Man, dog rescued; fish gets caught

By Dan Joling
The Associated Press

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Charles "Murphy" James, 68, was fishing for the first time Thursday since he suffered a heart attack four years ago. He was with his wife, Debra, and their pregnant Shih Tzu-Maltese dog, Pepper.

They borrowed a 16-foot aluminum skiff and rowed for about 10 minutes near a buoy about 100 yards offshore in Tongass Narrows, Debra James said.

There were early signs the trip was not going to go smoothly. After anchoring up, they discovered they'd forgotten their bait, some 2-year-old hooligan.

"We cleaned out our freezer," James said.

They rowed in, drove back to their apartment in a senior housing complex and grabbed the bait.

They rowed out again, anchored up and discovered they'd left a rod and reel on shore.

"I said to him, 'Maybe we shouldn't be out here,' " Debra James recalled yesterday.

After rowing out a third time, they hooked a halibut. It broke Murphy James' line.

He rigged up again, hooked another halibut and got it close to the boat. He reached for his .22-caliber rifle to kill it. The gun would not fire.

James used his gaff hook and got the fish in the boat. But the 35-pound halibut flopped and the boat rocked. He tried to bash it with the gaff and the boat tilted.
 
"His feet got tangled up, and over the edge he goes," said Debra James, 51.

Water flowed over the edge and the boat filled halfway with water. She spotted Pepper swimming — outside the boat.

Debra James threw herself to the left side of the boat to keep it from flipping. She grabbed the dog and the rifle, and despite a bad back, she pulled her husband back into the boat.

"Adrenaline makes you very strong," she said.

For revenge on the halibut for causing so much trouble, Murphy James said he and his wife plan "to eat every bit of him."