We’ve all seen the cartoons: Some character hooks a big fish, the fish pulls the character into the water, and the character ends up getting towed through the water.

Fantasy, meet reality.

Paul Melnyk got himself kicked out of a surf-fishing tournament for striped bass when he donned a wet suit, swam outside the breakers, hooked a really big striper and tried to turn it in.

A fascinating article in the Wall Street Journal tells how Melnyk’s unusual approach has since caught on, and even has a name – “skishing,” because when anglers hook really big fish, they get towed for a ride. Water skiing and fishing, combined.

As fun as it sounds, I doubt if the practice will catch on here in West Virginia. The places in our rivers that hold really, really big fish aren’t exactly swimmer-friendly. Imagine hooking a big flathead catfish in the tail of a New River pool and getting towed downstream through some rapids. Or imagine hooking a big striper in the tailwaters of a Kanawha River navigation dam and getting surfed through the swift and dangerous currents.

(By the way, that last scenario would be illegal as well as dangerous. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers prohibits boating or swimming within 1,000 yards of a navigation-dam tailrace.)

Hat tip: J.R. Absher at The Outdoor Pressroom.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 26, 2010 at 10:38 am and is filed under Fishing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.