Fishing Stories and Tall Tales

[MichaelAngelo]

Every angler, regardless of their seasoning, has their own collection of fishing stories. Exaggerated, or true to the every detail, we all love telling our stories to friends, family, innocent by-standers, grandparents, grandchildren, trees, and fellow anglers.

Here's an outlet for just that!

Let's hear your fishing stories. How many times have you been out on the water and thought... well that would make a great story....

[Magikarp]

Hopefully you never run into old Greg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txrBr-AFe...re=related

[MuskieBait]

You seriously want to hear all my stories? Each of my species has a story LOL.

But okay, here's one...

When I was studying in university in Waterloo, my buddy lives in Cambridge. We often fish 3-4 times a week...including some ungodly hours.

In the fall, we often head down to the St. Catherines area to target brown trout. Since there are usually crowds during the day, we usually get off school / work and start fishing at about 8pm. It's nice to fish the night session...very little crowds...and some days you can get into a really good bite.

So one of these late November night we were fishing down by a river mouth and bottom bouncing slinky rigs for browns. I had landed 2 fish that night but my buddy was still looking for a bite. It was already 3am and it was almost time to go. I yelled over to my buddy Matt "I want to hear a fish on."

And Matt replied with a tired and unimpressed tone "Fish onnnn..."

"No, I want you to say it like you mean it." I teased.

"FISH ON!!!" He screamed with a more animated tone.

"Now that's more like it" I chuckled.

"NO! I'm SERIOUS! FISH ON!"

And darn right it was! He had a 4lb brown trout careening through the rough current trying to return to the lake. Luckily, we had lots of experience on our side and a 4lb brown is really no match for us. We had that fish in the net, smacked a couple of high fives, took a quick picture and released the fish. After the release, we both laughed very hard how everything unfolded.

From then on, whenever the fishing is slow, I would ask Matt to say "Fish on" like he means it...it has yet to work a second time

True story...no word of a lie.

[MichaelAngelo]

(05-31-2012 06:42 PM)MuskieBait Wrote:  From then on, whenever the fishing is slow, I would ask Matt to say "Fish on" like he means it...it has yet to work a second time

True story...no word of a lie.

LOL those infamous 2 words. Not really a story but a fun tidbit...

One day hoTTuna and I were looking for salmon at the mouth of Highland Creek. There was a gentleman there with his two little boys that were new to fishing.

A few parties had hooked fish, so the boys were accustomed to hearing "fish on!" and then reeling in their lines out of courtesy.

Well, one of them decided to start being smart ass. Every 15 minute's he'd yell "fish on!" and then proceed to say... "nope lost 'em"! Cunning little guy had us going for a loop.

... and I kept asking him what bait he was using... LOL *facepalm*

[manitoubass2]

I have lots of stories, but one of my best memories was when me and two buddies hopped in a tinny and made a long trip up to the north arm of Rainy Lake. The plan was to camp for 4 days or so, fish during the day and have some drinks at night, just have a good time out in the wilderness. I think I was about 20 at the time, pretty green. One friend was about as experienced as me, my other buddy was a city boy.

So, I packed up all my camping gear before departing. I really had everything we would need. But my buddy calls and says "nope, were packing light, my dads cabin is about 2 km's from the island we are camping on, we'll get up there, set up the camp, then head to the cabin in the morning for supplies". This would turn out to be a big mistake.

So we get to the island after about an hour ride. Find the right spot, crack a few beers and get our two tents up, make a fire pit etc. This day is a wash, no fishing, just sitting around having some drinks.

I wake up the next morning around 530am and decide I'll do some shore fishing for bass while the other two sleep. I rig up and head down to where the boat was tied up. OH NO!!!! No plug in the f'in boat!!!! Onlt thing out of the water is the nose of the boat, the back is planted firmly under about 4-5 feet of water!!!! So I head back up to wake these guys up and let em know the bad news.

As we come back down, the first thing I see is our can of gas floating about 200 yards away, damn, more bad news. We look at the situation from different angles/perspective to develope a plan. Ok guys, we got alot of work to do. It's like 630am and already about 25C on this small rock we decided to camp on.

So we head up to the fire pit to take note on what we actually have. This is more bad news, and really making me regret not taking what I hade previously packed. Here is what we had.

3 lighters, smokes, beer, long island tea, 3 fishing rods, a net, a blowhorn, life jackets, a chainsaw, a fire extinguisher, one skillet (no utensils), toilet paper, 3 tackle boxes, a box of Snickers and rain gear/tents.

Things I wish we had... a spatula, a fillet knife, water.

ok, now this rock we camped on is in a small secluded bay, it's hot, like real hot, and to make matters worse, its shallow and right in the middle of an elgae bloom. There goes are water....

We started by taking a walk around the island, just taking note of what it had for us. Well, basically nothing, other than wood.

Day two is spent chopping down trees, sectioning them, then swimming, lol. Two of us would barely manage to lift the arse end of the boat a few inches, the other guy had to get under water to get in a chunk of log to prop the boat up. It was very hard work, and took a good part of the day to get the boat up high enough to bail. Oh yeah, we had a bail can as well, lol. So now that thats done, we need to get on some shore fishing so we have something to eat. We had all had a few Snicker earlier, cause well they just basically melted.

So we fish for awhile, and we manage to get a few walleye and a pike. But remember, we have no fillete knife, or any knife for that matter. So, chainsaw it is. Off with the head and tail, and I gut the fish. Find a nice stick for each fish and over the fire it goes. Good eats at least.

Next day reality is setting in. The motor is full of water, need to be bled out. All the gas we have left is watered down. The cabin is too far a swim in big open water. I'ts the middle of the week, so there is no tourist fisherman in sight. The lake is just dead. It's a 30C everyday with zero wind. The water is hot and gross, swimming isnt even refreshing. Our goal for this day, boil as much water as possible and fish. We did that, and again we had had fish to eat and a little water to drink. It's beyond gross but it will have to do.

Day 3, day 4, day 5 are all the same, except our city boy friend stick himself with a treble hook through the web of the thumb. Ok, at least we got snips in the tackle box and some hard booze, lol. We planned to get it out without him pannicking, lol. We would give him some booze, and when he had a decent buzz, I would punch him in the other arm. When I did that, my buddy would push the hook through so we could snip it off. Worked like a charm. At this point, dehydration and sun stroke are very real. We have soaked clothes wrapped around our heads, and were following the shade. Only good news is we are fed.

Day six, sun stroke is bad. At this point, I'm pretty convinced that if we dont see someone today, thats about all she wrote. Remember, it's still dead calm and around 30C. Were on a rock, so it's much hotter actually. The mood is pretty somber. Visuals are kicking in, tremors, unbearable headpounding, and no energy to move. We manage to get a little rest, as night falls, it seems like we could recover just a little bit.

Day 7. Pretty sure were all dead at this point. Food doesnt matter. Sun stroke and dehydration is killing us fast. It doesnt feel fast, every minute feels like an hour. It's really tough to see. All 3 of us are going into a haze of blindness. It's like trying to see with your eyes filled with tears. Heart feels like its barely beating, but when it does, you feel it through your hole body. Evening comes, were alive. Then, we can hear a boat in the distance! Everyone of us attempts to fire warning flares and the air horn. It feels like forever, but were firing them off in despair, just totally frantic. I think this is it, the bodies last little bit of calories being used in one last effort to survive. About 5 minutes goes by and trust me, you'll never understand that feeling. The boat veers towards us! Finally some good news.

It's three americans, doing one last ditch of their camping supplies. Right away we get water, every little last bit the have. They have towels too. We set out, leaving everything behind. Once we hit open water we drench the towels to cover out bodies. Wakes pound the boat, sure, its frigging windy out in the open stretched, lol. But man o man, every wave just crushed our skulls. 35 minutes or so and we land on shore. The Americans had called for an ambulance to meet us at the 5 mile dock upon arrival. After that, I don't remember too much other then being hooked up to an iv. I think we slept on an iv for 3-4 days, but all of us were alive. The headache and dehydration took almost a full week to recover from.

Once we were all recovered, we got together to talk about the experience. We all basically said the same thing. That was actually pretty cool. I learned alot from that experience. Number one, never go anywhere in a boat unprepaired, EVER! Two, sun stroke is very real, and trust me, you do not want to experience it. I would never wish that kind of pain, trembling, hallucinations, blindness on anyone.

You think you can survive, well, its alot different when it gets thrown at you when your unprepaired. Nowadays, with much more experience and planning, it would be pretty easy. But you have to plan ahead, use your energy wisely, and act accordingly. Never waste your time. Everything is geared around health and shelter, everything.

Hope you enjoy the story... The next one will be funny, I promise

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oh, and never go in a boat without paddles. Two simple paddles would have saved us much sooner, as we could have made it to the cabin. There is a very good reason they are a lawful requirement these days.

[OldTimer]

Here’s an amusing story I recall:

For a string of years in the 70’s I was lucky enough to be invited along on an annual fishing trip to a cottage on the Bustard Islands. This group of a thousand or more islands (ranging in size from a hundred square feet to 50+ acres in size) is in northern Georgian Bay – it’s sort of equidistance from the mouths of the Key and French rivers. There are only a handful of cottages there – and there will be no more as the remote offshore area has since been added to the French River Provincial Park. This place is relatively untouched with spectacular scenery. The larger protected channels and bays here are regularly used by large sailing and powered watercraft as a night anchoring or safe haven during storms.

The group attending our trip was usually comprised of 6 to 8 individuals. Getting there involved going to the Key River marina off 69, then taking boats down the river and across open water to the islands (about an 1.5+ hour run at high speed in calm seas).
It was a lot of fun, and great Pike fishing.

Boys being Boys we had lots of jokes played – many times with “Buddy” as the patsy.

“Buddy” was a nice quiet guy and he never seemed to get upset about being the goat. Buddy also was probably the best boatman, fisherman, and swimmer in our crowd. He also knew the shoals of the area very well.

Second or third year we did have quite a few guys going so we needed 3 boats to handle the crowd, the tackle, the food, and the refreshments. It was decided that due to fairly high seas in the main lake that day, we’d send Buddy out in the smaller (yet unsinkable) Boston Whaler with all the bulky gear, tackle, duffle bags, etc. The rest of us would head out in the two much larger inboard/outboards with the heavier stuff, extra full gas tanks, food, and most of the refreshments.

Off we go. Well…… the water was REAL rough having huge swells with a large white cap cross chop on top.

Buddy in the Whaler just takes off and doesn’t take the safe dog leg route to the islands but short-cuts straight line - across the nasty shoals – leaving the rest of us far behind. It took the rest of us a long time to get there.

When the rest of us get to the island – there’s Buddy having a beer, with all the gear off loaded on the dock, and casting a medium size Dardevle out into the channel. He tells us that this new rod & reel he’s brought up is the best he’s ever had and that it casts better than anything around.

Having had a rough ride getting tossed by the lake – we all grabbed a refreshment to chill a bit. But Buddy keeps casting and expounding on how great he can now cast……… this leads to discussion on who can cast farther……… this leads to Buddy betting he can outdistance any one of us with his new rig using his medium sized Dardevle, against any of us using our rigs with any lure we’d like to use . The winner of the competition gets the lures used in the test………… one group cast decides it all.

So… the rest of of us get our rods out and pick a lure. Every one of us picks a very large heavy lure and tie it on.

We line up on the dock ………. Ready ………..set…………..go……………………………….

Buddy - who really didn’t cast all that hard has his lure go about 150 feet and it drops into the water.

The rest of us watch our lures go so much further………….. and then watch in horror as our line also runs out …. and witness our lures and a bunch of our freshly severed line - disappear into the deep channel.

Buddy exclaims “You guys win!” and tosses his lure to us.

Seems Buddy had time to mess with our stuff before we arrived……………………….


Cheers,

OldTimer

[MuskieBait]

@MB2 - that's why a good knife, an emergency blanket and a water boiling can should always be chosen before beer

I know...20 and green...bet you make better decisions now.

I don't go into the wild without a compass, matches, my Swiss Army, whistle, a pen, a repair sewing kit, a spool of mono plus a few split shots and a few hooks and some first aid items. Always carry it in a fanny pack that I have it clipped around my waist at all times, from the time I get up to the time I get into my sleeping bag.

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@OldTimer - Hahahaha! That's awesome!

[manitoubass2]

Thats a good one OT! revenge!!!!

Me, a friend and my dad decided to head up to my uncle Roys hunting shack for walleye opener. It's a long ways up the dryden highway, then close to a 100km's down a logging road, but the fishing is awesome and within a long weekend, you can fish 10 or more lakes. We packed up food and supplies, and some booze and a small motor. We already had a small tinny up there. So anyhow, in order to get permission to use the hunting shack, my uncle asked if we could take it apart on the last day and relocate it for him, no problem.

The first day we unpacked and headed to a small lake and just had awesome walleye fishing. It had started to rain a little later in the evening, so we played cards, ate real good and had some drinks.

Second day was the exact same. Except our company had drank too much and passed out. So me and my dad started plotting...

Now it's real early morning, like 5am ish. My dad gets up on the roof and removes the makeshift smoke stack. Were is it located??? Right above buddies bed! It's raining good too, lol. Buddy didnt wake up, so me and my dad went and hit up another small lake for the morning. When we returned, buddy was still asleep. We had a good laugh over how wet he was, and that he was so hungover he didnt even budge the entire time. We actually had a good bit of the shack taken apart by the time buddy awoke, soaked to the bone. He had a few choice words for us, but had a good laugh when we showed him the pictures.

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(06-01-2012 04:23 PM)MuskieBait Wrote:  @MB2 - that's why a good knife, an emergency blanket and a water boiling can should always be chosen before beer

I know...20 and green...bet you make better decisions now.

I don't go into the wild without a compass, matches, my Swiss Army, whistle, a pen, a repair sewing kit, a spool of mono plus a few split shots and a few hooks and some first aid items. Always carry it in a fanny pack that I have it clipped around my waist at all times, from the time I get up to the time I get into my sleeping bag.

---

@OldTimer - Hahahaha! That's awesome!

I live in the bush now, for the most part, lol. I'm always prepared now, always. Plus I have much more experience. Nowadays, I could have easily made paddles to get us outta there, if I had to.

[OldTimer]

In my early days I had the pleasure of working at a campground located on a Muskoka lake for most of my teens.

It was a not a great financial reward, but I did have the opportunity to fish every day all summer long.

My friends and I did a lot of snorkelling in all areas of the lake, a lot of the rivers nearby, and most local falls nearby and within Algonquin Park.

Snorkelling Marsh’s Falls near Dwight, Ontario:

   

Additionally we had access and use of a small piece of equipment called a “Scuba-Buoy” which was a small floating compressor (mounted in a large inner tube floating ring) which pumped air down to one (or two) full face mask(s) via 30’ of hose(s) (these are no longer available – I think they actually got banned, or redesigned and renamed). You could stay down for over an hour if you wanted………. Or until the compressor stopped running (………..smile).

This not only helped my fishing a great deal even to this day - as I know the bottom structures of my favorite lake very well, but also by seeing the fish behaviour and reactions in their world .

More than a few times I fished with regular fishing gear and snorkelled at the same time – and watched the strikes, the rejections, and the total ignoring of the bait or lure.

I observed many smallmouth, but also suckers, bullheads, sunfish, perch, rock bass, crayfish, chubs, and (briefly) a few lake trout, in their natural environment.

What brought the above memory to mind today was seeing this video - of a bullhead guarding its fry –which was a thing I saw many times in one area of the lake, every year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sVGvzOt3wo

I always thought it was quite amazing how the parent fish herds and corrals the multitude of minnows to keep them together.

Cheers,

OldTimer

[MichaelAngelo]

(06-26-2012 03:17 PM)OldTimer Wrote:  This not only helped my fishing a great deal even to this day - as I know the bottom structures of my favorite lake very well, but also by seeing the fish behaviour and reactions in their world .

Spectacular! This takes sight-fishing to a while new level

...

A tidbit of a story-worthy event happened to hoTTuna and I a few days ago.

We were fishing our local pond for bass. He was using a dollarama pink-tailed grub and i was using a dollarama frog. As the evening went on, he was clearly out-fishing me.

He finished landing a fish and said he was good for the night. I still wanted to get another one, so he offered me some of his grubs to try.

But I didn't want to use the grub, I wanted to show that the frog worked. I called out to him "But I want the frog to wor...." BAM fish on. It ended up shaking free, or else I could have to put a picture to the tale.

Funny coincidences happen all the time. Needles to say my vocal expression of desire for the frog to work didn't help on subsequent casts.