Same thing.
Went to my Mandai spot at 6am before the sun is even up.
Began casting in the dark.
Very soon, I felt a take on my lure.
It lasted for a few seconds before the line went dead on me.
Failed to hook up the mysterious fish...
Daylight comes...
Temensis feeding frenzy starts!!
Felt a take again.
Striked and hookup was solid.
Temensis made a couple of leaps above water desperately trying to free itself from my hook.
No chance...
Landed the fish and while I was unhooking it, I saw a feeding splash in the distance.
Quickly, I unhooked the landed fish and left it on the grass with my boga gripping firmly on it's jaw.
Made a perfect cast to the splash with sniper accuracy...
BOOM!! Another take!!
Reeled it in and took picture of them both along with my gear:
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| My first solo double-hookup! |
Released both fishes back into the water and resumed my blind casting and the occasional spot casting whenever I spotted any fish ripple.
Those temensis at Mandai had a huge feeding frenzy this morning!
It's unbelieveable...
Just take a look at the pics below:
Landed them one by one consistently!
Broke my previous freshwater quantity record of 6 fishes.
New record is now 9 fishes and it's only for a short session!
All are decently sized.
No monsters but nonetheless, I'm contented...
Lady Luck is not only smiling at me today...
She'd fallen in love with me this morning! lol
After some time, 2 youngsters in their mid twenties came and they began their casting.
One of them caught a temensis with a diving minnow and I noticed that he held the fish's mouth with his left thumb and used his bare right hand to remove the treble hook of his lure.
At this scene, a few flashbacks came to my mind...
Bloody ones...
He released the fish after the hook is removed and resumed his blind casting.
I'm sort of a loner when it comes to fishing...
I will never take the initiative to start a conversation...
I will never offer help of any kind to another angler if I doesn't know him/her...
I will never share tips or feeding trend of the spot to another stranger angler...
But this morning, I just couldn't resist...
I had offered my assistance, tool and advice to another angler whom I have never met before...
Here goes the story:
When I saw him unhooking the fish with his bare hand instead of using a plier, images of anglers hooking their own fingers flashed across in my mind.
I have personally witnessed 2 seperate occasions where anglers accidentally hooked themselves.
It happened again...
Lady Luck loves me...
But she obviously hates him...
Shortly after, he striked another fish and landed it.
While he was unhooking his second catch, the fish struggled out of his grip and hooked his left index finger in the process.
I was watching my lure in the far distant when it happened.
Turned my head when I heard a loud 'Argh!'.
Immediately, I reeled back my line, dropped my gear and ran to him.
He was squatting beside the fish with his back facing towards me.
Before I had actually seen his finger, I already sort of knew what happened...
He's asking for trouble dehooking a fish with his bare hands.
The struggling temensis was still attached to his lure which consists of 3 treble hooks evenly spaced apart.
The third hook on the fish, the first on his finger.
To make it worse, the struggling fish caused him more pain with it's forceful motions.
Ouch......
I gently but firmly held the fish still with my foot and whipped out my tungsten carbide cutter from my luring sling bag.
Instructed him to hold as still as possible while I cut the split ring of the hook on his finger.
I then remove the hook on the innocent fish and released it back into the water.
Went back to that young man and took a closer look at his wound.
It's not looking good...
On all fishing hooks regardless or treble or not, there is this 'barb' below every sharp end.
It's like a splinter pointing in the opposite direction of the main sharp end to prevent the hook from coming loose after piercing through bait or fish.
The barb had buried itself into his finger.
If the barb did not enter into his flesh, it can be removed easily by pulling it out.
In this case, pulling the hook out reversely is impossible unless he is willing to further gore his flesh and make it even worse risking infection not to mention the excruciating pain due to the countless nerve endings in his finger.
I told him that there are only 2 options for this kind of situation:
1) Cut the hook and push it THROUGH his finger which will be painful but still much better than reverse forcing it out.
2) Go to a hospital now where the doctor will most likely make a small incision on his finger to remove the hook. Stitches needed. Money needed.
Passed him a packet of sterilising tissue from my first aid pouch while he made some thoughts on my options.
Decided to wrap it up for today's session and wished him the best of luck and bid him goodbye.
Walked back out towards the main road.
Suddenly, a cynical thought came to my mind...
I turned back and feigned some extra concern for his poor finger then I politely popped the question...
'May I may take a photograph of your finger?'
He gladly obliged...
I just couldn't resist my cynical nature...
Couldn't resist taking this rare shot...
Here's the rare pic of his painful misfortune:
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| Ouch! |
 |
| Treble hook's barb is deeply embedded in his flesh... |
I thanked Lady Luck again for letting me have a chance to snap this ultra rare pic on top of my superb fishing day.
One couldn't help wondering whether the next turn will be mine?
Went home to Ling a happy man...
###########################
Reached home.
Ling is still half snoozing on the bed.
Told her that I caught a record 9.
Showed her the 'hook in finger' pic.
Sleepy Ling immediately looked at my fingers with a hint of anxiety on her facial expression.
I told her it's not me and showed her my unscathed hands.
It feels good to be concerned and loved......
