Almost spooled by a seagull

M

Maestro

Senior Member
So I was plugging down at Uvongo, South Coast, KZN, yesterday, throwing a 2 ounce pink gt ice cream plug, testing out new braid, when I had a strange experience.

My plug had just landed in the water, and my braid was still dropping altitude. I was a bout to close the reel arm and start winding in the plug when the braid rapidly began to peel off my line. I immediately looked up and followed the braid in front of the rod tip, and being orange (not the best of colours I admit),I could see a seagull soaring into the distance with my line.

I had just purchased this JDB 20lb glide coated braid, so it was brand new. While watching the braid peel off the spool at the rate of knots, two options flashed through my mind:

I could either wait for the braid to be emptied off the spool, and say goodbye to it, or
salvage what I could off the braid, which would be, by estimate, under 200 meters.

I had accepted the fate of my plug.

I opted for the option less damaging to my pocket, and almost instinctively, with the rod in my right hand, heart in my mouth, I reached into my left pocket for my Mustard scissors. Only, As I was about to cut the braid, I heard a voice saying "don't cut!"

At first I thought it was a figment of my imagination, but then it beacame clear that it was a fellow fisherman to my left. "don't cut the line, reel the seagull in." As I was trying to process the intricacies of the statement, my line suddenly went slack, as if a dark cloud had been lifted off of me.

I was still unsure if my braid was cut off or not, but I reeled it in right up to the fg knot. The leader had snapped off with the plug, the braid was intact,the seagull had dissappered into the distance, my heart rate had slowed down, and the fellow fisherman said " lucky you".

I was relieved to have my braid back and not to have injured the bird. The fellow fisherman probably had the interest of the bird not getting tangled in mind, but I would never have been able to reel the bird in had it become tangled. Such was its speed and power.

Fortunately, I didnt close the reel bail/arm, or I may not have had fingers left with which to type this!!
 
W

willo

Sealiner
I Have had the same thing happen , was standing on a rock ledge with a high cliff face to me left . Belted out a big cast and the B@stards came around the cliff and into my line . Free spooled and almost got spooled when i locked the spool with my thumb and the gull took off.
While trying to retrieve the 200 plus meters the lure sunk and got snagged .... :X

I don't mind the gulls as long as they are behaving them selves , have had them steal two knives over the years. One i got back after chasing it down the beach for about a km and the other one dropped it in the ocean .

The one i have no patience for is the pacific gull , like a gull just a lot bigger. They tend to be by themselves and will often try and take a lure or a floating bait that's near the surface. They have learnt to follow the boats around so its not just the case of pulling the pick and scooting off somewhere else when they are around as no sooner have you stopped the boat and its back again . I have even tried feeding them , but they must have hollow legs as they never seem to get full ....

;)
 
L

Limpopoking

Sealiner
Mine is a tale of woe for a poor little Petrel (I think it was a Petrel)... I was on Lazarus Banks throwing a twisty with my flick stick and I hit the Petrel with the twisty mid air. The poor thing fell into the water and we retrieved it, but the wing bone was snapped so we ended it's misery quickly. It was a horrible experience, made all the more so by my fellow anglers who spent the next 5 or so days referring to me as the executioner, killer, bird maimer etc.
 
W

willo

Sealiner
Limpopoking wrote:
Mine is a tale of woe for a poor little Petrel (I think it was a Petrel)... I was on Lazarus Banks throwing a twisty with my flick stick and I hit the Petrel with the twisty mid air. The poor thing fell into the water and we retrieved it, but the wing bone was snapped so we ended it's misery quickly. It was a horrible experience, made all the more so by my fellow anglers who spent the next 5 or so days referring to me as the executioner, killer, bird maimer etc.
Click to expand...

You horrible horrible man , 😂😂😂 , that's a bit of bad luck . Seen that happen the golf course a few times .

Going off topic , my mate hooked a turtle, gave me the "Big I'm On" and carrying on for a minute about how good he is .....
next thing this turtle surfaces with a stick bait stick in the shell .
We managed to get it out and I swam it back out safely.
That was a couple of years back and I still rag the sh@t out of him every chance I get .
Got to love the banter that comes with a trip . 😂😂😂
 
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