San Diego & SoCal Fishing Forums

Hey all!
I had a tiny window of opportunity to fish on Wednesday morning so I went to...Hodges! I got in line at 5:30am with 10 cars in front of me. Got down to launch and the carp guys had already set up shop in the launch area. So there were some dirty looks given to me as I launched around 6am. Got to the first spot around 6:15am with a few busters and some bird action. Got one a couple minutes later on a BFS Tsurinoya 60mm Pencil. Then missed another on that and a Rapala Skitter Pop. They busted on them but never took the lure. There was another guy in the area so I headed down the shoreline not not wanting to spotjack. I didn't get any more on top but did find a nice jig bite on the Bitsy Bug (go figure). With all fish coming in less than 2ft of water.

I ended up getting around 12 fish and losing (or the bass just missed) another ~8. 3 of the fish went over 3lbs including the biggest one of the day which went 4.3lbs. I was off the water by 10am very satisfied with my day.

Side Note: On Sunday I headed to San V to try and get some redear and met up with @Early release on the water. We did a tasting of an absolutely amazing beverage (Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA) and then realized that I still had a line in the water. I started reeling it up and found a snag. It started coming up slowly (sliding up the branch or whatever) and I thought it was still about 10ft down, unfortunately for me it was not. It popped and came up like a rocket and imbedded the hook in my right lower eyelid.

After trying to free it myself with no success it was decided that I should go to the ER. Long story short after a lidocaine injection and a tiny nick with the scalpel the hook was freed. I do usually wear sunglasses but had taken them off for a minute. Dumb, I know.

If you'd like to see the Hodges fishing and the hooked face incident (or you can FF that if you're squeamish) check out the video.

Cheers all!

yikes! That's a close call!!

619bassin wrote: Fri May 02, 2025 12:40 pm yikes! That's a close call!!

Yes, very close.

Here’s the short for that.

This is just too close! #toocloseforcomfort #hooked #nearmiss #whoops #fishing #fishingvideo

I'll never take my sunglasses off again....

Enjoyed your video on YouTube and I keep thinking about how close that hook was to your eye. Thank goodness it landed where it did. Anyway, thanks for sharing with us and tight lines always.

Damn. So gnarly. I’ve met two people in my life that lost eyes to swivels. Good call on ER…not sure if I’d want to push that through!

VinnyBass wrote: Fri May 02, 2025 8:33 pm Enjoyed your video on YouTube and I keep thinking about how close that hook was to your eye. Thank goodness it landed where it did. Anyway, thanks for sharing with us and tight lines always.

Thanks for checking it out and glad you enjoyed it! it was my lucky day! Dave proved it with this photo. He was trying to find me on the lake and that’s me at the end of the rainbow!

Wow that hook that close to your eyeball is super scary, I have a problem putting eye drops in my eyes I would freak out if a hook was so close to my eyes.
As others have said I’ll never take my sunglasses off while fishing.
I’ve had hooks thru my thumb and fingers and a hard time getting them out as they went past the barb super painful.
Glad to hear your ok, we all need your videos.

Wow! Reminds of when your buddy had the use a knife to get the swimbait out of your shoulder on my boat.

Immediately after that you caught a 3.5lb spotty.

I’m glad you’re ok.
Thank you , for all your great videos, and reports.

Ahh, the ole hook in the face. I've had my share of urgent care visits, so much that I usually tell the doctors what to do, since they spend 30 minutes trying to yank and tug. One time, the ER doc says, "I know a trick."

I respond, "If it's the string trick, it's not gonna work, we tried. That's why I'm here. You need 1 CC of lidocaine, 15A scalpel blade, and some Dermabond and we'll be both on our ways."

And sure enough, he tries the string yang technique about 10 times and is unsuccessful. Then tries yanking some more. Then finally tells the nurse, "I need uh....1 CC if lidocaine, a 15A scalpel and some Dermabond...."

I’d like to think you’re not a fisherman until you’ve had to extract a big rapala from a body part in a rocking boat offshore or walked into an urgent care with a crankbait hanging of a similar body part. The eye thing, however, that was close to being a gamechanger!!!

JWall wrote: Sun May 04, 2025 9:48 am The eye thing, however, that was close to being a gamechanger!!!

As kids, my friend hooked my other friend, right on his eyebrow, nearly missing his eyeball. We walked to the local hardware store, and asked where the cutters were. We pushed the hook through, cut it, and walked out like nothing happened, much to the unhappy shop owners dismay.

I see glasses in my future!

I guess the fact I wear glasses can come in handy at times. So glad you were ok. When I saw that hook on YouTube it
was pretty shocking. Thanks for sharing your videos and I imagine we will see you in sunglasses a few times down the
road. Tight lines always Chris.

Those carp guys were not breaking any rules / I mean there are no signs that say NO FISHING kayak and float tube launch area only. Heck man that would take some effort / do you think those orange cones are for traffic going up and down the ramp / they are there for the mountain bike races that are held on off days we don't fish and the reason that there is a transition from the ramp to the bank is because the Mountain Bike guys came with shovels / there are signs that say NO FISHING now on the docks so, they got ran off the docks / maybe we should pay the Mountain bike guys 6 bucks to launch.
Hey did you notice that one of the guys had a walker converted into a rod holder /dude now that's funny .

Hey that's a scary sight I mean the hook that close to your eye. Glad that everything turned out good for you / I guess everyone knows but, you can use your phone as a mirror like taking a selfie to evaluate something like that and smart too having a friend nearby.

A few weeks I had to call 911 because a guy had fallen on the bank I was passing by on my kayak and heard someone moaning / he had to be carried out. He was messed up pretty bad and well actually drunk / burned a couple hours of my daylight. Oh yeah the Ranger didn't answer and luckily paramedics were able to use the access road.
Take Care
Enjoyed the videos and keep those sunglasses on.

Now all of us that don't ware glasses will have our sunglasses on at 5:30 in the morning.
Glad you bit the bullet on this one!

I cant even look at that picture!

When I was 11 or 12 I was spending the summer at my grandparents property in Oregon. Would spend the day from sun up to sundown fishing up and down the river behind their house. The river held massive crawfish and during slow times of the day I would mess around with them, often using their tail meat to catch big chubs and suckers. Anyway one day I was trying to snag a particularly annoying crawfish that was taunting me. He finally walked over my treble hook and I was bound and determined that I was going to finally get this little bastard! I yanked, I missed, the hook went airborne above my head and as it came down it caught in the white of my right eye, between my pupil and the very inside of my eye. Out of sheer panic and thinking like a scared 11yr old, I made the brilliant decision to grab the hook. THANK GOD, the hook point had barely stuck in my eye and as soon as I touched the hook it fell out. I remember I spent the whole night thinking I was going to wake up blind in my right eye. Everything turned out fine but ever since that day i am super skittish about anything involving my eyes. I ALWAYS have glasses on when I'm fishing because of that day. I have clear safety glasses for early in the morning and yellow lenses for overcast days.

SO glad that hook wasn't a 1/2 higher on you!!