My Turn: Hooked on prairie dog fishing

Prairie dog angling is something I don’t think many people know about. But the catch-and-release sport is real.

I heard a story about a guy who moved to Texas some time ago. He was depressed, because where he lived there was no place to go fishing.

One day, while driving home from work, he noticed a prairie dog community off in a field. He got the idea of fishing for those little critters because he had heard they could put up a fight.

The guy came back that weekend with a fishing pole with a loop on the end, an ice chest, lawn chair and a smile. He put the loop at the entrance of a hole and when the prairie dog came out, he pulled it tight, snagging it around the critter’s body.

That’s about the time he heard someone laughing. A state trooper had been watching.

The trooper told the guy he had to call the local game and fish official to come out and take a look.

Before long, all three of them were prairie dog angling.

Info: http://www.lovelandnet.com/toms-place/writing/pdf/whatispdf.htm

(Editor’s note: No prairie dogs were harmed in the writing of this column.)

Clarence Plank is a reporter for the Portales News-Tribune. His column appears on Tuesdays. Contact him at 356-4483 or by e-mail: cplank@pntonline.com