corner – When Fishing… Stay Alert

When hunting or fishing you should always stay alert to your surroundings. Remember we are the visitors in the outdoors, when you least expect it, your hunting or fishing trip can turn into a survival of the fittest. Don’t become the hunted while you’re trying to hunt.

There are so many things to be careful of when you spend most of your time outdoors. There are different dangers for different areas. Here in Southeast Texas, we have a variety of dangers. We have a large variety of snakes in this area. 15 potentiality venomous snakes, and they are always near the water. I had a close encounter with a copperhead one day while fishing with my brother.
I had been bank fishing when he came down to the river but, had a small boat for running trot lines tied up near by. I had caught about 4 or 5 good sized catfish already and had them on a stringer, tied to the boat. The fish really started biting so we decided to go bait the trot line.
We both got in the boat and were going with the steam just a few yards away to the line. The fish on the stringer started splashing so, without thinking, I grabbed it and put it at my feet on the bottom of the boat. I was looking for my line marker and not paying attention to what was going on in front of me.
The fish moved on my feet so I looked down and saw a snake eating one of the fish on my stringer. Immediately I jumped up and panicked! My brother didn’t know what to think at first because it took my breath away, and I couldn’t say anything. Needless to say he saw the snake and killed it with a paddle.
We took the boat back to the bank and decided to call it quits for the night. Country life is never dull and things can get dangerous quickly if you’re not paying attention. Luckily no one was hurt or injured, and we were able to go home that evening. Stay alert and stay alive, we’re not the only hunters out there.