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Most Terrifying Fishing Experience? 2024


fishing user avatarRMcDuffee726 reply : 

Hey guys, I'm rather new to this and I'm not sure if this is a topic already, but I thought I would give this a shot.  I was fishing once in a nice sized pond in New Hampshire like a regularly do, but this time was different.  The pond is very clear with a depth of around 40 feet, but weeds are visible at about 10 feet.  I was kayak fishing the weeds when I got hung up on some brush.  I casually paddled over to unhang myself.  When my hand was in the water, I noticed a shadow coming up from the depths of the weeds and I quickly retracted my hand out of the water.  A huge snapper came out of nowhere and bit through the top of my rod and took my lure and line to the bottom of the pond.  If my hand was still in the water I believe without a doubt I would be missing a few fingers.  I was wondering if anyone else has any similar or scary fishing stories?


fishing user avatarCryoglobin reply : 

I have bumped up against 6-7 foot alligator gar a few times in a float tube.  They aren't overly aggressive, but they are definitely powerful and have a serious set of teeth.


fishing user avatarSirSnookalot reply : 

Have had 6-10 bull sharks surrounding a 21' boat while catching bonita, a bit unnerving.


fishing user avatarCryoglobin reply : 

My uncle was doing a not so smart thing once flounder fishing in chest deep surf and putting them on a stringer around his waist.  When he came out of the water, all that was left on the stringer was heads.  He said he felt something brush him a couple of times but thought it was just one of the flounder.


fishing user avatarBluebasser86 reply : 

I got to the lake once and realized I'd forgotten to put the batteries in the boat  :surprised:


fishing user avatarBankbeater reply : 

It had to be when I was fishing along a rock wall a couple of years back and the electric motor quit on me.  I don't think that I have ever moved so fast to crank up the gas motor and back up before the wind pushed me into the rocks.


fishing user avatarboostr reply : 

I havn't had a terrifying experience fishing yet, but I did have a terrifying surfing experience involving a fish.  When I lived down In Miami I did alot of surfing along the Florida coast. One day I was surfing at Haulover pier, while paddeling out  a huge Tarpon maybe 6ft or larger rolled in front of me and scared the living crap out of me...  never pulled my legs and arms out of the water that quick before.  :laugh5:


fishing user avatarMarkH024 reply : 

Getting shot at by a duck hunter....


fishing user avatarOregon Native reply : 

Once when fishing the Columbia river the wind came up the gorge while they were pushing a lot of current. Waves were so tall we had to hit them at an angle and surf down other side. We got a bit wet and cold. Was a bit spooky.

Tight Lines


fishing user avatarGrizzn N Bassin reply : 

Thats summer it was just me and fishing pole. in the middle of woods at my uncle private pond about 15 acres. well i was walking through a trail made by me around the cove and all of a sudden i hear some shuffling in by me. the loudest most disturbing scream or crying was to follow. its was a fisher cat never heard one before in person.  it was about 1 am pitch black out and it scared me real bad haha!


fishing user avatarboostr reply : 
  On 1/21/2014 at 10:01 PM, MarkH024 said:

Getting shot at by a duck hunter....

Ouch.


fishing user avatarGoaltender reply : 

I was getting ready to leave the dock for a tournament on Lake Winnebago in WI when a terrible fog rolled in. This was prior to GPS. The fog was so thick you couldn't see more than 20ft. My navigation was a map with compass points on it and the boat's compass. We followed to the shore line nearly running into docks time and again. What it made most un-nerving was that we could hear other boaters screaming down the lake!


fishing user avatarWIGuide reply : 

I've had a few:

 

Most recently, this past summer was fishing a small lake out in the middle of nowhere and I fished until after dark. After loading my boat, I pulled ahead into the small clearing in the woods that acts as an unlit makeshift parking lot instead of staying right by the water like I normally do when I fish there. I left my Jeep lights on so I could see what I was doing while I was putting my stuff away and I was almost done when I heard a noise. It didn't register right away, but after a few seconds it hit me. It was a deep low growl that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up! Needless to say, I hopped in my Jeep and got out of there and finished putting my gear away when I got home. I also did a little research online and I'm about 99.9% sure the growl came from a wolf.

 

While prefishing for a tournament last year a storm was blowing in, and was quite a ways out. We had been tracking it on my dad’s Humminbird and it looked like it was going to miss the lake. The storm was quite a ways out too so we decided to fish a little bit longer. About 15 minutes later, we started noticing if you were to lift your rod tip anywhere above your head you’d hear these little snaps and could even feel it in your rod a little. Needless to say, it was a little unnerving to say the least.

 

The other one that comes from fairly recent memory was a time I went out knowingly before a storm on the lake we live on. I knew I had limited time but I thought I’d have at least an hour if not longer. However, I was wrong. I no more than got to my spot and started fishing (caught one right away too), and I saw a flash of lightning and heard the thunder, so I turned and headed for home. About halfway between me and our house there was a pontoon that had their motor cover off. I stopped to check on them and they had gotten lost and on top of that their motor wouldn’t start. I sat there hanging onto their pontoon while I helped them get the motor started with lightning flashing all over and in a downpour. Probably not the smartest thing I’ve ever done, but I was blessed that someone up above was protecting me that day.


fishing user avatartomustang reply : 

Not terrifying but:

 

Fishing above dams

 

Fishing around duck hunters


fishing user avatarA-Jay reply : 

First off Welcome to BR ~

 

I've had a couple.  I wouldn't call them terrifying but they certainly got my attention.

 

Back in the day, I was as addicted to salt water striped bass fishing as I am for sweet water bass now.

The best fishing was at night late and early in the year.  So there I am, wearing a wet suit, standing navel deep in the surf, casting away into the blackness.  Nothing to see.  My focus directed solely on the what the big eel on the end of my line is doing.  Hoping to feel that tell tale "thump" of a big striper sucking that bait in.  And then it happens - something bumps into my leg.  MAN !  It makes me cringe just thinking about it.  Talk about needing a change of shorts.  It happened once or twice every 2 or 3 seasons.  I never would know what the heck it was, nor did I want to.  Be each time it did, I would spend the remainder of that tide in about ankle deep water.

 

Most recently I spent an hour or so battling the wind & waves on Lake Erie in November with a member here.  We got caught in a squall or a cell or whatever you want to call it.  Almost 30 years in the USCG, all on the Atlantic, I've not seen anything like that nor do I want to again.  And just for the record, Dwight Hottle, can drive the **** out of his boat.

 

A-Jay


fishing user avatarVolFan reply : 

I was fishing around Ft Loudon dam in East Tennessee one in my kayak. The generators weren't running so it was just like a big rocky pond. I heard the horn sound and was thinking they'd start putting on the generators. I was in the corner closest to the dam by the lock, we'll away from the generators. I was right over the outflow for the lock when they started letting the water out of it. Even though I probably only went up a foot or two, it felt like I was riding old faithful! I ended up about 50 yards downstream before I realized what was happening and that my drawers were still clean.


fishing user avatarVolFan reply : 

I had the same experience as the poster above fishing on Calderwood Lake once. A storm came up quick, and my line was actually rising in there air because of the electricity. There was also a high pitched hum/whine like the line being pulled too tight. I paddled off the lake quick, swimming the last 40 yards or so pulling the boat. I got in a cave, made a little fire and had lunch while it blew over.


fishing user avatarBig Jon reply : 
  On 1/21/2014 at 9:56 PM, boostr said:

I havn't had a terrifying experience fishing yet, but I did have a terrifying surfing experience involving a fish.  When I lived down In Miami I did alot of surfing along the Florida coast. One day I was surfing at Haulover pier, while paddeling out  a huge Tarpon maybe 6ft or larger rolled in front of me and scared the living crap out of me...  never pulled my legs and arms out of the water that quick before.  :laugh5:

 

I was boogie boarding in Hawaii when I was 12. I came in on a certain wave and my mom was running at me screaming. Apparently a barracuda (or some other large fish, I don't think she knew what it was) came swimming through the next wave right behind me. She wouldn't let me go back out. I was upset as we had only been there for an hour. 


fishing user avatartbone1993 reply : 
  On 1/21/2014 at 10:01 PM, MarkH024 said:

Getting shot at by a duck hunter....

The best was when we had a hunter yell to us " boys you are going to want to get out of the cove, we've got a youth duck hunt going on. I can guarantee I wont hit you but im not so sure about them" Que us blasting the trolling motor on high and getting out of there.  


fishing user avatartbone1993 reply : 

Fun and a little scary is fishing on table rock or kentucky lake and it starts to get choppy and a storm starts rolling in.  Knowing that at any point you can get pushed into a huge rock bluff or hit a rogue wave that pushes you onto a point bar or beaches you in the middle. Nothing like the great lakes but still makes you uneasy. 


fishing user avatarMarkH024 reply : 
  On 1/22/2014 at 1:16 AM, tbone1993 said:

The best was when we had a hunter yell to us " boys you are going to want to get out of the cove, we've got a youth duck hunt going on. I can guarantee I wont hit you but im not so sure about them" Que us blasting the trolling motor on high and getting out of there.  

I was shot at intentionally. He did hit anyone but his buck shot landed about 3 feet from our boat. I had a thread here talking about it, I'll edit this post and put the link in.

 

 

http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/106570-fishermenwaterfowl-hunter-clashyour-take/?hl=%2Bduck+%2Bhunter

Edited by MarkH024
fishing user avatarDwight Hottle reply : 

Like A-Jay mentioned we got caught is some kind of a weather cell or sudden squall the likes of which I have never seen or want to see from the water again. We were about 11 miles from the dock when the wind started picking up blowing from the west. The dock was directly west where we had launched from. I always check the weather report , NOAA offshore forecast and I Wind Surf wind reports before heading out. There was nothing in the forecast to suggest what was going to happen. We were catching fish so when the wind started picking up I was not over concerned. That proved to be a major mistake. Once the waves were running 2-4 feet we stowed our tackle & gear before leaving. I had the bow pointed straight west into the wind. My boat is a 20 foot starcraft with a 19 degree deadrise deep V with a 250 merc pro xs on the back and it usually handles lake erie waves pretty good if I take it easy. The wind was blowing so hard the tops of the waves were being blown off as they were building. I thought about turning around and going directly east to another marina about 5-6 miles away. The waves would be hitting us directly in the stern but the truck & trailer would not be there. I decided to keep going west headed into the waves. I knew the land mass to our west would eventually start to break the wind & waves up as we got closer. The 2-4 footers quickly became 3-5 then 4-6 then 5 -7 then 6-8 & bigger. A-Jay shouted to me to slow down & head in closer to shore as the waves might be smaller as we went towards shallower water. As the wind keep building the waves did too. I had all I could handle keeping the bow into the wind steering & powering up each wave then getting ready for the next wave to hit. Lake erie is unique because of its shallow nature which stacks waves very close together rather than spreading them out. I don't know how big the waves got before they started to subside a little because all I could do was steer & hang on. The only trouble with a deep V with high freeboard is that it allows the wind to catch the bow & try to push it sideways. IF that happened we would be taking those waves over the side & it would have swamped us. 

When it was all said & done the wind finally started to ease. Back at the dock A-Jay told me that my boat was maxed out & we could not have handled any waves bigger than what we experienced. I thought about it and knew he was right.


fishing user avatarSPEEDBEAD. reply : 

South to North wind on Kentucky lake, 18ft Bass Tracker.

 

We were across the lake from Blood River when the wind picked up and we could see the rollers. We idled across the lake with waves higher than my head going under the passenger side and exiting the driver side. Boat felt like it was at a 45 degree angle with each wave.

 

Probably the most scared I have ever felt in a boat.


fishing user avatar00 mod reply : 

Heading out of the inlet in El Salvador. We were in a 38'er but that first wave hit us head on and stood the boat up almost straight up and down. Once you get past the first one it is a cake walk, but it is like that everyday. There are even locals that will pilot your boat out for you for $10 US. We were prepared and sitting on bean bags on the floor but it was still nuts. The week before they flipped a 62' Viking headed out at the same spot. I would never go back but man was that a great week of fishing!

Jeff


fishing user avatarflyfisher reply : 

man, you guys have some scary stuff.....never had a bad water based experience but more than one while rock climbing :) 


fishing user avatarJ Francho reply : 

I was pier fishing several years and, and was caught in some lightning.  The pier was about 3/4 mile long, and lightning was crashing all around between me and shore.

 

I had another day in a tin can rental - a little 12' semi-v with an 8.8 hp tiller - on Sodus Bay.  It was a little windy, so we fished behind the islands all day.  When we went to head south to the marina/baitshop, there were sixers in the bay from a stiff north wind.  I basically "surfed" a a couple big rogue waves back to the south end.  not much scares me, but I was a little concerned.  I made my buddy put his PFD on, and told him to hang on.  We made it back, a little wet, but alive, and the rental boat was none the worse for wear.

 

This past summer Paul (Blue Daksi) and I narrow missed getting caught in some really nasty stuff in Lake Ontario.  We literally outran the storm, ripping from the lake into Port Bay, through the outlet at speeds well over 70 mph.  The storm hit as we pulled the boat up off the ramp.  Keep in mind, there were some small passing storms to the south all day, but on the water, it was calm. This one came in from the north, and was nuts.  Unfortunately, despite some great smallmouth action earlier, we couldn't get back out on the water.

 

One of the passing storms, to the south:

58821_10201329302927731_294989640_n.jpg

 

1240262_10201329303767752_408986606_n.jp

 

Here's what it looked like just moments after pulling out.

 

In the bay:

 

In the lake:


fishing user avatarAK-Jax86 reply : 

so far I haven't had any terrifying experiences besides losing PBs. But now that my buddy has a boat I believe I may be revisiting this thread, hope not though lol


fishing user avatarbuzzed bait reply : 

Fishing at High Falls Lake in Georgia it's early AM and still plenty dark.  Could see well enough to start running a buzzbait down a fallen tree when SLAM right behind a stealth mode beaver had eased up on the back of my kayak and then smashed his tail on the water to let me know it was his turf!  almost flipped the kayak and was so scared momentarily that i could have probably walked on water to the shoreline!


fishing user avatarA-Jay reply : 
  On 1/22/2014 at 4:53 AM, buzzed bait said:

Fishing at High Falls Lake in Georgia it's early AM and still plenty dark.  Could see well enough to start running a buzzbait down a fallen tree when SLAM right behind a stealth mode beaver had eased up on the back of my kayak and then smashed his tail on the water to let me know it was his turf!  almost flipped the kayak and was so scared momentarily that i could have probably walked on water to the shoreline!

 

That happenes to me at night all the time -  and I HATE IT ! 

 

Those sneaky buggers know just when to do it to get the full effect too.

 

Regardless of how many times I'm on the receiving end of that A-Bomb, I'll never get used to it.

 

A-Jay


fishing user avatarww2farmer reply : 

I have never been on the great lakes in any butt hole puckering weather, and on the inland WNY lakes I fish the wind waves never get too terrible that I can't handle them..........sometimes I have to go a lot slower than normal, but still not terrible and un-manageable in my smaller alum. boat. My biggest fear/concern is lightning. I have fished plenty of times with thunder in the distance, and lightning several miles away, and usually get off the water if it gets close. I have often heard other guys talk (mainly wnybassman) about buzzing rods, floating line, etc....and though haha yeah right............untill it happened to me last year. I made a cast with a frog towards the bank as a storm was building on the hill just west of the lake, and my line just hung in air, almost all the way from the frog to my rod tip. The guy I was fishing with said, rather nervously "reel it in, put it down, and lets go"....I did. Now my boat dosen't exactly haul azz, but we did manage to keep just ahead of the rain, and lightning hit the water about a mile behind us..............................after we started the boat and gone about mile :surprised:


fishing user avatarbuzzed bait reply : 
  On 1/22/2014 at 4:58 AM, A-Jay said:

That happenes to me at night all the time -  and I HATE IT ! 

 

Those sneaky buggers know just when to do it to get the full effect too.

 

Regardless of how many times I'm on the receiving end of that A-Bomb, I'll never get used to it.

 

A-Jay

 

This guy had his stealth training too, i swear he was within 5 feet of the kayak and i never heard him coming.  with pretty much no light to see either, it terrified me!


fishing user avatarFrog Turds reply : 
  On 1/21/2014 at 10:01 PM, MarkH024 said:

Getting shot at by a duck hunter....

 

well if a slim shady character the likes of you rolled up on me in one of them sparkly rangers, ya might wanna keep your head down  :eyebrows:


fishing user avatarMarkH024 reply : 
  On 1/22/2014 at 5:45 AM, Frog Turds said:

well if a slim shady character the likes of you rolled up on me in one of them sparkly rangers, ya might wanna keep your head down  :eyebrows:

Your ninja throwing stars are easier to dodge than buckshot. Just sayin...


fishing user avatargeo g reply : 

Twenty years ago I took my Principal out for an early morning fishing trip.  We were out in the everglades in the three pines area of L67.  It was a hot summer morning before first light, and grunting gators everywhere.  Tom had a new Shimano high priced reel that was a gift he had never used.  His first cast went twice as far as any cast he ever made.  The Zara Spook went right into an over hanging tree on the bank edge.  He asked me to back the boat over to the tree so he could get it out.  Big gators were all over the place around the boat.  As Tom stretched for the tree branch, he decided to put one foot on a rock next to the bank.  This move pushed the boat toward the center of the canal, Tom went into a split. :dazed-7:  I heard a giant splash and he was swimming in 10 feet of water loaded with big gators. :pray:   It flashed through my mind how I was going tell everyone at school that I took the Principal fishing, and he was eaten by gators. :Idontknow:   I never saw anyone move so fast up that steep canal bank with a $350 rod and reel in one hand and his favorite hat in the other.  We laughed for hours after he got back in the boat and safety.  It scared the crap out of me, and I think Tom peed himself for real.


fishing user avatarSirSnookalot reply : 

If I really thought about it I could remember many situations where I was a bit nervous to say the least.  I was camping on the shores of Little Lake Dozier in Ontario, at first light a moose comes walking thru our campsite.  Words cannot describe the situation, these animals can be downright nasty, soiled my undies but good.

 

Spending lots of time on the water in the Great Lakes from an early age with my dad, he pretty well prepped me.  As long as I was with him I was never scared.  I crewed on sailboats in the Great Lakes and competed in several Mac races, cautious and careful yes, nervous no.  Couple of years ago fishing in a 21' Polar a squall came up with some very strong winds, high waves and rain coming in sideways.  The bite turns on, sailfish and kingfish on solid for an hour or so, basically we were stuck out there so we fished, didn't really think about the weather.

What I am scared about is freshwater fishing, no it isn't the fish it's the snakes.  Had a moc a couple feet way from me not long ago and then I ran into a guy that got nailed by one, in a place he said he was catching 8 lb peacocks.  It just ain't worth it to me, I won't be doing to much freshwater fishing anymore, snakes got me scared crapless, I'd rather be in rough weather than tangle with those things.


fishing user avatarBrayberry reply : 

A few years ago I was fishing for spawning bass from shore on a local lake.  There was a huge bass sitting in about 2 feet of water, and I was focused on every movement of this fish seeing how he reacted to every twitch of the rod.  Suddenly I look down and see about a 12 inch water moccasin crawl between my 2 feet moving twards the lake.  I was paralyzed in fear, no knowing wether to run away or stay perfectly still.  I stayed still as concrete and he moved on to the lake and swam away, but never again did I get that focused on a fish from shore  

 

 

Not a fishing trip but a boating trip, around 2008 my girlfriend and I decided to go to a local lake (Merchants Millpond) and spend a weekend together.  We had camped and done a little fishing from shore, and were having a blast.  We decided to rent a canoe after talking to the park rangers.  They said there had been a few large gators seen in a certain cove of the mill pond.  This was early March, but we decided to paddle over there and see a real gator in person.  Neither one of us had much canoeing experience, as we'd each only been once,  anyways we paddle over to the spot circled on a crude map of the old millpond, and start lookin around.  Immediately my girlfriend spots a family of Nutria swimming around and yells "LOOK" while pointing over the side.  This motion throws off the balance of the boat and it flips.  Now we are in a lake full of gators, in the spot the big gators had last been seen and we're in the water.  We frantically run, swim, and jump thru underwater bushes, to a small island about 15 feet square.  Now we are covered in cuts and bruises from trying to get to the island , and we are stranded on this small island with nothing to survive, and we are freezing cold.  The canoe is floating upside down about 30 feet off shore, paddles are randomly floating around, and we are about 2 miles from the launch.  After about 45 minutes a paddle floats to us and we can use that to get another paddle, then after about another 20 minutes the canoe get close enough to us so we can reach it with paddles.  We flip it over and rush back to the launch, luckily a park ranger was there and drove us to our campsite about another 2 miles away.  We immediately started a fire to warm up.  This was the scariest thing that ever happened to me, I was convinced I was going to be eaten by a gator 


fishing user avatarcoryn h. fishowl reply : 

I went back on a cast and just as I started to cast forward, I felt a searing pain and the sensation of tension in the line. Looking down at my crotch...I saw 2 sets of treble hooks going cleanly through the jersey pants I decided to wear.  There are two morals here

  • a) Densely packed nerve endings and hooks don't mix
  • b)Push down barbs on trebles
  • c) DON'T WEAR JERSEY PANTS WHEN PARTICIPATING IN AN ACTIVITY INVOLVING HOOKS!!!

fishing user avatarStlbob reply : 

 Well this happen 15 or so years ago.I was way back in the boonies down in Arkansas where i was born.I knew about a series of farm ponds that never get fished because the owner will shoot your ass if he catch's you,but his family and my family get along so im okay to be there ( i say that because i never fish in any pond without permission )

 

 Anyway its getting late and im thinking about the 3 hour drive home and start getting my gear together,when i hear something and turn around and there stands  two good ol' boys that could have been in Deliverance ..Neither of them said a d**n thing for a moment and the the bigger guy started telling what great fishing gear i had and how it sucks that poor people who live around there cant afford good gear.It looks like i have got more than my share and he thinks i should share...!!

 

 At his point i start paying close attention if either has a weapon and thank god they didnt..BUT they started walking up on me and im taking steps backward...now this situation was about to go from bad to worse.Well it would have if i been unarmed,but i wasnt i had my .45 Sig on my hip like always..I just turned so they could see it,it was funny watching all the color drain out of the big ones face..I never touched it,never threatened to shoot them,nothing like that.I just told them i think it would be  in everyone's best interest for them to move along..

 

they left a lot faster than they came...im certain if i had been without my Sig the best outcome would have been them robbing me and the worst,well i have given that a lot thought since then and people go missing all the time.the truth is when its just me i always carry and its not for the four legged critters its for the 2 legged kind like those two.


fishing user avatarBassinLou reply : 

My story is similar to Geo g's. I was fishing with my BIL, last year in the Everglades on the Miami Canal. We were out on my boat which is a 16 ft Tracker. I was in the front my BIL was in the back. We were surrounded by gators and having a good time catching nice fish. My BIL, had to reach for something on the lower deck, and for what ever reason lost his balance. From that point forward everything moved in slow motion. My BIL, fell backwards into the deep water and was completely submerged. He shot up like a rocket, but the next challenge was getting him back into the the boat without me falling into the water as well. I lowered my self flat across the deck and helped pull and get his leg over the side and back into the boat. Once I realized the ordeal was over and my BIL besides being soaked was ok, I almost pee'd in my pants laughing. I have never seen my BIL, move so fast and see his eyes so big when he shot up out of the water. The gators didn't even flinch. They just sat there looking at us, and thinking " did that really just happen" LOL.... 


fishing user avatarScott F reply : 

I was fishing on a remote fly-in lake in Manitoba Canada when a huge wind kicked up. We were a couple of miles from the cabin in a 14 foot tin boat with a 9.9. We were sure the wind and waves were going to swamp the boat any time so we made for the sheltered shore of an island. The island had been hit by fire some time ago and all the pine trees were now dead and just tall sticks. While we were waiting out the wind on the bank, these big dead trees started falling over from the wind. Some were not far from where we sat. We were deciding which way we wanted to die, from drowning or from being hit by a falling tree. Luckily, neither happened but it was a tense hour or so while we waited it out.


fishing user avatarTeal reply : 
  On 1/21/2014 at 10:01 PM, MarkH024 said:

Getting shot at by a duck hunter....

I don't think in my case I was being shot AT but it was so close I couldn't tell the difference. Its happened twice

On another occasion a storm was coming... I was running down the lake as fast as I could go...water was white capping and tossing my boat around like a rag doll....I was about to pass a point that comes out a long ways toward the main lake...there was a single pine tree on the end of the point.... You guessed it, lightning struck it about as I passing it.... It was about a hundred yards away from me to my right... It scared the skittles out of me..


fishing user avatartnriverluver reply : 

Fishing a bass tournament at Sardis res. in Ms out of a 16 ft flatbottom with 40 mph winds.  Partners boat, broken bilge pump, waves crashing over the sides flooding the boat, him with a serious case of the flu, me bailing like crazy to keep us afloat long enough to make it back to the ramp.  Me with the flu the next day from him :dazed-7:   Anyone that has ever fished Sardis knows what the slightest wind can do to the lake.  Half of our club was smart enough to stay home because of the wind forecast but not us.


fishing user avatarTrek reply : 
  On 1/26/2014 at 9:58 PM, Stlbob said:

 Well this happen 15 or so years ago.I was way back in the boonies down in Arkansas where i was born.I knew about a series of farm ponds that never get fished because the owner will shoot your ass if he catch's you,but his family and my family get along so im okay to be there ( i say that because i never fish in any pond without permission )

 

 Anyway its getting late and im thinking about the 3 hour drive home and start getting my gear together,when i hear something and turn around and there stands  two good ol' boys that could have been in Deliverance ..Neither of them said a d**n thing for a moment and the the bigger guy started telling what great fishing gear i had and how it sucks that poor people who live around there cant afford good gear.It looks like i have got more than my share and he thinks i should share...!!

 

 At his point i start paying close attention if either has a weapon and thank god they didnt..BUT they started walking up on me and im taking steps backward...now this situation was about to go from bad to worse.Well it would have if i been unarmed,but i wasnt i had my .45 Sig on my hip like always..I just turned so they could see it,it was funny watching all the color drain out of the big ones face..I never touched it,never threatened to shoot them,nothing like that.I just told them i think it would be  in everyone's best interest for them to move along..

 

they left a lot faster than they came...im certain if i had been without my Sig the best outcome would have been them robbing me and the worst,well i have given that a lot thought since then and people go missing all the time.the truth is when its just me i always carry and its not for the four legged critters its for the 2 legged kind like those two.

I'm with ya ! I carry a 380 sig all the time. Even when I'm in these pot tournaments. There's a lot of cash laying in one of those. Sort of surprised  I've never seen one robed yet. At work or play it's just part of what I wear now.


fishing user avatarSurf Walker reply : 

You guys trying to scare the beans out of me? 


fishing user avatarCaptain Shane Procell reply : 

It's a toss up for me. I sank a boat in alligator infested waters. Then there was the time a alligator got in my boat. Then there was the time a gator came up from under the boat and took my fish as I was lipping it. Could have lost a limb on that one. Just the grace of God saved my hand. They all scared the crap out of me.


fishing user avatarRatherbfishing reply : 
  On 1/26/2014 at 9:58 PM, Stlbob said:

 Well this happen 15 or so years ago.I was way back in the boonies down in Arkansas where i was born.I knew about a series of farm ponds that never get fished because the owner will shoot your ass if he catch's you,but his family and my family get along so im okay to be there ( i say that because i never fish in any pond without permission )

 

 Anyway its getting late and im thinking about the 3 hour drive home and start getting my gear together,when i hear something and turn around and there stands  two good ol' boys that could have been in Deliverance ..Neither of them said a d**n thing for a moment and the the bigger guy started telling what great fishing gear i had and how it sucks that poor people who live around there cant afford good gear.It looks like i have got more than my share and he thinks i should share...!!

 

 At his point i start paying close attention if either has a weapon and thank god they didnt..BUT they started walking up on me and im taking steps backward...now this situation was about to go from bad to worse.Well it would have if i been unarmed,but i wasnt i had my .45 Sig on my hip like always..I just turned so they could see it,it was funny watching all the color drain out of the big ones face..I never touched it,never threatened to shoot them,nothing like that.I just told them i think it would be  in everyone's best interest for them to move along..

 

they left a lot faster than they came...im certain if i had been without my Sig the best outcome would have been them robbing me and the worst,well i have given that a lot thought since then and people go missing all the time.the truth is when its just me i always carry and its not for the four legged critters its for the 2 legged kind like those two.

 

I have to qualify this by saying I've never been in Alaska or Montana or anywhere where there grizzly bears and never in the deep south where there are big old alligators but so far, like you, it's the two-legged animals I worry about.


fishing user avatarBassguytom reply : 

I was in my yak 2 years ago with my legs hanging over the side with only aqua socks on and a giant snapping turtle came up from underneath me and I quickly pulled my feet in the yak. That was a little scary.

While wading the Deleware Rive I've had water snakes go between my legs. Not poisonous but a little unnerving.

While bumping fluke off the beach at long beach island we saw a a bunch of hammer head sharks. We were 1/4 to a 1/2 mile off the beach and the swimmers had not idea they were there. We didn't have our shark gear and my buddy hooked a pork chop to try to get one. It didn't work.


fishing user avatartarponfly82 reply : 

It was a rainy winter day and work was called off. Hearing reports of juvenile tarpon smashing live baits in the local canals. So I I loaded up the boat and was off. After a couple shallow bait spots I didn't have nearly enough bait for a day of fishing. So I decided to head to the head of Charlotte harbor marker, where the Peace river meets the harbor. Being a little burnt out from throwing my 11ft 1/4 in castnet, and the deck of the boat being slippery from the scales of bait caught. I threw my net, slipped and fell in. I wasn't scared at first, so I took off my crocs and tied it to my castnet that was still attached to my wrist. When I turned to swim to my 17ft Carolina skiff I just about **** my pants. If any of you own or have owned a flat bottom skiff then you know its like a sail in the wind . After shedding some of the heavier clothes I started swimming and swimming and swimming it seemed like forever. Approximately 2 hours I finally grab the boat climbed inside exhausted.


fishing user avatarindianabasshunter reply : 

I was fishing a state park lake, early last spring, while listening to the radio because there were small storms nearby. The fishing was great but on two different occasions a small storm blew in bringing hail with it. I beached the boat before the hail started both times and waited it out on the bank. After the second hail storm blew through the clouds disappeared, the wind laid down, and I had the lake to myself.

 

Without any clouds in the sky it was a brilliantly bright day. Working my way around a point and catching fish on what seemed to be every cast, the brightness of the sun was overshadowed by a massive lightning strike followed by the loudest BOOM I've ever heard. Before I knew what happened i was laying in the bottom of the boat on my stomach. After a brief moment I gathered my senses and hit the trolling motor foot pedal with my hand while remaining on my stomach. I ran the boat into the bank and crawled onto shore. I sat underneath a small foot bridge for a while trying to gather my senses. When i got the nerve to get back in the boat i headed directly for the ramp.

 

I'm still not entirely sure why I ended up in the bottom of the boat but my neck and shoulders were stiff and sore for a few days following the event. I used to not give much thought about lightning while fishing, but now I play it safe and don't go to the lake if lightning looks like a possibility.


fishing user avatarDarren. reply : 
  On 1/21/2014 at 5:49 PM, Bluebasser86 said:

I got to the lake once and realized I'd forgotten to put the batteries in the boat  :surprised:

 

I was in a hurry loading my kayak and I left my iPad on the back of the truck. I drove off, arrived at my spot, unloaded and was completely ready to go when I couldn't find my iPad. So I launched "Find My iPhone" on my iPhone and hey, my iPad is moving, back near my house, but it's going down the street.

 

I quickly locked it and sent a message to whomever had it. Loaded the yak back in the truck drove home and a guy who was on a walk was brining it back to my house with a note!

 

So what happened when I drove off, the iPad slid off the back of my truck, hit the road and bounced up (didn't break the screen, but did mess the aluminum a bit. The man happened to be walking and saw me drive off, saw the iPad fall, said he was waving frantically hoping I saw him in my rear view mirror.

 

Not exactly a fishing experience, but it happened while I was trying to GO fishing.


fishing user avatarmjseverson24 reply : 

I have a few pretty interesting stories, the most recent being last fall (september) fishing the tournament of champion on leech lake in MN. our fisrst spon in the morning was a secluded spot on the northern most section of the lake. this area of the lake is surrounded by a protected state forest and while fish frogs and jigs in the wild rice fields and bull rush (tulies). Shortly after getting to the spot i hooked and caught about a 2.5 lb largie when we started hearing some rustling coming from the shoreline area, when i looked up a huge black wolf was less than 75 ft from the boat was standing on the shoreline huffing. The wolf then let out a very loud howl and over the next 1/2 hour it followed us up down the shoreline as we were casting. He never made an aggressive move towards the boat, but it was still a litte uneasy having him so close. on the otherhand it was a magnificent creature and a true blessing to have witnessed the animal in its natural setting. The next very interesting encounter was on Lake Mille lacs in MN it is one of the largest non great lakes in the US. I am out prefishing a walleye tournament with a friend, in his ranger 620 VS. this was the only prefishing opportunity for him so we went out even though the weather was pretty iffy. we were catching fish on the north end with moderate wind and waves, but there was an approching storm from the west comming across the north half of the lake, so we headed south about 8 miles to avoid some of the rough weather. once we were down south the storm slowly took a turn down the lake then exploded with 50+ MPH wind, it did not take long till we were in 5 ft constant waves (still catching fish) finally we decided to head in back up north against the wind to land the boat. They say the ranger has the driest ride on the water, well with as many waves that we speared right through the middle having them come up over the bow I shure would not have wanted to be in a boat known for letting you get a little wet. thankfully we made it back to the marina without hurting ourselves or the boat.

 

Mitch


fishing user avatarswagkid300 reply : 

I was fishing in Florida for Sharks,

I had one hooked and boy was this a strong shark.

I had the rod hooked onto me with the rod holder thing, and the shark was dragging me a long the sand onto the beach little by little.

Luckily enough, the hook broke and i was saved. woohoo


fishing user avatarRivasIsland reply : 

Scariest moment I can think of is when I went reef fishing in Turks and Caicos a couple of years ago. After some fishing I jumped in the water to cool off. While underwater, I opened my eyes and saw a 4-5 foot Barracuda inches from my face. I got out of the water as quickly as I had gotten in.


fishing user avatarsoopd reply : 

My partner falling in the water during early spring.  Water temps in low 40's if I remember correctly.  We were dressed with coveralls, boots, and a lot of clothes.  The current was moving the boat and him away from each other.  The net was barely long enough that he got a hand on it before he went under the 3rd time.  If I would have got the throw cushion and threw it to him it would have been too late.  The good Lord looking out for us because one second longer and it would have been too late.  Scared him so much that he has not been fishing since that incident a few years ago.  


fishing user avatarplumworm reply : 

Back in the late 80's we were fishing the Madison river in MT. We rented 2 drift boats to fish about 15 miles of river. The rental company would pick us up at 4 pm. When we started our trip (8 am) the temp. was 70. All of us were wearing shorts and wading boots. The morning was great. About 11-12 am, the wind switched to the NW and the temp. started to drop. About, 1 pm, the temp was down to about 50. We still had about 6-7 miles to go and the temp kept dropping. We had quit fishing and just wanted to get down to our take out point. Remember, we had shorts and shirts and a rain jackets. By the time we got down to our pick up point, we were very close to hypothermia. Where we to be picked up, there was no wood for miles. No fire. It was bad, and to make matters worse, the guide was an hour late picking us up. By the time he picked us up we were vey aware that being outdoors can be dangerous. We had good sippin whiskey and a worm cabin to go back too, but that trip was INTERESTING.


fishing user avatarcoryn h. fishowl reply : 
  On 1/21/2014 at 10:01 PM, MarkH024 said:

Getting shot at by a duck hunter....

Yeah, okay...you win. Not necessarily an win you want to have...but you win.


fishing user avatarDILLY07 reply : 

Not a fishing story. 

 

One day, my brother and I bought a cheap leisure boat to cruise around on the Mississippi River. It flooded for 3 weeks and it finally went down. So my brother and I decided to take the boat out. My brother was driving, I was in the passenger seat listening to music and drinking some good ol' cold beer from the cooler. Cruising for good 30-40 minutes out from the area. All the sudden we were in the main channel gotten lower somehow. We could sense it. Within 10 seconds we could sense it then BAM hit a sandbar somehow in the main channel and got stuck. :cry3: I hit my chin on the dash board. Bled a bit. We tried getting unstuck by going foward with the prop. We still couldn't get out. I was so stressed and everything. All the sudden the floor of the boat got wet. I was like CHECK THE PLUG!!!! My brother checked it very quick. It was still there. Him and I jumped out of the boat and found out stupid sand bar was just up to our knees! I was like Dadgum it! My brother and I pushed it about good 1/4 mile and all the sudden the sand bar dropped like cliff. We got up and fired up the boat and went back to the ramp. The prop was bent and such. 1,300 dollars to get it repaired  :mad1:  All that matters God kept us safe.  It was very unnerving day. 


fishing user avatarhawghunters reply : 
  On 1/21/2014 at 10:24 PM, Goaltender said:

I was getting ready to leave the dock for a tournament on Lake Winnebago in WI when a terrible fog rolled in. This was prior to GPS. The fog was so thick you couldn't see more than 20ft. My navigation was a map with compass points on it and the boat's compass. We followed to the shore line nearly running into docks time and again. What it made most un-nerving was that we could hear other boaters screaming down the lake!

Had a similar experience on the Susquehanna River. We launched, and simply had to cross the river. It was a pretty wide part of the river, and was VERY foggy. We were running the outboard and drove around for half an hour and couldn't find land. Finally we found land, but then struggled to figure out where the current was even going. Finally we determined which side of the river we were on, and it was the wrong side. When we finally crossed the river, we realized we had run significantly too far south as we were in Maryland and not Pennsylvania.

Also struggled with fog when I was fishing the Chesapeake and my boater zips away from the ramp, hits thick fog, and looks at me and says do you know where were going? It had been about my second time fishing that area. We missed the morning bite by the time we made it to our spot.


fishing user avatarPz3 reply : 

Was out in a metal canoe pretty far from the truck/launch area. A good hour or two to get back when really bad weather came out of no where. Gusts around 40. Tons of ground to air lightning and could feel the electricity everywhere. Surrounded by flat islands. Best idea I could come up with was paddling like hell 20 minutes to a roadway bridge. Tied off and waited it out for the next hour.


fishing user avatarbassmaster99 reply : 

I have had two scary experiences

 

One I was wading through a creek barefoot when I found some braid floating I grabbed it and it lead to right where I was standing, it turns out the "rock" my left foot was on was actually a snapping turtle. Needless to say I was up out of that creek quickly.

 

Two I was fishing a golf course in Florida when I caught about a one pounder. A 7 foot gator came flying out of the pond while I was bent over getting the hook out of the fish. I dropped the fish and my rod on the spot and booked it. The gator stopped and ate the fish but did not leave the area for about 15 minutes.


fishing user avatarLucky Craft Man reply : 

Both of my most terrifying moments dealt with lightening.  Once I was fishing a small lake when lightening hit the water on the other side.  My buddy had his rod tip in the water at the time of the strike, which he promptly dropped after getting a small jolt through it and all the hair on my neck and arm stood up.  Needless to say, we set a water speed record getting back to the dock.

 

The second time, me and a friend were fishing out on Lake Erie.  It was overcast, but nothing very menacing.  We both started to hear a humming sound actually coming from our rods (like you hear out of the electrical box by the streets).  As the humming sound got louder, we begin receiving shocks from the graphite blank it we touched it (with arcs about an inch long coming from the rod to our finger).  Then our slack line started to float in the air after a cast (that was freaky if you ever have seen that).  Needless to say, we broke our previous water speed record getting back to the dock.  You should have seen the lightening cracking down on the water in our wake.  Scary stuff there.


fishing user avatarPz3 reply : 

I would say you just barely avoided death by lightning. I had the shock through the water once. Felt like I grabbed a cattle fence. Ever since then I dont tempt fait anymore.


fishing user avatarbmac31 reply : 

I was about 16. Me and a couple buddys take a canoe out on a local lake late one night for some catfishing and beers. One of my buddys decides he can stand in the back of the canoe and tips us. So now we have a swamped canoe that were not supposed to have out, on a lake that we've heard stories about having some sort of drain in the middle of the lake that sucks you in. We made it out dragging the swamped canoe the whole way. Its not that scary looking back on. I guess when I was 16 it felt scarier.

Brian


fishing user avatarMacrosill reply : 

My most terrifying fishing moment was back in 1992 or so.  It was a summer day and a friend and I went and rented a small 12' tin boat with a small outboard at the marina to do some fluke fishing.  Well, I caught a fish.  I reel the thing in and it is some red colored alien looking animal with wings.  Once in the boat it started making grunting noises.  I had no idea what it was and was terrified.  I started beating the thing with an oar.  I think I had to change my underwear after that.

 

It turns out it was just a Sea Robin.  I must have looked like a complete idiot.  I laugh about it now but was so scared that day.


fishing user avatarbigbill reply : 

Night fishing before dawn I had a bear near my car investigating it. I've heard bears hooting at night before in this area. There was a bear at a local school during the day too. I was carrying my 357magnum as i always do in the wilds. I think I spilled some bass scent on my cars bumper.

Getting caught in a micro burst in a small boat when the rollers are twice the height of the sides of the boat wasn't scary. I wish I had life preservers for my three tackle boxes. Lots of $$ in them. My son had the fish finder on and was looking at big carp in the channel as we went out. It was looking like a great trip Until the black clouds rolled in. I just repaired the leak in the boat too.


fishing user avatarbigbill reply : 
  On 2/12/2014 at 9:05 PM, Macrosill said:

My most terrifying fishing moment was back in 1992 or so. It was a summer day and a friend and I went and rented a small 12' tin boat with a small outboard at the marina to do some fluke fishing. Well, I caught a fish. I reel the thing in and it is some red colored alien looking animal with wings. Once in the boat it started making grunting noises. I had no idea what it was and was terrified. I started beating the thing with an oar. I think I had to change my underwear after that.

It turns out it was just a Sea Robin. I must have looked like a complete idiot. I laugh about it now but was so scared that day.

The sea robins have a chicken leg sized piece of meat in there backs that is very tasty. To tell the guys and gals here there ugly and have wings. Scary if you never seen them before.


fishing user avatarJd_Phillips_Fishin reply : 

This is more of a funny story than a terrifying one, last summer my grandpa invited me, my brother, and my dad to go out to the jetties and do sum shark and red fishin. This was my first time salt water fishing so I did not now what to expect. On the first day it only took 20 min. to get hooked up, so I'm battling this big black tip for about 15 min. and it started going belly up and acting like it was tired, so I peeked over the side of the boat :photography-044:, and the fish surged down :road-rage-042:  pulling me down, balancing my body on the side of boat with the rod still in my hand! :surprised-038:  My grandpa quickly grabbed the rod and helpped me back on the floor of the boat.


fishing user avatarS_Miketa6 reply : 

This past summer I was out fishing with my dad and we got caught in a deep fog and could barely see the shoreline from where we were fishing, we were fishing a weed line and I was throwing a crank bait straight out of the front of the boat, and as I pulled my bait out of the water a musky jumped clear out of the water at my crank bait, it jumped right into the trolling motor and in one motion I basically jumped to the back of the boat, never seen anything like it! My dad thought I fell in!!! haha


fishing user avatarFishinCop646 reply : 

Mine would have to be the day I went fishing with my buddy and his motor would not fire after a day on the lake. It was a really nice day until a storm decided to roll in! We were stuck on the lake with nothing more than a trolling motor to get us back to the dock, about two miles. Thunder, lightning, and white caps over the side of the boat sure was not entertaining! It probably would have been better to hit the shore and wait out the storm, but by then we would have been in the dark trying to get back.


fishing user avatarTrent Wilson reply : 

Wasn't bad on my part, but duck hunting out of my previous boat (17' tri hull bullet), me and some buddies were just running up the lake. Came around a corner and saw our limit. We chambered, drew, and immediately saw a man stand up in his blind yelling "Don't shoot my decoys! Don't shoot my decoys!"


fishing user avatarHoosierHawgs reply : 

Snake hits a worm. Dropped my rod and booked it to the top of the hill.


fishing user avatargulfcaptain reply : 

Not fishing, but I've been caught offshore in the Gulf of Mexico 65mi from the dock with the winds blowing out of the north pushing 45-50kts.  Lets just say a 170ft crewboat feels really small in 10+ft waves or should I say white caps when you can only go at the speed of slow, throttle up one wave, then put the engines in reverse to slip down between the two to do it all over again as so the boat didn't go airborne.  5hrs and 30mi later it laid down enough (3-5ft) where I could get on top and get back to the dock.  


fishing user avatareverythingthatswims reply : 

Oregon Inlet NC got nasty one day when we were heading out. The seas were around 6-8' stacked very close together and STEEP. 23' Hydra sports and the prop was coming out of the water on our way down the waves. We had to go into the waves for what seemed like forever until there was enough space in between waves to turn around. Full throttle to climb up on top of a wave and bump it in and out of gear to surf it back in. Combination of an east wind and an outgoing tide had the inlet pretty aggravated, soon afterwords it was navigable again.

 

Oregon inlet is quite possibly the worst inlet on the east coast, nothing to scoff at!


fishing user avatarSam reply : 

WIGuide, lightning can strike five miles from the edge of a thunderstorm.

 

So if you see the storm on your radar or over the horizon you can get hit when the energy moves around five miles from your location.


fishing user avatarblackmax135 reply : 

Fishing in the river with a buddy that's not even close to being accurate with a bait caster yet was constantly getting in the trees.  One cast got so tangled we went up to the tree and he went to snatching and shacking the tree.  Who would have guessed two cotton mouth water moccasins come flying in the boat.  There I went over board, I'm not playing with snakes; not this ol boy.  They ended up crawling out and we got back in and went home cause I was ticked and wet.

 

Few weeks later I took another friend fishing. Same problem!! went to the tree but not close enough for snakes to fall in. That didn't mater this one had a wasp nest the size of a basketball.  They stung me 4 or 5 times luckily that's all.  But I no longer have that reel or hat or sunglasses.  This is why I mostly fish alone now and cut all my lines (unless its an expensive lure).


fishing user avatarJtrout reply : 

Luckily nothin bad has happened to me yet except fishing from the bank and then looking down at my feet and see curled up snakes is striking distance it's happened quite often luckily none were poisonous. I was crabbing with my buddy using his 1200 ft trot line and we ran out of gas and 3 of us took turns using one paddle to get back to shore.


fishing user avatarChrisWi reply : 

I've had a few..

One time while fishing from shore on the Wolf River in Wisconsin, I was walking a large rip rap bank, I had saw plenty of snakes that day already but continued fishing, these were only grass snakes and don't have much for teeth. I stroped down the bank a few more steps, made a cast when I felt something On my ancle, I looked down and about a 30 inch Grass snake had me by the ancle, I'm deathly afraid of snakes, I kicked and screamed and finally got the snake off, little bit of blood and being traumatized, I quit fishing for the day.

Fishing in the bay of Green Bay for Walleye from a 17 foot starcraft it was rough out and it was getting worse. We had about five footers out there, being on the bay they were very close, we made it back but very wet.


fishing user avatarOntarioFishingGuy reply : 

Canoe fishing in a FAST river with my dad (who has never even been in a canoe before),was pretty scary. Especially since he was the one steering. Whose idea was that?


fishing user avatarWolfyBrandon reply : 

August 12th 2014

 

Headed out fishing after work on what looked like a nice day. Headed north away from the marina fishing my way up the shoreline (the fishing wasn't the best so I kept pushing further). I was at the furthest point north than I had ever been before when over my shoulder I heard the first sound of thunder. I looked behind me to see a major storm moving in. I instantly dropped fishing and headed back at full speed but sadly was a good half hour away. Needless to say I got caught in a major wind/rain/lightning storm. Spooky stuff, I hope to never make that mistake again.

 

Storm.jpg

 

WolfyBrandon


fishing user avatarRSM789 reply : 

2 instances that were more startling than scary, each at the opposite end of the spectrum as far as being close to nature.

 

The first was when I was visiting my sister in Texas, I had gotten permission to fish a ranchers lake (much bigger than a pond).  At one point, I cut across a flat area with knee high grass to get to a particularly good looking spot.  I am approaching the shore, maybe 40 feet away, when suddenly the grass starts moving and this fawn pops up out of the grass maybe 2 feet in front of me.  Startled the heck out of me as it ran off & then I started looking around to make sure daddy buck wasn't coming back to see who chased off his baby.

 

Second, last year we were in Phoenix for a few days & I fished a few of their urban lakes.  There is a nice one just behind the Phoenix Zoo that consists of 3 connected ponds.  For urban lakes, these are pretty rural, & I was cutting through the brush to an opening to one of the lakes.  As I pop thru the brush, I suddenly see a homeless guy laying on the ground about 10 feet in front of me, covered with newspapers & sleeping.  I startled him, he startled me and then not knowing what to do, I said "Good Morning".  He responded "Glibnat santo framly doog frampy catters!!" or something along those lines.  I assume it was a friendly greeting because he didn't shank me.


fishing user avatarmatuka reply : 

I'm a newbie here so, hello everybody! As a teen I was striper fishing at the end of a long rock jetty in SF Bay. I started about 4 am and it wasn't till nearly sunrise when I finally took my eyes off the water and looked behind me. I was horrified to see the jetty was covered with rats. I HATE RATS! These were the big wharf rat variety, (I have weighed in smaller bass). It was getting lighter but these dudes just weren't ready to leave. I had over two hundred yards of rat covered jetty to get thru to get back to the car. I decided I'd have to make a run for it. In heavy chest high waders, clumsily sprinted/hobbled the gauntlet of disgusting critters. They scurried in every direction. Screaming, literally, most of the way and swatting at a few braver studs with my heavy surf rod, I reached the safety of the parking lot in a record, oh, five minutes. Exhausted, I climbed out of my waders and inspected my rod tip. Yup, damaged nicely. I had parked behind a warehouse of sorts and the early morning crew were laughing. At me. What the heck, I guess it really was hilarious after all.


fishing user avatargeo g reply : 

Fishing the Putin Bay Area of Lake Erie, we were having a great day drifting the Islands off the Canada side and catching a bunch of Walleye,  when dark clouds started building to the north west.  By the time we rounded Putin Bay and the shelter of the Island we were almost in trouble in a 27 foot boat.  The waves went from dead calm to 6 foot  in no time at all.  We had a 20 mile run, and it was a white knuckle ride.


fishing user avatarRatherbfishing reply : 
  On 2/6/2015 at 2:41 PM, RSM789 said:

 

I started looking around to make sure daddy buck wasn't coming back to see who chased off his baby.

 

 

Daddy buck won't be anywhere around.  Male deer follow the 3 F philosophy.  (This is a family website so I won't explain what that means).  The mother deer, on the other hand....

 

I'd have been much more concerned about the homeless fellow.  Not to be a hater but a fair number of the ones (around here, anyway) have mental disorders.


fishing user avatarRSM789 reply : 

Shows you how little I know about deer.  Nice to know I didn't need to worry about being gored, just kicked to death :) .

 

I was concerned about that homeless guy, mainly because I was kind of cornered if he would have become aggressive.  Had he come at me, my choices were to beat him with some combination of the 4 rods I was carrying or show off my swimming skills.  Maybe if I had one of those old Budweiser lures that looked like little beer cans, I could have cast it to one side in order to distract him.  I am not sure I could have reeled him in with my 10 lb. test, I have heard those homeless are brutal on a drag system.


fishing user avatarBruce424 reply : 

Yea those snappers will scare ya!!!! I mean I love turtles, but snappers definitely sneak up on ya!! They Hide and you don't see them til last second. Happened a couple times to me. Haha. Still got all my fingers.


fishing user avatarCatch 22 reply : 

First time on Kinzua Lake ,Pa. I was fishing southward from Willow Bay and doing well.The water was being draw down for the winter so things were popping out of the water that normally were well covered.I returned just right at dark to find some people at the ramp asking for help.They told me there boat  was disabled about a mile north,could I help retrieve it.Off we go into the darkness into strange water with minimal light.I`m running about half throttle,maybe 20 mph,and I get an image of some sort shoot past really close on my right side. I shut down ,but not before the boat ran almost completely up on a rock bar.The image I saw was two massive tree stumps.It took every thing the two of us had to float the boat again.. About a mile and half later we found the boat and towed it in.At the ramp the guy admitted that he ran out of gas.I wasn`t fit to be near after that and explained that he should get outta my sight.

 

Lesson learned ==don`t boat in strange water after dark. Question those who  ask for help to see if they really need it.

 

Iv`e seen the line floating in the air thing with heavy static electric present.That actually puts one close to death. 

 

I was caught in an on water  hail storm once.It felt like being shot with marbles from a sling shot .

 

Got caught on Lake Erie and could not navigate  back into Presqisle Bay.Hid in the marina next door til my bud retrieved the trailer..

 

Almost died in the mouth of the Indian River Inlet,De in a 14' tin boat one foggy morn. Just a darn good thing I know how to run a boat in bad water.

 

C22


fishing user avatarRSM789 reply : 

This story was told to me by a friend, so while I can't account for the accuracy, it is interesting nonetheless.

 

My friends father-in-law & a friend were fishing Big Bear Lake in the San Bernardino Mountains the morning of June 28th, 1992.  That date is significant because a little after 8:00 am, there was a 6.5 earthquake centered at the lake.  The two fisherman were near the middle of the lake when they saw the trees shaking, dust & dirt flying off of them.  The guessed it was an earthquake and about 30 seconds later, they saw a game warden boat fly past them at full speed, headed away from the dam.  The father-in-law happen to glance down at his depth-finder and noticed that it read 45 feet, when just a minute prior they had been in 60 feet of water.  He now focused on the depth-finder and was amazed to see the depth quickly changing.  40 feet, 35 feet, 30 feet.  He suddenly thought "Oh crap, the dam broke & the lake is draining".  He yelled to his buddy to start the outboard (pull start) as the depth-finder continued to drop 20 feet, 15 feet, 10 feet.  In the panic, they can't get the outboard started, so both anglers just grab hold of the sides of the boat, bracing for impact.  As the depth-finder reached 0 feet, all the water around the lake began bubbling.  What had happened wasn't that the dam broke, rather the earthquake had shook loose all of the sediment & methane from the bottom of the lake & the depth-finder misread the rising bubbles as the bottom.

 

The two fishermen returned to the dock, presumably to get a change of underwear...


fishing user avatarBluebasser86 reply : 

I don't know if anything would top this for me.


fishing user avatarscaleface reply : 
  On 1/21/2014 at 10:01 PM, MarkH024 said:

Getting shot at by a duck hunter....

Same here. He shot from a distance and the pellets were landing around me. Maybe I shouldnt have been fishing during duck season. 


fishing user avatarMarkH024 reply : 
  On 2/8/2015 at 11:55 PM, scaleface said:

Same here. He shot from a distance and the pellets were landing around me. Maybe I shouldnt have been fishing during duck season.

you have every right to fish. They have no right to do that. That deserves some jail time to teach them a lesson. I would kindly relocate if they just spoke out as would many.
fishing user avatarscaleface reply : 

I was catching big Small mouths 30 foot deep at Bull Shoals on Tubes with 1/4 ounce weights. I could see dark clouds moving in though the hills. I didnt want to leave because it was the best smallmouth fishing I ever had at the time. I made a cast and my line arced upward  from electricity , it did not lay down and I was using 1/4 ounce jig head. I was about to be struck by lightning. I spent the rest of the day in a bar telling fish stories.

 

I was fishing a small lake on a  beautiful day and I heard this roaring noise. I trolled out in the cove to have a look around and there was a wall cloud bearing down on me. I raced it to the boat ramp , it won. I just beached the boat. I never saw the tornado but the next day it was in the news .


fishing user avatarhawgenvy reply : 

Okay, I'll admit this wasn't terrifying, but it was freaky, especially because it happened this evening. I was bank fishing at a golf course pond with my cousin and her husband.  From atop a five foot wooden wall, I pitched a brush hog out over some shoreline pickerel weed and into the stained water an inch past the weeds. A bass struck it so fast and hard it took me totally by surprise, and when I set the hook it was like setting it into a moving freight train. The fish pulled the rod right out of my hands and my rig flew down into the thick pickerel weed below.  As I stared at the rod in open-mouthed disbelief, the rod started moving further away as the fish pulled on the line. This was a Dobyns Champion 734c rod with a Shimano Chronarch reel, not a rig I would give away without a fight. The rod thankfully then got deeply wedged in the weeds and was stuck there, as the fish strained at the 65 lb braid that was tamped down by a drag tightened all the way. The fish pulled this way and that, and actually jumped a couple of times trying to shake the hook. My cousin, meanwhile, was struggling to get her lure unstuck from some lily stems, so I ran past her to her husband and grabbed his rig which was armed with a shaky head jig. I pulled some ottery looking creature off the hook, and was soon grateful to learn that a shaky head jig dangling from a rod is a perfect instrument for retrieving a downed fishing rod. I snagged the jig hook on one of the line guides and reeled in my rod.  Well, the darn fish was still on! I successfully landed it, 4+ pounds of very impressive largemouth muscle. Of course, I tossed him back. You know, I'd never before had a rod pulled out of my hands, and hope it'll never happen again. I truly admire that powerful fish, the first one that almost hurt me back.


fishing user avatarTrenton reply : 

Last year my buddy and I fished a local bass tournament series as members. We joined and fished all of the tourneys out of his 1232 Jon boat. I'm a big guy (6'4" 295lbs) and he's 5'10" 160lbs. Now the tourneys were trolling motor only that's our series name TMO level motor field for glass boats vs. Jon's. We were limited to an inlet of a no limit hp lake so we could go out into the wake of the main lake. We were fishing probably 3/4 mile from the dock roughly 350yards from the no-wake line when the biggest jet boat I've ever seen at the lake swung in the buoys and shot out to main lake. My buddy was up front and I was in the back with 2 batteries and 2 trolling motors and were sitting in 40ft of water on top this submerged tree. The wake came all that way and sent 3inches of water over the back like 2 times. Batteries shorted out so my buddy took an oar out and was hitting the tree under us and dragging us to shore as I bucket about 8 gallons out the back. I seriously thought we were going down in this little boat. I had more control of my bowells then I thought I did for sure.


fishing user avatarJosh Smith reply : 

When we were 16 or 17, a friend and I took my (Dad's) boat out on the Salamonie Reservoir for fishing after pitching the tent at a campsite.

 

Well, we got to fishing and noticed dark clouds rolling in.

 

The boat is a deep V and perfect for riding waves.  It is, however, only rated for a 35hp motor and Dad saw fit to only equip it with a 15hp, so we started back to the ramp.

 

When we were about halfway back, the white caps started.  This was no big deal; the boat handled it fine and we were wearing life vests.

 

However, we noticed all the other boats zooming back ahead of us.  Bass boats, speed boats, even a couple pontoons -- all but one were faster than us.

 

The one that wasn't faster was a john boat with a couple folks in it.  We'd passed the time of day earlier, traded strategies, and they were nice folks.

 

They were behind us, but we lost sight of them someplace.  We had both been hugging the bank as close in as was safe to try to keep the lightning to the trees.

 

My friend and I debated going and finding them, but we weren't equipped and besides, that funnel cloud that just appeared didn't look too cool.

 

The wind started blowing harder, and we figured those folks had turned the boat into the cove we should have used, too.  We hoped so.  We couldn't talk about it much as the wind was drowning the outboard's sound.  I've never been out in anything like that before.  It was awesome!

 

We passed a point that had a huge tree.  That tree came crashing down behind us close enough to give us a bit of a boost.  That was a cool experience.

 

By the time we got to the dock, it was raining so hard I literally could not see.  I left my friend to hold the boat, backed the trailer into the water, and we loaded that boat on in record time.

 

When we got back to the campsite, we found our tent torn to hell.  It was a good campsite, too, but all the shelter it provided hadn't been enough and the tent showed it.  We gave up recovery long enough to toss the tent into the boat and take off to his grandmother's, which was closer than either of our homes.

 

We found out later that there had been a number of tornadoes in the area.  It had been supposed to only rain, and it ended up being one of the worst storms of the season.

 

We were too dumb to be much scared.  It was exciting and educational.  Dad did tell me later that I should have gone with my first instinct and headed for the cove where the other boater with the john boat probably headed.  (We heard of no fatalities, and so we assumed these other folks end up fine.)

 

Just one of those things.  That boat is the one I'm rebuilding now, and though I want to run it mostly electric, it will have a 35hp motor.

 

Josh


fishing user avatarKayakKid reply : 

I don't know about any of you, but I think looking at fish underwater is really cool; especially when they are holding on to cover in clear water and you can get really close without them spooking off. So anyway it was a hot day sometime in august, and me, my dad, and my uncle were out diving on cribs, you know just looking to see what was down there. We were on a shallow rocky flat, about 10 foot deep, and we were trolling along looking for these cribs that would hold giant small mouth.  We had always in the past looked for this one crib that was about in 15 feet of water, but without GPS we would have to be right over the top of it to see it(making it almost impossible being 400 yards or so off the nearest shore to know exactly where it was). Well the water level had been down that particular year so we though we would have a good shot at finding it. We found it after what seemed like hours of searching, and at this point we hadn't caught anything all day so we were ready to jump right in when we got there. A boo-ee hadn't even been thrown by the time I was in the water and I was approching so fast I didn't even notice a short log floating above the others. I was about 5 feet away when this musky turns broadside and darts away. I didn't get an accurate judge of how big the musky was but I suspect it to be in the upper 30 to upper 50 range. It scared me so bad i actually had the strength when I got to the surface to pull myself above the gunwale and fling myself into the boat. To this day that is the most scared I've ever been.


fishing user avatarSPEEDBEAD. reply : 

Riding across Guntersville with CJ in his Legend. Terrifying....


fishing user avatarNCBassAssassin reply : 

FIshing off of a dock at a timeshare in Bath NC in the Pamlico river, trying to catch some striper that were on a run.  Earlier in the day I had caught a 80 lb ray, and saw a bull snap a guys flounder line.  I was sitting back in a chair with a nice hunk of bait tossed out there.  Had the rod in my hands, something took it with a vengeance and pulled me off the dock into the water. The water there is only three feet deep right at the dock, but none the less rays sit there under the dock.  Scariest moment ever while I've been fishing.




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