Twice this past week I picked up the Daytona News Journal and read articles about snakes and that being bitten by a snake is unusual. Last week I became one of the unusual victims. After picking up my charter at the boat ramp we stopped at a canal to throw some plugs. My client, while throwing his plug up towards the bank, let his cast get away from him and it landed up on land and became stuck. I then pulled the boat up to the shoreline and got out to retrieve the plug.
I was walking toward the plug (dressed in flip flops) when I felt something sharp on the side of the heel on my left foot. I thought to myself that I brushed up against a sharp piece of wood as I took a couple of more steps I turned around to see what it was when I noticed a small snake following me. He stopped and coiled up and I could see the small rattles on his tail. I knew right away that it was a pygmy rattlesnake. Now I’m not one to harm animals, not even a snake, but when it bites you it’s a different story. I picked a large piece of coquina rock and threw it on him. I retrieved the plug and got back in the boat. My client suggested I go to the ER but we continued to fish for about 15 more minutes. I decided to call my wife who is an ER nurse and she told me to get myself to the hospital.
Once at the ER they took me in right away, gave me a tetnus shot and put an I.V. drip in me with antibiotics. They kept measuring my foot to see if there was any swelling but none occurred. The doctor asked me what kind of snake it was and I told him it was an adult pygmy rattler. He said I was lucky because many times the first strike of an adult pygmy is a dry strike. The snake had only bitten me once, probably because I was walking when it happened. (Pygmy rattlesnakes strike their prey repeatedly) They kept me there for two hours then released me.
The lesson to be learned here is that a $5 plug is not worth the risk of serious injury. Cut your line or break it off. Also, all you people who get out of the boat to cast net mullet need to take a good look around before proceeding to walk a bank.
According to Capt. Ralph Olivett the redfishing is still good at the inlet on the change of tides. Mullet is the bait of choice.
Tarpon continue to be seen rolling in the canals. I heard of one kayaker who was almost pulled under by a 70 lb tarpon he hooked on a live shrimp. He got scared and cut his line to free himself of the big fish.
Who says fishing isn’t a dangerous sport?
I was walking toward the plug (dressed in flip flops) when I felt something sharp on the side of the heel on my left foot. I thought to myself that I brushed up against a sharp piece of wood as I took a couple of more steps I turned around to see what it was when I noticed a small snake following me. He stopped and coiled up and I could see the small rattles on his tail. I knew right away that it was a pygmy rattlesnake. Now I’m not one to harm animals, not even a snake, but when it bites you it’s a different story. I picked a large piece of coquina rock and threw it on him. I retrieved the plug and got back in the boat. My client suggested I go to the ER but we continued to fish for about 15 more minutes. I decided to call my wife who is an ER nurse and she told me to get myself to the hospital.
Once at the ER they took me in right away, gave me a tetnus shot and put an I.V. drip in me with antibiotics. They kept measuring my foot to see if there was any swelling but none occurred. The doctor asked me what kind of snake it was and I told him it was an adult pygmy rattler. He said I was lucky because many times the first strike of an adult pygmy is a dry strike. The snake had only bitten me once, probably because I was walking when it happened. (Pygmy rattlesnakes strike their prey repeatedly) They kept me there for two hours then released me.
The lesson to be learned here is that a $5 plug is not worth the risk of serious injury. Cut your line or break it off. Also, all you people who get out of the boat to cast net mullet need to take a good look around before proceeding to walk a bank.
According to Capt. Ralph Olivett the redfishing is still good at the inlet on the change of tides. Mullet is the bait of choice.
Tarpon continue to be seen rolling in the canals. I heard of one kayaker who was almost pulled under by a 70 lb tarpon he hooked on a live shrimp. He got scared and cut his line to free himself of the big fish.
Who says fishing isn’t a dangerous sport?