Originally posted by: sscasteel on 4/23/2005 2:09:08 PM

About family, friends, others, and stubbling upon something totally unexpected.

I have decided to share some experiences from my life that can be funny, <!--graemlin::D--> infomative, surprising, <!--graemlin::eek:--> and sad. <!--graemlin::(-->
Hopefully more of you will contribute to this post with something similar.

I learned an amazing fact about Grasshoppers one day and it led to a much easier way to catch them. My grandmother asked me one evening to water her flowers, bushes, and the vines near the propane tank. I went out and started watering, when my father joined me as I got near the small propane tank. I let the water fall all over the vines and leaves, suddenly out popped about 8-10 Big Yellow grasshoppers crawling to the top of the leaves and just stayed there. "look at those crazy hoppers" I said to my father "why are they acting like that" "You got their wings wet" my father replied. "Apparently they can't fly away until their wings dry" WOW.. What a Theory!!! <!--graemlin::eek:--> The next morning around 7:30AM my friend Jimmy and I went back to that vine with a jar and I re-sprayed it again on the top leaves. Out came the yellow hoppers. We grabbed about 16 of them real fast. I sprayed the entire thing then real hard with pressured water and out came more from even deeper in the vines and leaves. We caught plenty of hoppers to suit us and went fishing after that. I always use water now on Grasshoppers in the evening about an hour from dark, or just after daylight as the hoppers apparently get in bushes or vines to settle down at night, and getting their wings wet forces them up to the top so they can dry out, thus becoming much easier to catch. <!--graemlin::D-->

Speaking of grasshoppers, did you know if you wait until dark and go to areas where they hang on bushes, trees, flowers, vines at night, they can be caught while using a Flashlight? <!--graemlin::confused:--> Apparently shining a flashlight on a hopper's eyes hanging on something at night, will freeze them and they can get be caught fairly easy if they don't realize they are in danger and jump away.

Another time I was at my grandmothers and decided to catch a few hoppers to go fish with. They were all out on top of the vines at the cellar for some reason. No way to get water to spray it, so I started catching what I could by getting close, and then fast grabbing them. I seen a nice yellow hopper on a small stem and grabbed at him.Success, So I thought, as I could feel him in my hand. I started to open the jar, when I looked at my hand again. Instead of a hopper, the head of a small Green Snake <!--graemlin::eek:--> was trying to get out between my fingers. I started to yell in fright, but then thought Oh what the heck, he can't hurt me. I tossed him away from me. My grandmother seeing me toss something from the window came outside to see what was up. "what did you just toss at the back yard" she asked "A small green snake I accidently caught instead of a hopper when I grabbed at it" I replyed. "Good thing it was you and not me" she said. "I would have died right on the spot" I never knew my grandmother had a fear of snakes until then.

Snakes are something I am not scared of, but others in my life certainly have been.

I can remember a time while fishing I asked my father about the concrete shack across the river. "That shack was used in storing Dynamite for the City. "Your grandfather and I helped pull a drowning victim out of this river just down stream from it years ago." "What happened"? I was curious to know. "Two guys were fishing close to the bank in a boat just above the shack when one of them hit some limbs hanging above the boat. A snake of some kind landed in the boat. The guy in front of the boat immediately jumped out into the water in panic, struggled and went under water, the other guy hit the snake with an oar killing it, then tried to rescue the first guy, but failed" "Your grandfather and I having a set of towing hooks, were called in by the Sheriff to help find the body. We came down in a row boat, pulled the hooks behind us, and in about 20 minutes hooked the drowning victim and brought him to shore" <!--graemlin::(-->

Another friend of mine, Ron, was a retired US Air Force Vet. who refueled planes in Vietnam. Many were the type that sprayed Agent Orange. We were fishing one day and I somehow hooked a small water snake. "Don't you bring him near this boat, or I will jump out" said Ron in panic. I decided the safest thing to do was cut my line. AMAZING .. A U S SERVICE VET MORE AFRAID OF A SMALL SNAKE THAN THE VIET KONG.

I met Jack when I went to work on a College Security staff in 1981. He loved to fish, and was basically a Bass and Catfish man. I took him to my favorite creek in a boat one day. He was getting all kinds of bass bites on a worm rig, but seemed to have trouble getting them in after hooking them. "what seems to be the problem in landing those fish" I finally asked. "It's this darn bottom guide" he said. "I sure wish I didn't have to go through it" Confused by his answer, I asked "what do you mean"? Jack turn around rod and reel in hand. I looked right at it and where the line came out of his ZEBCO ONE reel. It was all I could do to keep from rolling onto the floor of the boat in laughter. Jack had run his line from the front of the reel then up through the HOOK HOLDER in front of the rod Grip, and then through the bottom guide. <!--graemlin::D--> <!--graemlin::D--> Catching my breathe enough to talk, I finally said "Jack, you don't run your line through that tiny wire in front of the handle, that's a hook holder" "A hook holder" he said and looked at me in surprise. He studied the thing a minute then said "I guess it is" He brought in his line, cut it, and then re-strung his line like it should have been. I will NEVER forget that incident as long as I live. <!--graemlin::)-->