Strange things that have happened while bass fishing.

[the reel ess]

Last fall I had an owl try to take my topwater bait on two consecutive casts in daylight. It flew across the cove and swooped down and landed. Then it came back the opposite way. I had to yank it away both times. If I was a Darling on The Andy Griffith Show I might have been a little superstitious about that occurrence.

 

My dad and I caught the same fish once. It bit my worm, I let the rod tip down and set the hook. I said "I got one!" and my dad said "Me too!" We reeled up the same 1 lb bass.

 

My buddy, who is a smallish guy, was fishing a public place when a car stopped beside the road and a big guy got out of the passenger side and the car drove off. Big Guy walked up to my buddy and asked him if he was doing any good. He said no. The guy asked my buddy if he had any money and he said no. My buddy said the guy just stood next to him for an uncomfortable length of time and finally just walked off down the road. My friend said he thought Big Guy was just standing there deciding if it was worth the trouble to try to rob him and finally thought better of it.

 

My dad and I saw a fish basket (trap) in shallow water and went to investigate it. It took both of us to pull it up. When we did there were several dead catfish and a live softshell turtle in it. The turtle was thrashing so hard it threw dead catfish bits all over us. We stunk so bad we had to knock off fishing and head for the shower.

[Gundog]

Snakes creep me out. Unfortunately one of the places I fished before I had a boat was loaded with copperheads. One side of the lake had some of the best fishing but also had a rock wall. I would climb down the rocks with my fishing pole in my teeth and my tackle box tied on a rope and slung over my shoulder. One day on the climb out I looked over to my left and there was a copperhead just a few feet from me. I've never climbed so fast in my life.

[N Florida Mike]

41 minutes ago, slonezp said:

About 20 years ago, I was shore fishing with my son in the Chicago River. A homeless guy covered in prison tats, was talking to himself and obviously hallucinating, acted out a crime scene shoot out with the police. I can guess it was probably something he had witnessed or lived thru. Was quite unsettling as, at times, he was withing 20 feet of us shouting at the top of his lungs. Honestly, I have no idea if he even knew we were there. We were below street level at 5:00am. Had something bad happened, there was no one around to witness or help. Mind you I've had plenty of dealings with the homeless over the years and I can handle myself. This guy was a special kind of scary.  

I don't know about your experience, but when flocks of bats are feeding together, the fishing is usually phenomenal. 

We have bats here nearly every evening in the summer, but I don't see any pattern with that and fishing here.

[slonezp]

4 minutes ago, N Florida Mike said:

We have bats here nearly every evening in the summer, but I don't see any pattern with that and fishing here.

I don't see many bats locally. I get to Sturgeon Bay a few times a year. I've had it happen many times where I fished one night with swarms of bats and fish going crazy. The next evening no bats and slow fishing. I've also noticed while walleye and smallmouth fishing on the Wisconsin River where fishing was exceptional during the day with swarms of bats at night. Could be a moon thing, could be a barometric pressure thing, I doubt it's coincidence and never got into it enough to have actual evidence proving my theory. 

[N Florida Mike]

Talking about the homeless, I went surf fishing and before I could even get my stuff unloaded I was approached by a man and woman.With a story,and needing 2.37¢ for bus fare.So the man was covered with sand.I asked what happened and he said he just got beat up and as if on cue a third man showed up and just came walking slowly up like a zombie without the foot drag.So he walks up,looks in my truck,and grabs a rod holder and turns and walks off.I said Hey, bring it back .He keeps going.So I'm wondering if I want to fight over a rod holder or not.And have decided I will.The woman suddenly pipes up and says " bring it back!" He immediately spins around,comes back and drops it in the back of the truck and walks away.Never said a word.Im thinking " If there's one within a hundred miles they'll always find me "

I just loaded my stuff back up and went somewhere else.

[slonezp]

7 minutes ago, N Florida Mike said:

Talking about the homeless, I went surf fishing and before I could even get my stuff unloaded I was approached by a man and woman.With a story,and needing 2.37¢ for bus fare.So the man was covered with sand.I asked what happened and he said he just got beat up and as if on cue a third man showed up and just came walking slowly up like a zombie without the foot drag.So he walks up,looks in my truck,and grabs a rod holder and turns and walks off.I said Hey, bring it back .He keeps going.So I'm wondering if I want to fight over a rod holder or not.And have decided I will.The woman suddenly pipes up and says " bring it back!" He immediately spins around,comes back and drops it in the back of the truck and walks away.Never said a word.Im thinking " If there's one within a hundred miles they'll always find me "

I just loaded my stuff back up and went somewhere else.

When I was young and boatless, I spent many an evening fishing Chicago's lakefront for bass. Got to know most of the regular homeless population near Monroe Harbor and Diversey Harbor, and never got hassled, as most wanted a couple bucks or a beer. I never gave them either and they stopped coming around begging. These are 2 of the nicer harbors downtown. There are a number of harbors south of Burnham Harbor that are unsafe, especially at night. 

[wdp]

42 minutes ago, N Florida Mike said:

Talking about the homeless, I went surf fishing and before I could even get my stuff unloaded I was approached by a man and woman.With a story,and needing 2.37¢ for bus fare.So the man was covered with sand.I asked what happened and he said he just got beat up and as if on cue a third man showed up and just came walking slowly up like a zombie without the foot drag.So he walks up,looks in my truck,and grabs a rod holder and turns and walks off.I said Hey, bring it back .He keeps going.So I'm wondering if I want to fight over a rod holder or not.And have decided I will.The woman suddenly pipes up and says " bring it back!" He immediately spins around,comes back and drops it in the back of the truck and walks away.Never said a word.Im thinking " If there's one within a hundred miles they'll always find me "

I just loaded my stuff back up and went somewhere else.

Ok, that really is strange. ?

[Scott F]

1 hour ago, slonezp said:

I don't see many bats locally. I get to Sturgeon Bay a few times a year. I've had it happen many times where I fished one night with swarms of bats and fish going crazy. The next evening no bats and slow fishing. I've also noticed while walleye and smallmouth fishing on the Wisconsin River where fishing was exceptional during the day with swarms of bats at night. Could be a moon thing, could be a barometric pressure thing, I doubt it's coincidence and never got into it enough to have actual evidence proving my theory. 

Bats, like fish, eat insects. When there is a big bug hatch going on on a river, the bats and the fish will both take advantage to eat the insects. If there is no bug hatch, the bats won't be by the river. 

[geo g]

10 hours ago, 2tall79 said:

I was fishing an oxbow off the Columbia River near Kalama on a summer day a few years ago.  It was midday and I hadn't had a bite in a couple hours.  I was half-heartedly throwing a 4" lizard into a row of 4 pilings that stretched all the way across the slough and eating a ham sandwich in between casts.  I noticed out on the main river a huge cargo ship making it's way upriver.  About 5 minutes after the ship had passed, the water in the outer bay rose 2 to 3 feet and water started gushing through the pilings turning the water white.  I caught 4 good fish in the next ten minutes and then the water returned to normal and the bite was off.    It was like those fish knew that was going to happen from time to time and they were ready to take advantage of anything that rush of water would wash out of those pilings.  I've been back a few times but could never duplicate those conditions again.

 

I fished with a guy that loved it when boats would pass close to us while we fished.  I would say, why would you like these guys passing within casting distance of our boat.  His answer, The waves stir up the bait fish, bugs, and little critters that live in the weeds along the bank.  This rings the dinner bell for the bass, things are going to get good now!

[Preytorien]

I can only think of one weird thing. This last summer I had some time off and took the kayak out in a small pond near my house. It was dead calm conditions and I started throwing a Whopper Plopper as soon as the sun came up. I had some good success in more ways than one. I was throwing parallel to the bank with my kayak resting against the bank edges in very shallow water, and as I reeled in one fish, it must've scared another that was in the shallow water, because it jumped clear out of the water and INTO my kayak! It wasn't big, pretty small, but it's the first time I've had a fish just jump in. So I guess it was two fish caught at once, with only one of them being hooked. 

 

Can't say that'll ever happen to me again.....

[the reel ess]

9 hours ago, geo g said:

 

I fished with a guy that loved it when boats would pass close to us while we fished.  I would say, why would you like these guys passing within casting distance of our boat.  His answer, The waves stir up the bait fish, bugs, and little critters that live in the weeds along the bank.  This rings the dinner bell for the bass, things are going to get good now!

Fish are captives in their environments and can get used to anything that doesn't kill them. There's a video on YouTube of Captain Shane fishing in the Everglades as airboats go by and he continues to catch fish right where the boats passed over. I recall just slaying the bass on a bank one day as a ski boat pulled skiers through a bouy course over and over. We had a hard time keeping our distance from the bank, but it was worth it. 

 

I think about this when I see trash like chairs, sunken boats or dock parts in the water. Fish don't know that's trash. It's habitat.

[Snipe Hunter]

Somewhere around 1980, I was with my fishing buddy John and we hiked (sneaked) into a private pond in the Santa Cruz Mountains in Ca. It was either spring, winter or fall because it doesn't rain in the summer there. A heavy cloud cover rolled into the area and just sat there. It was dark and misty and getting darker. I had just bought a boron spinning rod and this was the first time using it. Anyway, I had what I thought was a muscle spasm run up my right arm and I heard a beep. It happened a few times. Then I switched the rod to my left hand and it happened to my left arm but no beep.

 

It got even darker when my friend John said he saw what looked like an electrical arc at the tip of the rod. So I watched. Then I saw it too. I don't exactly know what was happening but the cloud was discharging current and using my new boron rod and me as a lightening rod. I had a digital watch on and it would beep when I got shocked. I don't understand it and most folks wouldn't believe it but it was a strange thing that happened while fishing. John always used a glass Fenwick rod and he wasn't getting shocked.

[RichF]

I've had a few cool things happen on the water.

 

I was flipping a huge milfoil bed on the St. Lawrence River during a tournament and got caught on some 60lb braid.  While hand-lining it in I felt something heavy on the end which turned out to be about a 6 pound smallmouth!  It jumped right next to the boat and spit the tiny hook/6in wacky rigged senko before we could get the net under her.

 

I came across a 3 pound largemouth belly up that looked really fresh, like it just croaked a few minutes prior.  I rolled it over and it had a huge crappie lodged in this mouth sidways.  I pulled the crappie out and the little sucker darted off.  I held the bass upright for a minute and he took off as well!

 

Last summer I was fishing a small river in my boat and had a black bear pop up out of the water about 20 yds from where I was, hopped up on shore and ran off into the woods.  Scared the crap out of me. 

[Jon P.]

once while fishing  at a flooded quarry a little one pounder bass slammed the spinnerbait I was fishing and the second he did so a gator pike, the biggest one I had ever seen comes plowing towards my fish in under a foot of water and plows the little bugger. it ripped the fish off the hook and chased it in circles before cornering it by a sunken bulldozer and swallowed it whole.

[Senko Junkie]

This isn't too strange but my fishing partner and I had this family of ducks following us for at least 3 hours while we fished an entire feeder creek one Saturday.

[scaleface]

I was  trailering my boat to a tournament . It was dark and a deer ran out in front of me . I hit the brakes and a second deer jumped in my boat . I came to a complete stop and saw it flop to the highway through my rear view mirror .  I put the van in park and got out , the deer was gone . There was blood and hair all in my boat and the upholstery had several rips and holes from the deer's hooves .

 

 

 side note , I limited out and placed 2nd .

[the reel ess]

15 minutes ago, Senko Junkie said:

This isn't too strange but my fishing partner and I had this family of ducks following us for at least 3 hours while we fished an entire feeder creek one Saturday.

Expecting to get fed probably.

[CTBassin860]

Sometimes when the bite is slow the turtles like to chase my frog around.So I catch myself playing fetch with the turtles for a half hour.

I also have a habit of catching bullfrogs with the pad crasher.Cannibalistic frogs

[scaleface]

20 hours ago, Snipe Hunter said:

Somewhere around 1980, I was with my fishing buddy John and we hiked (sneaked) into a private pond in the Santa Cruz Mountains in Ca. It was either spring, winter or fall because it doesn't rain in the summer there. A heavy cloud cover rolled into the area and just sat there. It was dark and misty and getting darker. I had just bought a boron spinning rod and this was the first time using it. Anyway, I had what I thought was a muscle spasm run up my right arm and I heard a beep. It happened a few times. Then I switched the rod to my left hand and it happened to my left arm but no beep.

 

It got even darker when my friend John said he saw what looked like an electrical arc at the tip of the rod. So I watched. Then I saw it too. I don't exactly know what was happening but the cloud was discharging current and using my new boron rod and me as a lightening rod. I had a digital watch on and it would beep when I got shocked. I don't understand it and most folks wouldn't believe it but it was a strange thing that happened while fishing. John always used a glass Fenwick rod and he wasn't getting shocked.

 You're lucky to be alive .

 I was fishing 1/4 ounce tubes at Bull Shoals , there was a thunder storm approaching and I was trying to get  one last cast in . As the tube was sinking , there was a big arc in my line heading skyward . I got off the water immidiately .

[ww2farmer]

The  strangest things that have ever happened to me are, in no particular order:

 

#1: Sunny warm fall day, my seasonal allergies were kicking my butt, and I only had Benadryl in the boat. Knowing full well it makes me sleepy, I took it anyways. I was at the south end of the lake, got bit off by a pike, trolling motored out a ways off the spot to sit down and re-rig.......................next thing I know it's several hours later when I wake up and am almost at the north end of the lake. I  make sure I have non-drowsy allergy meds. with me at all time from that point on.

 

#2: Hot summer day, I was up tight to the bank behind a point frogging and punching some slop, and shade that usually hold some good fish during the heat  of the day, they didn't seem to be there that day, so I come around the point to hit the deeper water grass line on the other side, and the row of floating swim docks that are anchored over deep water. On one of the swim docks were two very attractive collage age young ladies sunbathing...........not an uncommon sight around here.............except they were buck neckid, and seemingly un-bothered by me. Let's just say I was more shocked then they were, and I quickly pulled up the TM and got the heck out of there before I made a fool of myself.

 

#3: Doing a drift and drag for smallmouth in the fall, when I hook into a hard fighting fish.......or so I thought. It was a flip-flop covered in zebra muscles. I hooked by the strap and evidently the water resistance, and flip flopping it did made it feel like a decent fish.

 

#4: Windy crappy day in the fall............the clouds break and the sun comes out and gets real warm, real fast. I take my rain coat off and spread it out on the back deck to dry off. Then the wind picks up and takes my coat with it. I didn't even know it was gone for a long time. I went to pull up the TM and move and seen it was gone, I idled around looking for it in the general area I lost it, but it was no where to be found. A week or so later, I am cranking over some submerged milfoil..............ABOUT 2 MILES AWAY from where I lost the coat and hooked into it. And other than a few bugs  stuck to it, and a treble hook poke hole it was good as new. I still have and wear it to this day.

 

 

[3rdDon]

I haven't been fishing all too long, so the only thing I've encountered was an angry old woman on a golf cart. A local golf course here has a few ponds that are open to fish. I called the clubhouse to verify before driving out there.

Anyhoo, my cousin and I are standing on the bank minding our own business when all the sudden I hear the whine of an electric cart and the hen-like noise of an angry woman quickly approaching. She gets up about 10' from us and stops. Screaming that we cant be there because we'll disrupt the golfers. We both look around and there's not a single golfer in site. I say, "yes ma'am, we'll be sure to stay out of their way". She then starts to drive away and yells "good because I'm calling the police!". We laughed it off, but also left the area pretty quickly since my cousin was breaking a few laws unbeknownst to me until then.

[the reel ess]

3 hours ago, MassBassin508 said:

Sometimes when the bite is slow the turtles like to chase my frog around.So I catch myself playing fetch with the turtles for a half hour.

I also have a habit of catching bullfrogs with the pad crasher.Cannibalistic frogs

Your post reminds me I caught a turtle lsat summer. Not really unusual on live bait, but this was on the back hook of a Spook. This is one of my favorite topwaters, so I tried hard to get the hook back but it broke that prong of the trebles off and I dropped the turtle.

[Snipe Hunter]

6 hours ago, scaleface said:

 You're lucky to be alive .

 I was fishing 1/4 ounce tubes at Bull Shoals , there was a thunder storm approaching and I was trying to get  one last cast in . As the tube was sinking , there was a big arc in my line heading skyward . I got off the water immidiately .

 Fortunately, I had another rod and the boron sat idle till the storm passed. I'm pretty sure it was an old Skyline Graphite rod which wasn't quite as conductive as the boron.

[Airman4754]

I've had all kinds of birds take my anchovies off my line salmon fishing, so that's not too weird. I accidentally hooked a pelican in mid-air casting a 14ft surf rod. That was interesting.

 

I've seen a few Ospreys dive to their death. They would go down for a planter in a shallow area. Our reservoirs had a really dark green grass that would totally cover the bottom on flats. They would free fall down at what would have to be close to terminal velocity into a couple feet of water. 

 

The oddest thing I've seen was we were back in the river section of a local mountain reservoir and they had clear cut that year all the way down to the water, but it was summer and it was low so there was about a 20ft cut bank. It's the middle of summer and dead calm. We hear something crashing though the forest and these four deer come running out of the tree line. Three go up and across the unit, the fourth one goes down and just flies off that cut bank into the water at full speed. I've seen deer swim a bunch of times, but this thing looked like a stunt man going into the water.

 

 

[Hurricane]

Was fishing at a pond and felt burning on my leg.. Thought it was maybe a pricker bush or something.. Looked down and saw about 10 bees stinging my leg... Threw my rod and started running around.. they were all over me.. It was nuts... Got stung probably around 20 times... Beer and Benedryl took care of it...