Have you heard the one about the fisherman who caught an unidentified flying object? How about the guy who caught a food chain of fish in one cast? Or the angler who treed a keeper bass?
Sounds like a bunch of fish stories, right? Well, yeah, but sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. I should know. After six decades of fishing, I’ve seen some “you can’t make this stuff up” moments. Take a look:
The Cast That Never Landed
While I worked for a newspaper in Racine, Wis., I would often go to a fishing pier on Lake Michigan in my spare time and cast for brown trout. I remember one foggy day when I caught something I didn’t bargain for—an angry seagull.
I cast into the thick fog and waited for my spoon to hit the water. But it never did. My line just hovered in the damp air. At first, I thought it might be electricity in the air that caused it to float over the water.
Finally, I opted for what most fishermen would do in that situation. I reared back and set the hook. When I did, an angry seagull rocketed out of the fog and straight at me. The treble hook was firmly entrenched in its mouth, indicating I had fooled at least one creature into thinking it was a baitfish.
As the old timers on the dock looked on, I put on a pair of gloves and struggled to unhook the squawking bird. I brought new meaning to the phrase “catch and release” that day. Watching the bird fly off, I gathered my tackle and headed back to my vehicle. I wasn’t going to go through that again.
The Food Chain in Action
I got a good look at the food chain in action when I fished with the late Virgil Ward on one of his farm ponds in west-central Missouri.
We were filming a segment for Virgil’s Championship Fishing television show, targeting some of the large crappies that lived in the thick flooded timber. I dropped a minnow along a large tree and immediately felt a tap. I set the hook and reeled a big crappie to the surface. I let the fish splash around a bit for the camera, and I soon saw a big shadow rise toward the commotion.
I’ll never forget what I saw next: the jaws of the biggest bass I have ever seen. When the fish headed out with my crappie in its mouth, I opened the bail on my spinning rod and let the bass take it. I waited a few moments, then I tried to ease the bass to the surface with my ultralight rod and 4-pound- test line.
I was able to get the bass part way up before she realized she was hooked. She came to the top and seemingly put on a show for the cameras before disappearing in a giant swirl and breaking my line. I sat there in the boat for a minute, marveling at how a bass could inhale a 10-inch crappie so easily. I guess it was proof that it takes a big bait to catch a big bass.
An Inadvertent Limb-Line
When I cast over a limb of a flooded tree at Truman Lake one day, I tugged to see if I could break it loose. As I did, the lure bounced up and down over the water. As it splashed the surface, a keeper bass rose and engulfed the bait.
With the line still tangled on the tree limb, I tried unsuccessfully to pull the bass over the limb. It was just hanging there in mid-air until we could get over there and unhook it. I told my fishing partner that I planned it that way; I was trying out a new pattern. I don’t think he believed me.
The Shot Heard ‘Round the Lake
When I was just a little guy, my dad took me fishing in northern Wisconsin. We had just launched our boat when we heard gunfire carry across the water of the flowage we were fishing. Then we saw two guys in a small boat furiously bailing water. Before we could get there, others came to their rescue.
Later, the warden tried to keep a straight face when he told us what had happened. Back in those days, some fishermen used a handgun to shoot big muskies they caught to avoid being maimed by gnashing teeth.
But they did it when the fish were in the net over the water, not when the fish was in the boat like these guys did. They fired twice and knocked holes in their wooden boat. It was at that moment l learned you don’t have to be a Rhodes Scholar to be a fisherman.
The Fish That Couldn’t Say No
I remember coming across a largemouth bass that was either very hungry or very dumb—or maybe both.
I noticed that the 12-inch fish had two hook marks in its jaw and a torn dorsal fin when I reeled it in, but thought nothing of it at first. I worked my way down the bank and caught several other fish before hooking that first bass again. Again, I tossed him back and went back to our cottage for lunch.
That evening, I fished by our dock again and my old friend bit again. This time I offered some advice before turning him back. “You’re not to get far in life if you can’t control yourself,” I told him.
So much for the theory about bass getting wary after being caught and release.
Got a Story to Tell?
We want to hear from you! Whether it’s the biggest fish you’ve ever landed, a wild day on the water, or just a memorable catch with friends or family — share your story with the Wired2fish community! Send us a quick write-up and a few photos of your awesome catch or crazy fishing adventure to info@wired2fish.com. You might just see your story featured and inspire fellow anglers around the country. So dig up those photos, relive the moment, and drop us a line.
