BajaNomad - The dumbest thing you ever did while fishin?

The dumbest thing you ever did while fishin?

baitcast - 3-27-2011 at 08:40 AM

Only had my boat for a short while and was fishing sharks for maybe the 2nd time,nobody fished for them in those days so for us it was trial and error while learning and painful as it turned out for me

Out in the channel drifting along while listening to the radio and shooting the breeze things were slow and starting to get boring when my buddies rig sounded off,instant chaos out of the water comes a nice size thresher our first everyone is yelling getting in each others way,not to organized to say the least.

After a couple of runs and jumps my bud gets the thing alongside what now? remember first time my first thought was get the rope around his tail I reach down to grab hold and WHAMMMM that same tail comes up slams me in the head,there I am laying on the deck my head is ringing and seeing all these dancing dots!!!!

I don,t what we had planned on doing with a fish this size in the first place,a 16' boat doesn,t leave much room so they cut him off and I called it a day.
Rob

fishabductor - 3-27-2011 at 08:53 AM

The dumbest thing I ever did was launch the boat, and once I was out in the water realized I left the rods in the truck. I also went skiing once and forgot my skiis at home. Both times after a long night of drinking.

:lol:

Ken Bondy - 3-27-2011 at 09:02 AM

Here is a story about what is probably my dumbest thing done fishing (PFQ = Punta San Francisquito):

One afternoon at PFQ we saw a huge cloud of birds working several miles out off the north point, maybe a third of the way to Isla San Lorenzo. The birds were too far for the inflatables, so we rousted Savino from the bar and headed out in one of the PFQ pangas. When we got to the boil it was amazing; the ocean was exploding. Every imaginable marine animal was there eating—shoals of small fish were blasting out of the water, birds were wheeling and shrieking above and in the water, and the yellowtail were so thick you could walk on them. Hundreds of dolphins were breaking the surface, graceful thresher sharks were launching themselves completely out of the water, and even a pod of pilot whales was there. It was late summer and the presence of dolphins on the surface suggested yellowfin tuna below, so we dropped the jigs down below the yellowtail, and were immediately rewarded with four heavy hookups. When the first tuna showed color, we realized with horror that we were without a gaff. That was no big problem with the first three fish; they were in the 20-25 pound class and, with some effort, could be “bounced” into the boat with just the rod. Not so with the last one, that fourth fish was big.

The big fish was being fought by a close friend, now gone, Frank Armellini. When we saw the fish we knew it would be a problem, we estimated his weight at about 70 pounds. Frank worked him carefully and after a forty-five minute struggle the big fish was on his side next to the panga. There was no possibility of “bouncing” a fish that big without breaking the line; he had to be hauled in with bare human hands. I heroically volunteered to do it. The aft body of a yellowfin tuna, even a big one like this, narrows to a relatively small diameter just forward of the sharply forked tail. With this fish it was about the diameter of the skinny end of a baseball bat. That allows a fairly decent two-handed grip. I figured that would be better for hauling him in than by grabbing him by the gills, because the gill covers have sharp edges and don’t offer as good a grip as the tail. All that was good logic, but I forgot to take one thing into consideration, buoyancy. Hundreds of years ago a real smart guy named Archimedes discovered that an object in water is acted on by an upward force equal to the weight of the water it displaces. Since the density of the tuna was about the same as the water, he was virtually weightless when he was completely submerged. So it was easy to get some of him out of the water, but the more of him that came out of the water the heavier he got. When I had half of him out of the water, I was lifting damn near 40 pounds. So I found myself in this crazy rocking cycle with the fish—leaning over the gunnels of the panga I would pick up as much weight as I could, the panga would tilt over to my side as the weight increased, and each time I reached my strength limit the tuna would slip back into the water. We did several cycles like this. I just couldn’t lift him over the side. I was getting harassed and ridiculed, of course, by the other laughing occupants of the panga, and this didn’t help my temperament. Finally I managed to squeeze out a great shot of adrenaline, and with one mighty heave, I hauled him over the side. In doing that I of course fell over backwards and the fish, now rested, landed on top of me and started thrashing. It was quite a scene, me on my back embracing this wildly gyrating yellowfin tuna. Lures, poles, beer, oars, tackle boxes, shoes, hats, and people scattered in all directions. But after all that work I was not to be denied. The fish finally calmed down and I was able to roll it off of me and into the bottom of the panga. And after this incredible selfless effort, can you believe I was subjected to even more laughter and ridicule. But the battle was won. The great fish weighed 75 pounds and made magnificent sashimi. None of us, including Savino, ever again forgot a gaff.

Russ - 3-27-2011 at 09:05 AM

ONCE... I forgot to put the beer chest in the boat.

woody with a view - 3-27-2011 at 09:47 AM

Ken

isn't it funny how near disaster ALWAYS ends in laughter, ALWAYS?

monoloco - 3-27-2011 at 09:49 AM

I once made the mistake of using a Penn Squidder for trolling, while reeling in a rather large dorado I accidentally hit the little switch that allows it to crank out line, the result was like putting my thumb in the blender. Ouch!

fishabductor - 3-27-2011 at 09:55 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by monoloco
I once made the mistake of using a Penn Squidder for trolling, while reeling in a rather large dorado I accidentally hit the little switch that allows it to crank out line, the result was like putting my thumb in the blender. Ouch!

sounds like fishing knuckle busters(direct drive) for salmon.

...and ouch is an understatement. I recall using several 4 lettered words in series.

billgow - 3-27-2011 at 10:06 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Ken Bondy
Here is a story about what is probably my dumbest thing done fishing (PFQ = Punta San Francisquito):

What a great story!

I love it!

Thanks.

stevelaubly - 3-27-2011 at 10:07 AM

I think my daughter was about 5 or 6 when we took her on her first fishing trip. She couldn’t understand how to use the reel, so I cast out for her, handed her the pole, and told her if she felt a tug on the line to just run up on the bank behind her and drag the fish up that way.

She was excited.

After a while “Daddy, Daddy…I got a fish!”

“OK” I said, “Do what I told you”…

She immediately threw the pole down in the water and ran back up the bank.

:lol:

mulegemichael - 3-27-2011 at 10:27 AM

my list of dumb things seems really, really long to me....one incident really stands out, tho.....waaaaaay back when, i was guiding steelhead on the cowlitz river in washington to help pay my way through college....so one morning i meet a couple clients at the launch, dump my drift boat in the water and told the dudes to hang on to it while i headed a pretty good distance away to park the rig..it took me quite awhile as there were a ton of fishermen around...by the time i got back to the launch, my boat was sitting really low in the water with all of my gear floating around inside it...you guessed it!...i'd forgotten to put the plug in!...i know i'm not the only guy that has made that mistake but it sure is embarrassing when you've got a couple of paying customers there.

CDB - 3-27-2011 at 10:28 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by stevelaubly
I think my daughter was about 5 or 6 when we took her on her first fishing trip. She couldn’t understand how to use the reel, so I cast out for her, handed her the pole, and told her if she felt a tug on the line to just run up on the bank behind her and drag the fish up that way.

She was excited.

After a while “Daddy, Daddy…I got a fish!”

“OK” I said, “Do what I told you”…

She immediately threw the pole down in the water and ran back up the bank.

:lol:

Love it!

mulegemichael - 3-27-2011 at 10:35 AM

geez i hate to even mention this one.....one time my son and i got together in eastern washington during the summer for a bass fishing trip at potholes...we took my old willys jeep way down in a remote lake and set up camp...my son was in college and i thought it appropriate after a long day of fishing to bond with him with a few beers...well, i guess more than a few...late that night we feel into our sleeping bags with all our clothes on...i awoke a few hours later with some severe pain in my right hand...i was pitch dark in the tent so i woke jake up and told him to find a flashlight...he found one and lit me up......when i had gone to bed i still had a baseball cap on and imbedded in the bill of the cap was a 4" rapala with 3 treble hooks...those hooks were now buried past the barbs in my head, my sleeping bag, my hat and really deep into the cuticle of my right thumb....talk about a cluster!...one can imagine what had to transpire to get free...another embarrassing moment..

fishabductor - 3-27-2011 at 10:38 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by mulegemichael
my list of dumb things seems really, really long to me....one incident really stands out, tho.....waaaaaay back when, i was guiding steelhead on the cowlitz river in washington to help pay my way through college....so one morning i meet a couple clients at the launch, dump my drift boat in the water and told the dudes to hang on to it while i headed a pretty good distance away to park the rig..it took me quite awhile as there were a ton of fishermen around...by the time i got back to the launch, my boat was sitting really low in the water with all of my gear floating around inside it...you guessed it!...i'd forgotten to put the plug in!...i know i'm not the only guy that has made that mistake but it sure is embarrassing when you've got a couple of paying customers there.

been there done that....more than once. Much harder to get the water out of a driftboat than a powerboat. on a powerboat I just pull the plug and go just fast enough to get the bow way up in the air and let the water drain out. I have to do this a few times a yr after taking a wave over the bow launching through the surf.

Where did you put in Blue creek? I lived on the Cowlitz in Toledo for a yr. Loved it...but I liked fishing the south fork of the Toutle more.

I love driftboats, and miss running rivers in them greatly. I just passed a Willies in baja on the way south last week. I was like... what the hell is that doing here?

[Edited on 3-27-2011 by fishabductor]

fishabductor - 3-27-2011 at 10:41 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by mulegemichael
geez i hate to even mention this one.....one time my son and i got together in eastern washington during the summer for a bass fishing trip at potholes...we took my old willys jeep way down in a remote lake and set up camp...my son was in college and i thought it appropriate after a long day of fishing to bond with him with a few beers...well, i guess more than a few...late that night we feel into our sleeping bags with all our clothes on...i awoke a few hours later with some severe pain in my right hand...i was pitch dark in the tent so i woke jake up and told him to find a flashlight...he found one and lit me up......when i had gone to bed i still had a baseball cap on and imbedded in the bill of the cap was a 4" rapala with 3 treble hooks...those hooks were now buried past the barbs in my head, my sleeping bag, my hat and really deep into the cuticle of my right thumb....talk about a cluster!...one can imagine what had to transpire to get free...another embarrassing moment..

LOL...

the last trip I took to the potholes, I ran into a rattlesnake on the trail. I had a flyrod and I thought it'd be a good idea to use the rod to "shoo" away the snake. The snake struck the tiptop and shattered it. A $400 mistake. Next time, I will use a rock.

bill erhardt - 3-27-2011 at 10:42 AM

Great story, Ken! Mine's not near as good, but I documented it with a photo.

One morning I was running out before daybreak to get an early start. About ten miles north of the marina I spotted a panga with no lights and apparently unoccupied. I swung by to take a closer look and saw the net just before I ran into it. As I was lifting the motor the panguero's head appeared above the gunwale. He took a look, laid back down, and went back to sleep as my early start was delayed while I untangled his net. Although sorely tempted, I didn't use a knife and left his net intact.

bnnet.jpg - 42kB

fishabductor - 3-27-2011 at 10:46 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by bill erhardt
Great story, Ken! Mine's not near as good, but I documented it with a photo.

One morning I was running out before daybreak to get an early start. About ten miles north of the marina I spotted a panga with no lights and apparently unoccupied. I swung by to take a closer look and saw the net just before I ran into it. As I was lifting the motor the panguero's head appeared above the gunwale. He took a look, laid back down, and went back to sleep as my early start was delayed while I untangled his net. Although sorely tempted, I didn't use a knife and left his net intact.

Even as I am from a commercial fishing family, if the guy didn't come over and help me remove his unmarked/unlighted net from my prop, it would have been cut out.

JaraHurd - 3-27-2011 at 10:48 AM

While living in Spain My father and I took my uncle fishing in a small rented boat. Just the three of us. I was about 13 years old at the time.

Most of my Spanish relatives did not fish so we thought we would teach him. We were trolling Rebel lures with double treble hooks on them. He hooked a large bluefish and wildly reeled it in. The pole was bent over almost in half as he did not know what he was doing and he was very excited.

I bent over to land the fish just as it threw the lure. My uncle fell back...and the lure hit me full-force .......on my nose....treble hook embedded into my nose...right up the middle cartilage so that we could not cut it out (we actually had a pair of dikes onboard). We didn't really laugh too much until after the trip to the Emergency Room. Now it is an awesome family story when we get together. .....

mulegemichael - 3-27-2011 at 10:53 AM

another potholes story...i had hiked into a place where i knew the irrigation canal was washed out, creating a little lake that smallmouth liked to spawn in....when i got there i could see bass beds everywhere and started catching them cast after cast....then i heard what sounded like a bull bellowing somewhere in the distance...it kept getting closer and closer as soon this giant bull comes over the rise heading straight for me...i had nowhere to go...except to a tiny rock island in the middle of the pond i was fishing...i ditched my gear and jumped in clothes and all and swam to the island where the bull kept me for at least two hours before heading off..

Bob H - 3-27-2011 at 11:08 AM

Ken, I absolutely loved reading your storyline! I was glued to it as you have a very fine way of presenting your scene. Not only do you show us your excellent abilities as a photographer, but you are also a top quality writer. The laughter and ridicule from your boatmates only made you stronger in the end, and you won! You got that sucker in the boat man.... Thanks for sharing that story. It was fantastic.

Skipjack Joe - 3-27-2011 at 11:25 AM

Lots of good stories here. Here's mine.

I was fishing for tarpon from shore, one evening, at the Yucatan peninsula. The fishing was awesome. The darker it got the better the fishing. After about 2 hours of this I was missing all my strikes so I reeled in to see where the problem lay. There was nothing left of the rapala but a wire with a set of hooks at each end. Time to call it a day and head back to my wife and camper, who thought my obsession with fishing bordered on insanity, to begin with.

I took about a dozen steps and felt this sharp piercing pain in one ankle. So I stepped forward with the other leg and felt an even greater pain. I stood there in the darkness trying to understand. I couldn't move either foot without hurting myself. I slumped forward and crawled back to the camper on my knees keeping the 2 feet together.

Hearing my cries, Vera showed up with the Coleman. In the light it became clear. Somehow I had managed to step on a rapala driving the forward hooks into one ankle and the rear ones into the other. Thus immobilizing me.

mtgoat666 - 3-27-2011 at 11:45 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by baitcast
The dumbest thing you ever did while fishin?

once i went fishing with republicans that were tea baggers before we called them tea baggers.

[Edited on 3-27-2011 by mtgoat666]

Cypress - 3-27-2011 at 11:52 AM

Picture a splash well full of small sharks(sharks were very numerous then and a nuisance) and me being snatched off my feet(untied tennis shoes) by a cobia on the other end of a Penn 4/0 High Speed, 120 lb. test dacron line, drag dogged down to "direct drive". I'm prone, partially in the splash well still holding on to the rod with the cobia on the other end. Picture me looking eyeball to eyeball with at least one shark snapping at my ear. See the Penn 4/0 High Speed being released with cobia attached as I make my escape from the shark's chomping jaws. A heck of a waste of good fishing tackle and a good fish.

desertcpl - 3-27-2011 at 12:27 PM

Quote:

Yes i have done this several times,, UGH

monoloco - 3-27-2011 at 12:42 PM

Quote:

I don't think that there is anyone who has a boat who hasn't forgotten to put the plug in.

dtbushpilot - 3-27-2011 at 04:08 PM

The first time my wife went out in our boat (first time in any boat for her) I was teaching her how to operate the boat in case anything ever happened to me and she would be on her own. She was sitting in back working the tiller and I was up front enjoying the ride. We stopped for a bit and I noticed her messing with something in the back of the boat. "Something's wrong!! she cried. "What is it sugar"? I asked. She replied "there was some water in the back of the boat and when I pulled the plug to let it out water started coming in instead". I told her that I must have put the plug in backwards the last time I used the boat and she seemed satisfied with the explanation.....I love that girl......dt

baitcast - 3-27-2011 at 05:14 PM

:lol:

That is just too funny DT
Rob

Skipjack Joe - 3-27-2011 at 06:05 PM

DT, you better pray "sugar" doesn't read this thread.

fishabductor - 3-27-2011 at 06:14 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by dtbushpilot
The first time my wife went out in our boat (first time in any boat for her) I was teaching her how to operate the boat in case anything ever happened to me and she would be on her own. She was sitting in back working the tiller and I was up front enjoying the ride. We stopped for a bit and I noticed her messing with something in the back of the boat. "Something's wrong!! she cried. "What is it sugar"? I asked. She replied "there was some water in the back of the boat and when I pulled the plug to let it out water started coming in instead". I told her that I must have put the plug in backwards the last time I used the boat and she seemed satisfied with the explanation.....I love that girl......dt

priceless

woody with a view - 3-27-2011 at 06:14 PM

after fishing one day, back on the beach my buddy Billy was handed a "shark" sharpening tool and a fillet knife. while we were pulling fish outta the panga a SHRIEK (to put it mildly) erupted from Billy, "Oh FUUK! I"M FUUKED!" and on and on. and on.

seems the little biatch ran that freshly sharpened blade down the back of his finger and before he could feel the pain, the gushing blood buckled his knees....

[Edited on 3-28-2011 by woody with a view]

fishabductor - 3-27-2011 at 06:24 PM

I was filleting fish with a 4 star general on the kenai river when I was guiding a few yrs back. The general had a brand new knife that he recieved as a gift. It was the finest damn fillet knife I have ever seen. And sharp!!

Mark put the knife on the table, to do something. Which is a no-no, to make matters worse the blade was facing up!! which is a double no-no.

Long story short...I reached over to flip the fish and put my thumb down on that fancy knife, straight to the bone instantly, didn't even feel it for about 5 seconds, until I realized the blood oozing down my arm was not salmon blood, then I felt the sting. a few 4 letter words later...I hitailed it to my room , grabbed my first aid kit which always contains a suture kit and started sewing up my right thumb with my left hand. I am right handed.
The general came running in a few minutes later, as saw what I was doing. he turned heel ran out white as a ghost and about threw up.

He later told me that night that he had never seen anyone do that in all his soldiering days, he also offeredme the knife...but i declined as i never wanted to see the POS again.

24baja - 3-28-2011 at 12:49 PM

We launched our boat in BOLA off the beach in front of the house, with Brett inside. I pulled the truck up and watched as the wind pushed him out to sea.....the guys and myself on the beach did not get why he did not start the engine, just thought he was doing a little maintenance until I saw the boat keys in the door pocket...he had left them behind! One of the guys rushed next door and barrowed a Kayak to take the keys to him. When Hersh arrived at the boat there was Brett fishing and having a beer! We had a good laugh on the Captain that day!

baitcast - 3-29-2011 at 09:07 AM

This is a short excerpt from my trip report , some of you fishin junkies might get a kick out it.
Over the years I have used squid for bait both dead and aliveand eaten some as well but these were little guys ,seen some at BOLA that were fair size but nothing like we ran into while drifting one morning,things were a little slow and we were in the channel between Danzante and Carmen, I drop some iron over the side deep, while yoyoing I hook this thing felt strange,get it along side and my god its a sea monster,first its the fountain effect,then the ink attack,Poor Dave grabs the thing and it grabs back!!!!!!!
The people in Loreto I,m sure could hear us first thing you know its in the boat with us and Dave is yelling get this #$%^& off me, now keep in mind the boat is 12 ft long two grown men 5 or 6 fishing poles tackle boxes life jackets and one very stressed out monster squid,its grabbing everything in site,looked like it was trying to eat Dave,s face,I had to laugh,wish I had a tape of the whole thing.

With only a foot or so of freeboard its eye ball to eye ball with that thing,my bud had never seen a squid up close and personal so it was a whole new thing for him,he,s yelling looking for help from me,no thanks but I do tell him to look out for the beak " what beak" :lol:

we were most lucky to get rid of him without sinking the boat.
Rob

Skipjack Joe - 3-29-2011 at 09:15 AM

You have to harpoon them between the eyes...... according to Jules Verne.

fishabductor - 3-29-2011 at 09:23 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by baitcast
This is a short excerpt from my trip report , some of you fishin junkies might get a kick out it.
Over the years I have used squid for bait both dead and aliveand eaten some as well but these were little guys ,seen some at BOLA that were fair size but nothing like we ran into while drifting one morning,things were a little slow and we were in the channel between Danzante and Carmen, I drop some iron over the side deep, while yoyoing I hook this thing felt strange,get it along side and my god its a sea monster,first its the fountain effect,then the ink attack,Poor Dave grabs the thing and it grabs back!!!!!!!
The people in Loreto I,m sure could hear us first thing you know its in the boat with us and Dave is yelling get this #$%^& off me, now keep in mind the boat is 12 ft long two grown men 5 or 6 fishing poles tackle boxes life jackets and one very stressed out monster squid,its grabbing everything in site,looked like it was trying to eat Dave,s face,I had to laugh,wish I had a tape of the whole thing.

With only a foot or so of freeboard its eye ball to eye ball with that thing,my bud had never seen a squid up close and personal so it was a whole new thing for him,he,s yelling looking for help from me,no thanks but I do tell him to look out for the beak " what beak" :lol:

we were most lucky to get rid of him without sinking the boat.
Rob

cut them in 2 where the tenacles meet the body using a sharp fillet knife...it takes the fight out of them.

baitcast - 3-29-2011 at 09:45 AM

Thank Frank for this great vid and musica about squid and such.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6AibIeMg3g

bajaking76 - 3-29-2011 at 10:09 AM

Not baja but.....I took my 7 year old nephew fishing up to Cuyamaca lake and I set up to try to fish for Crappie....I gave him some pointers and told what type of fish he would be fishing for....sure enough a few minutes later up comes the first one. My wife comes over asked him what kind of fish it was. He immediately response...my uncle says its a chit-er fish! :tumble:

toneart - 3-29-2011 at 05:31 PM

...after fishing, the next day I went out and bought a boat.

Osprey - 4-1-2011 at 10:47 AM

I was in my panga with two of my fishing buddies about 400 meters offshore just south of Frailes. I ran over some netting that was submerged, it fouled the prop and I had to go over the side to cut it off. As I cut the last little part free I saw a sea scorpion clinging to the stern. I couldn't believe my eyes because there hasn't been one seen in this part of the SOC in more than 50 years. It was not a big one, about 30 inches long and it was having a hard time holding on to the hull. Without thinking I reached up to grab it right behind the head and in a flash the stinger came down on the back of my hand and nailed me good. Later the guys said my eyes rolled back in their sockets and I said something unintelligible, almost lost my grip on the motor. They both grabbed me by the arms and literally drug me up and over the transom somehow, got the motor started, put ice on the hand and raced like hell for La Ribera.

Harold found the radio and got some Los Barriles fisherman to call his wife on his cell, she called doctor Ruffino and he got the ambulance moving. Harold and Andy said he was waiting for us on the beach with the ambulance when we hit the sand.

There's no known antivenom for sea scorpions. I was out of it for almost 40 hours but when I came out of it I still had about 60% use of my left arm and hand. I consider that (and it has now improved to almost 75%) a gift as most encounters end in death or the loss of limbs -- the venom is much like the complex protein compounds found in the Fer de Lance snake.

Since then I've learned a little about the sea bugs. They are not even close to their ancient look-a-likes with the giant claws and no stinger. Scientists think they live at great depths like some squid and other weird and dangerous creatures of a world we can take peeks in.

[Edited on 4-1-2011 by Osprey]

Arturo - 4-1-2011 at 11:20 AM

Ok , thats a easy one.
Decided to captin our own boat in Baja, Without any Sea Of Cortez experience, Without any Captin experience to boot. Things got bad really quick. "Thanks to everyone in the Santa Rosalia / San Bruno area as they all pulled together to bail us out"

BajaRat - 4-1-2011 at 11:44 AM

Intentionally swimming with white tip ocean sharks while fishing off Christmas Island south of the Hawaiian Islands. I didn't get bit but it did scar my memories.

durrelllrobert - 4-1-2011 at 11:54 AM

my deceased mother left instructions for me to spread her ashes at a particular point on Seminole Lake in Wyoming because she had caught a 5+ pound walleye there. After driving all the way from San Diego with her ashes I took the boat/ ashes out and decided to troll on the way to the point and when I hooked a large fish I got so excited that I knocked her ashes overboard but she'll never know I was still about a mile short of where she wanted them placed.

Cypress - 4-1-2011 at 11:59 AM

Have done lots of dumb things while fishing. Fishing in the swamps~cypress trees, cotton mouths, gators etc. Tossed a loop over a cypress knee to make fast to an old fishing hole. Big mistake! Yellow jackets AKA "guinea wasps" had made a huge nest in the overhanging limbs. Stung a few times before I went swimming and the guy running the motor? He really got stung. :lol:

wessongroup - 4-1-2011 at 09:04 PM

Fell off a 35' cliff backwards in a lawn chair.... had a bit of a hard time getting up for dinner, fell back down into the chair... which was obviously to close to the edge... but, was right next a keg of beer we had hulled out to the little point up on Beardsley Lake in Tuolumne County.... along with a cook stove... and all kinds of good stuff...

Lost the lawn chair... but saved my beer mug...

Was award "The Chair Diving Championship" for that year.... was runner up the next year... the other guy had better form...

fishabductor - 4-1-2011 at 10:03 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by soulpatch
I hooked my buddy on his fly when I was casting off the bow with a Salas 6x when I didn't notice him move to my side of the boat. I felt a tug and heard a yell and so I let go the spool.
Glad I didn't put a lot into that one.

I was once hooked, but I got away as the hook ripped out.

My buddy and I were flyfishing out of a driftboat on the Madison river in MT. I was rowing and my buddy was up in the bow casting, or trying to cast as he was a novice. On the back cast he didn't load up the rod and the line fell over my shoulder, before I could yell he whipped the rod forward to complete the cast and hooked me, but it was hard enough that the hook ripped open a 2"deep gash over my kidney. I have a scar to this day, 16 yrs later.

Needless to say I was scared everytime it was my turn on the sticks, up until he busted his rod's tip top attemping to get out of the driftboat... I was oh' so sorry...not!

baitcast - 4-3-2011 at 08:17 AM

Lot of great stories,why is it when we mess up be it fishing or anything else for that matter we look around to see if anyone saw it? be it forgeting the plug,just falling down and we look around amazing and really funny :rolleyes:

Rob

baitcast - 3-7-2015 at 09:38 AM

Bump for a few laughs.
Rob

vandenberg - 3-7-2015 at 10:12 AM

Heading for Stampede from Sacramento, got caught in a freak storm going over the pass and decided to turn back. Not to lose a whole fishing day, we decided to give Folsom a try and in a few hours limited out on rainbows and kokanee. However, on the way back to the ramp we discovered that no one brought in the stringer, so no fish

Fished for stripers in the Sac river with my father in law, who claimed to be a first rate salmon fisherman when living on Vancouver island. Well, while anchored and still fishing, he casted the bait but forgot to hang onto the pole and reel and tossed the whole outfit (mine) into the drink.
Never believed much of what he told me since then. :biggrin:

AKgringo - 3-7-2015 at 10:54 AM

I took a buddy out in my MKII Zodiac, fishing for halibut in Cooke Inlet near Deep Creek (AK). I ran a couple of miles offshore, throttled back and told my buddy to drop the anchor. I forgot to tell him to clip it into the bow line first!
Tide changes are pretty radical in Cook Inlet, it was like fishing in a river 80 feet deep flowing eight miles an hour away from where we needed to be.

Would it be a hijack if I post a really dumb thing I watched a Kenai River guide do?

Skipjack Joe - 3-7-2015 at 11:51 AM

Two summers ago my friend Walter and I were fishing Fredericks Strait near Juneau from his 28 foot live onboard boat. It was our fourth day into the trip. We had caught lots of rockfish and some large halibut and were high fiveing each other throughout the trip.

Now Walter was really not the adventurous type. He had owned the boat for 8 years and had never gone far from Juneau. It took every ounce of persuasion to get him to go this far. But by the 4th day he had calmed down and was actually enjoying the scenery.

And then it happened.

We had crossed the channel and were moving along the coast to another spot. I was leaning on the stern rail admiring the shoreline when suddenly I was violently thrown forward. I flew from the rail to the front cabin. Unknowingly I instinctively put my hands in front and shielded the head from the cabin door. It was like being in a car crash. Everything happened so fast that you are bewildered and can't comprehend what's happening. I remember a sick grinding sound and the roar of the motor.

And then it stopped. We had hit a submerged reef. I looked into the water but could see nothing. The water was a milky color and you couldn't see 2 feet into it. I tried to make my way to the stern and could barely keep my balance. The deck was tilted at a sick 20 degrees. You had to walk uphill to walk from one side to the other. And that's when I first thought "This is not good".

The door opens and Walter comes out holding 2 life jackets. His eyes are dilated and I can see that he's barely suppressing panic. Life jackets? I look at the shoreline. It's 200 yds away. The water is 41 degrees for god's sake. We have no chance in hell to make that shore by swimming.

We examine the boat and see that the nose is firmly aground but the stern is freely floating over water. Walter goes back in the cabin and runs the engine in reverse but it won't budge. I hang off the stern and he tries again but she's still stuck.

Are we sinking? Walter climbs somewhere below the deck into chambers by the hull with a flashlight. Dry as a bone. No water is entering the boat from what he can tell. I then ask him where is the tide chart we were looking at a few days ago. I entered the cabin to look for it. What I saw was amazing. Everything, everything was laying on the cabin floor between the bunk beds and the entrance. Sleeping bags covered with cereal. Pots and pans on top of that. The coleman stove fell from it's shelf. The portable radio was in there. Tape deck. Maps. Silverware. Apples and potatoes rolling from side to side. I felt as though I was looking into a garbage dumpster. Somehow within all that we found the 2X4 inch booklet.

The tide book said high tide at Juneau would be at 6:00 PM. We had hit the reef at 5:15PM. Knowing that there is virtually no water height change during peaks and lows I knew we were stuck.

We could see a boat about a mile or two away. We screamed, we waved but they just kept on fishing. No fish was being landed, they just ignored us. Walter got on the radio and called the coast guard at Juneau. Fortunately we were able to reach them. They asked where we were. Then they got in touch with another boat in the area and said it would come to help us.

So we sat and waited. A few minutes passed and I asked Walter to retry backing out. She slid out of there smooth as butter. Not a scrape, not a sound. It's as though nothing had ever happened. The tide had risen 2 inches and it made all the difference in the world.

Walter called back the coast guard and thanked them. The other fishing boat had finally left his spot and come over to investigate. Told us that the coast guard would not have helped with the boat, that they would only taken the two of us back to Juneau.

And that's all there is to that. Walt was so shaken up that he didn't want to continue our fishing trip. When we got back we dry docked his boat and there was virtually no damage. It had ridden up onto the reef with it's metal keel but the hull was whole. Walter wasn't much into boat maintenance. It's entire bottom was overgrown with mussels. We theorized that these molluscs had provided a layer of protection from the rocks.

Lee - 3-7-2015 at 12:16 PM

Not paying attention at Lobos or S. Pedrito, I've snagged pelicans. I literally need to look both ways before casting from the beach. Reeling it in after it lands in the water, dragging it up on the beach, getting the hook/line untangled, just plain makes me mad.

Or, snagging a mobula usually at Lobos and also dragging it on the sand and getting it undone. They swim in groups and easy enough to recognize near the surface.

A neighbor has capsized launching at S. Cerritos at least twice losing everything as nothing was tied down. And he was hit and looked like he'd been in a fight.

monoloco - 3-7-2015 at 12:50 PM

Once I took the skiff to La Ventana to fish, we unloaded the boat on the beach and got it ready for fishing the next day, then made camp. The next morning we got up at dark thirty and put the boat in the water, loaded up all the gear, I pulled the cord to start the motor, and nothing. Pulled and pulled, then dragged the boat back up the beach and popped the cover and started checking things, but couldn't see anything obviously amiss. I was about half way into disassembling the carburetor thinking that it must be varnished up, when I remembered that I had removed the safety shut-off cable the night before, to impede someone from "borrowing" the boat. Duh! Big red truck!

Udo - 3-7-2015 at 01:21 PM

So far, my favorites are from Skipjack Joe and Ken Bondy!

AKgringo - 3-7-2015 at 01:34 PM

Ok, I'm going to tell my guide story! It didn't happen to me, but I was there, so I think I can share.
This happened on a semi private launch ramp on the Kenai River, just downstream from a hole called Big Eddy. I had dragged my Zodiac (a lousy river fishing boat) up on the bank to tinker with the outboard hoping to get it to run at trolling speed.
The Alaska Fish and Game is part of the State Troopers, and that year they were cracking down on violations by fishing guides, not only of guide requirements, but boat and tow vehicle regulations (commercial AK regs)
Seeking to avoid scrutiny, an Oregon guide was launching his boat at this ramp with a borrowed truck. The ramp is steep, and the river deep and swift there, so he backed down just to where his prop was well in the water, put he standard transmission in neutral with the engine running and set the brake. he then unhooked the bow line jumped in the boat and powered off the trailer.
The brake didn't hold, he dragged the pickup into the river and it wound up a quarter mile downstream on the other side of the river with the cab just out of the water. The trailer separated from the truck and became the newest snag in the river somewhere down stream.
I did not stick around to find out if he took his clients out on the river, or stuck around to do a whole lot of explaining to the troopers!

BajaDanD - 3-7-2015 at 09:38 PM

We were fishing out of Santa Cruz Ca. one day. We rented a skiff from the pier and headed north around a few points so as not to be seen by the people at the pier because we wanted to fish near shore by the rocks and serf and in the kelp beds witch was not allowed in their skiffs for safety reasons, they said. We had been doing this for a few years. We would bring extra rope and home made anchors with us because we would lose a few every trip. So we were out just past the serf witch was huge that day pot holing in the kelp. We dropped anchor made sure it was stuck real good and let out line while we drifted along an under water rock ridge. then when we got in the danger zone "breaking serf" we ran back up to the starting point and started the drift all over again. After a few drifts we were back in the " Danger Zone again. Turned the boat and ran over the anchor line rapped it around the prop and stalled the motor. There were 3 of us on the boat now anchored by the stern one swell away from the breaking serf unable to pull the motor up. We all put on our life jacket at that point. My friend Gary had a little buck knife in his tackle box that had been there for years. While he reached over the stern to cut the rope my brother and I leaned out the bow to counter the weight. Then Gary yells out " OH FU^$#The knife broke" and holds up the handle to show us. Im looking for the safest place to try to swim for it when Gary notices that the blade was stuck between some of the rope rapped around the prop. He grabs the blade and cut us free a split second before I jumped in. My brother grabbed the oars and paddled us to safety while Gary got the rest of the rope clear. We promptly tied a new anchor and went back to fishing

bledito - 3-7-2015 at 10:48 PM

my grandfather would always take my brother and I Muskie fishing. Usuallya long hot day we were in shorts and our legs got hot so we splashed water on them to cool off. didn't realise till the next morning when we woke up how sunburned they got. Blistered from thigh to ankle could barley stand as the blisters would run down.couldn't get around much for a least a week. never put water on bare legs in a boat again.

Tod - 3-11-2015 at 08:00 AM

Three weeks ago my mother was nice enough to stuff her suitcase with some fishing lures for me. Went fishing off Cerritos with a friend on a slow day. The starboard rod went down hard 3 different times and we were pretty sure we saw wahoo near our tuna clones. Upon reeling up when we were ready to head in we noticed the one lure to get hit those three times was pretty torn up and then my buddy pointed out to me that the double hooks under the skirt still had their plastic protectors on them from the packaging. In my haste to rig up I didn't even check for that. Last time that will happen but we had a good laugh at my expense.

Udo - 3-11-2015 at 11:38 AM

I have done the same thing within other circumstances, and blamed it on something I had done.

Quote: Originally posted by dtbushpilot

The first time my wife went out in our boat (first time in any boat for her) I was teaching her how to operate the boat in case anything ever happened to me and she would be on her own. She was sitting in back working the tiller and I was up front enjoying the ride. We stopped for a bit and I noticed her messing with something in the back of the boat. "Something's wrong!! she cried. "What is it sugar"? I asked. She replied "there was some water in the back of the boat and when I pulled the plug to let it out water started coming in instead". I told her that I must have put the plug in backwards the last time I used the boat and she seemed satisfied with the explanation.....I love that girl......dt

[Edited on 3-11-2015 by Udo]

Was this the boat?

durrelllrobert - 3-11-2015 at 12:44 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Skipjack Joe

Two summers ago my friend Walter and I were fishing Fredericks Strait near Juneau from his 28 foot live onboard boat. It was our fourth day into the trip. We had caught lots of rockfish and some large halibut and were high fiveing each other throughout the trip.

Now Walter was really not the adventurous type. He had owned the boat for 8 years and had never gone far from Juneau. It took every ounce of persuasion to get him to go this far. But by the 4th day he had calmed down and was actually enjoying the scenery.

And then it happened.

We had crossed the channel and were moving along the coast to another spot. I was leaning on the stern rail admiring the shoreline when suddenly I was violently thrown forward. I flew from the rail to the front cabin. Unknowingly I instinctively put my hands in front and shielded the head from the cabin door. It was like being in a car crash. Everything happened so fast that you are bewildered and can't comprehend what's happening. I remember a sick grinding sound and the roar of the motor.

And then it stopped. We had hit a submerged reef. I looked into the water but could see nothing. The water was a milky color and you couldn't see 2 feet into it. I tried to make my way to the stern and could barely keep my balance. The deck was tilted at a sick 20 degrees. You had to walk uphill to walk from one side to the other. And that's when I first thought "This is not good".

The door opens and Walter comes out holding 2 life jackets. His eyes are dilated and I can see that he's barely suppressing panic. Life jackets? I look at the shoreline. It's 200 yds away. The water is 41 degrees for god's sake. We have no chance in hell to make that shore by swimming.

We examine the boat and see that the nose is firmly aground but the stern is freely floating over water. Walter goes back in the cabin and runs the engine in reverse but it won't budge. I hang off the stern and he tries again but she's still stuck.

Are we sinking? Walter climbs somewhere below the deck into chambers by the hull with a flashlight. Dry as a bone. No water is entering the boat from what he can tell. I then ask him where is the tide chart we were looking at a few days ago. I entered the cabin to look for it. What I saw was amazing. Everything, everything was laying on the cabin floor between the bunk beds and the entrance. Sleeping bags covered with cereal. Pots and pans on top of that. The coleman stove fell from it's shelf. The portable radio was in there. Tape deck. Maps. Silverware. Apples and potatoes rolling from side to side. I felt as though I was looking into a garbage dumpster. Somehow within all that we found the 2X4 inch booklet.

The tide book said high tide at Juneau would be at 6:00 PM. We had hit the reef at 5:15PM. Knowing that there is virtually no water height change during peaks and lows I knew we were stuck.

We could see a boat about a mile or two away. We screamed, we waved but they just kept on fishing. No fish was being landed, they just ignored us. Walter got on the radio and called the coast guard at Juneau. Fortunately we were able to reach them. They asked where we were. Then they got in touch with another boat in the area and said it would come to help us.

So we sat and waited. A few minutes passed and I asked Walter to retry backing out. She slid out of there smooth as butter. Not a scrape, not a sound. It's as though nothing had ever happened. The tide had risen 2 inches and it made all the difference in the world.

Walter called back the coast guard and thanked them. The other fishing boat had finally left his spot and come over to investigate. Told us that the coast guard would not have helped with the boat, that they would only taken the two of us back to Juneau.

And that's all there is to that. Walt was so shaken up that he didn't want to continue our fishing trip. When we got back we dry docked his boat and there was virtually no damage. It had ridden up onto the reef with it's metal keel but the hull was whole. Walter wasn't much into boat maintenance. It's entire bottom was overgrown with mussels. We theorized that these molluscs had provided a layer of protection from the rocks.

Udo - 3-11-2015 at 12:49 PM

It sure would be funny if it was, Robert.

However, the rocks and water don't look like anything I've ever seen near Juneau.
Perhaps Skipjackjoe could enlighten us.