Newsday.com
Man dies from freak fishing accident

BY MARC BEJA



July 30, 2008

A Roosevelt man died yesterday after a freak accident while on a fishing
outing with his family last week.

Jaime Chicas, 21, was fishing off a jetty at the west end of Jones Beach
on Friday when his 3-ounce lead sinker came out of the water and hit him
in the face and then lodged in his brain.

"Suddenly, we saw him laying on the rocks," said Jose Gonzalez, 30,
Chicas' brother-in-law. Gonzalez and his cousin, who both had been
fishing with Chicas, ran over to find Chicas bleeding from his head.

"We never could have imagined this," Gonzalez said through an interpreter.

The trio had gone fishing a few times before and visited the beach
often, Gonzalez said. While the sun set, Chicas kept fishing, as the
others began packing their belongings. As Gonzalez and his cousin walked
toward the beach, they heard Chicas make a whimpering noise behind them.

After looking at X-rays, doctors at Nassau University Medical Center,
where Chicas was taken, saw that the sinker of Chicas' fishing pole had
just missed his right eye and entered his head at the bridge in his
nose. The momentum of the weight continued across the middle of his
brain into the back left side of his head, where it stopped, neurologist
Imran Wahedna said.

"There was so much force that it kept going and it lodged through the
back of his head," Wahedna said of the lead sinker. "The trauma was
simply too severe."

Chicas was pronounced brain-dead at 2 p.m. yesterday, from severe head
trauma and herniation, Wahedna said.

Wahedna and New York Fishing Tackle Trade Association president Gene
Young all said they had never seen anything similar to Chicas' injury.

"This has to be a one-in-a-billion thing," Young said.

Chicas, a native of Lolotiquillo Morazán, El Salvador, had moved in with
his sister, Nohemy, 27, and Gonzalez last year.

On Sunday mornings, he played soccer at Cantiague Park in Hicksville,
where five men in the same soccer league were hit by lightning on
Sunday, Gonzalez said.

Chicas is also survived by his parents, Jose and Feliciana Chicas; his
wife, Fatima, and his 1-year-old daughter, who live in El Salvador; and
his brother, Julio Chicas, of Hempstead.

Chicas' family is trying to raise funds to send his body back to El
Salvador for burial.

Copyright © 2008, Newsday Inc.

On Wed, 06 Aug 2008 12:45:43 -0400, hk wrote:

Jaime Chicas, 21, was fishing off a jetty at the west end of Jones Beach
on Friday when his 3-ounce lead sinker came out of the water and hit him
in the face and then lodged in his brain.

Damn, that must of been one hell of a hook set. I wouldn't have thought
a sinker could have that kind of force. Knock you out, sure, but to
enter your brain?

On Wed, 06 Aug 2008 12:30:20 -0500, wrote:

On Wed, 06 Aug 2008 12:45:43 -0400, hk wrote:

Jaime Chicas, 21, was fishing off a jetty at the west end of Jones Beach
on Friday when his 3-ounce lead sinker came out of the water and hit him
in the face and then lodged in his brain.

Damn, that must of been one hell of a hook set. I wouldn't have thought
a sinker could have that kind of force. Knock you out, sure, but to
enter your brain?

Probably the hook/sinker got jammed in the rocks and he was horsing it
out with his Ugly Stik. What a shame. I'm going to remember this
one.

--Vic

On Aug 6, 1:51*pm, Vic Smith wrote:
On Wed, 06 Aug 2008 12:30:20 -0500, wrote:
On Wed, 06 Aug 2008 12:45:43 -0400, hk wrote:

Jaime Chicas, 21, was fishing off a jetty at the west end of Jones Beach
on Friday when his 3-ounce lead sinker came out of the water and hit him
in the face and then lodged in his brain.

Damn, that must of been one hell of a hook set. *I wouldn't have thought
a sinker could have that kind of force. *Knock you out, sure, but to
enter your brain?

Probably the hook/sinker got jammed in the rocks and he was horsing it
out with his Ugly Stik. *What a shame. *I'm going to remember this
one.

--Vic

Not just rocks.. could have been really pulling it up through the surf
with a big pole. Once it frees itself from the water it can really
fly. A lot of these surfcasters here use huge weights to keep the tide
from moving the bait..

On Wed, 6 Aug 2008 15:53:29 -0400, "D.Duck" wrote:



I was fishing in Canada several years ago using a 1/4 oz jig. I set the
hook when a fish hit and the fish immediately headed for the surface from
about 15', a true indication for a small mouth bass. When the bass broke
through the surface the jig came loose and hit the lens of my sunglasses.
Without the glasses I often wonder just would have happened if it hit me in
the eye.

Lucky you were wearing the glasses. Never had that happen, but I've
had my own stuff whizzing by my head with time to duck or dodge.
Luckily never snagged or hit anybody around me.
What got me most about this guy getting killed is thinking about how
many times you end up horsing a rod to free a snag.
I used to do it until the rod creaked, but come to think of it I
stopped doing that some years ago.
Probably because it caused stuff to whiz by my head.
Now if it doesn't come free with a couple light jerks from different
directions I take a couple wraps of line around my hand and pull.
If it breaks, it breaks. A lure hung up on an overhead branch
can still get you even then with the line stretch being released.

--Vic

On Wed, 06 Aug 2008 19:26:03 -0500, Vic Smith
wrote:

On Wed, 6 Aug 2008 15:53:29 -0400, "D.Duck" wrote:



I was fishing in Canada several years ago using a 1/4 oz jig. I set the
hook when a fish hit and the fish immediately headed for the surface from
about 15', a true indication for a small mouth bass. When the bass broke
through the surface the jig came loose and hit the lens of my sunglasses.
Without the glasses I often wonder just would have happened if it hit me in
the eye.

Lucky you were wearing the glasses. Never had that happen, but I've
had my own stuff whizzing by my head with time to duck or dodge.
Luckily never snagged or hit anybody around me.
What got me most about this guy getting killed is thinking about how
many times you end up horsing a rod to free a snag.
I used to do it until the rod creaked, but come to think of it I
stopped doing that some years ago.
Probably because it caused stuff to whiz by my head.
Now if it doesn't come free with a couple light jerks from different
directions I take a couple wraps of line around my hand and pull.
If it breaks, it breaks. A lure hung up on an overhead branch
can still get you even then with the line stretch being released.

A few years ago, some guys did experiments about this very thing -
12lb test mono and varying weights. What they found was pretty
amazing.

At breaking strength, line stretched, a 1/2 ounce weight will
accelerate to 105 mph within ten feet and hold that speed for two
seconds before the rate of acceleration drops. That's pretty fast and
it's no wonder, if the weight was a triangular or bullet shape, that
it would penetrate a skull.

I'd bet with the new mono braids, it's even faster.

I've been searching and searching for the article - can't find it now
as the site is defunct and Google cache doesn't seem to have it
(unbelievable - I know).

"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 06 Aug 2008 19:26:03 -0500, Vic Smith
wrote:

On Wed, 6 Aug 2008 15:53:29 -0400, "D.Duck" wrote:



I was fishing in Canada several years ago using a 1/4 oz jig. I set the
hook when a fish hit and the fish immediately headed for the surface from
about 15', a true indication for a small mouth bass. When the bass broke
through the surface the jig came loose and hit the lens of my sunglasses.
Without the glasses I often wonder just would have happened if it hit me
in
the eye.

Lucky you were wearing the glasses. Never had that happen, but I've
had my own stuff whizzing by my head with time to duck or dodge.
Luckily never snagged or hit anybody around me.
What got me most about this guy getting killed is thinking about how
many times you end up horsing a rod to free a snag.
I used to do it until the rod creaked, but come to think of it I
stopped doing that some years ago.
Probably because it caused stuff to whiz by my head.
Now if it doesn't come free with a couple light jerks from different
directions I take a couple wraps of line around my hand and pull.
If it breaks, it breaks. A lure hung up on an overhead branch
can still get you even then with the line stretch being released.

A few years ago, some guys did experiments about this very thing -
12lb test mono and varying weights. What they found was pretty
amazing.

At breaking strength, line stretched, a 1/2 ounce weight will
accelerate to 105 mph within ten feet and hold that speed for two
seconds before the rate of acceleration drops. That's pretty fast and
it's no wonder, if the weight was a triangular or bullet shape, that
it would penetrate a skull.


Golf ball ~ golf club ~ baseball bat. 8)



I'd bet with the new mono braids, it's even faster.

I've been searching and searching for the article - can't find it now
as the site is defunct and Google cache doesn't seem to have it
(unbelievable - I know).

On Wed, 06 Aug 2008 19:26:03 -0500, Vic Smith wrote:


Probably because it caused stuff to whiz by my head. Now if it doesn't
come free with a couple light jerks from different directions I take a
couple wraps of line around my hand and pull.

If it's a hook in wood, this won't work, but if it's a hook hung up on
rocks, this often will. Open your bail and put the line on your index
finger like you're about to cast, put a bind on the line with your rod,
then quickly release the line from your finger. The bind will put
tension on the hook, and the quick release will often cause the hook to
recoil freeing itself. Off course, maybe I should rethink this,
considering the topic of this thread. ;-)

On Thu, 07 Aug 2008 06:25:57 -0500, wrote:

On Wed, 06 Aug 2008 19:26:03 -0500, Vic Smith wrote:


Probably because it caused stuff to whiz by my head. Now if it doesn't
come free with a couple light jerks from different directions I take a
couple wraps of line around my hand and pull.

If it's a hook in wood, this won't work, but if it's a hook hung up on
rocks, this often will. Open your bail and put the line on your index
finger like you're about to cast, put a bind on the line with your rod,
then quickly release the line from your finger. The bind will put
tension on the hook, and the quick release will often cause the hook to
recoil freeing itself. Off course, maybe I should rethink this,
considering the topic of this thread. ;-)

If you are on a boat, it's often best to just circle the boat keeping
light pressure on the line - the lure will eventually free itself.

From shore - sometimes it's best to call it a loss and cut the line.

On Wed, 06 Aug 2008 12:51:22 -0500, Vic Smith
wrote:

Probably the hook/sinker got jammed in the rocks and he was horsing it
out with his Ugly Stik. What a shame. I'm going to remember this
one.

Sounds like it. It would have had to be heavy line and a beefy rod,
and not very deep water. Roman sling pellets were about that weight
and would penetrate like that.

Casady