Scary fishing moments

[RDB]

I recently made a post of your moron moments where I shared my heartwarming story of getting a 110 stuck in my butt, so I thought it might be interesting to share scary fishing moments.  Hopefully this won’t get too dark.  I’ll start.

 

For 15ish years after graduation, about 20 or so fraternity brothers would take an annual 3 day trip to the Norfork river to trout fish below the dam.  It was mostly to catch up and drink a few beers but we would also have a tournament each day because there has to be some competition.  Each night we would draw for boats but there would always be several who went too hard the night before and couldn’t make it out of bed.  That was the case in our boat one morning as hangovers left us with 2.  The generators were on and there was a decent current which was not uncommon and not difficult to navigate.  About half way through the day, we were making a float and all of a sudden my partner stood up and seconds later fell over the side with his upper half in the water and his legs hanging in the boat.  I immediately jumped up to grab him but the force of the current was pulling him down and when I would try to get leverage to pull him up, we would take on water.  There were several times where the current caught the lip of the boat and we almost flipped.  Luckily, there was another boat with friends close by and we were able to get another person in the boat to help.  Long story short, he was having a seizure.  None of us knew he was epileptic and afterward he said his seizures had become rare.  Both boats were so shaken afterwards that we called it a day and from that point forward, we always had to have a minimum of 3 in the boat.  Things turned out well but we were very lucky.  If you have never seen a seizure, they can be violent and there is not much you can do during the episode except make sure they are safe until it passes.  I can’t imagine how you would manage in the water.  Many anglers remove their life jackets when the big motor is off and I sometimes do as well.  However, that experience has made me much more sensitive to proper safety and the potential dangers that can result from the unexpected.

[N Florida Mike]

I nearly drowned once after getting caught in an undertow while surf fishing. Even though I was about to go under , I never let go of my rod. I somehow swam out of it with my legs and one arm.

Ive been caught in some

very bad thunderstorms with lightning all around. 

Probably the most scared I ever was , was when the side of my bass boat cracked from top to bottom after hitting a big wave on lake George. I thought the crack would continue across the bottom of the boat, but thankfully, it didn’t.

Getting a hook in my eye was pretty traumatic too. ?

[VolFan]

I was kayaking on Calderwood Lake on a sunny warm early summer afternoon when a thunderstorm blew right down the lake. Temp dropped about 20 degrees and I made for shore as the wind blew me down lake. Pulled my boat up enough and hid in a cave while it absolutely raged. It was like watching a hurricane. I had to build a little fire since the temp dropped and I was not outfitted for 50 degrees and wet.

[cyclops2]

I feel almost normal after hearing some of your escapes.

[Aaron_H]

1 hour ago, N Florida Mike said:

Getting a hook in my eye was pretty traumatic too.

 

[ironbjorn]

Several years ago I was bank fishing a new (to me) pond in a wooded area in the middle of nowhere. It was difficult to cast because of all the trees and brush, but in one little opening I saw a concrete slab sitting in the water a few feet off the bank. I thought that if I could just leap to it I'd have access to much more water. Well, I took my leap, but when my feet touched the slab, it was slick as ice and it sent me falling backwards into the water. When I got my bearings I noticed that two inches to my right, sticking out of the water, was a rusty metal pole that would have impaled me had I hit it, and I nearly did hit it. I instantly felt sick to my stomach and was shaking. I gathered my rod and went and sat in my car for a few minutes before leaving. 

[GaryH]

1 hour ago, N Florida Mike said:

I nearly drowned once after getting caught in an undertow while surf fishing. Even though I was about to go under , I never let go of my rod. I somehow swam out of it with my legs and one arm.

Ive been caught in some

very bad thunderstorms with lightning all around. 

Probably the most scared I ever was , was when the side of my bass boat cracked from top to bottom after hitting a big wave on lake George. I thought the crack would continue across the bottom of the boat, but thankfully, it didn’t.

Getting a hook in my eye was pretty traumatic too. ?

That’s scary… and painful

[Zcoker]

I was yaking out baits for sharks at night, solo. Not the best practice doing it solo, I know. But I've done it so many time that I was thinking what the heck, just another night lol So I launched the yak as usual and was almost out to my drop point when, suddenly, I look up at a wall of water -- a giant rogue wave! Instantly I was dumped underwater with something yanking hard at right foot! And I mean HARD and PAINFUL! The yak was several yards away and I started desperately swimming to retrieve it but I kept getting yanked underwater by something....I thought it was a friggin shark! I finally made it to shore. At the shore-break laying on the sand I look down at my right foot to see the damage, thinking that a shark actually tore my friggin foot off. There was indeed damage. There was actually blood. I was shocked. The big 24/0 circle hook somehow dislodged itself from the big ray in the rear of the yak and somehow managed to implant itself all the way through my right foot! The line was all tangled with the yak, and every time a wave hit the yak, it would pull me underwater. Talk a about a towing mind flip. And thank goodness I de-barb all my big shark hooks! This all happen in the black of night on a barren beach, totally spooky and about the scariest I've been through on the open water. Needless to say, I don't yak baits out solo for sharks anymore. Now I go solo miles out into the everglades at night lol 

[BrianMDTX]

Sometime in the 70s, my buddy Mark and I (still in HS) went fishing in Loch Raven reservoir in Maryland. We rented a wooden rowboat from the Fishing Center (which is operated by Baltimore County Department of Recreation and Parks in cooperation with the Baltimore City Bureau of Water Supply) along with a trolling motor and three batteries (we each had 17 lb. thrust Minn-Kota trolling motors- my God, I still have mine lol). Loch Raven is a reservoir that supplies drinking water for Baltimore City, so no power boats are permitted. It was a beautiful spring day, so we made a beeline to fish under the Dulaney Valley Rd bridge for crappies. Sometime in the early afternoon, with no warning, a heavy squall line appeared. The next thing we knew, we were hit with 40-50 mph wind gusts that started blowing us across the reservoir. We beached the boat just as the deluge started, followed by severe lightning strikes- some of which we saw hit the water. We tried to turn the boat over for shelter, but man, those old, wooden rowboats were heavy! We got soaked, but at least we didn’t drown or get electrocuted. 

[crypt]

this scary moment didn't happen to me but I was part of the rescue. I went out to the local lake after work and when I got to the end of the dock I thought I heard what sounded like a cow wailing. after a couple more wails I realized it was someone yelling for help. the boat ramp was empty of anyone but me. I called 911 and the sheriff was there in 2 minutes and he told me that the boat they have was on the Indian river. We were on the St. Johns and it would take at least an hour to get here.so I called my buddy and asked him to bring his kayak. within minutes he was  there and in the water. after about 20-30 minutes he comes back with some guy draped over the front. turns out his canoe, which was an old wooden heirloom that his father had given him had come apart at the seems,sunk in seconds. he was holding onto a stump in gator infested water. he had been there for about an hour before I got there.he lost his keys and phone.Sherriffs deputy took him home after thanking us profusely. we all were glad that nothing bad ended up happening to him. 

[WRB]

I borrowed a friends 8’ inflatable Avon boat to take my friend Ron around Balboa bay sight seeing and try a little fishing long the break wall entry to the bay. Nice warm sunny day and everything was going good until I decided to try to go outside to the bay entrance buoy to catch a Bonita. 

The big buoy had a sea lion sunning on it. Made a cast and hooked a Bonita fighting it back to the boat and pulled the fish in when the big sea lion slid up onto the boat nearly sinking it grabbed the Bonita and out the other side of little boat. Ron was white as a ghost , the boat filled with water. I said it’s ok Ron said he can’t swim! Started the little 3 hp OB and headed back while letting the water run out the back of the Avon. Stupid leaving the calm bay and lucky the sea lion didn’t tear up the Avon.

Tom

[NoShoes]

2 hours ago, Zcoker said:

I was yaking out baits for sharks at night, solo. Not the best practice doing it solo, I know. But I've done it so many time that I was thinking what the heck, just another night lol So I launched the yak as usual and was almost out to my drop point when, suddenly, I look up at a wall of water -- a giant rogue wave! Instantly I was dumped underwater with something yanking hard at right foot! And I mean HARD and PAINFUL! The yak was several yards away and I started desperately swimming to retrieve it but I kept getting yanked underwater by something....I thought it was a friggin shark! I finally made it to shore. At the shore-break laying on the sand I look down at my right foot to see the damage, thinking that a shark actually tore my friggin foot off. There was indeed damage. There was actually blood. I was shocked. The big 24/0 circle hook somehow dislodged itself from the big ray in the rear of the yak and somehow managed to implant itself all the way through my right foot! The line was all tangled with the yak, and every time a wave hit the yak, it would pull me underwater. Talk a about a towing mind flip. And thank goodness I de-barb all my big shark hooks! This all happen in the black of night on a barren beach, totally spooky and about the scariest I've been through on the open water. Needless to say, I don't yak baits out solo for sharks anymore. Now I go solo miles out into the everglades at night lol 

Sounds like you learned nothing lol

[bigbassin']

I’ve got three encounters that take the cake for me, two involving people the other I’ve posted before dealing with a bear.

 

The people encounters are much shorter so I’ll start with those, probably make a second post for the bear.

 

The first person encounter (creepy but not truly threatening):

 

Back in college I entered a tournament as a coangler on Rodman.

Boater told me to meet him at the lake at 5:00 AM. I hit the road around 3:30 AM, should put me there about 15 mini early.

 

I’m driving through Ocala National Forest and the fog this particulate morning is thick, I’m probably driving 30 in a 55 due to the limited visibility.

 

 I come around a corner and all of the sudden I see the whitest lady I’ve ever seen in my life walking towards me in the lane. I pull into the oncoming traffic lane and hit my breaks to miss her.

 

I come to a stop about 15 feet past her, and watch her turn around like a zombie and start walking towards my truck.

 

 I went ahead and got out of there.

 

Since then I’ve had a similar thing happen in almost the same area with a regular looking guy that appeared to have a bit too much to drink. I’ve got several buddies that have similar stories of people walking in the oncoming lane seemingly in the middle of nowhere out in the National Forest and they had to swerve to miss them.

 

The second people encounter:

 

Growing up there was a small river feeding into the St. John’s that was roughly 3-4’ deep in the stretches we liked to fish and was clear enough to sight fish at the tail end of the dry season. Was still typically cool enough at that point that gators weren’t really a huge thought in our minds so we would wade it. Visiting home one spring in college I decided to head to the river and give it a go. I’d recently took up fly-fishing so I brought the 6wt and a handful of clousers with me.

 

On the weekends you would typically run into several people hiking, biking, fishing, kayaking, and camping, but weekdays you may have the place to yourself. This particular trip was in the middle of the week, no other cars in the parking lot.

 

I make it about a half mile up the river, not really catching much when I come up to a deeper bend in the river and I have to get onto a sandbar on the inside bend to continue moving forward. Problem is, 3 guys that don’t really look to be up to much good are already on that sandbar.

 

 I try to just walk on by with minimal acknowledgment of them, however one of the guys is trying to strike up a conversation. At the same time, they all stand up and position themselves in a way I’d either have to walk between them or get back in the water to cross. Effectively I’m stuck talking to them.

 

During the conversation, the main just kept going on about how nice my gear was (it wasn’t, but being a flyrod most folks automatically think it must be expensive). Didn’t come across as normal gear talk, but rather a big red flag.

 

After a minute or so, the two guys on the outside start slowly moving off to either one of my sides. I’m aware of this and trying to nonchalantly take a step or two back. I’m thinking at this point I’m about to be jumped and they’re going to steal my rod and waders based on how they were talking.

 

And right this moment…a group of kayakers come around the corner and all 3 of the guys kind of move away from me. I promptly took this opportunity to turn around and head back to my truck.

 

While I’ll never know for sure what their intentions were, I’m pretty comfortable with my assumption.

The bear encounter (I’ve posted this one before, did some minor editing to it):

 

 

As some of y'all may have seen I posted last week, I ran into bears on my last outing.  Yesterday's trip I ran into another one only this time was much more terrifying.  This is also an extremely long post, so head's up on that.

 

For background I decided to try a creek in the Cohutta's (North Georgia) where 3 creeks merged at around 2600'.  Maybe I'd catch one of the unique bass species they have in the mountain range or I'd fins wild trout.  After driving to the location, spending quite a bit of time on dirt roads to get to the location, it is very clear based on the overgrown parking lot and lack of trash or other signs of humans that this was not a frequently used trail.  At the start of the trip, that's exactly what I was hoping for.

 

As I begin to head down the trail, it becomes pretty clear the descent is much steeper than I expected from Google maps.  After descending roughly 800' over the stretch of a half mile, I'm already nearing what I think is the end of trout water, but as I mentioned earlier they have black bass species that live only in this area to target as well.  The trail has completely flattened out and parallels the river which has several creeks feeding into from higher elevations, giving me hope the water will be cold enough.

 

For the first two miles the creek is too narrow and shallow for me to even consider trying to fish it.  As I make it further in, eventually enough creeks have merged that the water is consistently at least 6 inches deep, with little pools maybe a foot deep, stream is about 6-10' wide.  Once I reached this point I began to fish the creek anywhere I could feasibly bushwhack to the bank (there weren't many spots I was able to do this).

 

The whole time I'm hiking in/fishing I'm keeping in eye out for any tracks or signs of bear activity, still a little on edge from last week and knowing that the next person to come along won't just be 10 minutes away like last week.  Around the 5 mile mark, I see my first sign that anything else has ever been out there. It's a track, 3" long, 4 fingers, 2 pads on the heel, no claws. Another 50', another track. 50' past that I come up to a 2' tall game trail that appears to lead to a bedding area for something. 

I’d assume the track belonged to a bobcat or coyote. No claws makes me think cat, but I’d think it was on the big side for a bobcat.

 

I head past the second track, nothing new.  I head past the first track, there is now a total of 3 instead of the 1 just a few minutes earlier.  I'm very much on edge at this point and for the whole walk back I have some kind of animal calling every few minutes at a distance that sounds like it's always 100' away and in the trees.

 

When I reach the bottom of the hill to climb back the last stretch, I see a bad sign.  The third set of tracks I see all day that are not mine or the ones I previously described belong to a bear.  Two tracks, each about 5"-6" and based on distancing they belong to the same one at least.  Several trees in the area have also had pieces of bark ripped off.

 

Now all of the missing bark was facing downhill, so I convince myself I just wasn't able to see it earlier and I must of missed the tracks.  This is about all I can come up with since that trail up is the only way out.

 

Not even 5 steps into my ascent, I found the bear.  As I was 90 degrees with a bush to my left, it roared and (at least in my head) the entire bush shook when he did.  I was close enough to touch the bush with my left arm.

 

Unlike last week, where I was able to calmly stand my ground and then back off when that didn't work, I completely panicked.  My first reaction was to turn my back to the bear and run before realizing what I was doing. As soon as I caught myself, I tuned back towards it, stood tall, arms out and trying to talk as normally as possible as I retreated back 100'.

 

As I'm standing here, I quickly realize I'm at a low spot on all 4 sides with zero visibility forward, backwards, or to my left (2 of the 3 directions the I'd assume the bear would come from if it were to advance on me).  Moving to my right by about 30' puts me on slightly higher ground, but also moves me towards the animal calls I've been hearing for 5 straight miles and most likely further reduces my visibility.  I decide standing right where I was while everything cooled down was not any better or worse than anything else I could do.

 

After waiting 30 minutes on my watch after the initial bear encounter, I'm still hearing calls to my right but I have not heard the bear in a while.  I decide to test with a rock throw in it's direction since I'm getting pretty tired of the calling.  The bear very loudly lets me know it is still there.

 

I'm thinking my best odds are a group of hikers or coming down the trail that would have the bear outnumbered and potentially scare it off.  I remember how remote the area is and that I did not see a single track or sign showing human life had ever been on the 5 miles I walked.

 

Another thirty minutes go by (both the fastest and slowest 30 minutes of my life). I repeat the process and it plays out exactly the same way, except 5 minutes later I hear the bear snort just a little to the left of where it had been.

 

I wait another 20 minutes or so and now something has changed.  I hear the first call from my left instead of my right. It sounds closer, maybe 50' horizontally. It also sounds more vertical like it's from up above me.  I try throwing a rock at the bear again, no reaction.  

 

I immediately decide that now is my window to get out of here.  I grab a pocket of rocks to throw at trees to create ruckus ahead of me to spook anything that may be there and throw one every 30 seconds until I'm out of rocks.  This puts me about 400' from the base where all of this occurred and the animal calls stopped.

 

Not totally out of the woods yet (literally) I put some pep in my step and got out of there at a pretty good clip.

 

With only 5 creek chubs to show for the whole ordeal I will never be back to that area again.

 

I also have to say with two encounters in 7 days, and especially with how this one played out, I think any form of adventurous mountain fishing is over for the moment.

•  

[fin]

5 hours ago, N Florida Mike said:

I nearly drowned once after getting caught in an undertow while surf fishing. Even though I was about to go under , I never let go of my rod.

 

This is my rod. There are many like it, but this one is mine. My rod is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. Without me, my rod is useless. Without my rod, I am useless.

 

?

[cyclops2]

Should I pass legislation for MANDATORY TRAINING  course covering all of the posts about near fatal encounters ?      

 

I never knew a simple water sport could kill, cripple or impale a carefree fisherman.

 

Sort of serious to get a license.   I really am simple trusting person.

[RDB]

23 minutes ago, fin said:

 

This is my rod. There are many like it, but this one is mine. My rod is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. Without me, my rod is useless. Without my rod, I am useless.

 

?

Always faithful

[Jmilburn76]

Around 2002 my uncle had a house boat at Pates Ford Marina on Center Hill Lake in TN that he gave to my dad after retiring as he wanted to move back to Michigan. He lived on the houseboat for a few years before he retired and even though he fished a lot he never moved or started the boat. It took my dad and I about a month of tinkering before we got it started.We weren't boat people and knew very little about them, to get it started you had to choke it and just keep trying and she would eventually start. 

 

So my dad, myself and a girl I dated decided we were going to take it out all night and try to catch some catfish. We found a good spot with a muddy bottom at the end of a branch of the lake and tied the front of the boat and dropped a couple small anchors off the back. This area was pretty much straight up hills all around us and very steep. We were drinking, listening to the radio and having a good ole time, even managed to catch a few keepers.

 

 A few hours go by and the beer had been flowing, the gf decides to lay down and a few minutes later comes to the back where my dad and I were saying she heard something in the woods. We brushed her off saying it was nothing, and she went back inside. After 20 minutes or so she came back saying it sounded closer to the boat.

 

This time I got up, got my dads 500000 candle power spotlight and battery to investigate.I got to the front of the 48' boat opened the door and started to shine the light and didn't see anything. I starting moving the light up the step hill and heard something move about a hundred feet higher and it was fast, for a split second I saw two bright eyes. It had to be a large cat either bob cat or mountain lion.   Needless to say we stayed on high alert the rest of the night.  

 

The next morning we got ready to leave and couldn't get the boat to start and I ended up breaking the tiny L-shaped key off in the switch. We had no cell phones but probably wouldn't have had a signal anyways, no way to walk out as it was too steep and it seems a large cat was on the prowl.Also 3 of our 4 keeper catfish that was on a brand new stringer was gone to top it all off, we still don't know what got them. We were stranded.  I finally found a flat head screwdriver after rummaging around and was able to ease it into the switch enough to get it to turn and she finally started! Not exactly scary but could have turned out much different if one of us would have gotten hurt.

 

 

[thediscochef]

I think I was too young to fully grasp it at the time, but in 8th grade I was out in Alaska with my uncle and cousin. We were out salmon fishing despite it being way early. I was in waders and slipped and fell in the creek we were fishing. I had to get myself up out of the water, I was furthest downstream. That water was COLD and I reached about the last segment of hikable bank for a while and was out in probably 30 seconds. What made that dangerous to me was the remote location; we were far from any help and I wouldn't have come out of that if I hadn't moved quickly.

Once on Lake Texoma as a nasty storm rolled in, boat was rolling probably 4 feet vertically. We got in before the worst hit but we were soaked and probably minutes from the center of the mess.

Last night some lady at the boat ramp casted into a bush and was trying to climb on the rock pile to retrieve it. The thing that made this dangerous was that she was not at all equipped, physically or gear-wise, to be wondering around on boulders. I got the lure for her and probably avoided a second ambulance call to the lake last night.

[N Florida Mike]

5 hours ago, Zcoker said:

I was yaking out baits for sharks at night, solo. Not the best practice doing it solo, I know. But I've done it so many time that I was thinking what the heck, just another night lol So I launched the yak as usual and was almost out to my drop point when, suddenly, I look up at a wall of water -- a giant rogue wave! Instantly I was dumped underwater with something yanking hard at right foot! And I mean HARD and PAINFUL! The yak was several yards away and I started desperately swimming to retrieve it but I kept getting yanked underwater by something....I thought it was a friggin shark! I finally made it to shore. At the shore-break laying on the sand I look down at my right foot to see the damage, thinking that a shark actually tore my friggin foot off. There was indeed damage. There was actually blood. I was shocked. The big 24/0 circle hook somehow dislodged itself from the big ray in the rear of the yak and somehow managed to implant itself all the way through my right foot! The line was all tangled with the yak, and every time a wave hit the yak, it would pull me underwater. Talk a about a towing mind flip. And thank goodness I de-barb all my big shark hooks! This all happen in the black of night on a barren beach, totally spooky and about the scariest I've been through on the open water. Needless to say, I don't yak baits out solo for sharks anymore. Now I go solo miles out into the everglades at night lol 

I got asked once if I wanted to yak a bloody bonito out for shark in a fairly rough surf at night…

I passed on that. Even though wade fishing in gator infested waters doesn’t bother me … go figure.

2 hours ago, fin said:

 

This is my rod. There are many like it, but this one is mine. My rod is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. Without me, my rod is useless. Without my rod, I am useless.

 

?

Well, that time I was fixing to be useless permanently WITH it…

[RDB]

Gotta stay positive so here’s a few words of inspiration from my dad for all these scary moments.

 

 

[Boomstick]

The worst thing that happened to me is my kid got a treble hook stuck in my side, with the barb slightly past my skin but not too deep. I was bleeding all over the place.

 

On the plus side, the bleeding eventually stopped and I landed my PB on my first cast afterwards. I thought I would not be doing any fishing that day

[NYWayfarer]

My father in-law and I were fishing an inlet for Fluke when we decided to head out into the ocean. We were near the three mile out buoy when a fog came rolling from land out towards us in open water.

 

Since he was used to always fishing the inlet my Father in-law had no radio or compass aboard…

 

We pointed the boat towards the mouth of the inlet and headed full speed towards it as the fog swept over us. Luckily we made it before poor visibility made it impossible to distinguish direction.

 

We had a few shots that night. Radio and compass were always with us after that

[GreenPig]

Out bowfishing one Summer evening after work I got blown down the lake by a downburst that I was told reached 91 mph by a guy that worked at the power plant on the lake. I do know it pushed me much faster than the 31 mph my boat would run especially going sideways. It passed and after 10 minutes of running my bilge pump I shot more fish. 

[N Florida Mike]

4 hours ago, bigbassin' said:

Ocala National Forest

We used to camp and fish in there a lot. One time I had my wife with me. We were just north of north grasshopper lake camping . I had run a trotline the night before and caught some nice catfish. My wife had caught her pb bass that was around 4 pounds.

We were packing up to leave and here comes 3 rough looking characters on dirt bikes. I went around to the other side of the truck, where my pistol ( and wife ) were. They kept making small talk and something just didnt seem right. But because I had the truck between me and them and never moved , they finally moved on. They never knew, but I had my pistol in hand not visible behind the truck. Maybe it was nothing, I’ll never know…

 

[papajoe222]

A few years back, I was out on a small, public lake by myself in my boat. It was cool, windy and raining on and off. Needless to say, I was the only one on the water and there was nobody shore fishing.  I had tossed out a few markers and when I was done fishing the structure, I swung the boat around to retrieve them. As I reached over the side, the boat glanced sideway off a huge boulder and I got tossed overboard. 

The wind continued to move the boat away from me, but it was much closer than shore.  In my rain gear, it was difficult to swim. Almost to the point of exhaustion, I caught up to the boat, but was unable to pull myself aboard.  I just hung there for about five minutes thinking I could regain some strength, but the cold water had other plans and I soon realized I had to do something.  I worked my way to the transom and placing a foot on the big motor used the power trim to raise myself enough until I plopped onto the rear deck.

I doubt that a PFD would have been of benefit in that instance, but I now wear an auto-inflate PFD whenever I'm in the boat.