You guys ever get birds (seagulls especially) get too close to your top water lures? Had a seagull get caught up in my line tonight while I was fishing a Spro Bronzeye Jr. ... I eventually cut my line. When the seagull drifted by the shore, some lady untangled the line and gave back my Spro.
Have you ever had that happen? What'd you do?
Ive had tons of ospreys and a few eagles pick up my swimbaits.
Had various birds try to get my swimbaits, and topwater baits. I just reel fast, and maybe yell, that seems to deter them somewhat, except for the Kingfishers..those guys are Persistent.. ;D
At my house, there are these birds called Terns. They hover over the water for a second to see a fish and when he sees one, he dive bombs the water, going about half a foot under. Had them go after my jitterbugs. And spinnerbaits that i burn right under the water. If i see a tern gettin ready to dive bomb, i jerk the lure really fast(jitterbug) or let the spinnerbait fall so it gets out of the terns range
I hooked a pelican and my buddy told me just reel it in, grab it by the back of the neck and unhook it. Worked great. the bird actually calmed down once I had a good grip. But I don't know if it will work with other species of birds.
I have had ducks and seagulls fly into my line on the cast and get tangled up a couple times. I found that if you bring them in and put a towel over their heads they will calm down and you can get them free. I have also had a diving bird dive into the water and pull my swimbait out of the water, I had to yank it from its beak, TWICE!!
Had a bird take my spook. I managed to get it loose before it could hook itself but I was worried for a few seconds.
Seagulls, we call them "Dump Chickens", are the number one reason you should always carry a pair of leather gloves in your boat or tackle box.
I had no idea this seagull picked up my line or tangled until my lines started moving with it.
I guess next time, I'll do my best to free the bird even though I hate touching birds.
Thanks for the posts...
One of my buddies caught a pelican while fishing from a pier one time. One of the funniest things I ever watched. He and the pelican cleared the pier of fishermen and spectators.
Common occurrence down here having birds fly into your line while casting. As mentioned above a towel over their head makes them manageable.
we have hooked water turkeys, dont play with them they have razor sharp beak. i watched it go straight through a towel and then i figured i would let it keep my jerkbait.
Seagulls have grabbed minnow baits in flight but the worst one was an owl that picked up my jitterbug while nightfishing in a pond.
Allen
I've hooked a few seagulls before when chumming on the reefs for snapper and kings. Makes for an entertaining fight. Like a few people mentioned, toss a towel over the eyes and it makes life much easier.
I've come very close to hooking several Ducks, a couple of Osprey, and a few hawks/eagles while bass fishing. I'm not sure what the heck I would do if one of those larger birds actually got a hook into them.
I watched someone hook a duck once and reel him in... Then the duck attacked the crap out of him HA (he was being mean to the duck anyway, he deserved it).
I nailed a bat once on the river. THAT was fun... I freaking hate bats and hate them even more when they are almost in my lap...
The lady that set the bird free, she kept harassing me about why I cut the line loose to let the seagull die. She said the bird was drowning, which at the exact moment, the bird was perfectly fine sitting on top of the water.
It's all funny until a spectator takes offense and makes a scene out of it.
I'm there fishing, I'm not there birding!
QuoteAt my house, there are these birds called Terns. They hover over the water for a second to see a fish and when he sees one, he dive bombs the water, going about half a foot under. Had them go after my jitterbugs. And spinnerbaits that i burn right under the water. If i see a tern gettin ready to dive bomb, i jerk the lure really fast(jitterbug) or let the spinnerbait fall so it gets out of the terns range
Terns? So that's what they're called. They're always out there. Haven't had one go after a lure of mine before, but seagulls are pests.
Weird you mentioned it. I had a robin fly into my line a couple weeks ago and the line got caught in it's feathers on its wing. I couldn't get it out and had to finally cut the line. As I was holding the line and the bird was struggling, the line came free and it flew off. A couple casts later I caught a 21 inch bass just under 6 pounds, my third biggest bass of 2010.
The guys I was fishing with and myself are now believers that when a bird hits your line and you let it go, it's good fishing karma, and the fishing God's will reward you always.
QuoteWeird you mentioned it. I had a robin fly into my line a couple weeks ago and the line got caught in it's feathers on its wing. I couldn't get it out and had to finally cut the line. As I was holding the line and the bird was struggling, the line came free and it flew off. A couple casts later I caught a 21 inch bass just under 6 pounds, my third biggest bass of 2010.The guys I was fishing with and myself are now believers that when a bird hits your line and you let it go, it's good fishing karma, and the fishing God's will reward you always.
haha ... I didn't get my biggest of the year after the seagull incident, but I did land more bass than my buddy.
QuoteQuoteAt my house, there are these birds called Terns. They hover over the water for a second to see a fish and when he sees one, he dive bombs the water, going about half a foot under. Had them go after my jitterbugs. And spinnerbaits that i burn right under the water. If i see a tern gettin ready to dive bomb, i jerk the lure really fast(jitterbug) or let the spinnerbait fall so it gets out of the terns rangeTerns? So that's what they're called. They're always out there. Haven't had one go after a lure of mine before, but seagulls are pests.
i've seen a hawk do the same thing over and over and over, we were actually trying to cast where he was diving thinking there would be bass chasing whatever they were chasing
Fishing a white plastic mouse in the Basha Kill....Hawk sweeps down and takes it right away. All I could do was watch and save as much line as possible :'(
well when I was a dumb *** kid I casted into a flock of geese in the parking lot and just held on while the goose flew away ripping drag until my line broke that was 20 years ago and I still feel like an ***.
this spring I was in the boundary waters and I had a loon chasing my baby 1- right up to the boat I couldn't hardly reel fast enough to keep it away.
I was burning a swimbait once and a loon came darting through the water to get it. Seeing that loon underwater almost made me crap myself.
What to do?Just watch this vid.Have fun ;D
Adam
QuoteWhat to do?Just watch this vid.Have fun ;D
Adam
How'd you find that video? There's like 8 views! Let me guess -- it's yours? haha
No, that's my cousin's.I've asked him to share this one and he did it yesterday
Adam
I'm surprised the pelican didn't put up a bigger fight. Thanks for sharing the vdeo.
Well, let's see. So far I've gotten my line wrapped around a seagull, a Canada goose, and a bat-which, while technically not a bird, does have wings. It was pretty P O'd, I can tell you! The Canada goose put up a heck of a fight once it got airborne.