Dumb things you have done while fishing 2024

Munkin reply :

The JJ's magic thread got me thinking about some of the dumb things I have done while fishing. I will post my embarrassments and hopefully others will as well in order for us to all laugh together as a community.

1. Put a bunch of Kick-n-bass on my jig along with my fingers then proceeded to put so Redman in my mouth 20 seconds later, I don't recommend this unless you are bulimic.

2. Was trying to determine which of two fish to cull and a wave hit my boat. Almost fell overboard but I managed to drop both fish overboard with the cull tags still attached.

3. Got mad at a bunch of jet skis so I decided to leave and fish somewhere else. Gunned it and the boat would not get up on plane and all this water kept flying back on me where I could not see. Tried 3 times to get on plane and every time the same thing happened. Learned that day that a boat has trouble getting on plane if the TM is still in the water.

These are the top 3 I can think of.

Allen

jbsoonerfan reply :

Too many to remember but one sticks out. Was hung up in a cat tail with a lipless and trying my best to rip it loose. I finally got it and it came flying by my head at a high rate of speed. Natural reaction said "catch it" the treble hooks screamed "CAUGHT IT". Not a good day.

Joshua van Wyk reply :

So I took one of my friends fishing and he decided he wanted to throw a 130 size whopper popper. We were standing on a small 3 by 3 block of cement and he hit me in the arm with that whopper plopper and the one treble went deep into my arm. That wasn't the bad part, the bad part was that we tried to rip it out for 30 minutes. We both tried our hardest to get that hook out but it wasnt budging, I called my dad and he told me to push the hook out the other side and use bolt cutters to break off the barb, I should've gone that route to begin with. Would've saved a lot of time. Definetly a lesson I won't forget.

ww2farmer reply :

It would take me days to list them all.

Some of the highlights include:

Causing repairs to be made to the trolling motor by going on 100 into the bushes to retrieve a $6 lure.

Smashing multiple console graph screens with vigorous, yet poorly executed casting techniques.

Launching the boat multiple times when I have forgotten to hook the rope to the trailer.

Launching the boat multiple times with the plug out.

Missing bites/hook sets on fish as I stared at scantly clad gals on shore/docks/etc..

Junger reply :

I smoke a cigar once in a while when fishing. I was overzealous on a hookset and my left forearm went into the lit cigar...Got burned nicely on that one.

I now sweep hookset all the time now.

papajoe222 reply :

On 4/17/2019 at 11:24 AM, ww2farmer said:

Missing bites/hook sets on fish as I stared at scantly clad gals on shore/docks/etc..

You're supposed to list dumb things. If we all do this, it isn't dumb, is it?

BTW, what lake do you miss all these bites/hook sets on?

Munkin reply :

On 4/17/2019 at 11:24 AM, ww2farmer said:

It would take me days to list them all.

Some of the highlights include:

Causing repairs to be made to the trolling motor by going on 100 into the bushes to retrieve a $6 lure.

Smashing multiple console graph screens with vigorous, yet poorly executed casting techniques.

Launching the boat multiple times when I have forgotten to hook the rope to the trailer.

Launching the boat multiple times with the plug out.

Missing bites/hook sets on fish as I stared at scantly clad gals on shore/docks/etc..

First boat I ever owned was a Bass Tracker. On its maiden voyage I launched it into the lake, about 10 minutes later I ask my friend Shawn is it supposed to set that low in the water? His reply was you did put the plug in right? My response was what is a plug? It only took about 10 minutes for the water to drain once we put it back on the trailer.

Allen

punch reply :

More times than I'd like to admit I've had this sequence of events... sit down, start motor, punch it, why am I getting wet, frack I didn't put the trolling motor up!

gnappi reply :

My father in law Nick (RIP) was reaching over the side, scooping water up and flinging it back at me. Over and over he did it till I finally steered toward the BIG wake of a big displacement hull boat, throttled back and let my bow dive into the wake.

It S-O-A-K-E-D Nick, but got so much water in my 16' glass tri hull my little 55 horse Johnson would barely move the boat!

I had to drop Nick and Mother in law off on a sandy beach, pull the plug and let the motor suck the water out of the boat. When it was empty, I put the plug back in, and picked Nick and my Mother in law up. He never wet me again, and I never dove into the wake of a big boat again ????

Bankbeater reply :

Fishing in the wind one time I tied the anchor line to the 15 lb anchor and lowered it over the side without tying off the other end of the line to the boat. Luckily I was only in about 10 ft of water and I saw the anchor line floating on the surface as the boat floated away from it.

Jaderose reply :

How many times have you guys used a pair of needle nose or another tool to either unhook a bass or some other mundane chore and then dropped them in the water? I don't mean have them slip I mean you dropped them in instead of the fish or lure? Guilty. More than once.

Or (I've done this MANY times) not that big a deal but tied on a lure and then cut main line instead of tag. Did it yesterday....again.

Scott F reply :

When you go to Canada to fish for pike, a set of jaw spreaders is standard equipment to help remove lures. Veterans of fly-in trips always tie the spreaders to the boat because all of them at one time or another, have released a fish back in the water with the spreaders still in the fishes mouth.

Rpratt reply :

How bout the old....

Try to put the boat on trailer...

Wham! Boat won't go on trailer.

What the heck?

Hey, I know, let's back up and do it again!

Wham!

????

Little kid on the dock has to tell you that your trolling motor is down. And I knocked it off my mounts....????

MickD reply :

On 4/17/2019 at 11:17 AM, Joshua van Wyk said:

So I took one of my friends fishing and he decided he wanted to throw a 130 size whopper popper. We were standing on a small 3 by 3 block of cement and he hit me in the arm with that whopper plopper and the one treble went deep into my arm. That wasn't the bad part, the bad part was that we tried to rip it out for 30 minutes. We both tried our hardest to get that hook out but it wasnt budging, I called my dad and he told me to push the hook out the other side and use bolt cutters to break off the barb, I should've gone that route to begin with. Would've saved a lot of time. Definetly a lesson I won't forget.

To help in the future I offer this method for hook removal. In this case cut the treble off the lure so you only have one hook to deal with. I have used this method with hooks this large and it works great.

MickD reply :

Try launching your boat with the rear tie-downs still on.

Catt reply :

On 4/17/2019 at 11:01 AM, Munkin said:

Learned that day that a boat has trouble getting on plane if the TM is still in the water.

Try getting on plane without pulling up your anchor!

Drove 45 minutes to a local marsh, launched the boat, started putting tackle in the boat, & noticed no rod-n-reels!

Frisbie385 reply :

During the Big Bass Bash in the Ozarks last spring I caught a nice one in a straight up down pour. We had to make about a 30min run to weigh the fish. We take off and about 5 to 10 min in I start to wonder why won't my boat go any faster than 35mph. Keep in mind the pouring rain and it was about 50 degrees so I was all bundled up trying to stay warm. Finally I look back and realize the Talon was still fully deployed (12'). Water was spraying out every orifice of the Talon. Had to take the Talon in for repairs when I got back to town. Dumb dumb dumb. Fingers crossed that never happens again.

Largies4Life reply :

Not so much dumb, but just a series of unfortunate events. We just landed a very nice musky (mid 40" range) and when I went to down to grab her from the net, a big wave hit the boat causing me to flip over the edge and into the drink I go. My phone was the only souvenir that the lake got that day, and luckily it was a summer day so it was quite relaxing in the water! Highly recommend for anyone fishing on a hot day...

12poundbass reply :

My son was 6 at the time and when launching my 14’ boat on a secluded lake I let him hold the rope while I backed down the dirt launch. I didn’t mention to keep and eye on the extra rope. SNAP!!! The rope gets under the truck tire and the boat goes floating away. I had to wade through muck and swim about 50 yards to get it back. We still went fishing that morning.

813basstard reply :

First voyage. Ever in my boat. 14ft Vhull with a 15hp Johnson that was used as a kicker on the Nina. Lake? Pond? Nope, let’s go to the Bay, with a Florida summer thunderstorm coming. Before we could make 1 cast, we ran aground. Pulled the boat a mile to get back in the channel. Waves starting crashing over the side, motor wouldn’t fire. So we got out and swam towing the boat to a man made rock pile and waited out the storm. Finally got the engine going ran aground again and ended up finding an abandoned house to tie the boat to as we walked 3 miles back to the boat ramp.

There was a gas station along the way.

Beers were consumed during walk back.

Dumb!

cookieman reply :

When my daughter was younger she wanted to go fishing with me one day, attention span was usually short so when went to load the boat after fishing i didnt get it into the water far enough(no dock) so she was on shore so i told her to back it in alittle. she had driven alittle so she said ok. I said put it in N foot on brake a back into water a little.She did great, said put in D and hit the gas, you guessed it she put it in reverse instead. the water was over the wheel well half up the box. Finnally got it out went and hugged her that everything was alright and had a good laugh.

Another time with my son I started what is now a father son tradition. Catching was slow and he wasnt paying attention so i jerked the rod up like i had something then said just checking , he was so mad. Now i do this at least once every trip and we still get a laugh about it. its been probably 20 years. he catches me with it once in awhile too

Tizi reply :

When I was younger fishing from the dock, my brother got too close to me when casting. He was casting a rapala, I saw the lure as he was casting and yelled, stop!! It was too late, the lure got snagged in my nose! I had to go to the hospital to get it removed. Never stand by your brother while he is casting.

Boomstick reply :

I haven't really done anything too stupid *fingers crossed*. My youngest kid once hooked my side and I pulled it out, barb and all with pliers. That hurt a bit and bled for a while but fortunately it was one hook from a smaller treble hook on a crankbait.

But perhaps the dumbest thing I did was I was fishing from a rowboat with my kids and I just hooked the biggest fish in my life. I'd think it was a massive pike, but from what I saw it looked like el mondo - and the boys said it looked like a giant bass as well. I gave it a sweeping hookset and smacked my oldest son in the face. It towed the boat around for a little while, then went under the boat and set itself free. Had I got a better hookset, there's a very good chance I'd be a member of the 10 pound club.

WRB reply :

Tournament fishing drove 160 miles to the wrong lake,

Forgot the OB ignition key and rod locker key without a spare.

Forgot to charge the TM batteries,

Forgot to put the sonar units in the boat.

All the above boat luanching mistakes, tie downs, bow strap, drain plug, etc.

Fell out of the boat a few times. Lost glasses, cell phones, tackle boxes left on the front deck at 70 mph.

Tom

Boomstick reply :

On 4/17/2019 at 11:50 PM, WRB said:

Tournament fishing drove 160 miles to the wrong lake,

Forgot the OB ignition key and rod locker key without a spare.

Forgot to charge the TM batteries,

Forgot to put the sonar units in the boat.

All the above boat luanching mistakes, tie downs, bow strap, drain plug, etc.

Fell out of the boat a few times. Lost glasses, cell phones, tackle boxes left on the front deck at 70 mph.

Tom

That's like something out of a comedy routine. Speaking of falling out of the boat though, that might happen with me. I've developed symptoms of meniere's disease recently and I was fishing on a dam and couldn't even stand on that because I kept getting dizzy, so one of these days that might be me.

WRB reply :

On 4/17/2019 at 11:55 PM, Boomstick said:

That's like something out of a comedy routine. Speaking of falling out of the boat though, that might happen with me. I've developed symptoms of meniere's disease recently and I was fishing on a dam and couldn't even stand on that because I kept getting dizzy, so one of these days that might be me.

I was fishing in a freinds BassCat that had Evinrude TM, the motor turned sideways, the on/off control was on the side of the foot control and I was fighting a fish, hit the TM on, the bow swung away from me and into the lake I went....during winter!

Tom

Boomstick reply :

On 4/18/2019 at 12:49 AM, WRB said:

I was fishing in a freinds BassCat that had Evinrude TM, the motor turned sideways, the on/off control was on the side of the foot control and I was fighting a fish, hit the TM on, the bow swung away from me and into the lake I went....during winter!

Tom

The real question here is did you still manage to land that fish?

WRB reply :

On 4/18/2019 at 1:03 AM, Boomstick said:

The real question here is did you still manage to land that fish?

I didn't but my boating partner did before helping me get back into the boat....priorities!

I've suggested every boating bass angler should try swimming fully clothed with shoes on and try getting back into your boat. This is unbelievably difficult in cold water, shoes must come off , so practice in warm water with help, could save your life!

Tom

Mobasser reply :

Went fishing with a friend years ago at a large pond. He weighed probably 250lbs, a big guy. We had a 10 ft Jon boat. Ray said I'll get in first. He climbed in with rod and tacklebox, but when he sat down the whole back of the boat sunk into 2 ft of water flooding him up to his waist. When he tried to stand up, he lost balance and landed in a mossbed near shore. I couldn't stop laughing! He made it to shore soaked through, with a 6" piece of moss stuck to his neck! I still laugh about it.

MountainMan83 reply :

On 4/18/2019 at 4:15 AM, Mobasser said:

Went fishing with a friend years ago at a large pond. He weighed probably 250lbs, a big guy. We had a 10 ft Jon boat. Ray said I'll get in first. He climbed in with rod and tacklebox, but when he sat down the whole back of the boat sunk into 2 ft of water flooding him up to his waist. When he tried to stand up, he lost balance and landed in a mossbed near shore. I couldn't stop laughing! He made it to shore soaked through, with a 6" piece of moss stuck to his neck! I still laugh about it.

Went fishing with a friend years ago at a large pond. He weighed probably 250lbs, a big guy. We had a 10 ft Jon boat. Ray said I'll get in first. He climbed in with rod and tacklebox, but when he sat down the whole back of the boat sunk into 2 ft of water flooding him up to his waist. When he tried to stand up, he lost balance and landed in a mossbed near shore. I couldn't stop laughing! He made it to shore soaked through, with a 6" piece of moss stuck to his neck! I still laugh about it.

Went fishing with a friend years ago at a large pond. He weighed probably 250lbs, a big guy. We had a 10 ft Jon boat. Ray said I'll get in first. He climbed in with rod and tacklebox, but when he sat down the whole back of the boat sunk into 2 ft of water flooding him up to his waist. When he tried to stand up, he lost balance and landed in a mossbed near shore. I couldn't stop laughing! He made it to shore soaked through, with a 6" piece of moss stuck to his neck! I still laugh about it.

Went fishing with a friend years ago at a large pond. He weighed probably 250lbs, a big guy. We had a 10 ft Jon boat. Ray said I'll get in first. He climbed in with rod and tacklebox, but when he sat down the whole back of the boat sunk into 2 ft of water flooding him up to his waist. When he tried to stand up, he lost balance and landed in a mossbed near shore. I couldn't stop laughing! He made it to shore soaked through, with a 6" piece of moss stuck to his neck! I still laugh about it.

Went fishing with a friend years ago at a large pond. He weighed probably 250lbs, a big guy. We had a 10 ft Jon boat. Ray said I'll get in first. He climbed in with rod and tacklebox, but when he sat down the whole back of the boat sunk into 2 ft of water flooding him up to his waist. When he tried to stand up, he lost balance and landed in a mossbed near shore. I couldn't stop laughing! He made it to shore soaked through, with a 6" piece of moss stuck to his neck! I still laugh about it.

Geez, you'd figure he'd learn better after the first time!

BassWhole! reply :

-I cut the main line instead of the tag end a few times, usually when I'm in a hurry to get back in the water. One time I did it not once, not twice, but three times.

-One time I drove an hour and realized I forgot the rods.

-Didn't pass the line through the levelwind, and caught a fish before I fixed it.

Im sure if I think about it, I can come up with some other boneheaded things I've done over the years.

detroit1 reply :

About 5 yrs. ago I was fishing by myself, first time out for the year. (normally I have a friend with me on the first trip of the year) Anyways, windy (15+) high 40's, and only boat on the lake. I made a cast and was getting another rod rigged when a big gust hits and spinned me around and to make a short story long, my braided line got wrapped in my ob's prop. I tilted the motor full up and the prop is barely out of reach. The troll motor was useless in the wind, so I was at the mercy of the wind. Jumping into the water was really not an option. So while stretching to reach the line, I heard a couple of cracks. They were 2 of my ribs cracking over the transom. I got untangled though! Also hurt for a few weeks...

MickD reply :

Took my grandson fishing, he was about six. As we left the launch, about 200 yards out, he was standing behind me as I steered from the helm. "Grandpa, it's getting a little wet back here." Forgot to put the plug in. Grandson didn't think it was a big deal. Son disagreed. (we both had pfd's on)

On 4/18/2019 at 1:45 AM, WRB said:

I didn't but my boating partner did before helping me get back into the boat....priorities!

I've suggested every boating bass angler should try swimming fully clothed with shoes on and try getting back into your boat. This is unbelievably difficult in cold water, shoes must come off , so practice in warm water with help, could save your life!

Tom

Another thing that can help is to put some of that sand coated tape onto the horizontal fins on the lower unit. It helps prevent slipping when using the lower unit to get back into the boat. How do I know that? Never mind.

Mobasser reply :

On 4/18/2019 at 4:25 AM, MountainMan83 said:

Geez, you'd figure he'd learn better after the first time!

Sorry! Me too????

GreenPig reply :

On 4/17/2019 at 8:31 PM, MickD said:

Try launching your boat with the rear tie-downs still on.

Been there with my fishing partner. Backed him down and the boat floated over the ramp next to ours. Had to push it back over with the outboard motor to align it to pull it back up the ramp.

gnappi reply :

I remember a time in Hawk's channel (the Fla keys) when we heard this loud Ffffzzzzz noise for several seconds while on plane and later found my anchor missing. It had fallen overboard and the Ffffzzzzz sound was the 100 yards of line being stripped over the fiberglass. good thing that line wasn't attached to a cleat!

Glaucus reply :

The absolute dumbest thing I've ever done while fishing is ignore my wife's phone calls. I still haven't learned my lesson.

haggard reply :

Launched boat at dock and left drain plug out while parking the truck. Fortunately got back to ramp in time.

Left rods in holders while trailering boat backta camp, snagged a tree on the way and had to reel in lots of line

Got to camp, left travel trailer key at home, slept in the shed

Forgot to pull up anchor before motoring to next spot

Forgot to pull up submerged camera before motoring to next spot, got the tether tangled in prop on a windy day and had to beach the boat

While unhooking a deep hooked bass, let the phone slip into the yak pedal drive cavity which was full of water. Saved the bass, killed the phone.

Not all on the same day, by the way.

Live and learn.

Munkin reply :

Got a call right after a long cast and ran over the line with the TM once.

Allen

OCdockskipper reply :

On 4/17/2019 at 11:50 PM, WRB said:

Tournament fishing drove 160 miles to the wrong lake...

Tom

I really need the details on this one...

Bluebasser86 reply :

Tossed the anchor in from my 2 man once without looking where the rest of the rope was. Quickly became obvious it was wrapped around the 3 rods I had in the boat with me as they when whistling over the side with the anchor rope. 2 of them stayed tangled in the rope when I pulled it back up, had to go swimming to get the 3rd back. One of them broke as it was slamming out of the boat.

Also tossed an anchor out once before I'd clipped it to the rope. Anchor did exactly what it was supposed to do, would have worked a lot better if it had been attached to the rope though I think.

6955

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