What Is Your Strangest, Unintended Catch

[islandbass]

I bet we've all caught something strange and possibly unintended.

 

This was a while back. I was fishing a dock with the sun going down. I was fishing a pink worm on a jig head.  All the flying creatures that target flying insects were doing their thing in the air.  As I neared the end of my retrieve, I yanked the line up to swing the jig back to me to make my next cast.  Because it was getting dark, I misjudged my grab of the jig.  As the jig and pink worm swung away from me, a bat came out of nowhere and went for my jig.  There was enough light to see that at the very last second it changed its mind probably realizing it wasn't a bug but as it tried to maneuver away, the jig's hook got hold of it's wing  and caught it. So there it was, flying around like a kite on a string.  Fortunately, it wasn't solidly hooked so it was able to free itself without my help.  I was relieved because I didn't want to deal with an animal that might possibly have rabies.

 

Share your strange catches.

 

[soflabasser]

My strangest unintended catch while bass fishing is catching a fish called a big mouth sleeper (Gobiomorus dormitor) , which I have caught several of them from land in freshwater. These fish are very rare to catch in South Florida and I know few people who have caught them. I have caught much rarer and harder to catch fish in saltwater.

[Shanexd9]

I'm not sure if its strange but definitely unintended. I was fishing in some golf course ponds one afternoon and I caught an alligator.

[GrumpyOlPhartte]

Unintended catches, but probably not rare (at least for me) are:

 

1. Pant leg 

2. Other fishing rod

3. Anchor line 

4. Assorted trees and shrubs

5. Cold (after an unintended exit from my yak)

6. Approximately twenty feet of line with a nice new tungsten sinker, 4/0 hook, and Culprit worm (which I used)

7. My own water shoe (containing one foot ... mine)

 

Hmmm. Makes me wonder why I fish with treble hooks sometimes.

[RPreeb]

Dry fly fishing for trout on some beaver ponds about 20 miles north of Seeley Lake in Montana I caught a few frogs.  Had to work hard not to catch gulls when fishing topwater in the Bahamas.

[Glenn]

Cat

Clam

 

and on a different occasion, a stray line with a catfish on the other end that was still alive.

25 minutes ago, soflabasser said:

My strangest unintended catch while bass fishing is catching a fish called a big mouth sleeper

 

Better known as my mother-in-law

[The Bassman]

Big snapping turtle while frogging. Thought I had my PB but couldn't understand why he didn't jump.

[NHBull]

A seagull......and I did get my lure back!

[YaknBassn]

Caught a catfish by the dorsal fin with a crankbait.  On a separate occasion, I caught a gar by the tail with a crankbait.  Crankbaits are fun.

 

I've also had an Osprey make a dive at a fluke.  He grabbed it, but luckily, he didn't get hooked. 

[Porkrind]

A fifty five gallon trash bag that had a couple of what I assumed were poached deer heads with the racks cut off. 

[DomQ]

Caught on two separate occasions, carp dragging a black and blue jig on the bottom. 

[Dtrombly]

A frog. Thankfully it unhooked it's self in mid air. Every time I throw frogs in this certain pond, real frogs come flying off the bank into the water chasing down my frog. It's quite amusing. Lol 

[MassYak85]

I was dragging a worm and snagged some line. I started pulling it in to get it out of the water and low and behold there's a little catfish on the end, very much alive and kicking. 

[wdp]

1. Water moccasin on a live minnow. 

 

2. Egret swooped down down out of a tree and picked up my Spro Frog I was working thru some lily pads. Luckily it didn't hook its foot when it tried to fly away with it. 

[BuzzHudson19c]

Channel catfish on a Yum dinger/crankbait/spoon/dry fly. Carp on a spinnerbait. Frog on a frog.

 

All of these were hooked in the mouth not snagged.

[nosdog2]

One of those old school metal Coleman coolers.  It was in about 6 foot of water, luckily I had braid on. I kept it to.

 

[Ksam1234]

Mine was today I got a snapping turtle. Thought it was a DD bass or my new PB but when it came up like an anchor I knew something was wrong.  

[CroakHunter]

I didn't catch this while fishing, but while I was bowfishing.  I shot at a small spotted gar and hit him, but my arrow was stuck in the mud beneath him. I pulled and pulled on that 200Lb braided line until I pulled up my prize...an Ab Lounge! And I must say, that fish had some of the best abs I've ever seen on a fish lol

[IndianaFinesse]

Mink, ducks, lots of alligator snapping turtles, a swim suit, water snakes, plus some other animals I can't remember right now.  The mink and snappers were the worst, those cute little mink are not so cute when they use their wicked sharp claws to tear any exposed skin apart.  And the snapping turtles are always bent on separating my fingers from my hand.

[A-Jay]

Striped bass fishing in the Merrimac River, Newburyport, Ma, fall of 1980 something -  on a dark, cold & windy night.

Hooked something BIG - wasn't fighting much, or at all. Seemed very heavy, like dead weight.

Took forever to get in.  Had 2 Buddies helping me. Couldn't imagine what the heck it was, but it was slowly coming in.

It was like a war pulling against the out going tide.  Had the flashlights beaming out into the river trying to see what the heck I had.

Finally came close enough to get a glimpse - looked weird.  Couldn't tell.

Then someone said jokingly "Hope it's not a body" . . . . . . . .

I started getting a little bummed out but I was too far into this to give up now - I had to know.

Mistake.

It was a big old bloated & very stanky, beheaded deer carcass. 

I cut the line and earned a new nickname.

Deer Hunter.

 

A-Jay

[Columbia Craw]

I was fishing for sea bass several years ago and caught a wolf eel.  Google them, they are nasty creatures. I've also hooked silvers and chinook on crank baits. My buddy hooked a seven foot sturgeon. After an hour it finally broke off.

[OCdockskipper]

A bag of grapes.

[Catt]

I have found a body on Lake Vernon near Leesville Louisiana; it had been under water for 5 days.

 

Not a pretty sight for a teenager!

 

One night at Housen' Bay Marina Pat and I were talking while grilling steaks outside, Steve was trying to get a back lash out of one of his reels. After reeling in his line Steve made an underhanded cast to check out his work and immediately went on point like he was going to set hook. Puzzled Pat and I looked at each other then back at Steve who had reeled in and cast again. Turning towards us Steve states some thing bite my jig, Pat and I bust out laughing, Steve says no seriously. Reeling in and casting he says there it is again, this time Pat and I both see his line move. Gabbing a flash light sure enough there is a big ole owl with Steve's jig in it's mouth. Pat and I bust out laughing and shout dude don't set hook!

[islandbass]

That's messed up, Catt. I bet something like that stays crystal clear with you forever. 

 

Almost Catching an owl ? must have been a hoot for your friend. 

 

 

Great stories! Keep them coming. 

[Bluebasser86]

I have bad luck with birds. I've caught a couple seagulls, a Grebe, an owl, and a blue heron. The owl slammed into a muskie jitterbug while I was night fishing, thought I had a state record. 

 

My jerkbait Grebe.