Years ago I was fishing a really muddy river in Oklahoma. You literally could not see your jig if it was one inch under water. Somehow the fish managed to see whatever you threw at them and there were even some fast fishing days. It was midday in the summer and the fish had lock jaw so I was moving around and casting anywhere I thought I might find one. I took a cast really close to the bank and got an unpleasant surprise. Just as I pulled my sassy shad out of the water a cotton mouth that had been chasing it lunged out of the water and grabbed it. If anyone had been around to notice they would have seen a nervous guy in shorts frantically dancing around something on the end of his line. I picked up a rock and made sure that was the serpent's last mistake. Couldn't use the jig any more as it was covered with foul smelling venom. I'm glad he didn't get off the hook or a scary experience could have turned deadly.
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thats pretty scary, weirdest thing thats happened to me was i was fishing with dough bait and i hooked a long piece of line...on the end of it was a trout hooked with a tube jig. needless to say i kept the jig. another time, i was fishing with really light tackle, i get a bite and manage to hook a 5lb cat...only problem was that it was a small pond and the guy across from me had crossed my line. the dude had one of those big tiger poles and he proceeded to horse my fish in...hes so excited about getting it in that he totally forgets it was my fish, funny part is that when he lifts it out of the water his line snaps and i end up keeping the fish, haha now thats karma![sly]
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Oklahoma is a fun place to fish. I was fishing a pond there for Cats. They weren't biting much, so we were watching the turtles, which anyone who has been to that part of oklahoma will know are about as common as flies. All of a sudden, I get a bite. As I reeled it in, I saw what I thought was its head. And it was big. Really big. Until it came out just a few inches later and turned out to be a turtle. Didn't know they ate worms! Funny thing, we did catch a cat or two, and a cotton mouth kept trying to come in and steal them. I was pretty scared cause I'd never seen one, but my buddy about went berzerk, throwing anything he could at it to keep it away.
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I have caught two birds (swallows) 1st was on a trip to the San Juan in New Mexico, casting my fly rod a swallow flew under my leader, wrapped around it and it fell into the drink, reeled it in and unwrapped it and it flew off, second time same scenerio but I was float tubing on Jordanelle. I have had a few bats hit my flies at dusk but never hooked any.
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I was using poppers for panfish in central california and had a duck chase one down.
Fortunately, it was hooked on the edge of the bill and easy to unhook.
Unfortunately it didn't want anything to do with me.
Took some wrasslin' to pin it down long enough to release.
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HA HA... serves him right!
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I caught quite a few turtles there over the years and some of the big snappers have tried to give me a manicure when I removed the hook. I even had one hiss at me. They're mean as heck. And yes those water moccasins will take your stringer for a ride. It's happened to me a few times and once they sink their fangs in there is no way you are going to attempt to eat it. There was one that ruined 3 crappie on my stringer. Every time he saw me he would take off into the muddy water and I couldn't see him. A few minutes later he was back at it again. I got my BB gun out of my car and set out for vengeance. He came back to the stringer, saw me, and dove underneath heading to the right of me. I walked slowly down the bank with the barrel near the water and what happened next was hysterical. Right where the muzzle of my 20 times primed BB rifle was pointed, the snake stuck his head out of the water and was looking right down the barrel. He just froze with his blank face and I know he was thinking "I am so screwed![sly]" When I pulled the trigger his head unhinged like a coin purse.
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I've seen a blue heron dive in the water after a shad some guy threw off the back of his boat. His cast had a large arc and this bird watched it all the way to the water and then kamikaze'd it. The guy tried reeling it up really fast but is was too late. He dragged in the squawking bird whom had the bait down his throat and this heron proceeded to pecking and scratching hard enough that I'm certain he drew blood. The guy cut it loose and had to literally push it out of the boat because it was still kicking his ass.[laugh]
I have a bird story of my own... well, kinda. I was fly fishing Tibble Fork one night and my back cast fell straight to the ground as I swung forward. Followed the line back with a flash light and guess who? A bat intercepted my woolly bugger in mid air with only a millisecond window before it took off again. Now that's a pretty impressive way to commit suicide. I felt bad watching him lying on the ground with a fly stuck in his face and his little peeps were really making me feel guilty. I felt better after I crunched him like a bug and got my fly back.
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While fishing for white bass on the Potomac River in the DC area my brother and I kept hooking into eels.....nasty fish.
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It must have been fifteen years ago at this point. There was a camp-out on the Jordan River, it was like a yearly thing. I think it was in American Fork somewhere pretty close to Utah Lake. I think it was a ward thing or a scout thing, and I'm sure someone knows what I am talking about cause it was a big, developed campground. Myself and a few friends were fishing the river, and catching alot of fish too. We were just using worms, and I dont even remember which one of us actually caught it but it started as a snag and when we reeled it in, there was a nice surprise on the end of the line. It was a muddy ziplock baggie. Upon further inspection we realized that there was a pipe in the baggie. Not only that, but when we opened it up and took it out, it was packed full of a powerful smelling green herbal substance. From what i have heard there are many different names for this "herbal substance" And if the pipe itself wasn't enough, it had one of those chamber-like areas in the middle and it was packed full of the "substance". Oh, the good ole days... it was a good thing that we were young enough to know better. had that happened three or four years later who knows what we would've have done with that situation. Probably wouldn't have ended so "appropriately".
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I've had to spook ducks quite a few times by violently twitching my float or top water lure and have even had to stop them from taking bait by ripping it away from them. Luckily, I've never had to unhook one but I'm sure the ordeal has an unsettling sound. I did hook one of those blue billed griebs (I think that's what they're called but I'm no bird watcher) by his hind leg when he did a magical swerve right over the jig I was trying to avoid him with. I thought I would be Mr. Respecter of God's Little Creatures and try to gently fix the problem but that sucker was on the war path and I think that grabbing him would have been like sticking your hands in a blender. That bird took a few swipes at me and I wimped out and cut the line. I hope the bird was able to get the jig out by pecking away and if he put half the effort into it as he did trying to have his way with me then I'm sure the wound healed nicely.
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I went fishing on the Lower Illinois river one day in Okiedelphia and learned that there are freshwater eels that frequent the river in the summer. They're called American Eels and, though I never hooked one myself, the locals at the tackle shop told me stories about them. The state record was over 3 lbs. which, I guess, looks like a pretty big nose goblin. I did manage to hook some skip jack herring and that was a first for me. They averaged only a pound or so but man they were jumpy critters. I did some research when I got home and found out that some people chunked them up for big cats or used them whole for stripers. Do you think those nose goblins you nailed were American Eels? They're migration is, actually, really incredible. They spawn in the ocean near the Bermuda triangle and then swim clear up the Mississippi River delta into tributaries and make it as far inland as central Oklahoma and then head back out to Bermuda for their annual orgy.[shocked]
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Good job on smoking the fish and not the Argentinian lawn clippings.
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I caught a pretty bad rash in the Phillipines one time.[shocked]
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It is always a good idea to get a license before you study the waters.
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I love these stories, I've caught some strange fish in other states. I don't even know their names. I suppose the strangest catch is on the Jordan river, I reeled up a latex glove and a pair of sunglasses together.
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I was fishing off Marina Del Rey in So Cal for calico and sand bass once when I thought I snagged the structure we were fishing. I tried to break the line but it came up. It was a 12" diameter starfish hooked in the tip of one of it's arms.
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[cool][#0000ff]I have been fishing a LOOOOOOOONG time and I have fished in a whole lot of places. Naturally I have caught a few things that could be considered unusual...at least they were not my primary targets.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]1. Multiple fishing rods and reels...in various stages of salvageability. I do a lot of bait dragging and bottom bouncing so I snag lots of gear that has gone overboard from boaters.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]2. Ditto for fish stringers. Seems that some boaters do not secure their stringers very well. Surprisingly, the fish are usually still lively. But, I have also brought in stringers full of decomposing fish. Yuck.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]3. Lost count of the number of lines I have snagged with fish still on the other end.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]4. All kinds of birds...grebes, seagulls, diving ducks, pelicans, etc. Especially bad when "fly lining" live anchovies or sardines in salt water.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]5. Bats on flies being cast near sundown.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]6. Garter snake that had chomped onto a small fish I hooked while leaving my rod unattended for a while.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]7. Turtles of several species.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]8. Muskrat...snagged on a spinner. Bit the line.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]9. Skunk. My fault. I had cast a small jig to a skunk foraging along the bank, just to see what it would do. It thought it was something edible and grabbed it with its paws. It got hooked and when I hauled back, trying to pop the line, I rolled it butt over teakettle. Can you say p***ed? Then it spied me in my tube and started swimming out to get me. I threw a roostertail and escaped.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]10. Best story for last. Could even be true.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Shortly after moving to Utah from California...while I still had California plates on my car...I took a rod and some tackle down to a spot on Salt Lake, near the highway. I set up my chair and tossed a line out into the water...waiting expectantly. I caught about 19 that day...all folks who stopped to make fun of me and let me know there were no fish in Salt Lake. Just loved it when someone would ask "Catch anything yet?" and I could answer "Yep. Caught you didn't I?"[/#0000ff]
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Guess it's not too wierd, becasue i have seen it posted on here a few times, rocks! Nothing like reallyin a 1.5 lb lava rock.
Turtles, clothing, glasses (Saratoga Springs docks late this winter), trees, bushes, nets, hats, fingers, legs and just about everything i have ever taken on my boat.
Had my first encounter with a snake on UL last week. Now I only know of 2 types of snakes, Dead, and about to be dead. this one was 18-24 inches (no i didn;t stop to ask or measure it, just a guess) and a little bigger around than a pencil. After several thrashings of the water with the bid end of my net, we parted ways.
Actually, I am from the south and have lots of encounters while fishing with water moccasins, copper heads and such. Living 20 years in Idaho, I met a few rattle snakes, bull snakes and a few others. Petrified of snakes. can't even watch one on TV. Get the golly-wobbles typing the word, snake....
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[#000050]I was trolling at Fish Lake about 10 years ago and hooked into about a 16' Rainbow. While reeling it in, an Eagle swooped down off of his perch on the East side and grabbed the fish. Luckily, he let go when the line went tight. Pretty to watch, though. [cool][/#000050]
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