My two brothers-in-law and myself were the first ones at the boat ramp that morning. I backed the boat down the ramp and launched the boat while one of them held the bow line. As soon as all was clear I parked the truck and trailer in the lot and hurried back to the ramp with great expectations of a good day fishing. Wrong! When I got back to the ramp one of them was pointing at the very end of the walkway. It was 8:15am and there laying with one arm hanging out over the water, wearing a thin black overcoat and sneakers was a little old lady, late 70's or early 80's. I could barely tell she was breathing but her face and outstretched hand was still pink so I decided she was alive. There was about a 6ft brand new chain partly around her waist and a pill bottle lying next to her. I yelled to my in-laws as I ran back to the truck that she's still alive. I drove to the end of the park where I found two Rangers and told them. They jumped into their truck and rushed to the boat ramp. They must have informed the rescue squad immediately as they were there shortly after we got there. The paramedics worked quickly to bring her back to and two of them helped her to the ambulance while a third carried the chain and pill box. We were glad she was still alive. Thus began our day fishing, which was not very good. Later on I noticed some commotion near the sandy bank about 30ft away. I threw my topwater over there and soon as it hit, I felt something hit it. I started reeling it in and said, it must be an eel, cause it was comming in reeling round and round. When it got close enough, I discovered it was a copperhead about 3ft long. I must have thrown the lure right on top of him. The in-laws started screaming what awful things they were going to do to me if I brought it into the boat. I had no intentions of doing that but, I was determined to save my 4 dollar lure. I started slapping him against the water 5 or 6 times until he looked like he was unconcious. Then I drug him on the bow of the boat and cut his head off. Then I perforned A delicate operation on him till I got all the treble hooks out. Soon after that, someone mentioned they had all the excitement they could stand for one day. I agreed and we headed out.<br />I still wonder how the little old lady turned out. Hope she is ok. I think the good Lord sent us there that morning to help her. Now, maybe we'll get that GOOD day fishin, next time.
<br /><br />Dave
