What is your craziest fishing story?

[king fisher]

I got a tip about a small lake with giant bass from the owner of a local tackle shop.  His wife had caught a bass that looked to be well over 10 pounds.  They mostly fish for saltwater fish, and I don't think he realize what a special fish a 10 pound bass is.

 

His directions on how to get to the lake were difficult to follow, but after half a day of driving I managed to find the lake.  The first three times I fished the lake I only caught a few 2 pound bass, along with many 1/2 pounders.  On my third trip to the lake the water level had gone down exposing the tops of a couple trees that were in deeper water.  I ran a spinnerbait through one of the trees and hooked a big bass, but unfortunately it broke me off on a branch.

 

My next trip to the lake was in early June three weeks later, and by then the water had dropped exposing many more trees.  At the time I didn't have a fish finder in my kayak, so I had to guess the depth.  I decided I wasn't going to fish the shoreline at all because I had only caught small bass there, and was determined not to get tempted  in to chasing the dinks on the bank.

 

At first light I went to the tree where I lost the big bass the previous trip, and made my first cast with a Rebel Jumpin Minnow.  I started walking the bait back, and what I thought was a small bass swiped at the bait.  I paused the bait to see if it would bite again, and the bait just disappeared.  I new I was hooked to a large bass, but was not to concerned.  Once I got the bass alongside my kayak, and couldn't believe how big it looked.  I had to wait until she was fought out before I attempted to lip land her because of the way the lure was positioned in her mouth.  I brought her in the kayak, and realized I had left my camera in my car.  I didn't have a scale or a tape measure, so I cut a piece of my anchor line, to measure the the length.  Took the lure out of the giants mouth,  held it up for one more look, put her in the water and watched her swim away.  I had never held a bass over 5.5 pounds, and even though I thought this one had to be a double digit, I assumed It had to be around 8 pounds.  I couldn't believe catching a 10 pound bass could be so easy.  The hooks on the lure were rusted junk, and the fight was short with zero difficulties.

 

I fished that tree for another 30 minuets before giving up and peddling over to another tree.  The first cast at the new tree with a spinnerbait was an exact repeat of the first cast of the morning.  A giant bass hit midway through the retrieve and although it gave me a better fight was soon motionless alongside my kayak.  I decided I had to have a picture, so I made a stringer, and slowly peddled back to the launch to get my camera.  I was careful to go slow and made sure the bass was healthy by the time I got to the launch.  I anchored the kayak in two feet of water, with the bass on the stinger.

 

 While I was getting the camera another car pulled in to the launch.  I was a little nervous because there were no fishing signs all over the lake, and I hadn't seen any one sport fishing there in my previous trips.  I was lucky the man in the car spoke broken English, was very nice and took a few pictures of me with my bass.  The bass is the one in my avatar, and may be my PB but I do feel the first bass I caught was bigger, of course I will never know the weight of either bass.  When I put the bass back in the water and was preparing to release her, I looked at the man and thought he was going to have a heart attack.  Not wanting to upset him I asked if he wanted the bass.  He gladly excepted the gift, and said it would feed his whole family.  Later I learned he was the manager of the lake, and controls who can fish there.  He hates bass, because they eat Tilapia, and if  had released the bass I might have been asked to leave and not allowed come back.  It was painful to keep such a magnificent fish, but when in Rome.

 

After taking pictures and giving the fish away, I went back out to a third tree.  On the first cast with a squarebill, I hooked another bass the same size as the two previous catches.  This one acted like most big bass, and fought like a angry grisly.  It jumped twice, wrapped my line around a tree limb, and swam off with my crankbait.

 

Fishing was slow the remainder of the day.  I landed a few small bass, but when the prevailing afternoon wind picked up I decided to go home. 

 

When I got home first thing I did was measure the piece of anchor line I had used to measure the first bass.  The line measured 25 3/4 inches.  I looked online to find a chart for length and weight of bass.  When I saw that a bass that size could be anywhere from 9 to 12 pounds I realized my 8 pound estimate was way off.  I decided I would call it 10 pounds , and even though I did hold the bass out toward the camera, everyone that looks at the pictures agrees it would be at least 10 pounds.

 

My PB at the time was 5.5 pounds, and I had tried for over 40 years to get a 6 pound bass.  I never dreamed I would catch two 10 pound bass, and loose another one in the same day.

 

Here is a picture of the second bass, and man I gave it too.  The picture in my avatar is of me and the same bass.  

 

I have had many great days fishing, but don't think I will ever top this day, and now I always have a scale, measuring tape, and camera with me whenever I go bass fishing.

 

Since then I have had many good days at this lake, and caught bass I weighed that may have been bigger, but I have never had a morning like that one and probably wont ever again, but every time I go fishing I think of that day, and hope to have even better success.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[MIbassyaker]

2 hours ago, king fisher said:

I got a tip about a small lake with giant bass from the owner of a local tackle shop.  His wife had caught a bass that looked to be well over 10 pounds.  They mostly fish for saltwater fish, and I don't think he realize what a special fish a 10 pound bass is.

 

His directions on how to get to the lake were difficult to follow, but after half a day of driving I managed to find the lake.  The first three times I fished the lake I only caught a few 2 pound bass, along with many 1/2 pounders.  On my third trip to the lake the water level had gone down exposing the tops of a couple trees that were in deeper water.  I ran a spinnerbait through one of the trees and hooked a big bass, but unfortunately it broke me off on a branch.

 

My next trip to the lake was in early June three weeks later, and by then the water had dropped exposing many more trees.  At the time I didn't have a fish finder in my kayak, so I had to guess the depth.  I decided I wasn't going to fish the shoreline at all because I had only caught small bass there, and was determined not to get tempted  in to chasing the dinks on the bank.

 

At first light I went to the tree where I lost the big bass the previous trip, and made my first cast with a Rebel Jumpin Minnow.  I started walking the bait back, and what I thought was a small bass swiped at the bait.  I paused the bait to see if it would bite again, and the bait just disappeared.  I new I was hooked to a large bass, but was not to concerned.  Once I got the bass alongside my kayak, and couldn't believe how big it looked.  I had to wait until she was fought out before I attempted to lip land her because of the way the lure was positioned in her mouth.  I brought her in the kayak, and realized I had left my camera in my car.  I didn't have a scale or a tape measure, so I cut a piece of my anchor line, to measure the the length.  Took the lure out of the giants mouth,  held it up for one more look, put her in the water and watched her swim away.  I had never held a bass over 5.5 pounds, and even though I thought this one had to be a double digit, I assumed It had to be around 8 pounds.  I couldn't believe catching a 10 pound bass could be so easy.  The hooks on the lure were rusted junk, and the fight was short with zero difficulties.

 

I fished that tree for another 30 minuets before giving up and peddling over to another tree.  The first cast at the new tree with a spinnerbait was an exact repeat of the first cast of the morning.  A giant bass hit midway through the retrieve and although it gave me a better fight was soon motionless alongside my kayak.  I decided I had to have a picture, so I made a stringer, and slowly peddled back to the launch to get my camera.  I was careful to go slow and made sure the bass was healthy by the time I got to the launch.  I anchored the kayak in two feet of water, with the bass on the stinger.

 

 While I was getting the camera another car pulled in to the launch.  I was a little nervous because there were no fishing signs all over the lake, and I hadn't seen any one sport fishing there in my previous trips.  I was lucky the man in the car spoke broken English, was very nice and took a few pictures of me with my bass.  The bass is the one in my avatar, and may be my PB but I do feel the first bass I caught was bigger, of course I will never know the weight of either bass.  When I put the bass back in the water and was preparing to release her, I looked at the man and thought he was going to have a heart attack.  Not wanting to upset him I asked if he wanted the bass.  He gladly excepted the gift, and said it would feed his whole family.  Later I learned he was the manager of the lake, and controls who can fish there.  He hates bass, because they eat Tilapia, and if  had released the bass I might have been asked to leave and not allowed come back.  It was painful to keep such a magnificent fish, but when in Rome.

 

After taking pictures and giving the fish away, I went back out to a third tree.  On the first cast with a squarebill, I hooked another bass the same size as the two previous catches.  This one acted like most big bass, and fought like a angry grisly.  It jumped twice, wrapped my line around a tree limb, and swam off with my crankbait.

 

Fishing was slow the remainder of the day.  I landed a few small bass, but when the prevailing afternoon wind picked up I decided to go home. 

 

When I got home first thing I did was measure the piece of anchor line I had used to measure the first bass.  The line measured 25 3/4 inches.  I looked online to find a chart for length and weight of bass.  When I saw that a bass that size could be anywhere from 9 to 12 pounds I realized my 8 pound estimate was way off.  I decided I would call it 10 pounds , and even though I did hold the bass out toward the camera, everyone that looks at the pictures agrees it would be at least 10 pounds.

 

My PB at the time was 5.5 pounds, and I had tried for over 40 years to get a 6 pound bass.  I never dreamed I would catch two 10 pound bass, and loose another one in the same day.

 

Here is a picture of the second bass, and man I gave it too.  The picture in my avatar is of me and the same bass.  

 

I have had many great days fishing, but don't think I will ever top this day, and now I always have a scale, measuring tape, and camera with me whenever I go bass fishing.

 

Since then I have had many good days at this lake, and caught bass I weighed that may have been bigger, but I have never had a morning like that one and probably wont ever again, but every time I go fishing I think of that day, and hope to have even better success.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What a story!!

[Functional]

@ol'crickety

 

Oddly enough, my father and mother were night fishing when they were dating on a reservoir in NY and up the narrow arm they were on a low flying object (silent) came up the river, over them and continued on. They thought they were crazy and so did their friends until it showed up in the paper about all the sightings that matched their description.

 

I really should see if I can find that if it made it onto the internet archives. 

[The Budget Angler]

@king fisherI just wanna know where this lake is XD

[king fisher]

2 minutes ago, TheLastBestFish said:

@king fisherI just wanna know where this lake is XD

A few miles south of Lake Menderchuck.

[Swamp Girl]

@king fisher: Your post deserves a lot more love. What. a. story!!!

 

As I've shared in the past, I love your sense of humor. I also love your humility. And, of course, we're kin by paddling. 

 

@Functional: Of course, Navy fighters and ships have filmed flying objects doing the impossible and commercial pilots have seen the inexplicable for decades, but prudently kept quiet. WWII pilots, both Allied and Axis, saw things they couldn't explain. The American pilots thought they'd seen Nazi secret weapons and the Nazi pilots thought they'd seen American secret weapons. The Americans called them foo fighters. 

[WackyWormNedRig]

Was fishing a lipless crank. Felt a tug by the corner of some weeds, set the hook. Fought the fish for id say 3 mins, turned out to be a dumb channel cat. Probably weighed about 10lbs, thought I had a freaking state record on my lure.