Hey all, Allow me to share a story of suspense and tragedy on a weekend in early June, 2009... I headed out to the cottage this past Friday and mom calls me on the phone and says, "Get out there and catch some walleye for supper". So away I go to the falls and within a half hour I got my limit. The rest of the time I kept fishing for fun. Caught many more over the slot size before sunset. Wallies were caught on clousers, cranks and jigs. Anyways, Saturday rolls around and my sister and my nieces come out and they beg me "Uncle James... please, please, please take us fishing". Of course, me and my rubber arm, we head out right away. I take the girls (my sister included) to one of my favorite springtime spots and we start nailing the usual mix of pike, bass and walleye. Fishing is pretty hot to say the least. A little over an hour later my niece catches a pike (around 20" or so) and says "Uncle James, can you take the fish off for me?". Gladly helping her out I grab the little pike and no sooner do I touch the fish it starts flipping and flapping all over the place. Shortly after, one out of the nine trebles on her Rapala lure sinks itself nicely into my finger. Fighting tremendous pain, the fish keeps squirming and I just watch as the treble sinks deeper and deeper into my finger until I feel it hit the bone. Trying to compose myself (and of course I don't want to look like a sissy in front of my niece), I singlehandedly remove the other hooks from the fish's gills and release it. Next, I remove the lure from the leader and attempt to pull the treble out of my finger with a pair of rusty pliers. No matter how hard I pull the hook, it is not coming out. The next question I ask to my sister, "Are you sure you pinched all the barbs on these hooks?". "I think so" is her reply... Fooling around for the camera... So we pack up our stuff and I make the half hour ride back to the boat launch. Once there, we stop and take a few pics (while joking around). Jokes like "James caught a fingerling" and "Hooked on fishing" are tossed around. Of course... at my expense. We drive over to Pinawa Hospital where the receptionists calmly ask, "What's the matter?" as I stand there with the Rapala hanging from my hand like an idiot. I lift my hand and show them... they laugh and say "First one of the year!". The doctor comes in and I excitedly ask him what his special technique is for removing hooks. He shows me a pair of pliers and tells me to bite down on a popsicle stick. Fighting tears and after a few wrenches on my finger, it is obvious it is not coming out. He tells me that his second option is to freeze my finger, but warns me that the freezing needle will probably hurt more than the hook itself. He was right... the needle is stabbed under my nail right into the nerve. Yup, she's in there good! After that, my finger is completely frozen and I don't feel a thing. He wrenches on the hook but again, it is to no avail. He tells me that the only other option now is to thread the hook out of my finger to the other side. So while I watch, he presses on my finger until the hook point pops out on the other side. I wish I had a camera... it would have made a neat picture. He clips off the hook and barb and the hook come out freely. Mass amounts of blood come out of both holes on either side of my finger. Next, I am bandaged and given a Tetnus shot in case of infection. The doctor asks if he can keep the hook for their "collection wall" and I said "No way in hell you are keeping a $9 XRap"... He tells me that although he has lived in Pinawa for the past 10 years, he has never fished a day in his life. When he asks where my cottage is and I reply "Nutimik", he says "Never heard of it". Some people don't know how good they got it... ??? My Sister Jeanette and I pose with the "fingerling"... Anyways, bruised and battered and being made fun of the whole ride back to the cottage we stop for a much needed ice cream. Sunday morning I slept in... even though the nieces were begging to go fishing again. "Not a chance in hell" I mutter under my breath. An adventure as always... James.