Let's hear about the one that got away!

ONE OF MY BEST FISH STORIES-A DAY I GOT SKUNKED

All sportsfishermen have big egos, thats why we spend fortunes on boats and fishing equipment. "Gotta have that competitive edge."

My neighbor, a young man and fishing buddy, worked the water from the time he could walk. Lets face it, the locals know when and where the fish are feeding by instinct. They can read the water identifying sloughs and shoals without high priced electronics. I use their knowledge to its fullest extent.

We left early one morning, launched my canoe in a ditch and headed for one of our favorite trout holes. His first cast hooked up and from then on it was down hill for me. The only thing I caught was an oyster bed. Between re-tying lures and handling landing net for him that was the extent of my morning. He caught his limit of specs and part of mine. One trout was 26" and to add insult to misery he caught a 4 lb flounder right before we left.

Well you know how it goes, on the way home I had to listen all that mouth and BS about how well those fish hit and pulled, etc. etc. I had been skunked!

I was glad it was a weekday and he had to be at work in Beaufort at 8:00am. But, he made one mistake, he phoned his mother and told her he had two nice fish he wanted pictures taken of for bragging rights. Of course, he wanted them layed out on the deck.

She came over and inquired about the fish as they were stored on my deck in a cooler, on ice. "Sure I told her, I will just hold them up so you can get a Good picture of them." I held a big flounder in one hand and a 26" trout in the other with my smiling face in between. Well you know who got the last laugh of that day.

A few days later I saw him coming picture in hand and taking long strides. After calling me some unmentionable names he gave me the picture and advised me that anyone that stoops so low as to have his picture taken with someone else's catch is about as common as they get. I almost cracked my ribs laughing.

Well we are still fishing buddies, he just doesn't leave his catch in my care anymore. I guess when you get my age and you get skunked my a young upstart you have to be fast on your feet too keep you reputation as a fisherman intact.??? I regret that I don't have a copy of the picture to post.


Regards,

Forrest

Went fishing in a pond behind home the other day. Saw a big bass bedding on the far side. I threw alot of lures, but as you know, you more or less gotta tick em off, to get em to bite, when they're bedding. I was watching the fish in the bed, not moving at all, while I had a tube lure, dancing it around in the bed. All of a sudden, I see my line moving off to the left. It's another fish! I raised up to set the hook, and missed it. I tied on a jig and pig, and about 30 minutes later,it hit again, I missed it again! By now, I'm getting really frustrated. About 15 minutes after that, she hit it again, and I broke my line setting the hook. Now, I'm really upset! LOL I tie on another jig, and the next cast,, she picks it up again. Well, this time she doesn't get away. She was 23 inches long, 15 inches in girth, and weighed approximately 7 1/4 lbs, on some cheap spring scales. And by the way, I did turn her back.

Several weeks ago, I was fishing my local golf course pond with live worms. I usually use artificial or flies, but a budy had landed osme decent bass with worms earlier that day, so we went down there and I tried his bait. He points to the spot where he hooked up several times, about two feet from the bank, and drops line right there. In the middle of his sentence explaining where he cought the fish, he gets a nice strike, and its a decent bass.

Well about five minutes later, my two fishing buddies were behind me baiting up. All of the sudden I get a monster strike, like a carp or possible catfish. It was about four feet from athe concrete drain I was fishing from. As my friends gather to see, I pull the fish's head out of the water, and what we saw shocked us all. A very very largemouth, one which a softball could be pitched into with little accuracy.

I shouted a few choice words, and a my friend comes up next to me to grab it, because we all know the 12lb test would not bring it in. As he leans to grab it the fish makes a jump and throws the hook. Well needless to say, it was dissapointing, but luckily I had witnesses. If it were not for two people seeing it, I would never have mentioned this. But that moment has driven the near daily pond fishing of me and two friends.

Growing up in Pennsylvania, my cousin (Dave) and I would count off the seasons of the year not as Spring, Summer, etc but as Trout season, Pike season, hunting season and trapping season. We had gone to a little creek within walking distance of our homes and decided to catch panfish to use for bait for the coming trapping season. We had been fishing for about an hour when he hooked a Fallfish about 10 inches long. As he was reeling it in a huge Largemouth Bass came up and swallowed it whole. Keep in mind that in this creek a 14 inch Smallmouth is a big fish. Excitedly he flipped open his spinning reel bail and fed the fish some line. After what had seemed like an eternity we decided it was time to set the hook and land the monster. Well, Dave turned the handle on his reel and took up the slack line. It came tight and he set the hook. Out of the water erupted this huge bass, shaking its head and rattling its gills. Then, out popped the Fallfish and the bass was off. We both sat down on the bank and tried to calm our nerves. After checking the Fallfish it was discovered that it had swallowed the small #6 hook we were using so the bass never had a chance of being hooked. To this day, all either one of us has to say is "Remember the bass..." and we're right back there again. That fish still haunts both of our dreams.

hi yall,im gonna tell you a true story that happened back when i was young and dumb. im 52 now, and this happened 27 yrs ago. will call the story"THE POCKET-ROBBING FISH ". well it all started when a friend and i went fishing on the triple sss pier at atlantic beach one evening. we went inside the tackle shop to by a ticket to fish ,then we had to buy bait, then i had to rent a rod and reel to fish with , also paid for a cooler ,and the ice ,and last but not least, a case of beer. that was important in those days. well we perceded to a magical spot on the pier to bait up and start to try and fill our cooler with fish. first things first, pop goes the beer cap. well to make a long story short, the fish didnt want to bite at the moment, so we sat talking to all the girls and keeped drinking our brew. about 3 hrs later and 9 beers in me , im feeling no pain, i got this huge bite that liked to pulled my pole over the rail. i grabed the pole and set the hook, it was a giant something. i was a hooping and a hollaring, "i got you know you big sob", and just as i got b out of my mouth, the line broke. well, guess what people, i was so drunk and so upset about what just happened, i told that fish that he could have my rod and reel to, and throw it over the railing into the ocean."OOPS". i turned around and found my friend, my good friend lying on the pier laughing his butt off. that fish cost me $5 for a ticket to fish, $3 for bait,$11 for beer, $4 for a cooler, $48 for the rod and reel. i told myself i did good in that venture i still had $2 dollars left, untill the man said i still owed him $1.40 for the bottom fishing rig. so that is why i called my true story ," THE POCKET ROBBING FISH." i hope you get a laugh out of this, cause its all true! got to run ,catbird

I was fishing with two buddy’s in Mexico havin a good day crank baiting for Bass. I got a tap and set the hook. Immediately I realized I had the smallest fish of the day on my line. I started reeling him not looking at the water in front of me. Just as the fish was getting close to the boat one of my buddy’s yelled “IT’S A MONSTER” figuring he was busting I just kept reeling in the little fish in. Next thing I know I think I get snagged on a tree. Then the tree starts pullin back. It’s an 8lb Bass that went after the little Bass. Two on the same crank bait. An I got pictures. Look below

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I like all these "fish tailes". So I went out just to play with my boat today and sence I had my tacklebox and pole I thought I would hit the old hole. I pulled out some old fussey wassy and tied it ot my line. The water was 62deg. and merky. I just hand tossed the luer in the drink and let it settel with about 13' of line (thats where the birds nest had it). Just as I asked God to undo this mess he pulled one of those I got ya's on me. The line got real tight at a snap and moved ultra fast. You could hear it zip in the water. My heart almost came to a stop. What was I to do? I coulden't crank it in couse I was working on that birds nest. Thanks God. So I did the next best thing. Both hands on the line and hold on. I guess I walked around that boat for half an hour hopeing that what ever I had would tire and I could pull it in. I finely got a look at it and could not belive my eyes. That largemouth was as big as my leg and looked like it could pull me sking. It finely tired and I got it to the boat. I did the worst thing I could do. I reached under the belly of that big pig bass to pull him in to the boat. ya know that must be what puts life back in fish couse that thing came to life and spit out the hook then slapped me in the face with his tail as he went back in the drink. I sat back in the boat and cried but then I looked at the line I was tring to untangle and ya know it was all back on the spool nice and neat like I just bought it from the store. Thanks God!!

Once Upon A Time

It seems like yesterday even though it was 30+ years ago. Some of the people that were there may remember it. Had an 11 ' custom made spinning rod (made by ME) and a Mitchell 488 reel (huge thing - Held 6 miles of 20 lb. test). Used it for chunking big plug for kings off the Dolphin pier. Got laughed at a few times until I caught a few. But I wasn't having much luck that particular day. A few cobia had been seen around the pier during that time so naturally I had hoped to see one and chunk a plug to it. And see one I did. He was BIG, I mean REALLY BIG, about 40 lbs. I would guess. He was straight off the very end of the pier about 3 miles out. I grabbed my trusty rig and prepaired for the cast of a lifetime. Was using a 6 oz. Buy U (sp) Boogie. I let it rip not even thinking I could reach the fish. It must have took about 10 minutes for the plug to get to the fish but, it got there. I landed almost in the fishes mouth. No sooner had it hit the water that the cobia opened his mouth and sucked it in good. Closed the bail, leaned forward, cranked like a mad man, line got tight, pulled back with the strength of Atlas to set the hook. One mistake made. I hit the rail of the pier with the reel so hard that it broke it off the rod. Not a good hook set after all. The last thing I saw was a world record cast for a world record fish ruined by a world class nut. Did not utter one four letter word. Sad but a true story.

This past Friday, my buddy was pre-fishing some areas for the king tournament on Saturday. He hooked up with a 35 pound smoker and after a lengthy fight, he got him to the side of the boat. However by the way the rod tip wobbled, he knew the hook was about to pull so he leaned over the gunwhale and did a deep water gaff manuever. That put more of his weight outside of the boat than inside. The king proceed to run UNDER the boat pulling by buddy overboard.

He managed to hold on to the gaff with both hands as the fish pulled him completly under (he says he doesn't know how deep he went but he met two grouper on the way -lol). All he could think of was hold on tot he gaff but keep the mouth of that of that fish away from body parts. As my buddy was getting situation on the surface, the fish tried to go deep again, DUNK. But he held on. Now the fish still has the hook in his mouth and the gaff in his belly. My buddy rotates on his back holding the gaff in one hand and the head of the fish in the other. He tried to swim but that was impossible....the boat had to back up 20 yards to get him.

But hey, he landed that 35 pounder in the boat. As soon as the fish hit the deck, the hook fell out of his mouth! A lot of our fishing buddies would have paid good money to have seen that! But there was only one witness........

The irony is that the biggest fish caught in our club tourney the next day was 25 pounds and it wasn't my buddy's - his biggest was only a teenager.....

I grew up around Summerville SC and my folks used to pick me up after school on Fridays , truck loaded and ready to go! We fished the Santee-Cooper area and our favorite place was the Diverson Canal that joins the two lakes.Now for a few years we had fished from the bank of the canal and lost many a monster Cat or Striper to the high banks because netting was difficult to say the least. But we had solved that problem when Dad bought an old tri-hull and we knew we were good to go!
So here we are , middle of the night, Mayflies dancin' around the old Coleman laterns hanging around the boat on bent peices of conduit..( Dad was creative, and we were broke!) Nothing like the hissing of the old laterns to drift you off to sleep on a beautiful spring night. Especially when the early evening had been filled with Slap Crappie action, now it was Catfishin" time!
Suddenly the whole boat shakes as Dad jumps from his seat and says a few choice words " Aw S*&#! did you see that!" he excaimed pointing at the floor of the boat. "It just shot right off the stern!!!" he says in a panic... "Never even made a splash it was movin so fast!!!" By now Mom and I are trying to figure out what he is pointing at when we noticed NOTHING was there... as in nothing! no rod, no reel!! As I started to speak Mom spins around to look at her rod just as it launches across the stern and she grabs it! "OMG" she exclaims as she sets the hook.... 45 min. later, and several trips around the entire boat with a Zebco 33 and 15 lb test Stren she netted a nice 28 lb Striper at 3:35 am! We assume that with the speed the other rod was snatched it had to be one too...
The next Day my Dad mounted rod holders and bungee cords all around the boat and we went shopping for bigger equipment. I have many great Catfish and Striper stories from a time in my life I'll never forget!! this was one of my favorites..

Where to start, my favorite was when I was younger fishing for rock on the roanoke at Hamilton. We fished all day with nothing, saw a lot of turkeys come down from their roost and a lot of water go by. It was early afternoon and the sun was finally warming things up a little when a rod tip danced and I waited, felt him, and set the hook, then it stopped. I was hung in a tree but could still feel the fish, my dad told me to break the line already so I could get it back in the water, he told me he would kiss my rear if there was a fish. Finally after a long argument (he says it was just a tree branch waving in the current while I told him there was a fish) we came to an ingenious solution, he took a hook with a small dropper weight and let it slide down the line to my rig, after a few short tugs both lines went slack. Just as I began to feel defeat his line came tight as he was reeling, the fish had carried it up river! He pulled up the only fish of the day and before anything could be said my father pantsed me in the middle of the roanoke river in attemp to kiss my rear, but I was too quick and told him that it wasn't neccesary. My dad has yet to question my fishabilty since that day.

I'll share a story from up North here in the Lake Ontario area of New York. The fall into winter is a great time to fish the feeder streams off Lake Ontario for Salmon, Brown Trout and Steelhead as they make their runs upstream. Some of these streams are only 10-12 feet wide with pockets that break off them which really makes for a great experience because you have these 15-25lb fish moving up some very small streams.
So I bring my buddy along one day and it's one of those buddies that do not get out much so the majority of my time was spent answering his questions about where and how to catch the fish. I go upstream for awhile and I look down and see my buddy fighting a fish in a portion of the stream that breaks off and went behind two other fisherman. For some reason these two other fisherman seem caught up in this endeavor and one of the fisherman looks like he is fighting the same fish as my buddy. Now, the problem is that my buddy is working his pole and seems to be running upstream and the other fisherman has no pole and seems to be hanging onto some rope.
When I get down there I see the problem which was quite embarrassing to say the least. My buddy had drifted his bait which was attacked by an enormous salmon which was in the water behind these other two fisherman. The problem was that this fish had already been caught and was on a rope stringer attached to the other fisherman's hip. Every time the fish started taking off it would get about 10 feet up stream and it would yank the other fisherman. I have no idea how my buddy did not realize this but the other fisherman was so flabbergasted by this that he didn't have the heart to tell my buddy what he was doing so he let him go for a few minutes. My buddy was mortified and I have not stopped telling this story for 10 years.