A Goose Ate My Bait!

[Senko lover]

Never seen this before! So I was fishing a finesse worm in Morning Dawn color on a dropshot, and I got a pretty hard bite that didn't result in a hookup, which was almost certainly a bluegill. The bait was torn off, so I put on different colored worm and kept fishing. Three or four geese were swimming my way, alternating between diving down and looking for food and bobbing back to the surface. About 5 minutes after losing the worm, I see a goose surface from the area where I had gotten the bite, and my worm is sticking out of it's mouth! I could clearly see the distinct color. After about three or four tries, he swallowed the dang thing and went his way.

Lol, nothing particularly special but it was funny to me so I thought I'd share.

[Goose52]

Well, all I can say is that you can't blame it on THIS goose - I haven't left Tennessee in a few weeks now...    

[Senko lover]

36 minutes ago, Goose52 said:

Well, all I can say is that you can't blame it on THIS goose - I haven't left Tennessee in a few weeks now...    

Forgot to mention, I was in Tennessee ? jk jk 

[tholmes]

That's pretty funny! 

A couple of months ago, I was fishing a white spinnerbait, running it pretty fast and about a foot under the surface, when a cormorant dove after it. i cranked it back at near light speed and just barely got it out of the water before he grabbed it. I don't know what I would have done if I would have hooked him!

 

Tom

[Darren.]

Great story. I've only caught a pigeon in flight
before  never caught a bird on the drop shot.

[Jon G]

Few years ago when I lived in California I went on an offshore fishing trip targeting big yellowtail. I was fly lining a mackerel when all of a sudden a giant pelican dove into the water and grabbed it and flew off with it. It flew about ten yards and dropped it without getting hooked.

[N Florida Mike]

A couple of years ago I noticed a lone goose out back.He was just standing there looking my way.When I got closer I saw that he had a lure stuck to his wing.He then held up the wing like he was trying to get help.But when I got closer he swam off.I probably would have been pecked anyway.

[Derekbass02]

Once my brother hooked a gull on a spook. The gull tried to eat the bait and it got stuck in its wing or something. He pulled it all the way in and after some trouble we got it unhooked.

[Bluebasser86]

I had a full grown loon come shooting out from under the boat after my jerkbait on Table Rock once. Scared me pretty bad and I'm really glad the big guy didn't get ahold of the thing.

I caught an owl on a musky jitterbug once while night fishing. One of the loudest explosions I've ever heard at night. I was really confused when my line kept going up and up. He crash landed in some briers after a brief tussle and the hooks tore out when they snagged in the bushes. I was done after that. 

[frosty]

Man... and I thought catching catfish on bass lures was an inconvenience... First world problems 

[Mainebass1984]

I have never seen that before. That's pretty crazy. Are you sure it was a goose ? I thought that geese don't dive ? It was my understand that they are waddlers not divers ? Either way, that is pretty crazy they swallowed your bait. Unfortunate for the bird. Guess you never know what youll see on the water.

[Evan K]

That's pretty funny. Reminds me when my brother and I were surf fishing off a jetty years ago, using whole mullet for bait, and a seagull dove at my brother's bait as he cast it out. The gull missed but got the line tangled around his legs. My brother noticed and started reeling it in and when he pulled it up to the jetty we realized there was a fish on as well! Just a small sea robin, nothing huge thankfully, or that would have been the end of the seagull.

[gim]

23 hours ago, Senko lover said:

Never seen this before! So I was fishing a finesse worm in Morning Dawn color on a dropshot, and I got a pretty hard bite that didn't result in a hookup, which was almost certainly a bluegill. The bait was torn off, so I put on different colored worm and kept fishing. Three or four geese were swimming my way, alternating between diving down and looking for food and bobbing back to the surface. About 5 minutes after losing the worm, I see a goose surface from the area where I had gotten the bite, and my worm is sticking out of it's mouth! I could clearly see the distinct color. After about three or four tries, he swallowed the dang thing and went his way.

Lol, nothing particularly special but it was funny to me so I thought I'd share.

Don't worry about the goose.  I've seen them in landfills eating garbage before so certainly half of a soft plastic won't bother it

[OCdockskipper]

I have never had the Canada geese on our lake mess with lures, but the small painted turtles do.  They will follow an unweighted plastic worm on the surface all the way to the boat, but are such slow swimmers it is easy to keep it ahead of them like a carrot on a stick.  Then, when they start to swim away, you flip it ahead of them and they follow it back to the boat once more.

We have really dumb turtles on our lake.

[Senko lover]

Oh I ain't worried about the goose, I'd shoot em if I was allowed to lol. 

[Catch 22]

On ‎7‎/‎3‎/‎2016 at 2:43 AM, Bluebasser86 said:

I had a full grown loon come shooting out from under the boat after my jerkbait on Table Rock once. Scared me pretty bad and I'm really glad the big guy didn't get ahold of the thing.

I caught an owl on a musky jitterbug once while night fishing. One of the loudest explosions I've ever heard at night. I was really confused when my line kept going up and up. He crash landed in some briers after a brief tussle and the hooks tore out when they snagged in the bushes. I was done after that. 

Fishing once  on a really dark night and kept getting arm jarring hits with no results. A trip later on revealed it to be bats hitting the line.

Iv`e had loons and cormorants whack lures underwater.

[N Florida Mike]

One night I had left a live shiner out.Went out to check later and something had taken it up under a big bush right on my property line.I couldnt get it from the bank so i took the boat around.I was very suprised to find the line going up out of the water towards the top of the bush.Im holding a light , trying to keep the boat in position, and untangle the line as I get furthet into the bush.The further i go something starts making a big ruckus back in there.Finally I move the last branch, not knowing what to expect, and Im face to face with a barred owl!!.He gaped at me and i gaped at him!He didnt say WHO.But I said WHAT...?? The line was tangled around him so all I could do was cut the line and he flew up to the highest branch. I wanted to get all the line off him but couldnt.Went back the next day to check and he was gone.Not sure if he had tried to eat the shiner(which was 2-3 feet under a cork) or what.

I quit leaving shiners out at night after this!!

 

[Ratherbfishing]

On Monday, July 04, 2016 at 5:35 AM, Catch 22 said:

Fishing once  on a really dark night and kept getting arm jarring hits with no results. A trip later on revealed it to be bats hitting the line.

Iv`e had loons and cormorants whack lures underwater.

I managed to "lasso" a bat this way one night.  Having been forced to crash land into the water, he was not a happy camper but fortunately for him (and me), I managed to cut the line and slip it through his flailing wings.

[Choporoz]

On 7/2/2016 at 4:58 PM, tholmes said:

That's pretty funny! 

A couple of months ago, I was fishing a white spinnerbait, running it pretty fast and about a foot under the surface, when a cormorant dove after it. i cranked it back at near light speed and just barely got it out of the water before he grabbed it. I don't know what I would have done if I would have hooked him!

 

Tom

I had similar experience....change 'white spinnerbait' to 'clear spook on the surface' and 'cormorant' to 'hungry heron'....I was pretty worried

[BassThumb]

Loons and cormorants will take swipes at lures, too, especially suspending jerkbaits. 

[Red Bear]

havent hooked any birds but one trip to gaston lake night fishing with my brother in law there was this blue heron that kept hanging around about 25 yards from us, near a bridge. the fishing was real slow that night, we hadnt caught a thing. the bird starts making a ruckus, its under a lamp post so we can see it real well. dang thing grabs a 20+ inch fish out of the water and flew off with it.

[Fishing Rhino]

Fowl bird!

[IndianaFinesse]

luckily I haven't caught any geese, but I have caught more than my fair share of angry snapping turtles, two ducks, and had a heron chase my spook.  I'm really glad I didn't catch the heron, that size of bird would be hard to pin down and keep still enough to unhook it.  But those snappers are the worst, especially the one that had my last trd in its throat.  Normally I will just cut it off to save the turtle (and my fingers) but I didn't want to lose my last trd, so I had someone with a heavy duty long sleeve shirt and leather gloves pin the thing down while I reached down its throat with a pair of needle nose. That was no fun at all.

[tstraub]

I have never had a goose take to but I did have a robin bite a plastic worm.  I had been fishing a Texas rig from a Jon boat.  I pulled the boat up on shore and left my rod in the boat with the tip extending out the back and the worm laying on the ground.  A few hours later I happened to see my rod moving like a fish was taking a bottom bait.  A went over closer to see what was going on and a robin had the worm in his mouth.  Anyway he flew away before I could run over there and set the hook so it's just another story about the one that got away. 

[Tracker22]

This last winter I was crappie fishing from a bridge that was about twenty feet off the water. I found the sweet spot and started catching 17 and 18 inch crappie. I was so excited, especially since no one else was catching anything. I had noticed a blue heron eyeballing me from the bank and on my third slab he decided that he wanted it more than me. It was so funny! Here I am trying to lift a 2lb crappie up twenty feet on 4lb test while simultaneously swatting at this heron with the pole while he's giving it his all trying to steal it before I can reach it. After a lot of yelling and funny dancing about I was able to land it. It was as if me being the only person catching anything wasn't enough, I had to make a big spectacle of myself fighting this bird.