WEST VIRGINIA — The Holler Herald’s Field Services Division has released its eighth identification card after a local fisherman organized a second trip specifically to confront whatever took his good lure.
The advisory covers Ogua, a massive turtlelike river creature recognizable by its enormous shell, powerful jaws, and apparent ownership of everything below the surface.
Fisherman Ronnie Adkins reported hooking something near a deep river hole shortly before sundown.
“At first, I thought I was hung on a log,” Adkins said. “Then the log went upstream.”
Adkins tightened his drag.
His brother recommended a different approach.
“I said, ‘Ronnie, that’s enough,’” he recalled. “He took that as coaching.”
The encounter ended when the line snapped, costing Adkins a lure he immediately valued at considerably more than he had told his wife it cost.
Field investigators became involved after Adkins returned with heavier tackle, a landing net, and no apparent revision to his plan.
“He described a shell the size of a jon boat,” a division spokesperson said. “Then asked whether we thought his net would hold.”
The division recommends leaving submerged objects alone if they begin moving independently of the current.
Residents should also reconsider standing on a convenient riverside rock if it changes position between casts.
“That is no longer a good spot,” the spokesperson explained. “It may never have been a spot.”
Adkins maintains he intends to recover his lure.
His brother has agreed to accompany him, provided they remain on the bank and Ronnie stops referring to the expedition as “round two.”
At press time, Adkins was studying a map of the river.
He had marked the location “mine.”
Investigators believe Ogua has done the same.
Have you encountered Ogua? Submit your field report to The Holler Herald. Include the location, approximate shell size, and the retail value of whatever you insist you’re going back for.
The Holler Herald — West Virginia’s Least Reliable News Source.
