dumbest thing you've done while fishing

[Fish Chris]

Well honestly, probably not a trip goes by that I don't do some little stupid thing, and then curse myself for being a dum-bass

I'm thinking a few of you might have done this one once or twice..... > Ever got your line wrapped in the t-motor blade ? ....and your rod just ripps down like you just hooked the lake record ! That will really get your heart pumping.... until you realize you are just a complete idiot   LOL Then, while your trying to get your line unwrapped from the blade, your looking around, hoping nobody saw you do that ! Doh !    LOL

Another really stupid thing I've done, was to try to take off without pulling up my anchor ! Thank God my boat prop has never caught my anchor rope ! But still, your wondering, "Why is my boat lagging like this" ? Oh.... now I get it ! It's because I'm a dum-bass that forgot to pull up the anchor ! {again, I'm looking around and hoping nobody saw that ! LOL

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But hey now, here's a mistake I saw a poor old guy make, that really just hurt to watch....

About 10 years ago, I saw this old guy, launching the most immaculate, mint condition... I dunno, I'd say, 1970 or 1975 Ranger Bass boat (anybody know there first year ?) Obviously he had babied this thing.

Anyway, he was launching it by himself, and had tied the slack end of the launch rope to a tree beside the ramp. He then backed in, until the boat drifted off the trailer, then proceeded to jump on the gas pretty hard, to pull the trailer out. Unfortunately, the slack rope got wrapped over a bar on the back of the trailer, and started doing like the block and tackle effect, as the guy just kept driving toward the parking area ! That fiberglass hull made the ugliest sound I've ever heard as it dragged completely up the ramp, on super rough, pea gravel concrete ! I was really wondering if the boat was going to catch all the way up to the trailer, and what would break next..... when finally the rope snapped.

The poor old guy didn't even know anything had happened, until after he parked, and started to walk back down to the ramp ! Ouch ! Took like 8 of us to lift his boat straight up in the air, then set it back down on his trailer. His hull was so heavily damaged, he was afraid to even put it in the water

Now that really sucked !

Fish

[Hamby]

I actually haven't done many dumb things. I guess it's easier when i only launch my boat once a year. Gets put in around may, and taken out in october. I fish out of the back of a buddy's boat when i'm not fishing the lake my family owns property on.

Not too long ago i caught a decent northern on a big jointed rapala. The tail hook was just dangling there, tickling the back of my hand. I had a really bad feeling about it too. As i reached for the pliers, the fish shook and sent the treble into the side of my ring finger near the base, and ALMOST out the top. That skin is stretchy as hell! I freaked and tried to put the fish down. Instead i ended up with a northern hanging from my hand and shaking violently. I'm surprised the weight of the fish alone wasn't able to tear my finger open, let alone all the shaking!

The northern finally shook itself loose and went flopping into the water. I stood there with a rapala hanging from my hand. Surprisingly i hadn't felt a thing. It wasn't bleeding at all either. Took a while to get the hook out by myself. Didn't hurt, i just couldn't get enough leverage with one hand to push the hook all the way through because of how stretchy that skin is. Got it out and kept fishing.   8-)

Dumbest part of that was letting that lure rest on my hand for that split second knowing well how pike are. Letting go of the fish when i felt the pressure on my hand was just the icing on the cake.

[MI Gordon]

Having got my first boat last July..everyone said I would leave the transom plug out sooner or later. I finally did in october, and it just happened to be the first time my son was with me. I parked my vehicle and walked back to the ramp and my son very calmly said "dad, is water supposed to be coming in the back of the boat?" He was in absolutley no hurry to pass this info on and said it in a perfectly calm voice.

[Bankbeater]

I've done so many I just can't decide on one .

[Catt]

Yea Chris I've done the trolling motor thing except mine was at night and the trolling motor was on the front of my buddy's boatdang near yanked it off the front of his boat.

Decided to take the wife fishing in a marsh down in south Louisiana, hooked up the boat, packed every thing in the truck, drove 1 ½ to the launch, launched the boat and was putting every thing into boat only to realize my rod-n-reels were still at home. Looked Carol straight in the eyes and said don't you say a word, she just grinned all the way home.

Done this one dozens of times while night fishing, tied the perfect Palomar knot, cut the tag end and looked down to see the bullet weight sitting on the deck.

[done]

not sure...so many to chose from. The latest stupidity I did was WOT with the d**n TM still down. I was sooooo lucky I did not damage anything. But I have been in this boat for 2 years and spent more hours than I can count out there on her. It was beyond dumb that I would do something like that and that was LAST WEEK.

[princecraft papa]

I was musky fishing, I had just tied on a $25 lure to my line, trimmed the tag & threw it overboard, exept....I had actualy tied on to a old piece of line that was on my boat floor. I was really confused when I picked up my rod & there was no lure attached!

I have also launched the boat with no plug!

I left a fishing resort in a deep hangover fog, drove 7 hours home only to realize that I had left all my clothes in my hotel room!

[B-Dozer]

I was musky fishing, I had just tied on a $25 lure to my line, trimmed the tag & threw it overboard, exept....I had actualy tied on to a old piece of line that was on my boat floor. I was really confused when I picked up my rod & there was no lure attached!

I have also launched the boat with no plug!

I left a fishing resort in a deep hangover fog, drove 7 hours home only to realize that I had left all my clothes in my hotel room!

Drinking problem? I never have a problem drinking. 

[1bigpapa]

12 miles deep in the everglades, I sunk my boat in alligator infested water.

I'd like to hear a little more about that one!!!

[WanderLust]

LOL gator bait is NFG...

Last year my buddy hooked a decent largemouth and made the mistake of stepping on dried slime on the rocks. Needless to say, man, fish, rod... everything ended up submerged.

and when he came up... no fish.

[Sam]

1.  Forgot the drain plug. Happens to everyone sooner or later.

2.  Cut tag line and watched lure drop into the water and disappear as I actually cut the main line.

3.  Being stubborn and not changing baits or locations as I knew I had to do.

4.  Lifting bass into the boat in lieu of getting the net and watching a beautiful bass shake off the line and swim away.

5.  Playing like Ike landing a fish, running all around and yelling and then watching the line snap and the bass swim off with favorite crankbait. (Found crank along shore six months later and still have it)

6. Forgetting to set the drag and missing a good fish.

7.  Not paying attention and talking to partner when removing crankbait and the bass shook hard and the treble hook went into finger. Had to have hook surgically removed by family doctor later that day.

8.  In a hurry at the Pamunkey River when I tied up the boat to get the trailer and noticed the boat floating away as the rope did not hold to the dock. Had to swim out to the boat and pull it back to shore.

Otherwise, I am perfect!!!!  ;D   ;D   ;D

[triglet]

hmm my best one happened last summer.  fishing at bay springs with alot of wind. i managed to catch a 3 or so pound bass and was waiting on my buddy to get reeled back in to pass it on to him to go in the livewell.  so i thought what the heck ill keep on standing and prop up on the seat.  this is where it goes wrong.  not sure if another boat passed or just wind but a wave dipped the boat a little and caused my seat to spin out from under me.  i dropped my rod luckily it fell in the boat.  the fish fell into the bottom of the boat.  i feel across the console and knocked the fish finder out of its holder.  somehow i managed to catch the fish finder in the air with my right hand. my left arm and head were completely under water, right hand held up in the air with the fish finder and my very good friend managed to somehow catch me by my belt and hold on to me while i climbed back into the boat.  we were in about 20 foot of water.  think we laughed about 30 minutes before we could fish again.  luckily i had another shirt in the boat. 

[Fishing Cowgirl]

12 miles deep in the everglades, I sunk my boat in alligator infested water.

I'd like to hear a little more about that one!!!

x2. Do tell.

[Nova Kaw 650]

Left the plug out, several times.

Left the trolling motor down several times, once bending the shaft on a Motorguide TM.

Knocked the bottom end off a motor on a rock that I KNEW was there.

Left a livewell on fill w/o the restrictor/aerator in place. Filled the boat, took the bilge pump 20 minutes to pump it out.

Trolling motor set on 100% (thought it was on about 30%), leaned the wrong way and hit the pedal; climbed back aboard after a few moments of flailing in the water.

[bwillis]

I fished for over an hour the other morning before I realized that I hadn't separated the claws on the baby rage craw I was using as a jig trailer.

[DeanFishesNY]

I fished for over an hour the other morning before I realized that I hadn't separated the claws on the baby rage craw I was using as a jig trailer.

Huh? How is that dumb? I prefer keeping the claws attached most of the time, especially when it's colder and I want a slimmer profile.

[bwillis]

I prefer using it with them separated and it took me that long before I realized they were still attached.

[CAdeltaLipRipper]

One time when i was like 8 or 9 i skipped school and went to this little mountain lake called Cherry Lake to trout fish. There was a log connected to the shore that went out on the water resting on a sideways log floating on the water, so it made a T shape. I walked out on the log and got to the end on the floating log (the top part on the T lol) and just started fishing for a bit.

Couple minutes later i felt something crawling on my leg and looked down and it was a spider. I kinda got jumpy and panicked and made a lot of commotion to swat it off....and all the moving unhinged the floating log and....im not the best lumberjack if you catch my drift ;D. Was sittin there hanging on the floating log in 5 feet of water screaming for my dad to come help when i couldve just swam a little towards the shore and stood up lol. My dad had to wade out and get me, then retrieve my rod he was pretty happy

[aceman387]

Drank a thermos of old coffee that was sitting in the pot from the week before. I added new grounds and added water and started piling all my gear into the car while it was brewing,i was so excited to go fishing i never thought about checking the decanter to see if it was empty before starting a new pot,i kept wondering why it tasted funny and was luke warm at best,i figured maybe the coffee maker was on its way out before realizing my sister in law was at the house the week before and made a pot and didn't finish it all.

[Fisher of Men]

No plug. . . been there done that.

When I was a teenager, I caught my Dad's cap with my crankbait and cast it into the water. What made the matter worse was that some jerk in another nearby boat was laughing his tail off. I wanted to punch him at the time, but I'm sure it was pretty funny to see.

I think the dumbest thing I've ever done was after I had loaded the boat and pulled it just out of the water. When I got out of the truck to put the motor toter and straps on, I accidentally hit the truck door lock with my elbow. Of course the truck door slams with engine running and NO ONE around the ramp to help me out. My wife had some keys in her purse, but the purse was still locked in the truck. Here I am blocking the ramp and my truck is running. The nearest phone (no cell phones) at the time was over a mile away. Fortunately, there was a flat-head screwdriver in the boat and I learned real quick how to break into a sliding truck window. :-[

[GrizzerGreen]

I have only been fishing for bass regularly for about 2 years. And I dont own a boat so I cant say that I have forgotthe plug..

But Id say the dumbest thing Ive done is sitting down and sleeping on the hookset.

"Fish arent biting today..Ill just sit on down and take a load off for a quick second" And wouldnt you know it, almost everytime I get a strike and miss the hookset.

Forgetting to wet the line before tying it down tight has also got to be right up there. I dont know how many lures I have seen fly through the air because I didnt wet the knot first and it wasnt tied right.

Compared to everyones elses mishaps, Id consider myself lucky. haha 

[Red]

I actually haven't done many dumb things. I guess it's easier when i only launch my boat once a year. Gets put in around may, and taken out in october. I fish out of the back of a buddy's boat when i'm not fishing the lake my family owns property on.

Not too long ago i caught a decent northern on a big jointed rapala. The tail hook was just dangling there, tickling the back of my hand. I had a really bad feeling about it too. As i reached for the pliers, the fish shook and sent the treble into the side of my ring finger near the base, and ALMOST out the top. That skin is stretchy as hell! I freaked and tried to put the fish down. Instead i ended up with a northern hanging from my hand and shaking violently. I'm surprised the weight of the fish alone wasn't able to tear my finger open, let alone all the shaking!

The northern finally shook itself loose and went flopping into the water. I stood there with a rapala hanging from my hand. Surprisingly i hadn't felt a thing. It wasn't bleeding at all either. Took a while to get the hook out by myself. Didn't hurt, i just couldn't get enough leverage with one hand to push the hook all the way through because of how stretchy that skin is. Got it out and kept fishing. 8-)

Dumbest part of that was letting that lure rest on my hand for that split second knowing well how pike are. Letting go of the fish when i felt the pressure on my hand was just the icing on the cake.

This made me remember one I did in highschool.  Me and a buddy were at a little farmpond fishing for bass.  I was using a big popper.  The entire pond had this "scum" on the surface from the shore to about 10 feet out, all the way around.  So each time my bait got close to it I would flip it out and back to shore to avoid getting the "scum" on my bait.  Well I flipped it really hard and back over my head.  It got hung in some tall grass behind me.  Instead of walking four steps and freeing it, I decide to yank super hard.  After a good few yanks that thing came out going about 100 mph and right into the back of my right shoulder (sleeveless shirt).  I cut the line and didn't really know what to do because I could not see it.  My friend said it was in deep.  So I drove to my moms work and was walking down the halls with a big lure hanging from my back.  She sent me to the Doc and he ended up having to cut it out with a scalpal.

[Bass XL]

Done this one dozens of times while night fishing, tied the perfect Palomar knot, cut the tag end and looked down to see the bullet weight sitting on the deck.

This made me laugh so hard. I'm so glad I'm not the only one.

If I had a dime...

[OHIO]

Rolled two rods up in my car window and broke one on my ceiling.

All within about two weeks and Bass Pro gave me replacements on all of them. They were all the same exact rods too.

I can't really think of much dumb stuff I have done, but I have witnessed my fair share.

I was with my Dad at a farm pond in Kentucky and there were two other kids there with their Dad.

One of the kids hooked into a nice cat and my Dad went over to help him get it to shore.

The banks are a couple feet high, so when my Dad was lifting it up, it slipped out of his hands.

This kid wasn't letting it go that easy though. He took his shirt off and dove in after it. I have no idea if he actually thought he was going to grab it, but he sure did try.

He came back to shore empty handed of course, but he forgot to take his phone out of his pocket, so it got completely ruined.

His brother then went over to a little dock and sat down on the edge of it. His phone then fell out of his pocket into the water and got completely ruined.

They were brand new phones that they had gotten the week before.

Needless to say, their Dad was ticked. That was the end of that fishing trip for them.

[AndyPlaysDrums]

When I was a teenager, I caught my Dad's cap with my crankbait and cast it into the water.

Didn't think I had anything for this, then you reminded me that I did this to my buddy last year!