I too caught a blue heron on Barkley on a buzzer. He swooped down out of a tree and grabbed my buzzer in shallow water but I didn't hook him - he got tangled in my line as he tried to take off still holding the buzzer in his mouth. The comical part was he kept trying to take off and I would pull him back splashing down until I got the boat up next to him and untangled him. A wet blue heron is kind of a pathetic sight much like a wet cat. After all that he still managed to give me one of their patented "bite me" squawks as he flew off.

Last fall I had a bald eagle on KY lake circle and come down on a sammy. Fortunately I was quick enough this time to yank it away from him just before he grabbed it. I am not sure which would have been worse - possibly harming a protected raptor with a treble hooked lure or losing a $16 lure to a bird. Thank goodness I didn't find out...

kc