Unusual fishy moments

SeaFields

I was fly fishing for seatrout last night. It being close to the longest day of the year, it doesn't really get dark so was still very bright at 10.30pm. Anyway, I waded up to a run I saw a seatrout rise and threw a cast, first drift into the fast water and I got a hit - salmon. About five seconds later I get an almighty lunge on the rod, another hit, another salmon, this time on the dropper and for a few seconds I actually was playing 2 salmon on my fly rod!! It only lasted about 5-10 seconds before they went in different directions and the leader gave way. I landed the one that took the dropper though.

I can't ever remember anyone saying they had experienced the same and it'll be a story I will tell for awhile.

Care to share any unusual fishing moments?

demanufactured

Brilliant.

Had a kamikaze pike hang itself one time while I was fishing on the Shannon from the boat.

Was fishing lures... Left the rod down for a min to pour a cuppa... Big bildawg lure hanging over the side Iof the boat just sitting under the surface... Pike of about 8lbs slammed it.... Lucky I had one hand on the rod otherwise would have lost the whole lot... Landed him quickly and released all within about 30sec.. Very funny moment for my boat mate who fell about laughing at me sending my cup of coffee flying.

ardinn

Some people think this is unusual - Not me - I know a chipper that will deliver to my mark!!!

Bio Mech

Was playing a pike I hooked on a canal. Week or two before spawning time. She looked about 11 pounds. But when I netted her she suddenly felt like a belter.

Looked in the net and saw why. A jack about 6 pounds had followed her all the way into the net. Never even saw him during the fight or during the netting. He must have stuck right beside her.

dodderangler

I've a few weird ones. Something like the first with two rainbow trout one taking the centre ft and another took the dropper. Landed both.
Was in blessington lake and chatting to a lad who was doing some roach and perch fishing. Had a keepnet with out 30 fish or so. As I was talking to him the net starting thrashing and flapping about like mad. A massive pike had attacked his net and tore the net to shreds. Only seen the tail off the pike but it looked like a feckin monster. Have heard of it happening but never thought I'd see it. Caught a blind rainbow on a spinner before also.
Fishing can have its weird tales. Probably why the fisherman's story never seems believable t those who don't fish.

bizidea

Some people would be happy to hook two salmon in one season never mind in a couple of seconds any harm to ask what river you were fishing sea fields.have caught the one jack pike four times in about two hours while deadbaiting he was definetly on a Kamikaze mission. Earlier this season while trolling my outside rod went then bang the inside rod goes nothing too unusual about that have seen four rods go on the boat all at the exact same time. the inside rod went slack as I brought in the outside rod. I just thought the fish hadn't hooked up landed a trout about a pound weight with the two rapalas in its mouth not sure if he took the rapalas or took the first one and ran into the second one by accident

.red.

I got a little twitch on the rod one evening and left it develop, reeled in a few minutes later and had a flounder on the middle hook and a sanitary towel on the bottom hook.
Needless to say I unhooked the flounder and cut the bottom hook off!

jack01986

SeaFields wrote: »

I was fly fishing for seatrout last night. It being close to the longest day of the year, it doesn't really get dark so was still very bright at 10.30pm. Anyway, I waded up to a run I saw a seatrout rise and threw a cast, first drift into the fast water and I got a hit - salmon. About five seconds later I get an almighty lunge on the rod, another hit, another salmon, this time on the dropper and for a few seconds I actually was playing 2 salmon on my fly rod!! It only lasted about 5-10 seconds before they went in different directions and the leader gave way. I landed the one that took the dropper though.

I can't ever remember anyone saying they had experienced the same and it'll be a story I will tell for awhile.

Care to share any unusual fishing moments?

That is brilliant.

coolwings

I twice had a salmon take the fly going back into the water after an airborne porpoise style leap. One I landed the other broke me at the take.

But here is one: I was casting a small deadbait along the nearside bank of the Grand canal at the 12th lock. As the roach flew through the air towards my side about 20 yards upstream there was a splash on the other side from where it was going. A 12"-14" jack pike shot out of the water under the far bank and sort of bounced with a splash off the water in the middle of the canal. Like a skimming stone. My bait flew further through the air. The jack zoomed through the air again towards the near half of the canal. My bait landed a couple of feet from the rushes at the edge and the pike landed on top of it and took it going into the water. That pike made it's attack run based on visual air direction and speed. I can still recall it clearly, every detail, though it was 35 + years ago.

SeaFields

bizidea wrote: »

Some people would be happy to hook two salmon in one season never mind in a couple of seconds any harm to ask what river you were fishing sea fields.

To be honest it's a very small spate stream with zero angling pressure on it. I've only ever met one other angler fishing it over about 10 years of fishing it so I'd like to keep it that way

thefisherbuy

I remember once dry fly fishing in a local river, seen a fish rising not big, casted to him with a olive dry fly, was a decent fish about 25cm, then I realised he had a salmon parr in his mouth half uneaten, and was easily 10cm halve of himself, I released back(brown trout but the parr was well dead), mightn't be the rarest occurrence but very unusual I've been fishing for that rivers for 7 years never happened till that time about 2 years ago...

bizidea

SeaFields wrote: »

To be honest it's a very small spate stream with zero angling pressure on it. I've only ever met one other angler fishing it over about 10 years of fishing it so I'd like to keep it that way

No problem seafields I wouldn't be telling anyone if I knew a place like that either although it sounds like a little river I fished once in the south of the country

Zzippy

Sea trout fishing late one night in a river in Donegal, up to my waist in the water, when an otter swam full tilt into my legs, surfaced with an almighty splash beside my hand, and gave a high pitched shriek. Not sure who got more of a fright, I nearly had to change my waders afterwards!

kildare lad

i caught a jack pike down the liffey on a lure a few years ago. I put him back, he swam about 2 feet away and stayed there. Re cast out again and as i was bringin the lure back, he hit it again, i caught the same pike twice in two casts lol.

con___manx1

I was flyfishing for sea trout last summer and caught a sea trout and a rainbow on the dropper. I also once caught a fishing rod and reel while flyfishing with a sinking line ; )

demanufactured

con___manx1 wrote: »

I was flyfishing for sea trout last summer and caught a sea trout and a rainbow on the dropper. I also once caught a fishing rod and reel while flyfishing with a sinking line ; )

Have caught rods and reels before.

Zzippy

Just remembered another one. Fishing a lake in Connemara for sea trout. I had a new fly line that was a bit kinked - line memory - so driving back up the drift I let out all the line to stretch it out, when the fly was hit by a small sea trout. As I slowed the boat to reel it in, the line went solid and I had a much bigger fish on. The fight was a bit strange, couldn't turn the fish easily, but eventually got him close to the boat. Just before the mate netted it, we could see it was a 5lbs+ brown trout with the sea trout in it's mouth. The big fish wasn't even hooked, just holding on to the smaller fish. Fecker let go just before the net and I nearly fell backwards out of the boat as the line went suddenly light...

demanufactured

Local fishing club were running a pike competition one time many years ago on the shannon.
Guy I know was with his dad... They were trollng lures.
One of the rods hit bottom and wouldnt come free.

They turned the boat to go retrieve it.
When they got close he started winding in and lifting whatever was caught in it.........
A hand came out of the water.
It was the body of a man who had gone missing some weeks before.

Competition was called off.. Guards called etc.

Fishing one night on a rocky beach, up to my waist in water. Thought I heard a sound beside me. Let it go until I heard it again. Turned on the headlight and looked in the direction and I see a pair of eyes about 5ft from me staring back. Think it was an otter but didn't hang around to find out! Ran from the water and tripped and fell. Broke rod, the reel foot and a massive bump on my head.

Still better than getting savaged by a killer otter

Reedsie

TheTorment wrote: »

Fishing one night on a rocky beach, up to my waist in water. Thought I heard a sound beside me. Let it go until I heard it again. Turned on the headlight and looked in the direction and I see a pair of eyes about 5ft from me staring back. Think it was an otter but didn't hang around to find out! Ran from the water and tripped and fell. Broke rod, the reel foot and a massive bump on my head.

Still better than getting savaged by a killer otter

twin_beacon

Fishing for macks off a boat off the coast of sligo. One of the lads dropped the rod in, one of the eyes of the rod got caught in a hood of the feathers of a guy on the other side of the boat, so we got the rod back!

I was pike fishing last winter, the lake was frozen over for a few days, it was half thawed out when I arrived. I had a few casts of an orange floating slamo slider, which was attached by a heron! Thankfully if fell out of it's mouth after a second, and it wasn't hooked. The heron must have been starving with the lake frozen.

dodderangler

Today was a first. Had some nice wild brown trout on a diving minnow today and I swapped to a spinner mepps size 0 and as I was bringing him in a big swell came up behind it. Feckin otter. Stole my trout. First time ever happening. I've had seals steal mackerel but never an otter.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Yesterday morning. Two brown trout together. I have often had doubles with one on the leader and one on the dropper but these two were on the same dropper fly. Admittedly each was only 4.5 inches but it has never happened me in 60 years fly fishing.



Fishing's Strangest Days by Tom Quinn is an easy read of extraordinary but true fishing stories over two hundred years.

He Who Dares Wins

Was fly fishing the Slaney one night. Felt something when I was casting my rod. Thought I had pulled a tiny trout out of the water without knowing. As it got closer and i out my headlamp on it I got a bit of a fright. It was a bat on the end of line.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

He Who Dares Wins wrote: »

Was fly fishing the Slaney one night. Felt something when I was casting my rod. Thought I had pulled a tiny trout out of the water without knowing. As it got closer and i out my headlamp on it I got a bit of a fright. It was a bat on the end of line.

That had happened me several times.

Bikerguy

1. me with father in law fishing with ultra light setup for small perch on maggots.... 0.10 line with micro hook... got hooked small perch when big mama pike decided to take over.... i landed them both. little fella didnt survive... she wouldnt let him go... she was over 3kg...

2. fishing in mornington just where the river boyne connect with sea - for sea trout.... (had state permit) i saw a fight between masive seal and salmon..... i and another lad...felt like discovery channel live... the chase was unreal....salmon jumped...seal jumped...water splashinh....i didnt catch anything that day but that memory will be with me forever.... in fact in whole year i got 1 single trout....bad year last year i can tell....

pullandbang

Was fly fishing on the Boyne near Trim one evening and a huge rat swam across my line. I struck and hooked him in the belly. Now I'm standing up to my tits in the river, with this massive, very pissed off rat, swimming in circles in front of me, and me wondering what on earth I was going to do with him.
A couple of lads on the bank were slagging asking if he was a keeper, and what did I get him on!

The only thing I could do was whack him on the head with my priest every time he swam round within arms reach. Eventually I killed him and got him off. Never again :-)

rpmcmurphy

I was fishing for for trout on my local water once with a pal and was motoring up the lake when. I saw something swimming in the distance with it's head out of the water. My first thought was otter but had never saw one on this particular water before. I was moving fairly fast but eased off on throttle as the shape passed the side if the boat. Remarkably it was a pike of about 5 pounds swimming with just its head from roughly behind the gills out of the water. It was as if it was surveying everything out of the water. I shouted to my friend who turned to look but it was gone. On reflection to be swimming like that it would almost have to be at a 45degree angle which leads me to believe it may have been ill or injured. I have never met anyone who has experienced this.

Another night while fishing for trout on a lake shore as dusk approached I was having the obligatory last cast when I spotted arise within range and covered it perfectly with a cdc dry fly. The trout obliged and Rose again and I lifted into him. The line and fly shot back at my face and I swore thinking I'd missed him. But I thought I felt a solid tug so wondered if I broke the hook as I tied the pattern on a fine wire dry fly hook. On checking the hook I was glad to see it was there in its entirety accompanied by the lips and maxillary bone of the trout. I struck hard and had pulled half the mouth off the trout. I had a photo but would have to look for it.

ardinn

After hooking into a trout the wee fella decided to head for the weeds, and succeeded. I was in a bit of a mood as I was having one of those nights, tangles, missed takes, anyway the fish buries itself in a weed bed and I just want to go home, so I lean into the line trying to break it, after a bit of gradual pressure I realize ill need a little more, so I stop and get set to give it a right pull.

When I let the line slack for that few moments the fish must have moved, I reeled the line tight and pulled straight up, I could feel movement, like the line was wrapped around a branch, a knock, a move, line starts to come free, then..Bang!! I launch the fish out of the water, over my head and it lands about 150m behind me, on a busy road!

It wasnt funny at the time but thinking about it now, that fish went so high, whoever was driving when it landed i'd say had the ultimate WTF moment!!!

Saw this on YouTube before. Its behind Leixlip Dam.

I reckon Id have soiled myself if I was there!

No idea what causes it? Any suggestions?

kildare lad

No idea what causes it? Any suggestions?[/QUOTE]

probably tench or bream feeding off the bottom

Auldloon

That's a tench fart.

Kat1170

TheTorment wrote: »

Saw this on YouTube before. Its behind Leixlip Dam.
I reckon Id have soiled myself if I was there!
No idea what causes it? Any suggestions?

I'd be getting outta' there warp speed 7, just in case :eek::eek:

bizidea

TheTorment wrote: »

Saw this on YouTube before. Its behind Leixlip Dam.

I reckon Id have soiled myself if I was there!

Seen something similar on the moy one day the pool I was fishing in suddenly started bubbling was wondering wtf was going on when about half a ton of leaves and silt Rose to the top reckon it was gas from the rotting leaves frightened the sh1t out of me for a minute

fourmations

hi

1: also caught a bat on the dodder while flyfishing...
2: caught a 13lb pike while trotting for dace on the barrow, 3lb line, centrepin reel, sz 16 match hook
3: caught a landing net before
4: pulled a sign out of the canal while raking a swim
5: an octopus tried to crawl into my shorts in spain while rock fishing, i jumped!

cheers

One_Of_Shanks

In my younger days I'd spend a few days of summer hols with my Uncle and he said he'd take me spinning for pike on the Shannon in Athlone. He used to fish off the end of an old diving board for pike and perch. So off we went the day before and he treated me to a couple of cheap lures in the tackle shop and bought himself a ludicrously priced lure, all I can remember is that Rapala was the brand and it cost a small fortune (well to me as a young fella it seemed a fortune anyway).
Anyway so all I kept hearing that night was how he was going to catch a few monster pike with this new lure. Same the next morning on the way to the diving board that we would be fishing off.
So we get there and I'm still setting my rod up but he's up and running quicker than me and he smugly puts this new rapala lure onto the wire trace and says "here she goes" and casts away.
Turns out he forgot to close the clip on the wire trace. All I can remember is his line heading off to the right, now containing nothing more than a few small shots of lead and a trace, and his new lure gliding through the air (in roughly the opposite direction it was meant to go) before gently plopping into the river.
Won't repeat the language he used but his face turned a funny colour and it was the first time I ever literally pissed myself from laughing.

Zzippy

Was fishing a river in Scotland last week and a beaver pops his head out of the bank and swims past me. Bloody big animal! Saw another one a couple of miles upstream later on. Apparently they're everywhere now...

Auldloon

Zzippy wrote: »

Was fishing a river in Scotland last week and a beaver pops his head out of the bank and swims past me. Bloody big animal! Saw another one a couple of miles upstream later on. Apparently they're everywhere now...

Was that on the Tay system? I'm based in NE scotland and there's none here yet or no one has seen any or evidence of, that I've heard.

SeaFields

As the thread has moved towards animal encounters while fishing....

I was float fishing for Pollock one summers day. Water was flat calm and crystal clear as I sat on a rock ledge day dreaming, a basking shark surfaced a few feet away away cruised past. All I was short was the jaws music and I would have needed ton go home and change my trousers.

A fishing buddy of my father's was fishing the Lee in Cork very early one summers morning. He was crouched down on one knee setting up the gear when a mink jumped from the ditch behind him onto the outstretched leg. They looked at each other and both ran. He still maintains he doesn't know who got a bigger fright!

Zzippy

Auldloon wrote: »

Was that on the Tay system? I'm based in NE scotland and there's none here yet or no one has seen any or evidence of, that I've heard.

Yep, the Ericht and Isla tributaries. Saw 2 in half an hour a couple of miles apart, met a few locals who said they were spreading fast.

kildare lad

wasnt there a Coho salmon caught in galway and scotland recently??

thefisherbuy

Yea that's right here that! Coho salmon in Galway strange

Zzippy

kildare lad wrote: »

wasnt there a Coho salmon caught in galway and scotland recently??

Confirmed as pink salmon, a second one caught too, and a few in the Spey this week apparently.

Bogwoppit

They were introduced into Russia years ago and have been making their way south since. A big problem in parts of  Norway I believe.

Bogwoppit

Things I've caught;
2 salmon in one cast a few times, landed both twice now.
Salmon rose to my top dropper once, came at speed and I hooked it, it kept going and jumped right into the boat.
Was bringing a salmon to the net once and a sea trout jumped out of the water to take the top dropper which was about a foot out of the water.
Bats, terns, gannets, gulls and a swan.
A bullock on a back cast, that was fun.
Boots, shoes, wellies, tampons, trollies, traffic cones, sanitary towels and condoms, the perils of urban fishing.
A small boy who was struggling to keep his head up out of the water.
A pike on a carp boilie.
A 2lb trout on a sweetcorn I was retrieving when carp fishing.
I once found a 6lb salmon minus it's head in a silage pit, still baffles me that one.
I've caught salmon, trout, carp and roach on a cigarette butt.
A flounder on a wet fly about 15 miles above the tidal limit.
That's all I can remember right now.

jack01986

I'm fairly sure I saw a flounder in the Dodder up near beaver row.

Zzippy

Bogwoppit wrote: »

They were introduced into Russia years ago and have been making their way south since. A big problem in parts of  Norway I believe.

As they spawn in late summer/early autumn in the lower reaches and migrate to the estuary at a young age, I don't see how they would be a huge problem. They don't spawn in the same places or at the same time as trout or Atlantic salmon, they don't stay in the river long to compete with juvenile salmonids, and they don't feed as adults when they come into the river. Yes they're an invasive species if they become established but I don't think their impact will be that big.

Kerryman79

got snagged in a dead pig once smell off it was revolting !

MysticMonk

Fishing on the bottom in howth harbour with a friend of mine when he suddenly gets a big bend in the rod. Fighting face in,he starts to retrieve what he actually thought was some kind of giant ray,and I could see something large on the end of his line...turns out he'd snagged a full set of sand-filled oilskins by the hood. Giant ray indeed

twin_beacon

MysticMonk wrote: »

Fishing on the bottom in howth harbour with a friend of mine when he suddenly gets a big bend in the rod. Fighting face in,he starts to retrieve what he actually thought was some kind of giant ray,and I could see something large on the end of his line...turns out he'd snagged a full set of sand-filled oilskins by the hood. Giant ray indeed

something very similar happened me around 15 years ago. I was fishing the waggler for roach on a local river, thought I had a large bream, turned out it was a paint can.

gaz wac

Was on my uncles boat around Ireland Eye. had some engine problems so he couldn't stop the boat, but we continued to feather for mackerel. had a great day pulling them in and then I hit the big one!! boat rod bent over, wasn't snagged cos I could feel the pull....fought for what felt like 15/20 minutes and the fight was crazy... the boat was still moving....it was coming up to the surface...caught two seagulls that were diving for fish!!!