Wierdest Things Caught

[FISHINWEAZ]

Many years back on Currant Creek I was teaching myself to flyfish & always tangling my line midair. Well on one particular tangle I realized it wasn't me that time, but instead a bat. It threw him to the water by the shoreline & somehow got off my line, made it to shore, and took off.
While w/ jmgr8ride on Jordanelle, I "caught" a hitch hiker in the pouch of my floattube. A SNAKE!!! AAHHHH.... oh just a gardener. He became my ride-along for the day.:-)
Somewhat interesting but funny also. Thought I'd see what "funky things" some here would have caught.

[salmoholic]

Last year late june I was fishing the green drakes while swallows were also eating said drakes. When on a backcast I felt resistance and thought I had snagged brush on the bank, as I cast forward a brown blur whizzed past my head landing with a splash mid river. After retrieving the swallow I found my hook lodged at the edge of it's bill just below it's eye. After much wrangling I was able to retrieve my hook (good argument for barbless) I managed to drop the bird in the river. As to the question yes swallows can swim but they don't seem to want to fly as this specimen sat on shore and sqwacked at me for a good five minutes before flying off. Also it helps to determine a drag free drift when the swallows pick your fly up and try to carry them off only to drop them at first sign of resistance.

[jmwhosh]

When I was about 7 years old or so my dad and I went fishing with my friend and his dad down around electric lake. I hadn't fished much and neither had my friend and to be honest we weren't too interested in actually fishing, it was a little more fun for us to have a competition as to who could cast their line out the farthest (we were using those spinning rods that have the push button release to cast with) So after a good hour or so (probably more like ten minutes but to a 7 year old it seemed like forever) we started to get bored and so we tried to find the coolest way to send our worms out into the water. We did some backward over the head casts and some tries at an under the leg cast, well them he decides to try and cast left handed. So he takes a full baseball swing with the rod and pushes the button to release the line and WHAM all the sudden I'm feeling a sting on my eye lid. So my moron friend doesn't have a clue what he's done and starts reeling in and yanks my eyelid and I start screaming. About twenty minutes later our dads finally had pushed the hook through to cut the barb and then pulled it out of my eye. That was definitely one of the worst days I've ever had while fishing.

[r adams]

I once caught a beaver while fishing, coincidentally, a beaver pond on the stream below Currant Creek Resevoir. Took me for a pretty good ride for about 10 seconds on 3x tippet before I lost him.

[ryfly]

I was fishing still water and found out by happenstance that sinking a renegade just below surface and swimming it with hand role retrieve was working. I was doing quite well when a hen mallard swam over my line and ended up getting her foot hooked. I hooked and she flapped and it was on. Just one of those moments you hope nobody is watching.

Both duck and baby are doing fine.

P.S. If you ever come across extrememly picky fish in glassy water, try a renegade swimming just below surface. No guarantees but it has bailed me out more than once.

[Mason]

I don't know if it counts as he really caught me but I was throwing and elk hair caddis when a dragon fly swooped down and nabbed my caddis in mid air. He would fly to the end of my leader then turn around and try another way. Did this about five times before dropping the fly. Was laughing my butt off.

[FlySmyth]

In no particular weirdness order I have caught a seagul, hell of a fighter that one. A Crawdad on the berry looks like he tried to eat my bugger but may have just snagged it. I caught a sculpin on a PT at Smith Morehouse not much of fighter there either.

One day I caught a fish that had my rapala stuck in it's jaw. My son had broken off a fish a few minutes earlier going through that area the second time I snagged it with my rapala in the line that was still attached to the first rapala. Oh I hope it's okay to say Rapala on the bb.

FlySmyth.

[Hopper]

Caught my first seagull on Strawberry last year. I was puzzled for a second when my line was going up and to the right after I set the hook. A nice 3 minute fight and my first C&R on birds.

My buddy snagged a sheep with his backcast on his first time out fly fishing on the Weber. He set his rod down to go pull his hook out and that thing took off, rod bouncing in tow. It eventually pulled out, but the scene was quite comical watching him run across the pasture after it.

Hopper

[ScottT]

Caught a rainbow at Devil Creek Res. this fall that had a hook in it's gut attached to about 2-3 feet of line and a swivel with a big split shot between the swivel and the hook.

The point of my fly "hooked" the split shot in the tiny hole where the line went thru it. What are the chances!?!?!?

ScottT

*** At one of Fanatic's hangouts (ASU Research Park), I caught a nice LM Bass that yacked-up a 4"-5" bass when I landed him - greedy little bast#$%!


ScottT

[highcountry]

I was with a couple of guys once fishing the EF Sevier above Tropic, and we were all using worms. In about an hour, one of the guys landed about a 2 foot sanke, and another guy caught a frog. I had no idea frogs or snakes ate worms!

[r adams]

Two years ago on the Green I caught an 18" brown on a cicada pattern. When I got the brown to the boat I noticed he still had 2" of a 9" planter sticking out of his mouth with my fly in his lip. Made for a nice picture.

[Baiter]

Caught a nice brown on the weber with a nice sculpin tail protruding from his mouth.

Once on the Green I hooked a nice rainbow, fought it for a while and it came off. Reeled in and had a glow bug on my fly. So I was glad to get it out of there for him.

Dan

[Rod]

several years ago on the Provo I caught a young couple in the heat of passion. Not sure who was more embarrassed.

[Rumblefish]

A while ago I was fishing at lee's ferry trying to get my depth right I dragged the bottom. To my surprise when I cleaned off my #22 zebra midge dropper. I had hooked a san juan worm. So I matched him up with ones in my fly box and had wonderful day.
I was kind of amazed I hooked a little brown and orange worm with a little fly.

[Cor]

A 14 inch brown once landed had a 4 inch brown in his throat...he had recently just eaten his little nephew.

[sparkledun]

Two years ago I was fishing the Middle Fork of the San Joaquin River in the Sierra Mountains in California. I cast to a pocket behind a rock and a dragon fly grabed my fly and started to fly away with it. I went, maybe five fet or so before it was to heavy for him and he dropped it.

Many years ago I was fishing on boat out side Newport Harbor in Newport Beach California. There waw a big run of bonito. I cast a silver lure and a seagull dived for it. He got tangled in a loop in the line and when the lure hit the water a five pound bonito hit the lure. Since the line was tight from the bonito, I had to reel him in seagull and all. That was one panic sticken seagull. I managed to release them both.

[tachyon]

I had an aggressive crayfish take my bugger at East Canyon.

[Bloodhound]

Well in my fishing career, I have caught a shopping cart(in the Jordan River), I have almost reeled in a beaver (on the lower current creek), Almost hit a moose in the face with a back cast (on Big Cottonwood creek), and I also caught my buddies fish - the albino trout(at Electric Lake) had taken both of our offerings almost at the same time, so we both ended up fighting the fish and each other. Funny thing was, it was only 6 or 7 inches long.

[Grundelwalken]

When I was a little boy, my dad used to take me fishing on the lakes of Arizona. Here are two things that happened that have been etched in my memory since then.

I think I was about 5 when my whole family went fishing at a lake somewhere around Phoenix. My dad was using a spin rod and had water-dogs for bait. I was too little to fish on my own so Dad would have to bait me up and then he would go back to his fishing (sounds familiar doesn't it Josh?). Anyway, one time he got his line already to go and rared back to try a long cast. He brought the line forward and just as he did my Mom started dancing and screaming along the shoreline. At first Dad thought he had caught her but he looked out in the water and saw his line was out so he was really confused. So was I when my Mom started to take her pants off right there on the shore with all the other people watching. It seems that when Dad did his backcast the water-dog on the hook popped off and went right down Mom's pants and was wiggling all around. It was so funny to a little boy that I couldn't help laughing (though it got me in big trouble with Mom). I don't think I ever saw my Mom go fishing with my Dad for the rest of my youth.

The second even happened when I was about 11. We were fishing at a place called Lake Mary near Flagstaff. My Dad would always throw out his line and then fall asleep and we would just catch fish. One day we had lost a large number of lines through snags and such and Dad woke up to see all our equipment floating out in the water. He was pretty mad and told me I had to swim out and retrieve some of the stuff. I stripped down to my birthday suit (no one else was at the lake at that time) and started swimming out in the lake. I hadn't gone far when... well, you can imagine what happened next. Let's just say that I yelled "A fish just bit me" and my Dad was the one rollilng of the shore in fits of laughter. No fish was landed with that adventure but I believe it still qualifies for this thread.

Happy fishing and keep your pants on.
Mike

[WoollyB]

Mason said he caught a dragonfly on an elk hair caddis...
I had the same thing happen to me yesterday. Glad I had a camera with me:

http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=11011;

[FishOn!]

A bat took my fly while fishing an evening caddis hatch. Luckily I was able to shake him off the hook after a minute or so, therefore I didn't have to touch the thing. If bait was allowed I might have been tempted to cast him out and see what happened as he fluttered on the surface.

I did a paid fishing charter for a day that left from Newport Beach and we fished Catalina Island. The deck hands would toss a ton of baitfish off the boat then we would hook a live baitfish with no weight and let him swim away from the boat. Once the line was stripping fast off the reel you would click the bail and set the hook. Anyway, some pelicans showed up and would munch on the injured fish that were thrown out. Well, a pelican managed to get my girlfriend's bait and got hooked in the bill. When the deckhand came over he grabbed her line and started pulling the thing in. The way it was hooked was forcing its lower bill to drag in the water as it came towards the boat so it was filling up with water like crazy. It looked hilarious. There must have been 5 gallons of water in that lower bill by the time he got it to the edge of the boat. He grabbed the bird and got the hook out quickly. It looked like it was a fairly common thing.

[Anthony]

I've been out on some charters where its impossible to not "catch" some seagulls or pelicans. Usually there's no fine for the first two birds you "catch", but on the third its a $75 fine.

[JamisJockey]

My dad was using a spin rod and had water-dogs for bait.
Happy fishing and keep your pants on.
Mike

Funny stuff. I wonder how many of these guys know what a water dog is? :P

I was stationed in Yuma for 5 years.....

On the lower Colorado in my buddies bass boat, we were working some weeds with flipping rods and jigs. I swore I saw the largest bass I've ever seen just under the weeds. Kept tossing it an offering and it didn't move. We maneuvered closer and the thing didn't budge. I grabbed the net and swooshed it into the boat....it was about 15lbs....with about a 6lb tilapia wedged into its gullet. Both were deceased.

I was about 12 or so, salt water fishing from a dock in Newport, CA, in the bay. they had live chovies and you paid something like $5 to fish with all the live chovies you needed. I went to backcast and a pelican snatched my chovie from midair...and it was on! Finally, as the poor bird flopped around on the deck, one of the old-timers whacked it over the noggin with a broomstick. I asked if he was going to eat it.....and got called some names I dare not repeat around here...

[Ralph]

Many years ago when I was young my parents took us out on Yellowstone Lake on a fishing charter. We were going along trolling when I yelled that I had one. I reeled & reeled. The guide kept asking if it was still on & I said yes. When the line came up there was a rock that I had snagged from the bottom of the lake. It was smooth except for one little nick in the rock that I had caught. I still have that trophy.

Another time I was fishing the Fremont River below Johnson Res. & was doing well. I suddenly hooked what I thought was a real nice fish as it sure had a lot of fight. I got it in & saw that it was a most unusual catch. Someone had hooked the fish with one of the snelled bait hooks. The hook was still in his gut, but the loop in the line was out his rear end. I had hooked that loop. No wonders he gave such a fight. I cut off the loop even with his rear & released him to fight another day.

[Señorfish]

Just today I caught a net with a Catfish in it while pursuing warm water species.

A couple months back I caught a Clark's Grebe,
Jason witnessed the event.

[FishOn!]

I was about 12 or so, salt water fishing from a dock in Newport, CA, in the bay. they had live chovies and you paid something like $5 to fish with all the live chovies you needed. I went to backcast and a pelican snatched my chovie from midair...and it was on! Finally, as the poor bird flopped around on the deck, one of the old-timers whacked it over the noggin with a broomstick. I asked if he was going to eat it.....and got called some names I dare not repeat around here...

.............Lol!!

[Doug Hathaway]

One time I was fly casting from the bank at Grantsville resevoir. I would just cast out and then sit down and let the fly just sit there. It was working ok but it was late in the afternoon and a small flock of ducks were feeding in the area. As I watched them, they gradually worked their way towards my fly. Before I knew it, one of them was near where my fly was. I started mending the line but it was too late. One of the ducks had already picked up the fly. Well, my tugging on the line spooked the bird and she started to take off. I was able to give her several feet of slack but I was too slow. She was just lifting off the water when the line ran out. The sudden tightening of the line caused her to do a perfect backflip in the air and then splash down on the lake. She then righted herself and came at me and got airborne. I still had about 30 feet of line out by the time she came to the end of it. By this time she had turned and as the line straightened again, she landed in the lake again. I struggled to get her in as she splashed all over the place. I finally got her close enough to cut the line and I still hope the barbless hook eventually fell out, because there was no way she was going to let me touch her.

Anyway, just as this was ending and the duck was flying away, a guy across the lake hollers "what kind of fly are you using?"

[THeBLender]

Grantsville rulz!

[punkrrrock]

I caught a bat on my line the other day in the late afternoon. I was fishing on Fremont river in Utah. He flew around on my line for about 40 second then gave up and landed on the ground. He stayed still while I removed the fly from his wing then flew away.

[GreatWest]

Hooked & landed a coot. Put it in an empty live well. When we got back to shore the other party we were hanging out with wanted to see what we kept.
He about had a heart attack when the coot shot out of there. Hooked a Wasatch lobster trolling a spinner at Kolob. I also fought a pup tent for about an hour. I actually thought it was a lunker until I saw it!
Vince