A fishing crew in Mississippi set out recently with hopes of reeling in a big catch, but instead came back with a boat teeming with dozens of dogs.
Bob Gist, of Arkansas, and his friend Brad Carlisle, of Tennessee, decided to meet up for a fishing trip earlier this month after not seeing each other for a while.
The pals, who are both State Farm insurance agents in their respective states, hired Jordan Chrestman, a local fishing guide, to help them navigate the waters of Grenada Lake and lead them to the best spot to catch crappie. According to Arkansas news outlet Jonesboro Right Now, the group hit the lake early in the morning but wasn’t finding much luck and decided to move to a new location.
That’s when they spotted something really unusual.
Gist told the outlet the trio could see a flurry of activity in the water up ahead and as they maneuvered their watercraft closer, they saw dozens of dogs swimming in all directions.
“They were lost. The dogs were at least a mile offshore. The way their heads were in the water there’s no way they could see the shore. They were dog paddling and completely lost,” Gist said of the astonishing sight, adding that each dog was outfitted with an expensive radio collar around its neck and a white number painted on its side, adding to the mystery of the situation.
Knowing the dogs were in danger, and too far from shore to orient themselves, the group of men got to work hauling dogs on board.
Gist told local station Action News 5 that Chrestman pulled the boat up to each animal and he and Carlisle plucked each dog from the water. When the boat was full, they returned to shore to drop the dogs off and went back to rescue more. On the third trip back, he said, they got some help from a man in another boat.
“When we first started there was this white one that Brad tried to reach for and the dog bit at him. He moved closer to me, so I tried to reach for him, and he tried to bite me, so we left him,” Gist told radio station KEGI about one particularly scared hound. “When we came back for the second load it was probably 30-45 minutes later. By that time, he was ready to get in the boat. He wasn’t biting anybody.”
The canines were reportedly part of a nearby fox hunt, but got distracted by a deer that they chased into Grenada Lake.
“The dogs jumped a deer; the deer ran and jumped in the lake and ran off and left the dogs. The dogs kept trying to follow the deer and got lost,” Gist continued.
In total, the group rescued 38 dogs from the water and returned them to their relieved owners.
“The hero here is Jordan Chrestman of Tri-Lake Guide Service,” Gist posted on Facebook. “We all pulled dogs from the water and Jordan managed the recovery like he had done it before. He is the hero here for sure.”
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