PPE for fishing

For a while, this was the hat I wore when I fished with Philoboy:

This is Personal Protective Equipment for the bass fisherman fisherwoman.  You think I jest.

One Thanksgiving Day in the not too distant past, after gorging ourselves on the traditional feast of plenty, Philo and I slipped away to a local pond in his uncle's bass boat.  Nice little boat, two man job with swivel seats, live well, trolling motor.  Kind of the RV of the water.

The fishing was going well.  Crappie and bass were enjoying the Indian Summer day as much as we were, and the stringer and live well were filling fast. Then it happened.  I hooked the biggest crappie of my life.  And Philo hooked the biggest catch of his life.

When it hit, all I knew was there had been a dull thud and pressure on my head, at the same time I was trying to reel in my trophy fish.  All Philo knew was that his lure had never hit the water.

"DON'T PULL!"  I said, as quickly and forcefully as I could.
"What?  Why?"
"BECAUSE YOU'RE FRIGGIN' COMET IS IN MY SCALP. SIT. STILL. VERY. STILL."

I landed my beautiful, gorgeous, catch of the day crappie, and with tears brimming, let it go. I didn't even get to take a picture. And took everything off the stringer. And emptied the live well. The tears were not from pain, but because I had  to release all those fabulous fish, since I couldn't take them with us to the Emergency Room.

Yes, I knew it was the ER for me, judging by the fact the comet was not budging at all, and Philo was whiter than a bass's underbelly. I had him cut his line close to my head and we drove to nearest ER, where I checked in with my jaunty new hair accessory.

The nurse gasped, the doctor laughed.  When he brought the syringe with the lidocaine, I told him don't bother, the anesthesia would hurt worse than the hook. He laughed, sprayed on a little topical anesthetic, cut the treble and pushed it through. A little sting, a little blood, a little antibiotic, a tetanus shot, and good as new. You can't even see the scar.

We went right back and fished the same pond after my minor surgery, but we didn't quite make up the same stringer as before. Still, what kind of fisherwoman would I be if I let a little fishhook ruin my day?

Now, if I'm in the same boat as Philo's whiplash cast I wear a hat that's impenetrable to hooks, with ear protection.  And a face shield.  But mostly, we fish in separate boats, well away from one another.

But I would still say he got the best catch.

    Happy Trails, and may you get hooked on adventure!