Lehman's memorable fishing moment? Catching himself

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Most fish stories are about the enormous one that got away. But Tom Lehman, an avid fisherman, spins a different fish tale for PGATOUR.COM.

Lehman

People always talk about catching a fish but very seldom talk about catching yourself. Any fisherman who is worth his salt will be honest and admit that he's nailed himself a time or two. I did it one time while fishing in Ireland. Caught myself right in the lip. You are supposed to catch the fish in the lip, I caught myself right in the middle of the lip. That wasn't pleasant.

Don't ask me how I did it. It was a barb hook -- you aren't supposed to use those, by the way -- but this particular fly had a barb on the hook so that made it tough to get out. It left a big scar there for a few weeks. I'm fairly proficient at casting but we were in a tight spot and trying to avoid trees. The thing is you are constantly moving the rod and putting stress on the end when trying to catch something. So when you do catch something, it pulls. When I caught myself, it gave a big yank -- it didn't feel good.

The good news is that, after catching myself, I went on to catch a bunch of fish.

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