PERILS OF A LIFE AT SEA

They had just backed in from a day of fishing on the Gulf of Mexico, and the red snapper and triggerfish were hanging from the nails on the rack.

As he does most every day, the deckhand pulled one fish down after another to clean and filet.

However, on this particular day he got distracted and sliced through his gloved hand and tore a gash in his finger.

Without even taking the glove off, he knew immediately he had to go to the hospital.

This is but one of the many “occupational hazards” local fisherman face day in and day out.

Deckhand Roger Brown on the charter boat Scamp says he is always “getting finned or stabbed by a fish.” Just last week he reached in the bucket to count the fish and a triggerfish latched on to his (gloved) finger.

Another peril of his tight work place on the deck of the boat is “16 ounces of lead to the head,” he said. Anglers on the boat are forever trying to cast or pull in a fish and the deckhand gets clanked with the lead.

The worst, however, Brown says is the unsuspecting tail.

He once got popped in the leg by the tail of a 200-plus pound bull shark that was on the deck of the boat.

“The tail is worse than the teeth,” he said. “They can break your leg if you’re not careful ... stay clear of the tail.”

Taylor Bankston, who’s been working on the docks in Destin for about 10 years, said he saw his buddy get nailed by a swordfish.

They were swordfishing, when they pulled up a small one.

“We went to bring him in the boat when he came off the hook,” Bankston said. “We went to gaff him, and got him in the tail.”

At that point, the swordfish spun around and put a 2-inch gash in his buddy’s leg.

“When they want to go, you need to let them go,” Bankston said.

They got a T-shirt and wrapped it around the wound like a pressure bandage to stop the bleeding — and kept right on fishing.

Capt. Steven Lathi had a mishap aboard the Katrina Ann eight years ago during the Destin Fishing Rodeo. He and his deckhand Casey Weldon had taken local hairdresser Donna Stuart and others out for a day of mackerel fishing.

They were able to get plenty of herring for bait and then headed for the first spot.

Getting things ready, Weldon knelt down to open the hatch and when he did, he planted his knee right into a treble hook that was connected to a reel.

“We hadn’t even made it to our first stop and we had to come in,” Lathi said.

They rushed Weldon to the emergency room. Lathi said the doctor pulled it through and gave him a shot of antibiotics.

“Casey said we can’t waste the herring ... so we had to go back,” Lathi said.

Losing about three hours from the trip to the emergency room and back out they changed their strategy for fishing.

“We only went to the Timberholes,” Lathi said.

But the first line in the water landed Stuart a 31.8-pound king mackerel to take the Ladies’ Bonus in the King Mackerel Division for the Rodeo that year.

But not every story has a happy ending.

Deckhand Rodney Johnson got slapped with a 12-inch Rapala across the face while trolling for wahoo off Louisiana.

“It happened so fast I didn’t even feel it,” Johnson said.

Capt. Mike Eller of the Fish-N-Fool says there are all kinds of pitfalls that come with working on a boat from flying slip leads to being thrown-up on by customers.

“If you’ve got a big fish on line with a slip lead and the line breaks ... the lead will come flying back into the boat,” Eller said.
As for the seasick customers, “We try to take care of them and make them feel comfortable. We even give them their own bucket if they need it.”

They also have wristbands for seasickness onboard.
As for the deckhands, there is a lot of strain on the back.

“They are lifting extremely heavy tubs (of fish),” Eller said — everyday.

Another peril of the industry is fish poisoning or staph infections.

“I’ve got the holes in my legs to prove it,” Eller said. “It’s not from a wound, it’s just from being in our environment.”

In addition to the everyday stuff, Eller noted another hazard for some fishermen is a “deteriorated liver ... from too many nights at AJ’s or the Boathouse.”