Fishermen rescue 38 hunting dogs from drowning in Mississippi lake

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(WJW) – A small group of fishermen are being hailed heroes after making an unexpected catch that day — more than three dozen hunting dogs treading water in a Mississippi lake.

It all started when Bob Gist, a 61-year-old State Farm agent from Arkansas, went on a fishing trip to Lake Grenada with his friend Brad Carlisle, a State Farm agent from Tennessee, as reported by Fox News.

Gist told Fox News they were out on the lake with a fishing guide, Jordan Chrestman, when they suddenly heard dogs barking.

“Pretty soon we saw some dogs on the horizon in the water,” Gist told the news outlet.

The friends noticed the group of dogs, which were part of an annual fox run, were trying to catch a deer in the water, according to reports.

The group went on fishing for another 10 to 15 minutes when the guide said he wanted to check back on the dogs.

“We’re just flabbergasted because it’s dogs everywhere,” Gist told Fox News. “They’re all going in different directions because they can no longer see the bank on either side.”

The fishermen then sprung into action, bringing as many hunting dogs as they could onto their bass fishing boat.

Reports say the rescuers returned about 25 to 27 dogs to shore when their owners came running over, pleading for help.

With help from a man on shore with a GPS tracker, they were able to rescue the remaining dogs that, according to Gist, “were on the verge of drowning,” Fox News reported.

Gist posted photos from the rescue on his professional Facebook page, with the caption reading, “Like a Good Neighbor Bob Gist was there!”

The fishermen have received plenty of praise since the rescue, with one commenter saying, “All of you guys are true HEROES! Love this story!’

“Our family have dogs of our own and I know how much this means to those owners! Thank you!” another said.

Gist said he’s grateful they were in the right place at the right time, but he’s giving the most credit to their fishing guide.

“Jordan realized there might be a problem and said we needed to go check. He was so correct,” Gist said on Facebook. “We all pulled dogs from the water and Jordan managed (the) recovery like he had done it before. He is the hero here for sure.”

He told Fox News that the dog owners tried to pay Chrestman for rescuing the pups, but the fishing guide refused to take the money.