Thread: Don't Wade Fish With Bait in Your Pocket

Surf fisherman hospitalized after possible shark bite on Okaloosa Island | AL.com

OKALOOSA ISLAND, Florida -- A man has been hospitalized after being bitten by what he thinks is a shark Monday afternoon on the western end of Okaloosa Island, near Fort Walton Beach.
According to a report in the Northwest Florida Daily News, the man was fishing from the beach with bait in his pocket, when he was bitten on the foot by an unidentified fish.
"He said it grabbed him with enough force that when it grabbed his foot and pulled, he felt like his leg was being pulled out of the socket," Lt. Mike Simmons of the Okaloosa Island Fire Department told the Daily News.
Simmons said the man, who was not immediately identified, was taken to Fort Walton Beach Medical Center with deep cuts that would require stitches but were not life-threatening. Simmons said the victim told them that the animal that bit him was grey and about four feet long.
Okaloosa Beach Safety Patrol Director Rich Huffnagel told the Daily News he did not know for sure whether the animal was a shark, and that it could have been a tarpon or king mackerel, which are also found in those waters.
For more details see the full report from the Northwest Florida Daily News.

Gotta love the idiot saying it could have been a Tarpon or King.
Yeah, it could have been a pissed off Flounder too.

Maybe a big a$$ crab if he was drunk enough.

I've seen firsthand those schools of piranha-like pinfish tear my live shrimp limb from limb.

When wade fishing it's always smart to be sure you smell like bait! Yeah, right ;-)

Ive seen 4' sharks bite a 25lb king in half like cutting paper with scissors. Sounds "fishy" that they cant identify the fish by the bite marks.

Wonder if he had a stringer tied to his belt so he wouldn't have to carry his catch back to the beach?

as dumb as I know it is I am guilty of wade fishing with a stringer full of fish tied on.BUT if I am wade fishing with a stringer I make sure to not go deep enough that the water reaches my knees.still not smart though.and if I had to guess I would hope that they tried to blame it on a tarpon or king to try and avoid throwing the dreaded tourist scarecrow word around(shark).as I would hope our officials are smart enough to not really think it to be a tarpon or a king.

That's why for wading there are 25 ft. stringers with a float on the end to keep your kill off the bottom and far away from YOUR bottom. Slip the pointy end in your belt, don't tie it to your belt, so it slips out easy when the bull makes that first run. And plastic coated metal cable stringers wouldn't keep sharks from getting your catch, they just provide a convenient tow strap to make you take-out food for later.

"grey and about four feet long." -- Gosh what could that be? Bigfoot?

Must not have had his shark bells on

Originally Posted by coach

Maybe a big a$$ crab if he was drunk enough.

I've never heard of an A$$ crab! I take it back, but it's not something you'd get from fishing in the surf. I'm pretty sure that it wasn't a TARPON (?) or a KING (?) but probably a shark feeding by smell. The "pull his leg out of socket" thing was probably due to hysteria.