Everyone knows Uncle Sam collects his taxes, but anglers are well aware that every now and again you have the pay the piper in the form of a predatory animal.
Whether it’s a bald eagle or a sea lion, at some point in every angler’s life, something is going to steal your catch. For my dad, brother, and I, it was a giant snapping turtle that ate a bunch of bass we had on a stringer, but for these two guys, it just so happened to be a red-tailed hawk.
Two guys had themselves a successful day fishing down in Florida and were cleaning some red snapper when a raptor flew from a perch behind them and snagged a filet before either of them could react.
If it wasn’t captured on video the one guy may have not noticed anything other than a whoosh flying past him, but fortunately for us, we’re able to see the whole thing in slow motion HD.
I have to admit, if I were a wild animal and saw that beautiful pile of read to eat filets just laying out in the open I’d probably take a chance at it too and this hawk made the most of it, getting a decent amount in its talons before flying off to eat in peace.
The whole thing happened in less than a second but my goodness is it fun to watch. If you’ve got yourself some snapper on the dock, just be careful to avoid the taxman; they come in all shapes and sizes.
