ddoskocil
11-01-2012, 10:53 AM
Coudn't freakin believe it. I've caught gulls and pelicans, even a duck, but never a damn Egret! Big one, too, about 3' tall. Threw a shellcracker bluegill swimbait up against the bank on my neighborhood lake, the stupid thing flew right through my falling braided line over the water. My baitcasting reel was still not in gear yet, and line starts ripping off. I thought a big bass had grabbed the cracker right away and took off to deep water. I put it in gear, felt weight, then my lure goes flying off after the egret. So as the line was wrapped around it's wing, the cracker flies out of the water and started catching up to the egret. Now I have him tight, he starts veering towards the bank, where he made a mild crash landing. SO I wind down on him as he tries several times to fly away, going in and out of the water. I get him up on land, no one around to help (or take a funny video). I throw my sweatshirt on his head and he calms down. I grab him around the head and stay behind him, long legs and big claws! luckily I got him down fast enough that the 2 big treble hooks weren't in him, only one wing was line wrapped. I bit through the 15# leader and got the lure off, but couldn't bite through the 65# braid with my hands full. Luckily after another 5 minutes of one handed careful unwrapping, he was free. Let go, took off the sweatshirt, and he flew away about 30 yards down the bank. He just stood there watching me fish the next 20 minutes, probably hoping I didn't make another stupid cast in front of him.....what a way to start the morning.
So am I the only one to catch an egret?
So am I the only one to catch an egret?