Angler Catches “The One That Got Away” Carrying Veteran’s Prosthetic Hand
OutdoorHub Reporters 06.04.12
A fish tale like this may never be equaled again. Jack Wiseman was wrestling with a large tarpon at a tournament when the fish got away with his rod and subsequently, his prosthetic hand that was holding on to the rod. This is his story.
During the Professional Tarpon Tournament in Boca Grande Pass, Florida, amateur fisherman Wiseman was fishing as a member of the Wounded Warrior Project. He was using a special prosthetic arm built to be able to attach different devices to it for various functions.
He hooked a tarpon that put up a heck of a fight. Wiseman was quoted as saying by CBS, “all of a sudden the hand snapped off the prosthetic device, still hooked to the rod, and the rod and the reel and the hand went down into the water.”
The captain of the boat tried to throw in another hook to cross over the line so that at least his hand wouldn’t get away.
The other men in the boat with Wiseman thought it was a riot. Rudy Salas of the Wounded Warrior Project said, “for us it was funny, and that was the biggest thing. We said, ‘you’re gonna be a legend, you’re the only guy that lost an arm out here yesterday.'”
Just minutes later, somebody else hooked the same fish. When they pulled it out, they discovered that the rod with Wiseman’s hand was still attached. Wiseman got his hand back in the end, but somebody else got his fish.
Check out a video report on the incident embedded below for more details.
