"Bycatch"

[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]On another thread we have been having some fun with tales of "rock bass" and other incidental catches while fishing. Thought it might be fun to start a separate thread for fellow tanglers to share pics and tales of some of the interesting things they have brought up during their angling careers.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]I have caught lots of rods and reels from my tube, while bouncing jigs or dragging bait. But I have also caught plenty of sticks and other items. My rule is they have to be "forkhorn or better" to keep.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]Here are a few of my more memorable catches. Among them is a string of "pop gear" I brought up from Deer Creek. Talk about a weird "fight" on the way in. I could feel the vibrations but it sure didn't feel like a walleye. Fought better.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]Another interesting pic is of a branch, with the skeleton of a fish from a previous angler's run in with the same branch. Oh yeah, I didn't keep either the branch or the fish.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]Then there is the "rock flounder" caught by UtWalleye...who now lives in Colorado.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]Another cool pic is of the big perch pattern lure caught by Wiperhunter2 while trolling from his boat last year. "Catch of the Day" indeed.
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[RockyRaab]

Having landed many a "stickeral" in my time, I have always practiced catch and release. One had a fish entangled on it, much like TD's, but mine was in a somewhat "fresher" condition. Meaning it reeked.

Have retrieved a number of lures in addition to my own, too. A few actually good enough to keep and use. Got a nice Heddon Tadpolly that way. Never a rod, but I did find a perfectly good Ugly Stik at Powell on the beach in a small cove. Oddly, no reel attached. The cork was a bit sun-baked, but I revived it.
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[ratnest]

A few years ago on a backcountry adventure into the Uintas with a group of older scouts one of the boys had an interesting catch.

First the back story. This particular scout had his 2 piece rod questionably secured to his pack. After being questioned multiple times, between loading up and the first 3-4 miles, about the rods security we finally stopped asking, as it bounced around with every step. "it's fine" was the response each time.


Stopped for lunch and a bit of a rest at the base of a series of switch backs at about mile 7. Rod was still there. 1 mile later he was down to just the tip end, having lost the handle portion, and the reel was inside the pack. We then proceeded to back track to the point of the last stop. Nothing was found, so it was back to hiking. this was sure to be bit of a downer as this boy liked to fish.

I had packed an extra section of fiberglass tent pole, just in case it might be needed. Trying to help this scout out, I found that the tip portion of his rod fit on the tent pole pretty good. A little tape, and it was secure. Then a little more tape, and the reel was attached. All in all it turned out to work fairly well.

The next day fishing at a nearby lake, this scout had caught fish, and then he go the "Bycatch" It was another rod, or so it seemed. When he got it in, we found that it was not a full rod, it was just the end, no handle section. Turns out, that it looked to be the identical rod that he had. Length, colors, style, etc everything pointed to it being the exact same type of rod. Just too bad it wasn't the other piece.

Also ended up finding a closed face rod with a huge mess in the line on the same trip. Looked like someone got tired of messing with it, so they just left it. I still have it in my collection today.
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[riverdog]

At least 10 years ago I snagged some fishing line at Porcupine. When I finally got it all in there was a live trout maybe a foot long hooked at the end of that line. Ive brought in turtles, crabs and starfish but my favorite was when a octopus grabbed my bait fishing off a bridge in the Keys after sunset . It wasn’t hooked but hung on for at least a 20 ft lift of the water upto me. The best part was how exciting 3 Cuban guys fishing nearby were to see it. I like pulpo fine but after seeing them all but salivate I give it to them. I think it was maybe a week after Christmas but they looked as happy as kids on Christmas after opening presents after my gift.
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]Me gusta pulpo...y calamar tambien. I have eaten lots of the cephalopods...fried, stewed and in ceviche. Que bueno.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]Your story of the trout reminds me of a trip long ago when I had reversed the roles of my youth and was taking my aging father fishing. We had both caught a couple of small trout over a full day of fishing but were thinking about bagging it and heading home early. On my "last cast", my bottom bouncing jig hung up on something...something that moved. I brought it in slowly on my light line, wanting to see what the heck it was. Turned out to be someone's lost chain stringer...with five dandy and very live and healthy trout on it. Figured they had goosed the motor before pulling their fish up out of the water and straightened out the wimpy wire loop.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]You were a nice guy to hand off your prize catch. But in Utah you would have had to go home and fill out the proper paperwork to donate it. But then again, we don't got no octo-whatevers in Utah.
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[riverdog]

Paperwork?? That was probably the end of 1998 - back before Florida required anybody to have a fishing licence to fish the Ocean. They still don’t require residents as there is a far bit of subsistence fishing. Plato de pulpo would be a welcome break from Plato de grunts y grits. Oh sorry I’m off topic a bit.
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]I was making reference to Utah laws regarding "donating" fish. I can understand the laws, when high cost hatchery pets are concerned. But can't wrap my head around people getting citations for giving away white bass.
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[font "Arial Black"][size 2]Donating
Utah Code § 23-20-9
The following are the only places where
you may donate or give protected aquatic
wildlife or its parts to another person:
• The permanent residence of the donor
• The permanent residence of the recipient
• A meat locker
• A storage plant
• A meat-processing facility
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[#0000FF][font "Arial Black"][#000000][size 2]•You may not donate fish in the field.
A written statement of donation must
be kept with the protected aquatic wildlife
or parts that includes all of the following
information:
• The number and species of protected
aquatic wildlife or parts donated
• The date of donation
• The license or permit number of the
donor
• The signature of the donor[/size][/#000000][/font]
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[cdbrc]

We have all snagged someone's lost line but here's my story. A friend of mine and I were fishing lake Granby in Co when about 9 pm we decided to head back to the docks. Just as I started to reel in I got a vicious hit. Fish on I called, me too he yelled. Because of 8 pd. line the fight lated past dark. The fight was by feel and tug. Lost mine andrew called. Then thunk. Could not reel any more but it was still on. Andrew turned his phone lite and I could see my white tube jammed in the tip of my pole but a line still running around in the water. AND there was Andrews jig next to mine. Still a line tugging with a huge fish. I grabbed a water bottle and started to reel in that bigger in. The snagged line was about 35# test . We pulled and wrapped probably 60 ft. of line,could see the fish at 20 ft on th graf , then a snap that sounded like a 22 shot in the dark and we both fell backwards. That fish must have been in the fifty pound range and is still swimming. I had snagged the swivel the previous fishermen had put on upside down with my tube jig and Andrews line ha wrapped around the jig and swivel and literally tied it shut. I still have the water bottle with the line on it, AND alot of memories and a little bit of heart break. Oh, and by the time I got home my wife had called the search and rescue because we were so late. My bad.
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[catchinon]

Comes under the "what if"-laws category, to cross reference another thread.

I like this saying: "Rules are made for those who can't think of any for themselves." I'm curious what any of you might, ethically, do about field donation if there were no rules. Any answers?
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]Me? Personally? Admit to transgressing a sacrosanct Utah fishing regulation? Not on a public forum, thank you. Now, if there were no such rules I would probably hand off a few fish from time time. But only to otherwise unlucky younguns...or adults who are still in the learning stage...or someone who just plain sucks at fishing. Charity may begin at home but there is nothing wrong (in my opinion) with sharing on the water...as long as it ain't hatchery pets.
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[#0000FF]Like a lot of other head-scratching archaic statutes...fishing and otherwise...I believe the hard and fast donation rules could use some tweaking and "layering".[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]For what it's worth, I know both a current DWR fisheries biologist and a former CO who I have personally witnessed "stepping over the line" on this issue.
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[RockyRaab]

It probably qualifies as "bycatch" if you accept an offered fish or three. Which I may (or may not) have done. I have more bad days than good ones, and I do love eating fish.

I have also "heard about" trips to Powell where the total catch of stripers and walleye was cleaned and divvied up evenly.

In the spirit of the thread, however, I think my most unusual bycatch was a large clam shell.
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[Jig-fisher]

Up in the Uintah's I was casting a lure and reeled in a fish. When I got it in my line had caught a split shot sinker that was attached to a line coming out of the fishes mouth. I was fishing Holmes Creek for bass with a topwater lure and had something strike the lure next to the bank. Turned out to be a leopard frog. Just this week I got a fish to the ice hole and the line broke while the fish was in the hole. I did the arm dive to try and save it but missed. 5 seconds later my jaw-jacker went off. When I reeled in the fish it was the one I had just lost. The jig head had caught around the line and the fish had wrapped itself in the line. I ended up bring it all the way in. One a gross note, fishing a river in another country, brought the line in and had a condom wrapped around the line.

I know it isn't a byproduct catch, but I still laugh about Tube Dudes description of the skunk he hooked that pounced on his jig years ago. You might have to describe it again just for the entertainment value of that encounter.
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[TubeDude]

"I know it isn't a byproduct catch, but I still laugh about Tube Dudes description of the skunk he hooked that pounced on his jig years ago. You might have to describe it again just for the entertainment value of that encounter."

[#0000FF]Wow. You actually remember something I posted a long time ago. Will wonders never sneeze?...or however that goes.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]That happened while tubing on [/#0000FF][#0000FF][#0000FF][b]Pena Blanca...[/#0000FF]a small lake down near the Mexico border. I was working down the shoreline, pitching small jigs for crappie and bluegill, when I noticed a skunk rummaging through the leaves and grass near the shore...for whatever. Thinking to have some fun with the busy little critter I pitched my jig in front of it...so I could play a little "cat and mouse" keep away with it. But that skunk was quick. Before I could even move the jig he was on it with both paws. And my effort to jerk it away resulted in a "hookup"...and rolled him butt over teakettle.
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[#0000FF]The skunk was not happy. He wasn't spraying but if I could have translated his squeaky language I'm sure it would have been X-rated. Skunks do not have great eyesight but it was good enough for him to look down the line to which he was attached and see the source of his discomfort. Without hesitation he jumped into the water and began swimming toward me...fast. I wasn't concerned about getting sprayed...not with his backside under water. But I knew that skunks have been known to carry rabies. I did not want to experience his wrath first hand, rabies or not. So I put some power into my fins and put up a rooster tail to escape the mad creature. One more hard jerk broke the light line and I outdistanced him enough that he finally gave up and went back to shore.[/#0000FF]
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[Crimson]

I all but forgot the time I hooked a "dog" at Willow pond in Murray. I took my grandkids fishing there, and was using bobbers to keep the bait out of snags on the bottom.

One of my grandkids yelled, granpa there is a fish on the pole. I picked it up and started reeling, it took drag, and I thought there must be bigger fish in this place than I thought.

Then the older of the kids shouted that there was a dog swimming at the other end of the line! Don't know why I didn't notice the dog at first. Probably because not a normal thing to have dogs swimming in your fishing waters.

Sure enough the dog was at the end of the line and swimming for the far shore. I thought this is going to be messy if he has the hook in his skin.

I opened the bail so he could reach the far shore and what looked like his owner. But thankfully, the line went limp and he came free, and apparently did not get the hook in him.

We still laugh about catching a "dog" at Willow pond.
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[utwalleye]

Oh yes, the rock flounder, I do remember that one. I would catch one of them almost every year. I hook a stick in the Provo river one time and when I pulled on it, it came loose and started swimming up stream. I didn’t know what to think at that second.
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[Bduck]

I have caught my share stick & rock fish in my time, even snapping & soft shell turtles. The latest was a small landing net trolling along. My favorite past time is walking the shores when water levels are low finding the gems off lost tackle. During a fall trip to a lake in Alabama we just finished boat fishing so I started walking the low water shores for a good stretch of the legs. I started finding many lost snagged lures. I had to go back to the cabin to get a container to put them. I spent about an 1 1/2hrs walking and searching. After I got done my count was just over 200 lures. Most were in great shape with a few needing new hooks and even a repaint. The best find my dad liked was when he reached into the container he pulled out a bottle of Jim Beam over 3/4 full still that I found at a pier that was left in place as water levels grounded it. He referred to it as antifreeze. [bobhappy]
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[RockyRaab]

Indeed. Pineview and East Canyon are excellent places to "beachcomb" for lures. In the PView Narrows, it often pays to glance at the rocks you drift past. Some places look like store display racks there are so many hanging jigs and such.
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]We of the float tube persuasion are able to gather a lot of "gently used" tackle as water levels drop each year and expose "donated" lures and such.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]But there are other goodies too...like the rod you found. I have found several rods lying just above the water line when water levels were dropping fast. I have also found lots of car keys, cell phones and even this anchor.[/#0000FF]
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[Tin-Can]

Like all anglers, I have snagged up numerous collections of old line, lures, a broken rod or 2, and plenty of rocks. But most memorable"by catch" I've seen since I've been in Utah was one at Utah lake in about 2002.

Before I bought my first boat, in about July 2002, I was with a coworker at UL, in his 21' Lowe center console boat, launched out of Provo Marina. We were also camping in his 5th wheel at the State Park camp grounds. Our first day out we had caught a double limit of keeper size Cats, some White Bass, and a couple Walleye. We got out on the water the second morning just at sunrise, and were anchored about 20 yards north / west of Bird Island, just off the long rock arm. We both had 2 lines in the water, and had settled down with a cup of coffee. One of my lines seemed to be moving so I did a slow pole lift, slow reel, and had what felt like a large moving fish (thinking Carp). But after reeling in about 10 more yards of line, my pole just bent over and the pull on the line was just dead weight. I figured I was hooked up on a Bird Island rock and was about to break the line. My partner says " hey wait a sec, let me bring that in. Can I keep whatever is on it if I get it to the boat?" Sure.........says I, have fun.
Well Chuck was real persistent and finally got "it" to the boat gunwale. Lifted it up and over, a large blob of gray mud with a large multi-hole rock in the middle. [laugh]
I laughed so hard Chuck threatened to heave me overboard. We kept that rock on the boat, and I put it in a bucket of hot water back at the camper. When I got home late that Sunday night, I put the rock in a bucket of bleach and left it there for several days. When I finally thought to check on it, it was very clean. I made it into a flag pole holder and gave it to Chuck. Chuck retired and moved to Idaho in about 2005. But he left that "UL Rock Fish". It's still in my office, still proudly supporting the U.S. Flag.
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[Jig-fisher]

I have been a member for years but changed my handle a little while back to reflect more of who I am. I went under the name of PDS when I first joined.

Oh my, you made me laugh again hearing the skunk story. That is a classic.👍😂
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