Most Terrifying Fishing Experience?

[J Francho]

I was pier fishing several years and, and was caught in some lightning.  The pier was about 3/4 mile long, and lightning was crashing all around between me and shore.

 

I had another day in a tin can rental - a little 12' semi-v with an 8.8 hp tiller - on Sodus Bay.  It was a little windy, so we fished behind the islands all day.  When we went to head south to the marina/baitshop, there were sixers in the bay from a stiff north wind.  I basically "surfed" a a couple big rogue waves back to the south end.  not much scares me, but I was a little concerned.  I made my buddy put his PFD on, and told him to hang on.  We made it back, a little wet, but alive, and the rental boat was none the worse for wear.

 

This past summer Paul (Blue Daksi) and I narrow missed getting caught in some really nasty stuff in Lake Ontario.  We literally outran the storm, ripping from the lake into Port Bay, through the outlet at speeds well over 70 mph.  The storm hit as we pulled the boat up off the ramp.  Keep in mind, there were some small passing storms to the south all day, but on the water, it was calm. This one came in from the north, and was nuts.  Unfortunately, despite some great smallmouth action earlier, we couldn't get back out on the water.

 

One of the passing storms, to the south:

 

 

Here's what it looked like just moments after pulling out.

 

In the bay:

 

In the lake:

[AK-Jax86]

so far I haven't had any terrifying experiences besides losing PBs. But now that my buddy has a boat I believe I may be revisiting this thread, hope not though lol

[buzzed bait]

Fishing at High Falls Lake in Georgia it's early AM and still plenty dark.  Could see well enough to start running a buzzbait down a fallen tree when SLAM right behind a stealth mode beaver had eased up on the back of my kayak and then smashed his tail on the water to let me know it was his turf!  almost flipped the kayak and was so scared momentarily that i could have probably walked on water to the shoreline!

[A-Jay]

Fishing at High Falls Lake in Georgia it's early AM and still plenty dark.  Could see well enough to start running a buzzbait down a fallen tree when SLAM right behind a stealth mode beaver had eased up on the back of my kayak and then smashed his tail on the water to let me know it was his turf!  almost flipped the kayak and was so scared momentarily that i could have probably walked on water to the shoreline!

 

That happenes to me at night all the time -  and I HATE IT ! 

 

Those sneaky buggers know just when to do it to get the full effect too.

 

Regardless of how many times I'm on the receiving end of that A-Bomb, I'll never get used to it.

 

A-Jay

[ww2farmer]

I have never been on the great lakes in any butt hole puckering weather, and on the inland WNY lakes I fish the wind waves never get too terrible that I can't handle them..........sometimes I have to go a lot slower than normal, but still not terrible and un-manageable in my smaller alum. boat. My biggest fear/concern is lightning. I have fished plenty of times with thunder in the distance, and lightning several miles away, and usually get off the water if it gets close. I have often heard other guys talk (mainly wnybassman) about buzzing rods, floating line, etc....and though haha yeah right............untill it happened to me last year. I made a cast with a frog towards the bank as a storm was building on the hill just west of the lake, and my line just hung in air, almost all the way from the frog to my rod tip. The guy I was fishing with said, rather nervously "reel it in, put it down, and lets go"....I did. Now my boat dosen't exactly haul azz, but we did manage to keep just ahead of the rain, and lightning hit the water about a mile behind us..............................after we started the boat and gone about mile

[buzzed bait]

That happenes to me at night all the time -  and I HATE IT ! 

 

Those sneaky buggers know just when to do it to get the full effect too.

 

Regardless of how many times I'm on the receiving end of that A-Bomb, I'll never get used to it.

 

A-Jay

 

This guy had his stealth training too, i swear he was within 5 feet of the kayak and i never heard him coming.  with pretty much no light to see either, it terrified me!

[MarkH024]

well if a slim shady character the likes of you rolled up on me in one of them sparkly rangers, ya might wanna keep your head down 

Your ninja throwing stars are easier to dodge than buckshot. Just sayin...

[geo g]

Twenty years ago I took my Principal out for an early morning fishing trip.  We were out in the everglades in the three pines area of L67.  It was a hot summer morning before first light, and grunting gators everywhere.  Tom had a new Shimano high priced reel that was a gift he had never used.  His first cast went twice as far as any cast he ever made.  The Zara Spook went right into an over hanging tree on the bank edge.  He asked me to back the boat over to the tree so he could get it out.  Big gators were all over the place around the boat.  As Tom stretched for the tree branch, he decided to put one foot on a rock next to the bank.  This move pushed the boat toward the center of the canal, Tom went into a split.   I heard a giant splash and he was swimming in 10 feet of water loaded with big gators.    It flashed through my mind how I was going tell everyone at school that I took the Principal fishing, and he was eaten by gators.    I never saw anyone move so fast up that steep canal bank with a $350 rod and reel in one hand and his favorite hat in the other.  We laughed for hours after he got back in the boat and safety.  It scared the crap out of me, and I think Tom peed himself for real.

[SirSnookalot]

If I really thought about it I could remember many situations where I was a bit nervous to say the least.  I was camping on the shores of Little Lake Dozier in Ontario, at first light a moose comes walking thru our campsite.  Words cannot describe the situation, these animals can be downright nasty, soiled my undies but good.

 

Spending lots of time on the water in the Great Lakes from an early age with my dad, he pretty well prepped me.  As long as I was with him I was never scared.  I crewed on sailboats in the Great Lakes and competed in several Mac races, cautious and careful yes, nervous no.  Couple of years ago fishing in a 21' Polar a squall came up with some very strong winds, high waves and rain coming in sideways.  The bite turns on, sailfish and kingfish on solid for an hour or so, basically we were stuck out there so we fished, didn't really think about the weather.

What I am scared about is freshwater fishing, no it isn't the fish it's the snakes.  Had a moc a couple feet way from me not long ago and then I ran into a guy that got nailed by one, in a place he said he was catching 8 lb peacocks.  It just ain't worth it to me, I won't be doing to much freshwater fishing anymore, snakes got me scared crapless, I'd rather be in rough weather than tangle with those things.

[Brayberry]

A few years ago I was fishing for spawning bass from shore on a local lake.  There was a huge bass sitting in about 2 feet of water, and I was focused on every movement of this fish seeing how he reacted to every twitch of the rod.  Suddenly I look down and see about a 12 inch water moccasin crawl between my 2 feet moving twards the lake.  I was paralyzed in fear, no knowing wether to run away or stay perfectly still.  I stayed still as concrete and he moved on to the lake and swam away, but never again did I get that focused on a fish from shore  

 

 

Not a fishing trip but a boating trip, around 2008 my girlfriend and I decided to go to a local lake (Merchants Millpond) and spend a weekend together.  We had camped and done a little fishing from shore, and were having a blast.  We decided to rent a canoe after talking to the park rangers.  They said there had been a few large gators seen in a certain cove of the mill pond.  This was early March, but we decided to paddle over there and see a real gator in person.  Neither one of us had much canoeing experience, as we'd each only been once,  anyways we paddle over to the spot circled on a crude map of the old millpond, and start lookin around.  Immediately my girlfriend spots a family of Nutria swimming around and yells "LOOK" while pointing over the side.  This motion throws off the balance of the boat and it flips.  Now we are in a lake full of gators, in the spot the big gators had last been seen and we're in the water.  We frantically run, swim, and jump thru underwater bushes, to a small island about 15 feet square.  Now we are covered in cuts and bruises from trying to get to the island , and we are stranded on this small island with nothing to survive, and we are freezing cold.  The canoe is floating upside down about 30 feet off shore, paddles are randomly floating around, and we are about 2 miles from the launch.  After about 45 minutes a paddle floats to us and we can use that to get another paddle, then after about another 20 minutes the canoe get close enough to us so we can reach it with paddles.  We flip it over and rush back to the launch, luckily a park ranger was there and drove us to our campsite about another 2 miles away.  We immediately started a fire to warm up.  This was the scariest thing that ever happened to me, I was convinced I was going to be eaten by a gator 

[coryn h. fishowl]

I went back on a cast and just as I started to cast forward, I felt a searing pain and the sensation of tension in the line. Looking down at my crotch...I saw 2 sets of treble hooks going cleanly through the jersey pants I decided to wear.  There are two morals here

• a) Densely packed nerve endings and hooks don't mix
• b)Push down barbs on trebles
• c) DON'T WEAR JERSEY PANTS WHEN PARTICIPATING IN AN ACTIVITY INVOLVING HOOKS!!!

[Stlbob]

 Well this happen 15 or so years ago.I was way back in the boonies down in Arkansas where i was born.I knew about a series of farm ponds that never get fished because the owner will shoot your ass if he catch's you,but his family and my family get along so im okay to be there ( i say that because i never fish in any pond without permission )

 

 Anyway its getting late and im thinking about the 3 hour drive home and start getting my gear together,when i hear something and turn around and there stands  two good ol' boys that could have been in Deliverance ..Neither of them said a d**n thing for a moment and the the bigger guy started telling what great fishing gear i had and how it sucks that poor people who live around there cant afford good gear.It looks like i have got more than my share and he thinks i should share...!!

 

 At his point i start paying close attention if either has a weapon and thank god they didnt..BUT they started walking up on me and im taking steps backward...now this situation was about to go from bad to worse.Well it would have if i been unarmed,but i wasnt i had my .45 Sig on my hip like always..I just turned so they could see it,it was funny watching all the color drain out of the big ones face..I never touched it,never threatened to shoot them,nothing like that.I just told them i think it would be  in everyone's best interest for them to move along..

 

they left a lot faster than they came...im certain if i had been without my Sig the best outcome would have been them robbing me and the worst,well i have given that a lot thought since then and people go missing all the time.the truth is when its just me i always carry and its not for the four legged critters its for the 2 legged kind like those two.

[BassinLou]

My story is similar to Geo g's. I was fishing with my BIL, last year in the Everglades on the Miami Canal. We were out on my boat which is a 16 ft Tracker. I was in the front my BIL was in the back. We were surrounded by gators and having a good time catching nice fish. My BIL, had to reach for something on the lower deck, and for what ever reason lost his balance. From that point forward everything moved in slow motion. My BIL, fell backwards into the deep water and was completely submerged. He shot up like a rocket, but the next challenge was getting him back into the the boat without me falling into the water as well. I lowered my self flat across the deck and helped pull and get his leg over the side and back into the boat. Once I realized the ordeal was over and my BIL besides being soaked was ok, I almost pee'd in my pants laughing. I have never seen my BIL, move so fast and see his eyes so big when he shot up out of the water. The gators didn't even flinch. They just sat there looking at us, and thinking " did that really just happen" LOL.... 

[Scott F]

I was fishing on a remote fly-in lake in Manitoba Canada when a huge wind kicked up. We were a couple of miles from the cabin in a 14 foot tin boat with a 9.9. We were sure the wind and waves were going to swamp the boat any time so we made for the sheltered shore of an island. The island had been hit by fire some time ago and all the pine trees were now dead and just tall sticks. While we were waiting out the wind on the bank, these big dead trees started falling over from the wind. Some were not far from where we sat. We were deciding which way we wanted to die, from drowning or from being hit by a falling tree. Luckily, neither happened but it was a tense hour or so while we waited it out.

[Teal]

Getting shot at by a duck hunter....

I don't think in my case I was being shot AT but it was so close I couldn't tell the difference. Its happened twice

On another occasion a storm was coming... I was running down the lake as fast as I could go...water was white capping and tossing my boat around like a rag doll....I was about to pass a point that comes out a long ways toward the main lake...there was a single pine tree on the end of the point.... You guessed it, lightning struck it about as I passing it.... It was about a hundred yards away from me to my right... It scared the skittles out of me..

[tnriverluver]

Fishing a bass tournament at Sardis res. in Ms out of a 16 ft flatbottom with 40 mph winds.  Partners boat, broken bilge pump, waves crashing over the sides flooding the boat, him with a serious case of the flu, me bailing like crazy to keep us afloat long enough to make it back to the ramp.  Me with the flu the next day from him   Anyone that has ever fished Sardis knows what the slightest wind can do to the lake.  Half of our club was smart enough to stay home because of the wind forecast but not us.

[Trek]

 Well this happen 15 or so years ago.I was way back in the boonies down in Arkansas where i was born.I knew about a series of farm ponds that never get fished because the owner will shoot your ass if he catch's you,but his family and my family get along so im okay to be there ( i say that because i never fish in any pond without permission )

 

 Anyway its getting late and im thinking about the 3 hour drive home and start getting my gear together,when i hear something and turn around and there stands  two good ol' boys that could have been in Deliverance ..Neither of them said a d**n thing for a moment and the the bigger guy started telling what great fishing gear i had and how it sucks that poor people who live around there cant afford good gear.It looks like i have got more than my share and he thinks i should share...!!

 

 At his point i start paying close attention if either has a weapon and thank god they didnt..BUT they started walking up on me and im taking steps backward...now this situation was about to go from bad to worse.Well it would have if i been unarmed,but i wasnt i had my .45 Sig on my hip like always..I just turned so they could see it,it was funny watching all the color drain out of the big ones face..I never touched it,never threatened to shoot them,nothing like that.I just told them i think it would be  in everyone's best interest for them to move along..

 

they left a lot faster than they came...im certain if i had been without my Sig the best outcome would have been them robbing me and the worst,well i have given that a lot thought since then and people go missing all the time.the truth is when its just me i always carry and its not for the four legged critters its for the 2 legged kind like those two.

I'm with ya ! I carry a 380 sig all the time. Even when I'm in these pot tournaments. There's a lot of cash laying in one of those. Sort of surprised  I've never seen one robed yet. At work or play it's just part of what I wear now.

[Surf Walker]

You guys trying to scare the beans out of me? 

[Shane Procell]

It's a toss up for me. I sank a boat in alligator infested waters. Then there was the time a alligator got in my boat. Then there was the time a gator came up from under the boat and took my fish as I was lipping it. Could have lost a limb on that one. Just the grace of God saved my hand. They all scared the crap out of me.

[Ratherbfishing]

 Well this happen 15 or so years ago.I was way back in the boonies down in Arkansas where i was born.I knew about a series of farm ponds that never get fished because the owner will shoot your ass if he catch's you,but his family and my family get along so im okay to be there ( i say that because i never fish in any pond without permission )

 

 Anyway its getting late and im thinking about the 3 hour drive home and start getting my gear together,when i hear something and turn around and there stands  two good ol' boys that could have been in Deliverance ..Neither of them said a d**n thing for a moment and the the bigger guy started telling what great fishing gear i had and how it sucks that poor people who live around there cant afford good gear.It looks like i have got more than my share and he thinks i should share...!!

 

 At his point i start paying close attention if either has a weapon and thank god they didnt..BUT they started walking up on me and im taking steps backward...now this situation was about to go from bad to worse.Well it would have if i been unarmed,but i wasnt i had my .45 Sig on my hip like always..I just turned so they could see it,it was funny watching all the color drain out of the big ones face..I never touched it,never threatened to shoot them,nothing like that.I just told them i think it would be  in everyone's best interest for them to move along..

 

they left a lot faster than they came...im certain if i had been without my Sig the best outcome would have been them robbing me and the worst,well i have given that a lot thought since then and people go missing all the time.the truth is when its just me i always carry and its not for the four legged critters its for the 2 legged kind like those two.

 

I have to qualify this by saying I've never been in Alaska or Montana or anywhere where there grizzly bears and never in the deep south where there are big old alligators but so far, like you, it's the two-legged animals I worry about.

[bassguytom]

I was in my yak 2 years ago with my legs hanging over the side with only aqua socks on and a giant snapping turtle came up from underneath me and I quickly pulled my feet in the yak. That was a little scary.

While wading the Deleware Rive I've had water snakes go between my legs. Not poisonous but a little unnerving.

While bumping fluke off the beach at long beach island we saw a a bunch of hammer head sharks. We were 1/4 to a 1/2 mile off the beach and the swimmers had not idea they were there. We didn't have our shark gear and my buddy hooked a pork chop to try to get one. It didn't work.

[tarponfly82]

It was a rainy winter day and work was called off. Hearing reports of juvenile tarpon smashing live baits in the local canals. So I I loaded up the boat and was off. After a couple shallow bait spots I didn't have nearly enough bait for a day of fishing. So I decided to head to the head of Charlotte harbor marker, where the Peace river meets the harbor. Being a little burnt out from throwing my 11ft 1/4 in castnet, and the deck of the boat being slippery from the scales of bait caught. I threw my net, slipped and fell in. I wasn't scared at first, so I took off my crocs and tied it to my castnet that was still attached to my wrist. When I turned to swim to my 17ft Carolina skiff I just about **** my pants. If any of you own or have owned a flat bottom skiff then you know its like a sail in the wind . After shedding some of the heavier clothes I started swimming and swimming and swimming it seemed like forever. Approximately 2 hours I finally grab the boat climbed inside exhausted.

[indianabasshunter]

I was fishing a state park lake, early last spring, while listening to the radio because there were small storms nearby. The fishing was great but on two different occasions a small storm blew in bringing hail with it. I beached the boat before the hail started both times and waited it out on the bank. After the second hail storm blew through the clouds disappeared, the wind laid down, and I had the lake to myself.

 

Without any clouds in the sky it was a brilliantly bright day. Working my way around a point and catching fish on what seemed to be every cast, the brightness of the sun was overshadowed by a massive lightning strike followed by the loudest BOOM I've ever heard. Before I knew what happened i was laying in the bottom of the boat on my stomach. After a brief moment I gathered my senses and hit the trolling motor foot pedal with my hand while remaining on my stomach. I ran the boat into the bank and crawled onto shore. I sat underneath a small foot bridge for a while trying to gather my senses. When i got the nerve to get back in the boat i headed directly for the ramp.

 

I'm still not entirely sure why I ended up in the bottom of the boat but my neck and shoulders were stiff and sore for a few days following the event. I used to not give much thought about lightning while fishing, but now I play it safe and don't go to the lake if lightning looks like a possibility.

[Darren.]

I got to the lake once and realized I'd forgotten to put the batteries in the boat 

 

I was in a hurry loading my kayak and I left my iPad on the back of the truck. I drove off, arrived at my spot, unloaded and was completely ready to go when I couldn't find my iPad. So I launched "Find My iPhone" on my iPhone and hey, my iPad is moving, back near my house, but it's going down the street.

 

I quickly locked it and sent a message to whomever had it. Loaded the yak back in the truck drove home and a guy who was on a walk was brining it back to my house with a note!

 

So what happened when I drove off, the iPad slid off the back of my truck, hit the road and bounced up (didn't break the screen, but did mess the aluminum a bit. The man happened to be walking and saw me drive off, saw the iPad fall, said he was waving frantically hoping I saw him in my rear view mirror.

 

Not exactly a fishing experience, but it happened while I was trying to GO fishing.

[mjseverson24]

I have a few pretty interesting stories, the most recent being last fall (september) fishing the tournament of champion on leech lake in MN. our fisrst spon in the morning was a secluded spot on the northern most section of the lake. this area of the lake is surrounded by a protected state forest and while fish frogs and jigs in the wild rice fields and bull rush (tulies). Shortly after getting to the spot i hooked and caught about a 2.5 lb largie when we started hearing some rustling coming from the shoreline area, when i looked up a huge black wolf was less than 75 ft from the boat was standing on the shoreline huffing. The wolf then let out a very loud howl and over the next 1/2 hour it followed us up down the shoreline as we were casting. He never made an aggressive move towards the boat, but it was still a litte uneasy having him so close. on the otherhand it was a magnificent creature and a true blessing to have witnessed the animal in its natural setting. The next very interesting encounter was on Lake Mille lacs in MN it is one of the largest non great lakes in the US. I am out prefishing a walleye tournament with a friend, in his ranger 620 VS. this was the only prefishing opportunity for him so we went out even though the weather was pretty iffy. we were catching fish on the north end with moderate wind and waves, but there was an approching storm from the west comming across the north half of the lake, so we headed south about 8 miles to avoid some of the rough weather. once we were down south the storm slowly took a turn down the lake then exploded with 50+ MPH wind, it did not take long till we were in 5 ft constant waves (still catching fish) finally we decided to head in back up north against the wind to land the boat. They say the ranger has the driest ride on the water, well with as many waves that we speared right through the middle having them come up over the bow I shure would not have wanted to be in a boat known for letting you get a little wet. thankfully we made it back to the marina without hurting ourselves or the boat.

 

Mitch