Today on the St. Croix, I had the craziest experience I’ve ever had fishing. Here’s what happened and I do have a witness.
Out early this am around 5 am started fishing the channel on north end around 5:15. Drifting with the current, slight south wind to slow us down further. Lindy rigging leeches, rod in each hand. Getting a few shorts/sheepies here and there. At the south end of the 2nd island, my neighbor Jeff pulls in an eye, I set both rods down and close the bails and net the fish. Slight tangle in the net so I help out when I hear that sound that no-one ever wants to hear. SPLASH!
I look up, what was that? Check my rods and where before there were two, no was only one! Aw #$*%#$@ #$#@%!!! 
Gone was my brand new (bought from Dean in March with tax$$) St. Croix Avid and Shimano Symetre reel! 
Where’s the emoticon for “sick to my stomach”?
I had no daredevils or other heavy hooks with trebles so we tried drifting the spot about 3 times. I new it was hopeless. I had to get over it and move on. I said out loud I bet it was a damn sheepshead! Jeff and I laughed at the prospect of a sheephead only able to swim in a 100 ft. circle with a rod/reel anchoring him like a dog on a stake/chain. 
That was about 7 am. So we finished drifting the channel, caught a few here and there,nothing to crazy. But just couldn’t stop looking at the spot where I’d lost it, wondering if someone would snag it. Saw King185, told him about it, ……….
Once I got to south end of channel I got a report that lead core/rap bite was ok so we started pulling lead north. Four lines in the water and nothing all the way up to swing bridge. Finally picked one up right at the top. Made the turn and immediately hit a snag that tore off two raps! This trip was getting expensive fast!
With half our leadcore setups in the tank, we decided to keep going anyway and continued south. In the area of the south end of island two, my clicker starts screaming and I curse out loud that I’ve hit another SNAG! I grad the rod, start reeling and say, hey, this isn’t a snag. I pull in, you guessed it, a big sheepshead.
But there is something odd about this sheepshead! It not only has my rap in its mouth, it has another hook and some line attached to it 
. There’s no way, this line is clear and I had hi-vis on, but wait, I had a lindy leader in clear, and maybe, just maybe. I hand Jeff the fish, not caring if he’s going to get the rap in his finger as I’m now very excited to see where this line leads. I grab the line, and yes, this is a lindy leader, the start pulling it in hand over hand and shortly it turns hi-vis green!!!!!! 
My heart is racing, could my rod still be there? Will the line break as I’m pulling it up? I hand over hand the line and all of a sudden my rod breaks the surface! Oh, there is a god in heaven! Everything is there rod, reel, all in great shape! Man did we start laughing at that. That sheepshead, pulled my rod/reel into the water @ 7 am and then still had the wherewithall to hit a shadrap @ 9 am with a hook in its mouth and towing a rod/reel. Unbelievable! 
Yes, I experienced all of these today!
So what does one do with a Shimano reel that spent two hours in the St. Croix today?
Eric