On Friday, myself and Miss Squid took a drive to the big town of Evergreen, NC to hang out with some our fishing buddies, Stacy and Casey. The plan was to grill some chicken wings and hang out Friday night then go to Lake Waccamaw on Saturday to do some "scuba catfishing".
When we got there, we were greeted by what I thought was Stacy's dog (I had never been to his house before)---a beautiful golden retriever. Turns out that Stacy was keeping the dog for a friend of his who had decided he didn't want the dog.
He had basically been abandoned all his life (he's only a year or so old)---left in a pen and only turned out about once every few weeks. There was a bowl of dry dog food in his pen but the dog wasn't eating. Very mild mannered for only being a little over 1 year old however he didn't know his name or any of the simple commands such as "sit", "stay", "come", etc.
I volunteered to take the dog back to Wilmington since it's been something that I've been wanting for a while, just never broke down and went "shopping".
We left Stacy's house yesterday around lunch and headed for the lake to do something I've never done and only heard about before now---"scuba catfishing". We jumped on one of his friends' pontoon boats with two sets of scuba gear, a couple more masks and fins, along with several sets of gloves. The idea was to dive to the bottom, find a fish inside of a barrel, tire, etc. that was on the bottom, stick your hand in front of his mouth, wiggle your fingers and let him eat them. When he does, grab on to his gill plates and jerk him out of the hole. Some people call it "noodling", some call it "grappling"....whatever you call it, it's interesting!
The first stop was about a half mile from the dock on a tire that was laying on the bottom. Three of the guys jumped in and it wasn't long before one of them was holding up the first catfish of the day---a 20+ pound flathead.
The next few stops were uneventful with only a few small fish spotted but were to fast to grab. Towards the end of the day, I talked one of the guys out of their scuba gear and made my first dive. Visibility was a lot better than I expected although it was still only about 3-4 feet, however there was a lot of life down there! Lots of bass, bluegills, and of course catfish. I found a couple of decent fish but again wasn't fast enough to grab them since they were free swimming and not inside of any structure. The other guys did manage to add 3 more small cats to the cooler.
Anyway, back to the dog......
Left the lake around 6 and headed back to the house. Our new "baby" sat in the center of the back seat staring out the windshield the whole way home. Got him back here and he met Miss Squid's dog for the first time. They got along great and played for a bit in the yard, getting used to each other. Made the first trip to Petsmart this morning to load up on supplies and get him enrolled in obedience classes. First trip to the vet on Tuesday to update on all the shots and get groomed.
So without further delay, here is my first dog "Trigger"
Better be careful in that lake there is some big gators in there. I have spent many a days & nights there. That used to be some of my old stomping grounds. Nice dog you will enjoy it.
I can see it's dangerous for you, but if the government trusts me, maybe you could.
Join Date
Feb 2008
Location
Norman, Oklahoma, United States
Posts
3,135
Boat
18' Mako
Home Port
Hoopers Island, MD
Occupation
Air Force
And the journey begins...congrats on the new addition. It's amazing what a lil love/attention will do for Trigger. Good on ya for stepping up...it's a win win for everyone!
He is gorgeous Squid! Melts my heart. I've been wanting a dog for a while now but living situations won't allow it, so it's good to see you guys adopting somebody who needs a home. I'm sure Trigger will just love you forever.
And I've always wanted to know somebody who "noodled" for catfish. That's too funny!
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