What was your dumbest fishing mistake

Share your fishing adventures, especially ones using antique tackle!
Billy Berrill
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What was your dumbest fishing mistake

Post by Billy Berrill »

Please post your dumbest fishing mistake or funny moment of failure. My dumbest moment was when I first started to fish and wasn't taught how to setup my rod, I put 15 lb test on a max 14 lb test reel then I set that up with a lure and put a bobber on it, not knowing that lures work alone. Can anyone top that mistake. :bash:
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Re: What was your dumbest fishing mistake

Post by JoeW »

Oh I'm going to be able to post here for a long time! Hey Billy, did you catch any fish on that rig?

On my "Top Ten List of Bloopers":

Fishing a modest trout crick, maybe 25-30 feet wide in most places, but noted for a few 5-6 pound Brown Trout holdovers, early season, water a little discolored, spin tackle, 4# line, half a nightcrawler for bait (sorry about that, but that's all that was working!).

I'd cast across creek and was drifting the bait with the current past an old stump that was up on the bank. Thump! Something grabbed it, I tightened the line, set the hook, and zeeeeeeee went the drag! I had it set loosely for the light line. zeeeee The fish took out 10 feet, then another five, then another five... hee haw! Then I noticed that my line was still pointing at the spot where the fish had struck, in front of the stump! All the line that had been taken out was going out into the same spot! Wha's going on? My immediate conclusion was that the hole next to the stump was a lot deeper than I had thought, a LOT deeper, and the fish was just running down into the depths of the hole! Wow- a 20 or 25 foot deep hole in THIS creek! My buddy had heard me yelling and had come over by this time and witnessed the "25 foot deep hole", unfortunately. Played the fish, seemed like a very good one and I said so, but the hook pulled loose and I lost it.

OK, reeling in my line. Line was coming straight up out of that hole. Buddy couldn't believe it, and neither could I! Then the line caught on something. I reeled the line tight and looked down along it... then at the stump up on shore. The stump had a big root coming out that ran down into the water... to right where my line was pointing! Get the picture? Took me a minute, then what happened dawned on me. The fish had grabbed the bait, gone under that root on the upstream side, then out the downstream side and had run DOWN the creek! But my line was wrapped around the root. The line I was giving out was going out to that root, making a turn, then down the creek with the fish, but giving the impression it was just heading into the hole! Buddy figured it out about the same time I did and did he let loose with a howl! To this day, I can't mention that a spot looked "deep" without him asking "What, maybe 20- 25 feet deep?".
I gotta quit trout fishing with that guy! Have fun! Best---- Joe Walkowski (ORCA)
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Re: What was your dumbest fishing mistake

Post by OCauto »

In 1974 I was stationed in Beaufort S.C.I took up Shark and Cobia fishing. I used a roller guide equipped St. Croix and a Penn 9/0 reel. I was at the mouth of the Broad River in a State Park. I had been patiently waiting for 2-3 hours with no action. My fishing partner had already pulled in his gear and given up. I decided to do the same. As I began to reel in my line I felt a couple tugs but thought it was probably the 3 pound chicken bumping along the bottom. a few more reels and it appeared I was hung up on something. I kept tugging and reeling but making little progress. My buddy started laughing and I asked what was so funny. He told me to look at the end of my line. It was submerged so i was attempting to follow it to where it entered the water. I could not see anything humorous so I cranked a few more times and it broke free. The "IT" was a 7-8 foot gator that had swallowed the chicken and was now swimming towards the cause of his pain. Needless to say I cut the line and left him with the chicken, the cable leader and a hundred foot of line to digest. My mistake was thinking that Alligators would not be in salt water coming right off the Atlantic. I got a bunch of laughs that day.
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Re: What was your dumbest fishing mistake

Post by john elder »

beautiful little Daiwa experimental lightweight spinning rod; new Shimano Stradic 1000 spinning reel; first day out on Gull lake for that year; second cast...rod followed the bait in a glorious arc into the water. I grabbed anything I could find, trying to get the line wrapped so I could retrieve it, but had to watch as it slowly sank into oblivion.

I cast lines and dragged anchor through that area for an hour and never managed to hook that rod and reel. I like to think someone did before end of day and managed to get more use out of it than I did!
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Re: What was your dumbest fishing mistake

Post by Billy Berrill »

JoeW wrote:Oh I'm going to be able to post here for a long time! Hey Billy, did you catch any fish on that rig?

On my "Top Ten List of Bloopers":

Fishing a modest trout crick, maybe 25-30 feet wide in most places, but noted for a few 5-6 pound Brown Trout holdovers, early season, water a little discolored, spin tackle, 4# line, half a nightcrawler for bait (sorry about that, but that's all that was working!).

I'd cast across creek and was drifting the bait with the current past an old stump that was up on the bank. Thump! Something grabbed it, I tightened the line, set the hook, and zeeeeeeee went the drag! I had it set loosely for the light line. zeeeee The fish took out 10 feet, then another five, then another five... hee haw! Then I noticed that my line was still pointing at the spot where the fish had struck, in front of the stump! All the line that had been taken out was going out into the same spot! Wha's going on? My immediate conclusion was that the hole next to the stump was a lot deeper than I had thought, a LOT deeper, and the fish was just running down into the depths of the hole! Wow- a 20 or 25 foot deep hole in THIS creek! My buddy had heard me yelling and had come over by this time and witnessed the "25 foot deep hole", unfortunately. Played the fish, seemed like a very good one and I said so, but the hook pulled loose and I lost it.

OK, reeling in my line. Line was coming straight up out of that hole. Buddy couldn't believe it, and neither could I! Then the line caught on something. I reeled the line tight and looked down along it... then at the stump up on shore. The stump had a big root coming out that ran down into the water... to right where my line was pointing! Get the picture? Took me a minute, then what happened dawned on me. The fish had grabbed the bait, gone under that root on the upstream side, then out the downstream side and had run DOWN the creek! But my line was wrapped around the root. The line I was giving out was going out to that root, making a turn, then down the creek with the fish, but giving the impression it was just heading into the hole! Buddy figured it out about the same time I did and did he let loose with a howl! To this day, I can't mention that a spot looked "deep" without him asking "What, maybe 20- 25 feet deep?".
I gotta quit trout fishing with that guy! Have fun! Best---- Joe Walkowski (ORCA)
wow joe that's intense. I might start trout fishing this year. I did not catch anything with that. But when I went with my buddy and rigged it without the bobber he said I will never catch anything with the heavy test on the light rod. Five minutes later I caught a 16 inch bass
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Re: What was your dumbest fishing mistake

Post by Reel Geezer »

This incident really wasn't a mistake, but was one of my worst days on the Snake River. I was just finishing up a productive day with the smallmouth. As I glided into the ramp access I didn't even register that something was wrong. My boat trailer was missing. My truck sat right where I parked it, but the trailer was gone. I questioned a couple that was fishing next to the ramp, but they had seen nothing. The trailer was gone when they got there. I tried my cell phone to call Marilyn and see if she was available to rescue me. But there is no service down in the river canyon. The couple was leaving and they promised to call when they got on the road home and let Marilyn know of my "problem".
About 30 minutes later a county sheriff's deputy drove in. Marilyn had got the message and called the sheriff. I gave him all the information on the trailer and just then Marilyn drove in.
We devised a plan: I would run the boat down river to where a friend of hers lived. We would leave the boat there and head home. I would call a friendly boat dealer and see if we could borrow a trailer to get the boat home. This plan worked and we were soon home and then heading to town to borrow a trailer. An hour or so later we had the boat at our house. The boat dealer said to keep the trailer until he could call the manufacturer about a new trailer.
A few days went by and then we received a call from the Sheriff's office. My trailer was back at the same ramp where I had launched my boat. We drove my truck there and sure enough, the trailer was there with the ball still attached. The deputy filled out some reports and told me that a Fish & Game officer had driven by and seen the trailer sitting there and called the sheriff's office, where he learned it was stolen.
The new trailer order was cancelled and the boat was transferred back to my trailer and the dealer thanked over and over. I now have locks on every possible removable part. The deputy surmised that some kids stole the trailer and soon realized that they could be in real trouble, so they just returned it to where they had taken it from. Luckily the fish and game man came along before some other person decided to "borrow" the trailer.
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Re: What was your dumbest fishing mistake

Post by WeeKilt »

Probably not "reel" involved, but the first boat I will NEVER forget the is first boat I ever bought in 1988 when I was in the Marines. It was a 1965 aluminum 16 ft Starcraft and the parting advice from the used boat dealer I bought it from was, "Don't forget to install the bilge plug!" I was so excited about that vintage boat that I left the dealer, promptly drove from New Bern, NC to the coast at Atlantic Beach and plopped it in the water. 5 minutes later after it started to drag the Audi I was driving at the time into the water, I realized I had not followed that sage advise. Saved the Audi (piece of crap :o ), saved the boat (stolen two weeks later and never recovered :cry: ) but learned a VERY valuable lesson! In the time I owned it, manage to wrap the prop around a trot line in the Neuse River in New Bern on a 20 degree night (painful) but gained a love of fishing yet once again. I have other stupid mistakes but I'm not sharing those... yet! :loco:

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Re: What was your dumbest fishing mistake

Post by JoeW »

Okay, we're on a boat theme here. Didn't happen to me, but I was a witness! Keith, you had probs, and Phil, you lost your trailer, right?

Buddy and I driving home from a weekend fishing trip in Ontario, north of Toronto. Hit one of those 8-lanes of traffic near Toronto, everyone going 70 (mph NOT kph!). All of a sudden, the traffic ahead of me started spreading out to the side like the Red Sea did for Moses! I looked, unbelievable!, and swerved over to the right one lane! (BTW- No one slowed down from 70 mph!). Then passed what looked like an 18 foot fiberglass boat with a big outboard sitting on the highway! Nope, no trailer, just the boat!

Someone didn't believe in tie-down straps or a safety chain on the winch!

I can picture the owner pulling into his driveway and staring, mouth wide open, trying to figure out where his boat went! Wonder if he got a fine for littering the highway? Or for unauthorized mooring of a water craft? I can bet the OPP didn't take lightly to having to get that boat outa there! Have fun---- Best- Joe Walkowski (ORCA)
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Re: What was your dumbest fishing mistake

Post by Billy Berrill »

JoeW wrote:Okay, we're on a boat theme here. Didn't happen to me, but I was a witness! Keith, you had probs, and Phil, you lost your trailer, right?

Buddy and I driving home from a weekend fishing trip in Ontario, north of Toronto. Hit one of those 8-lanes of traffic near Toronto, everyone going 70 (mph NOT kph!). All of a sudden, the traffic ahead of me started spreading out to the side like the Red Sea did for Moses! I looked, unbelievable!, and swerved over to the right one lane! (BTW- No one slowed down from 70 mph!). Then passed what looked like an 18 foot fiberglass boat with a big outboard sitting on the highway! Nope, no trailer, just the boat!

Someone didn't believe in tie-down straps or a safety chain on the winch!

I can picture the owner pulling into his driveway and staring, mouth wide open, trying to figure out where his boat went! Wonder if he got a fine for littering the highway? Or for unauthorized mooring of a water craft? I can bet the OPP didn't take lightly to having to get that boat outa there! Have fun---- Best- Joe Walkowski (ORCA)
Lol wow that's awesome. Not awesome for the boat owner but I can imagine how entertained you were to see that. I wonder how they didn't notice a whole boat falling off the trailer. I remember being behind a guy with a boat on the 401. His custom motor cover flew off in the wind. Luckily many people helped retrieve it.
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Re: What was your dumbest fishing mistake

Post by JoeW »

Billy Berrill wrote:[quote=
Lol wow that's awesome. Not awesome for the boat owner but I can imagine how entertained you were to see that. I wonder how they didn't notice a whole boat falling off the trailer. I remember being behind a guy with a boat on the 401. His custom motor cover flew off in the wind. Luckily many people helped retrieve it.
More amazed than entertained! I'm sure the guy that lost the boat was aware of it, but in four lanes of traffic going 70 MPH, with a trailer (now empty), he didn't want to just come to a sudden stop, and probably couldn't find a way to pull over for miles! We watched, but didn't see a car with a boatless trailer. Maybe the guy pulled off an exit and was calling to OPP or AAA, or his insurance company!

I don't know where you guys are from, but I'm from NW PA and all our roads where just simple two-lane roads! Matter of fact- when they DID put in a 2 mile section of 4-lane highway a few miles out of town (no one knows why!), all the locals called it "THE four-lanes). So, I DO NOT like traffic, and I counted, in Toronto there are section with 8 lanes of traffic- four going each way, plus the access roads running alongside. Rts. 400 and 401 if I recall. And everyone goes 70 MPH, and bumper to bumper! Eh, I digress! Best---- Joe Walkowski (ORCA)

Who else has a fishing blunder? C, mon, 'fess up!
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Re: What was your dumbest fishing mistake

Post by Billy Berrill »

I myself am about an hour away from Toronto. I'm from Brantford. Well joe it looks like we need to put some more moments up here to show people it's ok to share. Here is another one from me. I was fishing at a dam in town and I got snagged. I'm a very cheap angler so I climbed into the water to make sure I could get my hook and 2 inch artificial worm back. The water was only up to my knees. So a kept going out and stepped on a mossy rock and I went under. My fall actually got me close enough to unhook the snag and I held on as my buddy reeled me back to shore as I walked carefully while still holding my line. Needless to say we had a few people that were watching.
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Re: What was your dumbest fishing mistake

Post by Brian F. »

My dumbest fishing mistake is one that I make often these days. It's usually a pre-dawn awakening when I look out the window, say "nah, not today" and go back to bed!
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Re: What was your dumbest fishing mistake

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Too many to count but couple that come to mind are shark fishing off of Long Island 70 miles off shore alone in a 18' Bayliner with hand radio, pistol, compass and towing a row boat for extra fuel! 2 weeks later gave boat away. Just to dangerous but did hook up with 2 blues about 100-140lbs. On the way in found dozen skids anchored and pulled dolphin to 30 lbs. Previous year went out wek before Christmas with a noreastern at my back. Oops forgot to open vent on tank and stalled out. Had no bilge pump on the boat had to go into a port and tie up to a sail boat and ride out the storm but every half hour back in the boat to pump water! No phone no fish got home bout 7 PM. Never forget it.Unfortunately there's many many more stories just like it. New nick name was Cowboy! Then the time best friend and I went fishing in dead of winter but brought a rifle.....lets see Surf n Turf! Sorry that ones not for the board! Tight Lines Nick in NY
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Re: What was your dumbest fishing mistake

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I have to add a little of the outcome! OK mind you it was about 15-18 years ago. We go home with brown trout and doe. Hey surf n turf! After cleaning deer we put rest in plastic bags and dump in a 20 yard container but bag rip open on top on dirt/snow pile. Hour later police all over area and when asked what's going on people saying Murder. Oh boy hope no one saw us toss that bag! Little later detectives come and realized it's.
an animal. Welcome to the Bronx! 100 more stories too much to print. Nick still in NY
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Re: What was your dumbest fishing mistake

Post by Reeltyme »

Nick WINS! That's one of the funniest I've read!
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Re: What was your dumbest fishing mistake

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About 30 years ago we decided to spend Christmas at our In-Laws in Ft Lauderdale Fl. First mistake, don’t go to Florida at Christmas time- unbelievable traffic. My two sons and their cousin Jennifer were all about 10 to 12 years old and I decided to take them all on an ocean fishing adventure. As a teenager (I’m 73) I spent each August south of Del Ray Beach and made a regular habit of going out on the large party boats out of West Palm Beach and Deerfield Inlet. These trips were always very productive with everything from large Groupers, King Mackerel, large sharks and even the occasional Sailfish taken and the cost was only $5 for a half day with all tackle and bait provided.
As we drove north to West Palm Beach along A1A, I was astounded how things had changed. All my old “wilderness” haunts were totally “developed” to the point that I almost felt ill.
We got aboard the party boat and as we headed out to sea the head mate asked if we wanted to be in the “pool” for $2 a head the big fish taking it all at the end of the trip. I declined.

Shortly after we started fishing, a nearby lady landed a 3lb snapper and the mate got very excited assuring her she probably had the pool victory in hand. I was somewhat stunned by this and asked the mate how this could be as I had been on that very boat when hugh catches were made of very large fish. He asked me when the last time I was on that boat and I said 1966 . His reply was “look around us”. There were boats in every direction. He said that this sort of fishing pressure had scoured the fish population clean in the surrounding area. I was crestfallen.

Soon the wind picked up and we were drifting along at a pace that prevented our baits from getting deep enough to be effective and the meager success our fellow customers were having came to a complete halt. I asked the mate if he would change my terminal tackle to a bottom rig with plenty of lead. He did so while telling me we were now in 150 feet of water and even all that lead would not remain at the bottom as the line ballooned out at the speed we were drifting. After a few minutes fishing this rig, I had a tremendous tug on my line that reminded me of the many King Mackerel I had caught on this boat in the past. My rod bent in a deep curve over the side of the boat and 60 LB test line screamed off the reel. OK! Now we’re in business. The mate is now going crazy and saying repeatedly that he hoped I was in the pool. The fight was tremendous as the gulf stream and the drift of the boat aided my adversary on the other end of the line. As the minutes went by other folks, who hadn’t had a bite in a long time reeled in their outfits and came closer to watch the fight. Soon the entire boat was wrapped up in watching the fight and rooting me on. When I had about 50 feet of line out, I briefly stood up and looked over the railing to see what I presumed was a foul hooked Manta Ray, belly up but still struggling. I sat back down, determined to end what was now a 20 minute battle. I sensed the end was near when an audible moan went through the crowd and they turned to return to their seats. I couldn't see over the railing but knew I still had the fish on so I stood up just in time to see a disappointed mate gaff beautiful, white twin-sized mattress.

Postscript; As we pulled into my in law's’ driveway. Three excited children exited the car screaming at the tops of the heads, "Everybody thought Uncle Bill caught a huge fish and it was only a mattress” I think it was Hemingway that said, “Never go bacK”
I love to get old reels, work on them until they run as smooth as silk and the take them fishing using pre-1960 plugs, mostly surface fishing for Largemouths after dark.
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Re: What was your dumbest fishing mistake

Post by JoeW »

THAT is hilarious, Bill! I've gotten excited about reeling in a stick, or clump of weeds, or once a sweatshirt, but never a mattress! Two questions:

1) did you win the pool?
2) did you get to keep the mattress?

Best---- Joe Walkowski (ORCA)
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Re: What was your dumbest fishing mistake

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No and No!
I barely kept my pride.
I love to get old reels, work on them until they run as smooth as silk and the take them fishing using pre-1960 plugs, mostly surface fishing for Largemouths after dark.
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Re: What was your dumbest fishing mistake

Post by Nick in NY »

Unfortunately it's funny and sad. As a kid growing up in the Carolinas or little town of Califon NJ things have changed so much and not for the better. Califon is all together different. The upper Raritan is being polluted by road run off above it! I've seen it 1st hand after a heavy rain. I remember catching native brookies to 2 lbs only an hour from NYC. In the Carolinas we would clam and scallop in the upper Nuese river then over night someone dragged all the beds! Sad to say I'll never got back. Then the Bronx. ...in the back of Pelham Bay park I've seen boats with Long Island addresses tear up the eel grass in the back to take clams for bait! Couple times I've seen it! My biggest fish of 54" came from that area. Today there reintroducing oysters, eel grass and protecting the area but it should never have been raked to begin with. Oh well sorrry to be a downer.Tight lines Nick in NY
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Re: What was your dumbest fishing mistake

Post by Midway Tommy D »

It really wasn't my mistake, but it truly was dumb and quite an experience.

It was late Oct., 1989 and I was going west into Spicer, MN on Co Rd 10 along the south side of Green Lake. 10 was paved with a 55 mph speed limit. I was pulling my 16' Lund Pro Angler with my motor home. The road was winding, hilly and about 60 feet or so above the lake so I was only driving 45-50 mph. Here's what the road looked like from the west looking east toward the direction I was coming from:


I popped over the hill and, except for the car & motor home, this is what I saw:


No construction signs, just an orange cone past where the paving had been torn out. I could see the construction area but I was going down hill too fast to just slam on the brakes, especially with the boat behind so I just tried to get slowed down a little bit. There wasn't much distance so I didn't slow very much. They replaced a sewer line and this is what the road surface looked like:


The pavement on both ends and the manholes were about 4" higher than the temporary paving in the middle. I was still going about 35-40 mph when I got to the tore out paving.


The motor home went down off the paving, across the dip and up again at the second paving. As luck would have it (bad) the boat trailer axle came off the pavement at the same time the rear of motor home went up on the other side. I could hear some scraping so I figured something must be dragging behind, I thought maybe the back storage door came loose. I looked in my driver's side mirror and a car was stopped at the top of the hill behind me just watching. I looked in the passenger side mirror and about crapped my drawers, my boat and trailer were free wheeling behind me with the tongue sliding on the pavement. I knew I couldn't stop or the boat & trailer would rear end me so I tried to slow gradually. The motor home had a 3/4" x 2 1/2" steel hitch with safety chain loops welded to the frame. The simultaneous up with the vehicle and down with the trailer sheered the hitch off right in front of the safety chain hooks. At this point the lake level was 50' below the road on the passenger side and there was a resort down there. Luckily the road had curbing to divert water and the trailer was guided by the curb for awhile. It all ended at the bottom of the grade when the boat trailer jumped the curb. Luckily, once again, there was a tall lilac hedge just outside the curb at the top of the bank where it dropped down into the resort. The resort had a 4' x 8' sign with 4" x 4" posts next to the hedge. My boat & trailer took out the resort sign, ended up in the lilac hedge and the hedge was the only thing that kept the boat from careening off into the resort & cabins. My boat was only a couple of years old and luckily, once again, it only ended up with a crease about 3' long on the right side of the bow where it hit the sign posts. That was easily repaired later and you can hardly even notice the wrinkle. Where the motor home is in this picture is where it all ended. You can see the big ol' lilac hedge (without the sign) to the right of the motor home.


That was an ordeal I will never forget! :shock: Thank God the trailer rode the curb and didn't hit an oncoming vehicle head on. :bow:
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Re: What was your dumbest fishing mistake

Post by bettybarr »

Let me try to recall some of the many ---
Forgetting the reels after a long climb to a high mountain lake
Leaving my fly box on the bank
Hooking bushes, trees, the guide, my husband
Losing flies in every conceivable way
losing fish
Missing thousands of strikes
Continuing to love every second and anxious to keep fishing!
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Re: What was your dumbest fishing mistake

Post by JoeW »

Betty, those things are so common for me that I don’t even consider them blunders any more! When I get back from a fishing trip, the first thing my wife asks is “What did you forget and what went wrong?” Then after my 10 minutes of answers (sometimes I have to take notes while I’m out just to keep track!), she’ll ask, “Catch any fish?”.

Forgot your reels? LOL- Just a couple summers ago I drove for over an hour for some trout fly fishing. Arrived, got all geared up... Dang! Fly reel that’s usually in a pocket of my vest is sitting on my desk at home where I had cleaned it a couple days earlier! Rod, leaders, tippets, flies galore, waders-- everything but a reel! Almost got into car to give up and drive home, BUT... I remembered... I did have my spare spool with line! I simply strung up the line, added leader, tip, fly and stuck the spool in my pocket. When needed, I just pulled line off the spool and fished! Reeling in line was a little more complicated and my rod/no reel felt tip heavy, but it worked! Talk about fishing “ultra-light”!

Moral: Don’t give up! Like Yogi Berra was known to have said “It ain’t over ‘til it’s over!”.

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reeltackle
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Re: What was your dumbest fishing mistake

Post by reeltackle »

Many moons ago a friend and I headed down to Flamingo, which sits at the southernmost tip of the Florida mainland, to fish the shallow bays and creeks for tarpon and snook. It was our first time fishing there and it was mid summer so there had already been plenty of rain over the past month and it was hot, hot, hot and humid, humid, humid.

We were prowling some mangrove islands staying about 30 to 40 feet away and casting right up to the roots where the fish liked to hang and ambush their prey. I put one cast a bit high and my lure ended up about 5 feet off the water wrapped around a red mangrove branch. The lure had already caught about 5 fish and was rapidly becoming my favorite bait and it was the only lure like it that I had in my box that day ...... sooooo, I had to go and retrieve it from the branch.

Well it was like the scene straight out of the Wizard of Oz where the flying monkeys come swooping down and carry off little Toto back to the witches castle. The mosquito came out of the mangroves so quickly in such a thick mass I can only liken it to the scene from The African Queen where poor old Charlie Allnut and his gal Rosey have a face slapping bad time until they get the Queen back into the middle of the river.

Too many movie analogies perhaps, but its a good way to get the point across. Moral of the story, yank on the lure as hard as you can FROM A DISTANCE, if it doesn't come out, cut your line and your losses and don't go near the mangroves!
Ed Pritchard
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"Reels As Big As Your Head" Always looking for BIG game reels and anything else that might go along.
Maru
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Re: What was your dumbest fishing mistake

Post by Maru »

In the early 1980s, the Chesapeake Bay had lost most of its striped bass to pollution, overfishing, loss of headwater breeding habitat, and the nearly existential knockout blow of Hurricane Agnes. My dad was a trollaholic so he was delighted by the surge of big blues in March, April, and May during the 80s. I, on the other hand, shied from endlessly straining water and choking on unburned fuel loading up the exhaust as we plodded around. I've always been a bottom, drift, jig etc fisher and the Middle Chesapeake in the 80s would prove to be my wonderland.

Beginning in 1981, flounder began to infiltrate the mid bay. Then, small croaker, huge spot, kingfish (drum family variety), lizardfish, and eventually grey sea trout made mid bay appearances. Black drum appeared in schools around Kent and Poplar Island. Halcyon days.

1982 through 1986 saw an explosion of late summer through fall flounder bounty. We would fill coolers bouncing peelers or minnows and jigs off Matapeake, Brickhouse Bar, The Stake, The Cornfield. Id say 1984 was the peak and we were out as often as we could manage that fall. My dad, four of his friends and I had caught our flounder limit by about noon (it was either 8 or 10 each at the time, not sure) on a cold October Saturday and we were excited that big 8# to 14# trout were in the area. We were right off the Matapeake pier having run out from the crab pots to about 30 feet of water. I was proudly trying on some #2 and #4 pearl bucktails I had just made and was putting on yellow and red pork rind. I'm telling you I was full of myself bragging how these bucktails were going to tear them up....we had jigged with them and caught a dozen trout a few days earlier. I had flipped 2 over the side and began tying the third when the guys started laying the cash for first and largest. Since I was busy they spotted me two sawbucks and I loudly swore that the pot would be mine.

As I lifted it to throw that third one over, I felt the bucktail instantly turn in my hand. The new leader (20#?30#? Stren fluro) still had some coil memory and I hadn't realised that it was looped around my foot. The brand new razor sharp point cut 1" down and into the pad of my index finger and embedded itself in the bone of the first joint. The tip's still in there.

Fishing trip over.

I was sitting in the emergency room and noticed a crinkled roll of 10s in my flannel pocket. Those bastards were just like that. I miss those guys!
Nick in NY
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Re: What was your dumbest fishing mistake

Post by Nick in NY »

Ok about 10 years ago while still on the Island I decided to do some off shore shark fishing in a 16 Bayliner! Bad idea! 50* miles out of Massapequa NY in boat without bilge pump, radio and a 30 gallon fuel tank I opted to also tow a 8' skiff along with a 55 gallon drum of fuel! Again bad idea especially with a 80 hp Force outboard! I did however have a compass, .38, bang stick and my phone. What could go wrong? Haha easier said than done with the fuel then wound up in the Jersey shore! Not good! I did however hookup with 2 nice blues about 150* and a third that was lost on a run. On the way in found a bunch of skids tied up with dolphin upto 20lbs so not to bad. Anything could of happened! Tight Lines Nick in NY Holzman reels collector
Wanted Ultra rare salt water reels including big game as well as unknown rare surf reels!
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