Time to pick up this blog and dust it off. Plenty to write about with the Alaskan summer in full swing here on the Kenai Peninsula. Fishing has been the hot topic of late both in the Cook Inlet and the Kenai and Russian Rivers with a good run of Sockeye Salmon. Last week end Kenai beach and the mouth of the river were swarmed with fisherpeoples in both boats and shorefishing nets near the mouth of Kasilof and Kenai. I was more interested in the complete mayham of 4 wheelers, pickups, track vehicles, motorcycles, trailers and campers gridlocking Soldotna, Kenai and anywhere you could get close to the water for the last 10 days. It has now tappered off, though I am watching a few die hards across the river and I write this and they seem to be still catching a few with rod and reel, upstream of the Kenai River Bridge in Soldotna.
Myself? Strictly, Rod and Reel and thanks to a recent client who purchased a great little fishing lot up river I got mine, and then a bit more than I bargained for....
Thought I would use this post to instruct my readers in what not to do while shore fishing sockeye, and if you get caught up how to handle the first aid in this situation.
Now I know better than letting this happen, but in the exuberance of the moment of netting someone else's fish, dang and bang, right into my left arm. Looks much worse than it was, but expensive and not cool just the same. So, how did this happen you might ask.....easy, I did not follow the river rat rules.
FISHING RED SOCKEYE RIVER RAT SAFETY RULES (not suggestions)
1. Make sure you have your fishing license handy, like in a zip-lock pinned to the inside of your clothing.
2. Have a knife on your hip and a toe-nail clipper on a breakaway on your person. Also a lighter in your pocket. You need these items to cut lines.
3. Wear Safety Glasses and skin covering clothing from head to toe. Make sure to wear a hat. (This is where I went really wrong this time, after all, it was 70+ degrees out and the sun was shining off the water)
4. Have a first aid kit and ice and duck tape handy at all times. This is not the only thing that can go wrong.
Now I am sure Safety Sadie could come up with a few more, but these will get you through a day of combat fishing if you keep to the code.
So, you find yourself with a hook in some part of your body, hopefully not your eye or a major artery, what do you do now??
First, CUT THE LINE!!!! Sit down, stay clam, regroup and get out the duck tape. Tape the shank of the hook to your skin so it does not move. These hook ups usually happen when a fish releases itself and the hook flys back so fast it goes into the skin so deep and hard the initial puncture doesn't even hurt that much. Now at this point there are usually a few people coming to your aid with all kinds of ideas about field surgery...I think best to have this attended to at the ER with a tetnis booster for good measure. What your helpful aid can do, besides having a great photo op, is to get some ice in a zip-lock and duck tape it over the hook so it numbs the site. Easy, by the time you find a Doc, your skin will be numb enough you won't even feel the Novocaine shots. Oh, and one other good idea, blind fold yourself through the removal process. Makes things go fast and easy and you will be right back out fishing in no time at all.
So cheers to great fishing! Keep your Rod tip Up!!
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