re: IAmA fishing guide: Ask Lanier anything

Fish are tough little bastards. Back when I was younger we used to gig gar out of a flat bottom aluminum boat. We would gig them and then beat them with the paddle until they stopped flopping. We never kept them so when we would get back to shore after a few hours we would turn the boat over so the turtles would have a free dinner. There were always one or 2 that would swim off as soon as they hit the water.

Another fishing story. 2 weeks ago I took my 2 boys fishing for blue gill. I always use a stringer for blue gill in case we don't catch enough to make a meal. We were done for the day and when I pulled the stringer in the bottom fish was about half swallowed by a 4 ft cottonmouth. I have an unhealthy fear of snakes and about shite myself trying to knock the damn thing off. I finally gave up and left the stringer attached to the boat instead of putting it in the live well and headed for the dock. Luckily there was a redneck there who took care of it for me by cutting the snakes head off. Made me feel like a pussy but I don't do snakes.