Fish Story

So today was my last day fishing in 2012 and it ended with several - 'fish stories'.

Started with the walk back to the launch after parking the car. It was supposed to be a calm day, I wouldn't call 15-20 mph winds calm, but I'm an accountant, not a weatherman. It started raining, so I put my full raingear on. The walk back to the ramp was peaceful, but something was missing... like my boat which had just been tied to the dock a minute ago :shock: My first thought was "Did I put the plug in?" Somehow, the wind and waves had untied it and it was floating in the lake. As I sprinted down the rest of way, I could see it down shore, the wind blew it close enough I didn't have to even get my feet wet. 8)

When fishing slowed later, I figured I'd anchor and thoroughly fish a weedy point. On the second cast I hooked up with a fish that felt small, then felt BIG - must have been swimming towards the boat at first. Once he realized he was hooked, to the deep weeds he dove. 15 FOW and he's buried in the old growth weeds. :? I'm using 8lb line and it's singing in the wind about to break. I can still feel the fish on the line as the lure is stuck on the weeds. 5 minutes of pulling and nothing. :idea: Then I had the most brilliant idea :idea:, get the lure recovery thing-a-ma-jig out. It slides over your line down to the bait and pulls it loose - (I snagged it from one of the tinboats box passes.) So I hook it up to the line and it starts to slide down, but the recovery line tangles and I drop the whole think in the lake. So I have a fish, still on the line, snagged near the bottom of the lake, and now my lure recoverer is down there too. - and I really don't want this to break off I can just see the lure recovery handle thing-a-ma-jig floating about 8 feet down. I tried the net to get it back, but couldn't reach it. So while still holding the rod tight, I took a second rod with 50lb braid, rigged up a spoon and sunk it by the fish. I started snagging weeds and bringing them up, hoding two rods reeling one, then clearing weeds, and keeping at it. I must have looked hilarious. I never got the right weed, so I tried for the handle to the lure retriever (its a circle without many areas to snag). After another 5 minutes (spoons don't drop straight down, they flutter!!!), I just snagged the edge of it... Gingerly I was able to bring it to my figertips, while holding both rods in one hand and keeping both tight - A third hand would have been AWESOME. I grabbed the handle and started to pull. The lure retriever had snagged the lure and pulled it free!!!! Fortunately, the fish was still on it, but that fish was not done. He went STRAIGHT to the anchor line and snagged it royally. So my fish, lure, and lure retriever are all tangled on the anchor line now. Eventually, I was able to get the whole mess in the boat - then the fish fell off the hook :LOL2: :LOL2: :LOL2:

I fished this day alone. I asked a person who always wants to go, and he never got back to me. So I asked a kid who wants to learn how to fish better. His mom (I work with her) said he was available, he never got back to me either. So I went fishing alone. As I was fishing, the kid got back to me and told me he was busy... no problem. As I was loading the boat, the first guy called me and told me he couldn't make it and wondered how I did... it was sundown already :roll: :roll: :roll: They missed some good fishing... Ended up keeping 3 fish total, 2 bass and one pike that was killed by the hooks.

......then there was the day that my GF hooked onto the largest trout I have ever seen while we were fishing in our two seat kayak. I had to paddle to position the kayak as she fishes with two pound line and she fought it for what seemed like eternity. The fish finally surfaced next to us and then I realized that the net we had was way to small! The fish still had some fight left in it and made a last attempt and literally bent the hook straight! Wish I had the camera going but was too busy paddling.

You need to video everything - especially you chasing your untied boat down the lake

Glad there was an ON-shore breeze!!

Great story.

See now, were it me, my boat would have been blown down the channel, somehow made it through the Great Lakes, circumnavigated the continent, and ended up as part of the Japanese flotsam that's making its way here.


You did good.

That whole story is so hilarious! Loved it -- thanks for sharing. :LOL2: :LOL2: :LOL2:

Thanks for sharing. I love stories like this.

They depict REAL things that happen to any of us lucky enough to be on the water for any appreciable time.

Most of us are not laughing too loudly at your experiences. We are just waiting for something similar to happen to us! Thanks for making me laugh out loud.

Now, why are you counting on this being your last fishing trip of the season? Doesn't "Indian Summer" ever happen up North anymore? My sister-in-law lives just south of the Wisc./ Ill border. She told me they were golfing on January 1 2012. Hope you get a mild Winter again. rich

two mondays ago i found the need to put a raised floor in my little tin. great day fishing pickeral perch and bass biting like crazy. calm water(almost like glass). trolled to a new spot. went to move to my deck and twisted an ankle in the grooves on bottom. went overboard but only half my body. not top or bottom just one side foot to shoulder. getting in filled my boat with almost a foot of water. worst part is i was by a bike patch bridge that crosses the lake. lots of people got a good laugh. caught some nice cats at the end of the day after my little swim

A true fisherman! Keeps on fishing even after making the evening news! ha Ha

Another good one! Rich

p.s. OK then I'll share one too.

#1 Launched the boat.
#2 pulled the trailer away with my new Astro van ( some years ago, obviously)
#3 Got back to boat, only to find it sinking by the stern...(left the plug out!)
#4 Jumped into boat and leaned over the transom to stick the plug back in. Battery case blocked access from inside of the boat.
#5 Fell over the very low (and getting lower) stern...into two feet of water....put plug back in.
#6 Got mad and decided to go home.
#7 Got to new van and found my (salt-water soaked) remote wouldn't work...and the alarm blared when I tried to get in.
#8 Alarm blared for many minutes, until I called the dealer and asked how the heck you shut the d$%%^ alarm off.
#9 Was told that there was a switch underneath the dash, and the sales guy should have showed it to me.
#10 Turned alarm off; loaded boat; drove home....

Ah, just another day in the life of a fisherman!

Rich

Hey RichG, don't wish a a warm winter. We need lots of snow, our lakes are very low. We need a good deep freeze to keep the water in the lakes, then we need about 10' of snow. That way I can enjoy my snowmobile until it all melts. When it melts, it'll add to the lake level. I fish on Lake Michigan. The ramps here in Racine would make it tricky to launch the ski boat, I'd never get the big fishing boat in now. Couldn't for the last month or so. I've been in the tinny a lot this year though! We need rain, snow, anything wet that will help our lakes out! So, give me a cold wet winter and I'll be happy!!!

Wasilvers, whay lake do you fish? I'm just south of Milwaukee and am looking for some good inland lakes to hit. This is the first year I've fished a lake other than Michigan in Racine county.

Just sold my place on the Wisc. ILL border....but....I sure had fun on Silver lake (Kenosha county) during August; and in prior years...nothing wrong with Pewaukee; Okauchee (spelling?); and Oconomowoc. rich

I mostly fish lake keesus, north of waukesha/merton. nice weedy lake, has something for everyone - pads, docks, dropopffs, slopes, etc. Been there lots and rarely been skunked. The launch is shallow though, so you have to go almost till the front wheels are wet to launch, but its paved.