Most Interesting Person You've Met While Fishing

[KyakR]

Yesterday I went out in the evening on a new lake. As I was pulling up to the dock in my kayak, skunked, a young man pulled up behind me in his boat. I asked him if he wanted to load up first, he smiled, said no......I asked him about stuff to use there. This began a long and engaging talk about fishing, how beautiful it was there, my son, his mother and father and how he learned to fish with his dad. He showed me pics of his catches there. He was only 22 and was out checking an outboard he'd rebuilt (he wanted to be an engineer). I feel so privileged when someone opens his life to me like this. Any like experiences for you all?

[Oregon Native]

Reminded me of when I met my best friend many years ago. (maybe 30) I was fishing a pond with my son out of a raft and met this guy in a float tube. Talked a bit and it's been good ever since. He still lives in Oregon but we talk every week.

Tight Lines

[Scott F]

Several years ago I was fishing Rainy Lake out of International Falls, MN. It was September and because neither my friend or myself know much about walleyes, we hired a guide to take us out. Right after we got done, we were standing on the dock and a boat came in with Al Lindner who was filming a TV show. We went up to speak to him and he was very, very nice. Exactly the way he is on television. We spoke with him for a few minutes, had our picture taken with him and left him to finish his business. A little while later, we were walking across the parking lot when a truck pulling a boat came along side us and rolled down the window. It was Al wanting to ask US about walleye fishing that day. It was hilarious to me because I know so little about walleyes and here was Al Lindner asking ME about walleyes. At least after being with a guide all day I was able to talk to him without looking too clueless.

[SPEEDBEAD.]

Had to...

[AK-Jax86]

Haven't ran into any interesting people while fishing but I did get the cops called on me once and a very attractive female officer responded.  She didn't give me a hard time and said that people think they own the lake when they don't. We were talking about uptight rich people lol and then she told me that I didn't have to leave and to enjoy myself she was very cool.

[Siebert Outdoors]

I'd have to say my Grandfather.  The days we fished together I learned more and more about him.  I learned alot about WW2, those years, and his youth.  I miss those days.

[Raider Nation Fisher]

I met a guy that swore up and down he could talk to ducks and geese. This fool stood out there quacking and honking for the entire three hours I was fishing.

Hmmmmmmmm. I've met a ton of other whack jobs, but he stands out the most.

[aceman387]

 a couple months ago i was heading home from fishing at one of the local forest preserve lakes near my house when i came upon a man in a manuel powered wheelchair coming down the road towards me, It was getting dark out and this particular stretch of road is about ten miles long with no street lights and nothing but woods so it was hard to see him.I passed him up and went on home but i kept thinking about his safety so When i got home a few minutes later i told my wife about him and i told her i have go back and offer him a ride because he was going to get killed on that dark stretch of road. I went back out and found him and i pulled over and offered him a ride ,he accepted so i picked him up and put him in the cab of my truck and put his wheel chair in the bed. He told me his name was mark and apologized to me for smelling bad (he did) he told me that for the last four or five days he had been sleeping in his wheelchair outside. He told me that he was from tennessee and was heading to Minnesota for a family reunion in his van when he stopped and parked at a suburban train station to go to downtown Chicago to sight see and while he was in the city his wallet was stolen, and to make matters worse he couldn't remember what suburban train station he left his van parked at four or five days ago. He told me he was 45 and that he became a paraplegic a few years ago when a bus hit him while he was riding his bicycle. We talked about a lot of subjects and things and i noticed at times he would stray off subject a bit ,he mentioned to me more than once his mind or memory was giving him problems. My  main objective was to get him off the road and out of the woods so i dropped him off in town and wished him well. As i was driving home i kept replaying our conversations in my head and how his story seemed unbelievable,who can have such bad luck?  I had intentions of giving the guy some money when i dropped him off but during all the unloading i forget about it until i got home. I was concerned for the guy, so the next day i called the police department in the town where i left him and i told the officer my story and  described what he looked like and i asked if they had seen him,the officer asked me to come to the station and talk to them because this guys family had came in from Minnesota and filed a missing persons report on him when he never showed up at the family reunion a few days before. I went to the police station and i while i was waiting to talk to the officer he came out and said that mark was found a couple towns away and that he was ok. The officer told me his story was true and that he suffers from dementia and that his family described him as fiercely independent . He was a unique guy.

[Long Mike]

The most interesting person I've met while fishing is, without a doubt, Big-O.  If you think that guy in the beer commercial is interesting, you haven't met Steve Parks, the inventor of the Rage Tail baits  Those of us who know him will concur.  Steve is a modest guy, so I will mention only a few of his accomplishments. An inventor, a man who targets, and catches BIG bass, a poet, a writer of Children's' Books, a Tenth Degree Black Belt ... I could go on, but like I said, Steve is a modest guy.

[SirSnookalot]

Had to...interesting.jpg

He's an actor named Jonathon Goldsmith, an interesting man in his own rite.  At present he's involved on the front line disarming mines left from the Viet Nam War.

[SirSnookalot]

Fishing and outdoor related I met a man 45 years as a co-worker.  He was rejected for military service due to medical for WW2, he enlisted in the French Foreign Legion, he stories were fascinating.  After the war he became a trapper, hunter and fishing guide it the Algoma region of Ontario, again the stories were wondeful and he had that gift of gab.  He is the man that mapped out my trips for me to fish those places.  When I met him he was a widower with 6 kids and had married a widow with 8, 14 kids in a small 3 bedroom home on a lake.  The BBQ's out there were so much fun, maybe 50 or so people.  I took a few long weekend camping and trout fishing trips with him, great fly fisherman and taught me a lot.  I kinda lost track of him, last I heard about 30 years ago he took up scuba, moved to Florida and was treasure hunting.  Probably now deceased, his name was Wight Cooke, I'll never forget this guy.

[deaknh03]

I met a guy that swore up and down he could talk to ducks and geese. This fool stood out there quacking and honking for the entire three hours I was fishing.

Hmmmmmmmm. I've met a ton of other whack jobs, but he stands out the most.

were you or he eating sweet tarts?

[hookedahawg]

I met a guy that swore he could smell snakes. He would be walking the bank and then he'd detour and walk a different way when he caught wiff of a snake lol. Thats probably the strangest person ive ever met fishing.

[slonezp]

In San Diego I met a swimsuit model walking down the pier giving her phone number to the fishermen. She was carrying a skate and looking for another one to make a bikini top out of. I met the man who owned Lake Michigan, or at least thought he did. Apparently I had no right to fish in "his backyard" Long story short, he was a paying slip owner and, my son and I ended up getting tossed out of a marina I had fished for 20 years. When I was a bank fisherman I met my fair share of homeless people and hypes while fishing the Chicago lakefront.  

[lanzbass]

We were camped out on the Stillwater River by Bee Hive, Montana....

Just came back from morning fishing and we had a guest in our camp...

A nervous looking woman about 36 asked if I could give her a ride to her house in Lockwood ,Mt...

She told me nothing more than it was an emergency ,no questions asked we gave her the 2 hour drive...

I guess you could say I had this gut feeling I should give her a ride ...

There was something in her eyes that made me feel I should help...

Upon reaching her house she had finally relaxed enough to tell me why she needed the ride...

Her new boyfriend had invited her out on a camping/ fishing trip and during the night he started getting ruff with her and had threatened her with a gun , he had been drinking heavily and had past out about 4 in the morning, she quietly slipped out of the tent and walked about 2 miles and saw our camp...

So I told her she should contact the police and let them know what happen, gave her my phone number and a hug and we headed back to our camp site...

We had been at our site about one hour and this pickup pulls in and a man gets out fitting the description of the fellow the lady had told us about...

He asked if we had seen a woman, giving her description , I lied to him telling him no ( I had to explain to the children latter why I lied) , I told him if I did where could I find his camp and he gave me a detailed map where they were camped out a half hour after he left I drove to the nearest phone in Fishtail and called the police...

[KyakR]

Wow. What a valuable lesson for your kids......it's so hard to explain that there are times when "lying" is not petty deceit but necessary. The hard part is knowing when! They'll never forget that day I'm guessing. 

 

In San Diego I met a swimsuit model walking down the pier giving her phone number to the fishermen. She was carrying a skate and looking for another one to make a bikini top out of. I met the man who owned Lake Michigan, or at least thought he did. Apparently I had no right to fish in "his backyard" Long story short, he was a paying slip owner and, my son and I ended up getting tossed out of a marina I had fished for 20 years. When I was a bank fisherman I met my fair share of homeless people and hypes while fishing the Chicago lakefront.  

Did she say how she was going to make a bikini top out of a skate? 

[SirSnookalot]

As far as people I REALLY know, my sister is as interesting as any I've met.  Since the age of 18 she has spanned the globe numerous times, mostly back packing and camping and quite often with 3 young daughters in tow.  She has spent her summer breaks from teaching special education traveling and living in South America, Thailand, Southeast Asia, Israel, Turkey and Europe.  On the home front she has taken in exchange students from around the world, her 3 daughters each have studied in other countries as well.  She is a master gardner (took classes), and a trained chef.  She has competed in tri-athalons, and biking, now she is a kayaker and at present is on a 6 week river run someplace in Alabama with another 65 year old woman.  I guess one could say she does not live a sedentary life.  I have never known anyone with that kind of energy.

[Raider Nation Fisher]

were you or he eating sweet tarts?

He was on something. Homie was straight up Jesus Tripping. I ain't never heard anyone make that kind of racket before. Dang ducks and geese left and went somewhere else about 15 minutes into his quack fest. They probably thought something was dying, with all the racket he was making. I'm sorry but saying the word "honk" is not calling geese. I debated pushing him into the water when I was leaving. Either that or bass slapping him with one of the fish I had caught. (That would have been cruel to the fish. Which I was helping to relocate to a different pond)

[retiredbosn]

I met a guy that swore he could smell snakes. He would be walking the bank and then he'd detour and walk a different way when he caught wiff of a snake lol. Thats probably the strangest person ive ever met fishing.

Copperheads do have a distinctive odor, I always thought a buddy of mine was nuts cause he said he could smell them, til the day I was leading the way down to the river and he yells for me to stop. When I asked why,he said he could smell a snake. I think I said something about him being crazy, when he stepped around me and proceeded to kill a large copperhead! Never doubted again, oh btw copperhead's smell like rotting cucumbers, bout as close as I can describe.

[KyakR]

As far as people I REALLY know, my sister is as interesting as any I've met.  Since the age of 18 she has spanned the globe numerous times, mostly back packing and camping and quite often with 3 young daughters in tow.  She has spent her summer breaks from teaching special education traveling and living in South America, Thailand, Southeast Asia, Israel, Turkey and Europe.  On the home front she has taken in exchange students from around the world, her 3 daughters each have studied in other countries as well.  She is a master gardner (took classes), and a trained chef.  She has competed in tri-athalons, and biking, now she is a kayaker and at present is on a 6 week river run someplace in Alabama with another 65 year old woman.  I guess one could say she does not live a sedentary life.  I have never known anyone with that kind of energy.

This is inspiring. Wish I knew her.....lucky daughters!

[Catt]

I've had the privilege of fishing with & against several top Pros.

I meet Grits Gresham at Lowe's Creek Marina, we talked for a couple hours.

I've meet Jerry Dean of Honey Hole Magazine on several occasions.

By far the most interesting was Red Adair, he ask if he could sit with me while at a cafe in Cameron Louisiana.

[SirSnookalot]

Red Adair...........the Hellfighter.

[Catt]

Red Adair...........the Hellfighter.

Yelp, walked right up to the table asked if I would mind having company, I looked up and bout fell out my chair! No sir I don't, he said don't call me sir I work for a living.

[SirSnookalot]

I always picture John Wayne, doesn't look any thing like Red Adair.....lol.