04-01-2022, 09:39 PM
First of all, this is not an April Fools joke! This just happened to me.
I am sitting in my vehicle out on the Bear River with two poles out in rod holders and bell indicators on them. Slow fishing with no bites. Just browsing BFT on my phone with the windows down so I can hear a bite. One bell starts to ring and then goes nuts. I jump out and my pole is bent like a monster is on. Huge splash down the river where I had pitched my bait. I get to the edge where my pole is at and I I grab the pole out of the holder, look down river, and my heart sinks. That isn't a fish thrashing on the end of my line, it's a pelican. My mind races through several scenarios. Did it eat my bait? I doubt that since it was on the bottom. Did it try and eat a fish that had eaten my bait? It was thrash around with its mouth open like it was gagging so I am super nervous at this point. Have I just killed a pelican by it swallowing my hook? All I can do is reel it in if I can and find out. As it nears me it is still acting like it is gagging, but notice that the line is wrapped around one of the wings. I get it up to the bank and cannot see any line coming out of its mouth. Whew, that was a relief! But the line is obviously wrapped around its neck about 1/2 way between the head and body. As I reach down to unwrap the line from the wing and neck, it takes a big snap at me with its bill. Missed! As it pulls back its head I grab it by the bill and hold it tight, bringing the bird part way up out of the water. It must have subdued it at that point because it didn't fight back after that. The line was not tight on the wing and one unwrap and it was off that part, but it was very tight around the neck. Somehow the line had wrapped around it like a noose and pulled tighter as I tried to loosen it. Thus the gagging from the bird. I had my fillet knife with me and finally was able to slip it under the line on the neck and cut the line. I did a quick inspection to make sure no other line was left around the neck and placed the bird back in the water. It swam off, then flew off.
Holy smokes, what a scary thing to happen. I'm just glad it turned out alright. I still don't know how it happened, but I guess there is a first for everything.
As I was keying this in, my bell goes off again on the same pole. I jump out and the rod is not moving at all. I look down to where the bait was and a grebe pops up near where the bait was at. WHAT IS UP TODAY? I can't catch a fish and the only bites I am getting are from birds!
Anyone else have some weird catches they want to share?
I am sitting in my vehicle out on the Bear River with two poles out in rod holders and bell indicators on them. Slow fishing with no bites. Just browsing BFT on my phone with the windows down so I can hear a bite. One bell starts to ring and then goes nuts. I jump out and my pole is bent like a monster is on. Huge splash down the river where I had pitched my bait. I get to the edge where my pole is at and I I grab the pole out of the holder, look down river, and my heart sinks. That isn't a fish thrashing on the end of my line, it's a pelican. My mind races through several scenarios. Did it eat my bait? I doubt that since it was on the bottom. Did it try and eat a fish that had eaten my bait? It was thrash around with its mouth open like it was gagging so I am super nervous at this point. Have I just killed a pelican by it swallowing my hook? All I can do is reel it in if I can and find out. As it nears me it is still acting like it is gagging, but notice that the line is wrapped around one of the wings. I get it up to the bank and cannot see any line coming out of its mouth. Whew, that was a relief! But the line is obviously wrapped around its neck about 1/2 way between the head and body. As I reach down to unwrap the line from the wing and neck, it takes a big snap at me with its bill. Missed! As it pulls back its head I grab it by the bill and hold it tight, bringing the bird part way up out of the water. It must have subdued it at that point because it didn't fight back after that. The line was not tight on the wing and one unwrap and it was off that part, but it was very tight around the neck. Somehow the line had wrapped around it like a noose and pulled tighter as I tried to loosen it. Thus the gagging from the bird. I had my fillet knife with me and finally was able to slip it under the line on the neck and cut the line. I did a quick inspection to make sure no other line was left around the neck and placed the bird back in the water. It swam off, then flew off.
Holy smokes, what a scary thing to happen. I'm just glad it turned out alright. I still don't know how it happened, but I guess there is a first for everything.
As I was keying this in, my bell goes off again on the same pole. I jump out and the rod is not moving at all. I look down to where the bait was and a grebe pops up near where the bait was at. WHAT IS UP TODAY? I can't catch a fish and the only bites I am getting are from birds!
Anyone else have some weird catches they want to share?
