ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, March 11, 1996 TAG: 9603110005
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN
Talk about getting hooked on trout.
Lorna Lee of Salem was fishing Tinker Creek when she hooked a fish so big she had to get help from her husband, Emmett. Or did the trout hook her?
``I had caught three small trout and decided to try a Joe's Fly,'' she said. ``I hooked a really big trout and hollered for Emmett to bring the net.''
After a water-ripping battle, Emmett was netting a 31/2-pound brown trout for his proud wife.
``As you know, Joe's Flies have a treble hook trailed by a single hook,'' Lorna said. ``The single hook was still in the trout's mouth, but the treble hook was caught on the net. I was trying to free the hook from the net when the fish flopped and two hooks on the treble pulled into my finger past the barbs.''
Emmett cut the line and a portion of the net, leaving Lorna and the trout attached to each other via the Joe's Fly. Next, he freed the hook from the trout, with Lorna telling him to ``put him on my stringer.''
By then, a crowd was gazing at Lorna's finger, and wondering how she was coping with the pain.
``I told them my hands were numb from holding the cold fish and I was OK,'' she said. ``Emmett cut one hook off in my hand and left it sticking out enough to get hold of it with the pliers. I numbed my finger good in the cold water and he yanked out both pieces. I was so excited and cold that it didn't even hurt.''
The 19 1/2-inch fish was Lorna's biggest ever.
She ends her story with a P.S.: ``Emmett caught one small trout.''
LENGTH: Short : 38 linesby CNB