By Incognito
My husband and I, and my brother-in-law and sister-in-law all went fishing together in our boat. We women were told that in order to go fishing with the guys, we would have to bait our own hooks and get what fish we caught off the hooks. OK... No Problem!
Well, we got about 1/4 mile off shore in the Gulf of Mexico and dropped anchor. Janell and I got out the shrimp and as I baited my hook, Janell made a "uhhhh" face and handed the bait and hook to her husband Jack.
We cast our lines out and within about five minutes I got a bite! I very slowly reeled in my line, playing the fish, and when I got it above the water I found out I had hooked an electric eel! Boy was I upset. I couldn't refuse to take it off the hook because I would never live it down with my husband or his brother. I felt like a coward would cut the line, so I didn't know what to do.
I turned and asked Jack, my brother-in-law, for some pliers. The first thing he said was, "Don't throw my pliers overboard." I grabbed the eel by the head with the pliers. So far, so good. I stood up ready to throw the eel overboard as soon as I got it off the hook. Then the eel wrapped itself around my arm! Needless to say, everything went overboard! I threw the eel and the pliers as far as I could. Then I told Jack, "Not one word... not one word. I'll buy you another pair of $2.00 pliers!"
Eel fishing with a worm
Surprisingly, I had the respect of all my fishing buddies. Jack was surprised that I baited my own hook, and even more surprised that I refused to ask for help taking the eel off the hook. My husband was proud of me. Everyone there said they would have simply cut the line.
I was smug for the rest of the day... after I recovered, that is.
Electric eel