I tried to help a fish today. I came upon a rock bass with a hook in its mouth while returning to the Islander wreck in the St. Lawrence River in Alexandria Bay, NY. Rather than being stuck in the corner of the fish's mouth, the hook ran through each side like a barbell piercing and trailed about 6 inches of line. I had been under for 30 minutes at a 70 foot max depth after entering with 1400 psi of Trimix 21/15. I spent another 20 minutes trying to catch it in 40 feet of water. I was sucking fumes on the way up. I called a GUE instructor friend since his new shop is just a stone's throw away to suit up and see if he could help. GUE doesn't allow solo diving, but I was hoping that might be an exception. He told me to go free it since he was on the phone. That was my plan. I called Dana Hunt to see if his shop was open. It was. I zipped over the 6 miles from Alex Bay to Clayton wearing my wetsuit while I drove my truck. I told John at Hunt's that I needed a fill and it didn't need to be good -- just fast. I left and grabbed some fishing stuff from the 1000 Islands Bait Store and quickly stopped by my place in A-Bay to get needle-nosed pliers and other stuff. I entered the water hoping it was territorial and would still be hovering at the same spot on the wreck. No such luck. I searched for 30 minutes around the wreck. Then, I saw something I've never seen before. A cormorant swam across the deck near me 40 feet deep and disappeared through a small hatch-like opening into the darkness of the wreck. I watched for it to come out and it didn't. I stuck my arm with a dive light into the hole and my then head to have a look. I was upside down peering into the hatch. I spotted an opening 15 or so feet away at the fringe of visibility. Must have exited there. I'm going to go back tomorrow at the same time I saw the fish today just to see if it is territorial based upon time of day. At least, I tried to do something good and noble to help the little guy out.
