Fishing Stories and Tall Tales

[MuskieBait]

How many more stories do you want to hear from me after this weekend?

[MichaelAngelo]

(07-17-2012 05:12 PM)MuskieBait Wrote:  How many more stories do you want to hear from me after this weekend?

hahah until your fingers turn numb from typing

[MichaelAngelo]

Something exceedingly epic happened to us this weekend. I had to share it...

We arrived at my friend's cottage Friday evening and headed to the dock to start fishing. We were getting a frenzy of rock bass using plastics directly below the dock, so my friend thought he'd try something different!

He tied on a fire tiger Rapala J-13. This lure was a replacement I had just bought for him after I lost his original J-13 on its first cast earlier in the year. Nice lure, I commented that the fish could see it from across the lake and it was a sure-shot .



So off he went with the cast, and off went the lure... SNAP off went the knot. The lure sailed into oblivion. Of course, losing this darn J-13 on another first cast didn't make my friend too happy. He was rather frustrated. A group of friends consoled his loss.

Then I had an idea! But of course, the J-13 floats! We started scanning the water in front of us for the big green rap.

No sooner did we start looking at the water did we hear SPLASH



Sailing through the air, J-13 in mouth, was a triumphant 3lb smallmouth bass. He had beat us to it!

Well, at least we knew which lure they wanted .

[hoTTuna]

So much emotion in the span of a minute...the thrill of feeling a lure fly over the water, then confusion as the line goes slack but the lure is till flying...sadness...then hope and finally shock and awe....stupid bass.

[Seanook]

About five years ago my cousin and I were working in Thorold. Being aware that I always keep my fishing gear in the trunk of my car he suggests that we check out the Niagara River. I was skeptical. I clearly remember saying "Niagara...where and is the fishing even any good?". He looks at me like I'm nuts and says "You have never fished in Niagara?". Now generally as far as fishing is concerned I have been just about everywhere in our vicinity (GTA/Hamilton area) and tried just about everything at least once so it came as a surprise to him that I was unaware of the quality angling available in the Niagara River. We managed to get some local advice and were given directions to the Queenston Docks. Upon arrival I observed only one angler standing on the rocks next to the launch. Immediately I began to ask him about the spot and general fishing info. As I was about to walk away and gear up I heard the unmistakable sound of his drag screech. I watched him haul in a nice steelhead. Well cue the Benny hill theme music because we went into high gear equiping our rods and tackle and running to beat each other to our respective spots. For the first hour we hauled in a few S/M Bass and not much else, not a total loss but I was hoping for more. The urge to explore a little got me thinking about some possibilllities. So off came my socks and I waded into the shallows just left of the launch to see if I could see what was around the bend. Obviously the current even in the shallows was quite strong and I found myself hugging the shore/cliff face for dear life. Just as I was beginning to curse my stupidity I notcied a lone Gausling (baby Goose) about 10 feet further up stream from me, caught in a small rapid along the Gorge wall. The poor little guy was having a really hard time and didn't look like he had much energy left. It was constantly calling out for what I suppose was it's mother. I felt awful. The 10 feet inbetween us was not an easy trek and I stood there for a few minutes debating whether I was going to risk my life for a Gausling that without it's mother alone, had little chance to survive. I decided to go for it. Inching towards the little bird I half expected it to just give up at the sight of me coming towards it but it didn't, in fact it seemed to be trying to swim towards me, although the current was too strong. I managed to get over to it and scoop the little guy up. I put the shiverring little guy in the pouch pocket on my cargo shorts and slowly made my way back to safety. Looking back at my actions that day I must they they were wreckless and plain stupid but what happened next made me feel like my good deed was being rewarded. My cousin came over to see what all the Ruckus was about. As he was scolding me he casted his little Blue Fox Spinnerbait in the direction I had just come from.......WHAMMO! His rod bent at an angle I've only seen a few times while fishing (other than reefing to free a particularily nasty snag). His drag was screaming. He was backpedalling along the slippery bank like a cartoon character who's legs spin just before catching and taking off. He had hooked into a very large Musky only feet if not directly where I had waded in and possibly stood momentarily only a minute or two before. The fish fought hard for almost an hour. Numerous times it seemed to tire and give up although every time we got the Monster within inches of shore it would take off again. The one piece of equipment I had not brought was a net......"Crap". Well I've already done some incredibly stupid things on this day, why not do another. I volounteered to get in the water again!. No sooner had I got into the water past my ankles than the Musky decided that I was getting out. It torpedoed towards me. Mouth wide open. I leaped clean out of the water. One hop. Seeing the commotion upstream another Angler came to investigate. "Oh you got a Whopper on there" he said. "Yeah but we can't land it" my cousin says. "You wouldn't happen to have a net would ya?". Of course he did. He went back to his car and got his net. We landed the exhausted Musky. It was one of the roughest looking fish I had ever seen. Almost toothless and scarred from years of battling the rocks and rapids in that mighty river had taken a toll on this beheamouth. @ 3'8" and 42 pounds it was quite a haul. We weighed it and took pics(Which I tried to get for this post but my cousin is a computer retard and has no idea how to scan) as fast as possible and released it. Before heading home I left the Gausling with a local woman who assured me she would turn it in to the spca. I will not only remember that day for the rest of my life because of the Muskie,Gausling and my trek. I remember it as the day that I discovered the the place I would return to hopefully for the rest of my days.

[Giuga10]

(05-30-2012 01:50 AM)Magikarp Wrote:  Hopefully you never run into old Greg

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

Haha Old Greg is definitely one bad mother....

[OldTimer]

Yessir dere mister man - we wents fishin’ and caught us a fish bein’ so friggin big dat:

- It was 4 feet outta the water before we saw its eyes.
- The lake level dropped 6 inches when we landed it.
- Took 6 of us to drag it home over the snow - the tracks looked like a two lane snowmobile trail.
- My camera wasn’t big enough to get a picture.
- It fed 6 families for the entire winter, and its oil heated the houses.
- And – we re-shingled the roof of the house with its scales, and nailed em down with its teeth.


................smile

Cheers,

OldTimer

[MuskieBait]

(09-14-2012 03:26 PM)OldTimer Wrote:  Yessir dere mister man - we wents fishin’ and caught us a fish bein’ so friggin big dat:

- It was 4 feet outta the water before we saw its eyes.
- The lake level dropped 6 inches when we landed it.
- Took 6 of us to drag it home over the snow - the tracks looked like a two lane snowmobile trail.
- My camera wasn’t big enough to get a picture.
- It fed 6 families for the entire winter, and its oil heated the houses.
- And – we re-shingled the roof of the house with its scales, and nailed em down with its teeth.


................smile

Cheers,

OldTimer

That's all possible if you catch a 200lb Alligator Gar...except the oil thing...that's when I know you're lying

[OldTimer]

(09-14-2012 05:19 PM)MuskieBait Wrote:  

(09-14-2012 03:26 PM)OldTimer Wrote:  Yessir dere mister man - we wents fishin’ and caught us a fish bein’ so friggin big dat:

- It was 4 feet outta the water before we saw its eyes.
- The lake level dropped 6 inches when we landed it.
- Took 6 of us to drag it home over the snow - the tracks looked like a two lane snowmobile trail.
- My camera wasn’t big enough to get a picture.
- It fed 6 families for the entire winter, and its oil heated the houses.
- And – we re-shingled the roof of the house with its scales, and nailed em down with its teeth.


................smile

Cheers,

OldTimer

That's all possible if you catch a 200lb Alligator Gar...except the oil thing...that's when I know you're lying

Fishermen never sorta really outright lie........... we weave a web of interesting detail, and suspense....... leading to a climax of ultimate glory and achievement.

well.............Kinda.....here and there... when we can.....smile.

Cheers Ken,

OT

[MichaelAngelo]

(08-07-2012 10:21 AM)Seanook Wrote:  About five years ago my cousin and I were working in Thorold. Being aware that I always keep my fishing gear in the trunk of my car he suggests that we check out the Niagara River. I was skeptical. I clearly remember saying "Niagara...where and is the fishing even any good?". He looks at me like I'm nuts and says "You have never fished in Niagara?". Now generally as far as fishing is concerned I have been just about everywhere in our vicinity (GTA/Hamilton area) and tried just about everything at least once so it came as a surprise to him that I was unaware of the quality angling available in the Niagara River. We managed to get some local advice and were given directions to the Queenston Docks. Upon arrival I observed only one angler standing on the rocks next to the launch. Immediately I began to ask him about the spot and general fishing info. As I was about to walk away and gear up I heard the unmistakable sound of his drag screech. I watched him haul in a nice steelhead. Well cue the Benny hill theme music because we went into high gear equiping our rods and tackle and running to beat each other to our respective spots. For the first hour we hauled in a few S/M Bass and not much else, not a total loss but I was hoping for more. The urge to explore a little got me thinking about some possibilllities. So off came my socks and I waded into the shallows just left of the launch to see if I could see what was around the bend. Obviously the current even in the shallows was quite strong and I found myself hugging the shore/cliff face for dear life. Just as I was beginning to curse my stupidity I notcied a lone Gausling (baby Goose) about 10 feet further up stream from me, caught in a small rapid along the Gorge wall. The poor little guy was having a really hard time and didn't look like he had much energy left. It was constantly calling out for what I suppose was it's mother. I felt awful. The 10 feet inbetween us was not an easy trek and I stood there for a few minutes debating whether I was going to risk my life for a Gausling that without it's mother alone, had little chance to survive. I decided to go for it. Inching towards the little bird I half expected it to just give up at the sight of me coming towards it but it didn't, in fact it seemed to be trying to swim towards me, although the current was too strong. I managed to get over to it and scoop the little guy up. I put the shiverring little guy in the pouch pocket on my cargo shorts and slowly made my way back to safety. Looking back at my actions that day I must they they were wreckless and plain stupid but what happened next made me feel like my good deed was being rewarded. My cousin came over to see what all the Ruckus was about. As he was scolding me he casted his little Blue Fox Spinnerbait in the direction I had just come from.......WHAMMO! His rod bent at an angle I've only seen a few times while fishing (other than reefing to free a particularily nasty snag). His drag was screaming. He was backpedalling along the slippery bank like a cartoon character who's legs spin just before catching and taking off. He had hooked into a very large Musky only feet if not directly where I had waded in and possibly stood momentarily only a minute or two before. The fish fought hard for almost an hour. Numerous times it seemed to tire and give up although every time we got the Monster within inches of shore it would take off again. The one piece of equipment I had not brought was a net......"Crap". Well I've already done some incredibly stupid things on this day, why not do another. I volounteered to get in the water again!. No sooner had I got into the water past my ankles than the Musky decided that I was getting out. It torpedoed towards me. Mouth wide open. I leaped clean out of the water. One hop. Seeing the commotion upstream another Angler came to investigate. "Oh you got a Whopper on there" he said. "Yeah but we can't land it" my cousin says. "You wouldn't happen to have a net would ya?". Of course he did. He went back to his car and got his net. We landed the exhausted Musky. It was one of the roughest looking fish I had ever seen. Almost toothless and scarred from years of battling the rocks and rapids in that mighty river had taken a toll on this beheamouth. @ 3'8" and 42 pounds it was quite a haul. We weighed it and took pics(Which I tried to get for this post but my cousin is a computer retard and has no idea how to scan) as fast as possible and released it. Before heading home I left the Gausling with a local woman who assured me she would turn it in to the spca. I will not only remember that day for the rest of my life because of the Muskie,Gausling and my trek. I remember it as the day that I discovered the the place I would return to hopefully for the rest of my days.

Wow that was a fantastic read! I wouldn't have been surprised if the musky had tried ordering some gosling for lunch .

That does sound like a really, really epic adventure! What fishing is all about .