Well this story may make you laugh till you cry.
I am on vacation this week and the week is dedicated to relaxing and spending more time on the water. Yesterday, September 21st, i went to a lake that i have never fished before. It was one of those private housing addition lakes you know, where you have to be a land owner to fish it. Luckily i have friends living there, well customers really i am their mechanic. The lake was well known as a good bass and crappie lake, Largemouth,Striped, and Hybrid all roam this lake. So i start the day fishing near the boat ramp, i caught two very small wall mounters, by that i mean i think the rattle trap i was using was either the same size or a little bigger than the two fish i had caught. So feeling a little down on my luck with my first spot i moved and found a nice spot with hydrilla and coontail. Now if you bank fish the vegetation can get thick around the banks, so i was cautiously tromping through it, I looked more like Bill Murry from What about Bob, i hate surprises if you no what i mean. I have always loved snakes, at one point i wanted to be a herpetologist, but snakes in hiding are pranksters, and when you step on one you usually scream a holy profanity and then promptly do it involuntarily!
So here i am tiptoeing through the weeds when sure enough there goes a snake, no big deal i didn't even flinch, so i walk a few more yards and a big rock is separating me from my destination so i climb on it and take a few casts. Now what happened next is one of funniest(and down right scariest) things that have ever happened to me.So i am on this rock and make a long cast i am reeling slowly just taking my time and enjoying the day, then i see a big swirl at the edge of the weeds a few yards down, i hurry up and reel my line in fast, its a little ways away so i have to get off the rock.......I am so excited about this fish that i don't even look i just jump, my feet no sooner hit the ground and Whack! something hit my ankle! A string of profanity came out of my mouth that would make a priest faint, my rod went flying and i looked like i was dancing on a brush fire, i jump back on the rock and think Oh my god I'm dead, I am bit by a water moccasin!,no a copperhead!, or worse a rattlesnake! i start pulling my pant leg up and thinking that ill see two holes in my leg, but there is nothing there, relieved but wondering what the hell bit me i look over the edge of the rock and there is a Snapping Turtle,.......wow........i got bit by a turtle,probably a 5 to 10 pound turtle, pretty god sized. So in all the excitement i didn't notice the older gentleman down the way, rolling on the ground laughing hysterically, seconds away from a heart attack. I climb off the rock and sit down for a minute to gather my thoughts and allow my ticker to calm down. I think next time. ill look before i leap.
