Looking for the wildest Fish Stories

[mojoisland]

I am thinking of putting together a book of tall tales told by Fishermen. What is your Tallest Tale? What's the Tallest you've heard?

Thanks Ya'll
Robert

[BassBabyNingCom]

This isn't a tall tale, its true and wild and its pretty damn funny.

It was me my uncle and my dad out in a canoe on Black Pond in vienna, maine. We decided to do a little night fishin after dinner so we were out with jitter bugs and buzzbaits, we're catchin a few here, a few there and my uncle Kevin gets a BIG hit and he's reeelin' it in and you can tell its a big one, his pole is almost bent all the way over he gets it up to the boat, (he's sitting down looking over the edge) the bass jumps out of the water and hits him right in the face, at the same time gets off the hook and RIGHT back in the water. One of the funniest things ive ever seen lol.

[twigass]

i was wading out in tawas bay trying out a new bait caster with a yozuri lure when i got a hit. mind u this is early spring and water temp low 40's, i reeled it in and when i got it to me i realized i left my net on shore so here i am with this huge brown trout on and i cant land it, so when i lifted my rod to try to grab it my line broke, no lie the fish swam between my legs and stopped there with my lure sticking out of its mouth, so i did what everyone else would do i dove in and grabbed my lure and the fish. no lie. everyday when i leave my house i look up at the wall and look at that fish that almost got away

[GreenF350]

Well, this was awhile ago and I don't know if it qualifies, but my dad went out fishing one weekend and right before he had shot a gopher and for whatever reason he just took it with him and tossed it into the lake where he went fishing. I can't remember the exact timeframe now, but I think a day or two later him and I went back out and while fishing caught a good sized bass that had swallowed the hook pretty good. While he was trying to get the hook out the bass regurgitated what pretty definitively looked to be a semi digested gopher. He was like "No way...." but we have no other explanation unless a squirrel or gopher or something decided to take a swim.

Another one, that is a little bit fo a legend in our family.... At an undisclosed lake in northern Michigan there is a place we fish along a drop off that goes roughly from25-30ft to about 60-70ft. It's not even that big of a lake to think it would be that deep, but anyway. Four different times over a few years, along this drop off something has bit the line that we almost swear is a Loch Ness Monster...lol. It does fight back, but my dad even took one of his big salmon poles out there that had some 50lb line on it and managed to get ahold of it and eventually is managed to break the line. It has never been seen by any of us, but 3 out of the four times it broke the line and once the hook came out. It is usually hooked on some sort of deep diver and almost never gets reeled in more than a couple of feet before it decides to take however much line it wants and will bend a pretty heavy pole right over into a "U". I haven't been up there in a few years, but I sure am curious what it is. Maybe I will give it a shot next time I am at my parents house in the summer.

Sorry I'm not much of a story teller, but that is the best I can do for now. I will have to see what else I can come up with. Sounds like it would be a good book though if you can pull it off. Good luck.
-Aaron

[GreenF350]

Originally Posted by twigass

i was wading out in tawas bay trying out a new bait caster with a yozuri lure when i got a hit. mind u this is early spring and water temp low 40's, i reeled it in and when i got it to me i realized i left my net on shore so here i am with this huge brown trout on and i cant land it, so when i lifted my rod to try to grab it my line broke, no lie the fish swam between my legs and stopped there with my lure sticking out of its mouth, so i did what everyone else would do i dove in and grabbed my lure and the fish. no lie. everyday when i leave my house i look up at the wall and look at that fish that almost got away

Man, that is pretty good! I used to fish over that way all of the time. My grandparents live in Oscoda. More than once I remember going out with my dad and grandpa out by Charity Island and catching the limit on perch for all of us. It's a lot of cleaning, but pretty good eating.
-Aaron

[BigBassin144]

Green, Getcherself a nice XH musky rod, a big Abu reel and some 80-100lb braid. Then see if you can't land that monster.

Here's my story.

A long time ago (before I was born) my grandpa. my great grandpa, and my great uncle where out on Lake Erie ice fishing. They were in a spot known to hold some big fish. Well, on accident, one of them knocked their lantern into the hole, and they watched it sink to the bottom. Well, that summer, they were out on the boat perch fishing and they hooked into something big. When they finally got it to the boat, it turned out to be their lantern. The weird thing was...... It was still lit.

BB

[mariner]

woe thats sweet

[BigBassin144]

Originally Posted by Lancer6

Set the hook! We have a bite!

nuff said.....



BB

[Buzz Wing]

I was in shock for a minute as well. I guess you could say...

"Lookie here! A bite! Oh, no, he's gotten off! Damn bluegill!"

[mojoisland]

These are some great stories. Keep em coming!

[Love of the Sport]

New here, saw this thread and decided to join.
Anyway,

A buddy and I were out in the Atchafalaya spillway in southern Louisiana this past Monday and the fishing was going great. He was fishing front of the boat I was pulling the rear. We had been catching all day (over 50 bass in 4 hours) and I was pumped. I got boat postion to cast parallel to some heavy grass and I knew there had to be fish there. I must have cast 20 times down the edge of this cover and nothing so my buddy goes for a try. 3 cast, 3 fish and after he unhooks the last he set his pole down to take a sip of water, his bait hits the water just enough to dissappear and when he picks up his pole i'll be damned if there wasn't a fish on his hook.
What gets me is we were running the exact same buzzbait.

Part 2, same day.
Not an hour later he had picked up another rod loaded with a large dual wedge spinner, made a cast and got hung up in some weeds about 6" off the surface of the water and boom a huge splash, then another and another. A 5.2 large mouth had literaly jumped onto his hook after 3 attempts, that fish really wanted that bait.

[WTL]

My Dad loves to throw topwater.

One morning we were out on the lake, and he was throwing topwater when all of a sudden out of nowhere the most spectacular explosion engulfed the biat.

Only this attack came from the air. A full grown hawk and swooped down out of the sky, picked the topwater off the surface and flew a full 20 feet with it before realizing it was not a dying baitfish. He dropped the lure without getting hooked.

I have mixed emotions about this incident. On one hand, I kinda wish Dad would have set the hook better. On the other, I'm kinda glad I didn't see him have to bring an angry hawk in with a rod. But it would have been funny as hell watching him fight a bird in the sky.

[cassidyta]

One time, A long time ago, I loaded up my truck with my gear to head off to fish. My wife did not complain about it, she did not ask if i would be gone all day in the tone I know well, and she did not remind me off the chores I needed to do when I got back.
That is my tallest fishing tale....

[Lancer6]

On the short (no more than 500) list of experiences I've enjoyed there are some that, had I not been involved, I'd nevAr believe.
One of my favorites is...Ahem.
Circa the early '80s I was loafing about the one of the last independent tackle emporia here in Beautiful San Antonio (New Capitol Of The Third World) when one of the guys, whom I scarcely knew and who was emboldened by several tots of adult distilled beverage, stepped up and challenged me as follows; "I hear yew are hot stuff on Calaveras Lake, gittin' yer name in the paper and all. Well, let's US go out there and have us a lil' fish-off and we'll just see who's who and whut's whut!"
Soooo, we agreed as follows; Each would be in his own boat. Each would select a "monitor" to ride in the OTHER'S boat. We'd fish for six hours and heavy stringer (ten bass in them thar days) would win the prize...200 bux.
Well, to make a long story short; Near the end of the day he and his monitor (a straight arrow friend of MINE) approached as I was raking the weeds up in Calaveras Creek with a spinner bait and some sort of weedless frog (Never could get a hook-set. Not much has changed) He hummed over, stopped gunnel to gunnel, and cracked "I've got seven. How YEW doin'?"
I replied "I've only got six but they've chilled somewhat so I'm gonna have to use magic on 'em."
"Magic???" asked he.
"Sure", I said, "When all else fails I mutter a few incantations and the bass see things my way."
Just at that instant, not paying attention, I allowed the boat to drift sideways into the weeds. When I tapped the TM a keeper bass, startled and obviously directionally challenged, rocketed out of the stew, did a graceful gainer (The judges awarded a 9.5), and landed at my feet. I picked her up, all maybe 1.5 pounds of her, and had the quickness of wit to say "See? Magic." Then I kissed her and told her "Please go tell your mom and aunts that I need to do some business with them.", then released her.
Both monitors, especially his selection to ride with me, were bug-eyed. HE, on the other hand, went into some sort of trance.
I finished the day with nine keepers and won by less than 4 or 5 ounces.
Well, some weeks later, one of "the guys" invited me, my worthy opponent, and a couple of the others to drag our boats to a large private lake west of San Antonio. The guy I had bested at Calaveras was all pumped, certain he'd humble me since he'd fished the lake before and I had never seen the place.
About five minutes before "official start time" the five boats were rafted loosely together, just drifting along near the launch ramp. He was a few feet away and kept snarling that humiliation was to be my lot.
Just then, my boat drifted against the top of of a bush that sat in maybe four feet of water, surrounded by a bit of duckweed. "Whoosh!"...a bass leapt into the air and landed... you guessed it.
My alcohol-fueled antagonist went absolutely insane, screaming to our host that I must be immediately ordered off the water. No such luck, Bozo!
I came in second to one of the nice guys and the poor fool finished fourth.
He wouldn't even look at me at the fish fry/drinkathon that followed, nor at breakfast the next AM...but he DID keep crossing himself.

True in every detail.

Lancer6
AKA Merlin

[Fishnngolfn]

I was fishing at Oak Mountain two years ago and had just finished wrapping thing up and was heading to the car with my 12 largemouth bass that I caught that day. I had them alive in a big cooler with an aerator as I had planned on relocating them into my friend's pond. The game warden just happened to pull up. He asked me for my fishing license. I showed it to him. He then asked to see my catch. I showed him. He said I was 2 over the limit and that he was going to have to issue me a citation. I told him that I didn't catch them here and that they were my pet fish. I told him that I bring them to Oak Mountain once a week and let them swim around for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, I whistle and the fish come back to me and jump back into the cooler and then I take them back home. I told him that I can show him if he wished. He laughed and said, "Alright. This should be good." I then took the fish and headed to the dock. I dumped the fish into the water and said, "Go have fun guys." After 15 minutes, the warden asked if I was going to whistle and call the fish back. I said, "What fish?" I then went to my car and went home without a citation.

[Wishing2BFishing]

You want a fishing story . . . well here it goes . . .

My friend and I were fishing for catfish at night. We were using those lighted bobbers. His was yellow and mine was red. Well, after catching a few average size "whisker fish", I got a hit that practically pulled the rod out of my hand. I set the hook and the battle began. Unfortunately, the battle didn't last long because the fish broke my line.

During the course of the night, my friend and I would see the red bobber pop up to the top of the water every now and then. It was as if the fish was saying "go ahead, come get me". Despite the fact that I was already feeling defeated from the initial battle, my friend and I rowed the boat towards the red bobber each time it popped up from the water. Each time we got by the bobber, it would submerge and disappear. Later that night the bobber stood still and didn't move. After rowing to the lighted beacon, I grabbed the bobber only to discover that the line was gone. Evidently the fish managed to get the bobber loose. At least I got my bobber back.

[lowrider]

My Dad is a die-hard crappie fisherman, and pretty good at it by the way. Several years ago he got himself one of the first Humminbird fishfinders with the beeping fish id feature.
As he was trolling along the bank of the lake he lives on he goes by an older gentleman sittin on a bucket with a cane pole. That Humminbird went to beeping and the old fella says "What's that TV on the front of your boat making all that noise for?" Dad says "It tells me where the fish are...here's one now. Watch this." Sure enough he drops that jig down and in about a second pulls up a nice slab, smiles and says "See I told ya"
The old guy on the bucket says back to him "I's gots to get me one of those!"

[Bmuskin]

I don't have any special ones or real crazy things to tell. Deer Hunting i have some wild ones, however I am enjoying those I have read so far. Thanks for sharing.

[Sluggo Man]

One time my dad and I were fishing from the canoe in some really thick lily pads. I had a slug-go on my line and went back to cast. When I did this, I brought the pole far back enough that the slug-go brushed the water behind me and a chain pickerel came and attacked the lure. Without realizing the fish was there, I attempted to make my cast, accidentally set the hook, and flipped the fish into the boat right into my dad's lap.

[Wishing2BFishing]

Originally Posted by Sluggo Man

One time my dad and I were fishing from the canoe in some really thick lily pads. I had a slug-go on my line and went back to cast. When I did this, I brought the pole far back enough that the slug-go brushed the water behind me and a chain pickerel came and attacked the lure. Without realizing the fish was there, I attempted to make my cast, accidentally set the hook, and flipped the fish into the boat right into my dad's lap.

. . . and ever since that day you have been called "Sluggo Man"!

[tnfisherman]

lWhat gets me is we were running the exact same buzzbait


my grandpaw and me have done that before ,with rapalas he throws and and if not catches them they are mad and will hit my lure then

my weidest one is we was fishing of the dock where we have a camper and was blue fishing with crickets,, and then my pole went down,well when i got it up it was rainbow trout in chekoee lake right off the main channel...they stock trount in the lake or above it

[revrat]

Before I start, I will say that this is a no BS story, with numerous witnesses.

Last July, I went on a 8 day long range trip out of San Diego looking for yellowtail, albacore and tuna. The process was everyone fly lining live anchovies as all the passengers took turns fishing a single kite rig off the back of the boat. This was the first time I had fished a kite rig, and it is a fun way to catch tuna. Basically, you have a kite flying in the air attached to one rod, and a clip which carries the fishing line up the kite line out away from the boat, and lowers the bait rig to the water. It's kind of like a downrigger clip, but it flies above the water. The terminal end has two circle hooks on equal length droppers from the main line, with a live chovie on each. The idea is to run your baits out on the clip, and let out just enough line for the baits to dance on the surface of the water. This drives tuna nuts. Anyway, I got bit and the clip released, and I was tied into my very first yellowfin tuna. The fish wasn't huge, only about 55-60 pounds, but even that size of tuna is pretty game. I worked the fish away from the crowd on the back rail of the party boat and got him over to the side rail without tangling with any of the the other 30 anglers who were fly lining live baits. There was one guy fishing about 30 feet or so up from me, so I wasn't worried about him. My tuna started circling, and I was able to see color and called for the gaff. The deckhand came over with the gaff and was waiting for a shot at my fish when suddenly, "POP!" goes my line. Looking at my line revealed the telltale burn which indicated that I got sawed off by another angler's line. I was devastated. My first ever yellowfin was gone. I moved back to the rod rack and started to rig up my fly line rod, and the deckhand comes up to me and says "I got your fish.". I was like "WTF are you talking about? My line got sawed off and you saw it". He pulls up the gaff and there's my tuna, with my hook in it's mouth, and the line burned off, all on the end of his gaff. It turns out that the guy fishing in front of me was not fishing, but rather getting loops out of his reel by hooking a torpedo weight to his hook and sinking it down to clear the loops rather than peeling a bunch of slack and just letting a bare hook float around the back of the boat where everyone else was fishing. He had out enough line that his got tied up with mine and cut me off. As my fish was swimming away, the second eye of the torpedo weight on his hook managed to get itself around the point of my leader's second circle hook. He was quite shocked to find himself tied into a fish, and at first he thought the tuna ate his torpedo weight. I was stunned to look at that fish and see my hook in his mouth, then my other hook in the eye of a torpedo weight, with the other eye of the torpedo weight occupied by the other dude's hook. What are the chances of that curved in hook point sticking itself through the tinly little eye of a torpedo weight like that?

The boat captain said that would be a boat tale for the ages in the category of "weird crap that happens while fishing".

Here's a pic of my tuna.

[Fishnngolfn]

So basically revrat, that is not your tuna. It is the guy who was untangling his line since he was the one who boated the fish.

JK... nice tuna there.

[Abbeysdad]

yea...who actually pulled in the line that the fish was finally on?

hehe

[revrat]

I thought it officially went by "He who ate it".

That dude really fely bad about sawing me off. He didn't think he had out that much line. I got him back by charging a bunch of beers to his account.