We keep hearing how the most dangerous occupation is Alaskan crab fisherman, I browse a lot of fishing news  and I’m starting to wonder about that statistic.

English trawlers have pulled in two WWII torpedoes recently, a third recovered in Australia, and yesterday the fourth was trawled up off of the Spanish coast. The “pucker factor” associated with the sight of that unstable ordinance has to qualify as an Extreme sport somewhere…

The “Mother of All Ordinance” was recovered by a Spanish fisherman, Francisco Simo Orts, a name never uttered in dry fly circles, but worthy of inclusion into someone’s angling hall of fame.

January 17th, 1966 – a mid air collision between a B-52 and KC-130 refueling tanker drops four H-Bombs onto the Spanish fishing village of Palomares. Recovery of the three on dry land proceeds swimmingly, but the fourth falls into the ocean.

The bomb that landed in the sea went missing for 80 days and became the object of an intensive search by the United States, which was afraid the Soviets might try to recover it.

A local fisherman, Francisco Simo Orts, had seen it hit the water and was enlisted to help the U.S. Navy establish the basis for its search operation. When the bomb was finally found, Simo Orts turned up in New York with an attorney, demanding the salvage award he claimed was due him in accordance with maritime law.

The U.S. secretary of defense said the bomb was worth $2 billion. Simo Orts asked for $20 million, or 1 percent of the bomb’s value, again in accordance with the custom of maritime law. The Air Force eventually settled out of court for an undisclosed sum.

Instinct suggests Senor Ort’s fishing was recreational after collecting on the reward.

It’s a source of amusement for me, aside from the threat of thermonuclear devastation, if the nuke had been found by a bird watcher it’s likely they would have returned it for free. Like Senor Orts, someone drops a nuke in my favorite riffle – I’m likely to take it personal.

…and here I am worried about whether my lead split shot will screw up the environment…

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