Projo Offbeat Blog

A fisherman in Maine caught a 25-year-old man yesterday in the Kennebec River.

That's right, and he didn't hook him by accident. Bob Greene is credited with saving Michael Gibbs' life.

Greene was hoping to catch striped bass early yesterday morning when he saw what looked like a log bobbing down the river and heard a faint call for 'help,' according to the Morning Sentinel.

Green considered jumping into the 60-degree water then decided to cast his 7-foot spinning rod and Okuma reel with 25-pound line, the newspaper reported. His lure landed about two feet beyond Gibbs, an estimated 35 yards from shore and snagged Gibbs' shirt.

"It was a struggle to get him out of the current so I could reel him in," Greene said.

A police officer, alerted by Greene's 911 call, helped Greene pull Gibbs out of the water.

Gibbs was in critical condition yesterday at the Maine Medical Center in Portland, the Sentinel reported.

Sentinel readers praised Greene's heroic fishing effort, but one couldn't resist this observation: "fishing with live bait, huh. Thanks goodness it is after the 1st or you may have been ticketed!"

 Tags  fishing Kennebec River Maine rescue

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