The Spoonpluggers Forum

This pub has been much too quiet lately. Harry, pour me another one, this time the good stuff please. While you're at it ask Joanne in the kitchen to fix me one of her corned beef sandwiches.
All fishermenn lie--except me. That is well known but I swear on my drink (the good stuff) that the following is the absolute truth!
Weird fishing #1:[/
I started my fishing career down at the Jersey shore with the surf banging against my inadequate boots. The magazines all showed monster striped bass that were pulled from the surf and painted a glowing picture of crashing surf, fresh salt smells and no crowds. Sounded great to me. I bought me a 9 ft surf rod and a large capacity spin reel, (after all, the magazines all spoke of the long runs the monster stripers made.) and a half dozen 8 or 10 inch plugs. I was ready for the monsters. I should mention that the fall run of stripers along the Jersey shore was the prime time to catch these great fish. The temp was in the upper 30s when I waded into the surf. I soon learned that the spray from the surf has a way of wetting you down and the shivers came fast. Still I found myself enjoying it, especially with no one else around.
After about the 10th cast with a topwater plug I noticed a few seagulls circling above. While I looked one of them went into a kamikaze dive and pounced on my floating plug (a Creek Chub Pikie). It happened fast but the next thing I was aware of was the gull shreiking wildly as he took to the air again with the plug hanging from his butt. I'll never forget that chilling shreik. It really was loud and eerie on the quiet beach. The bird tore off a bunch of my line (not what the magazines advertised) and I guess it was down to the end of the line when the plug fell from his butt and landed again where it was supposed to be. The screams still haunted me. You'd have had to be there to understand.
At this point there was just one thing left to do. I got my gear together, loaded the car and started for home. I never went surf fishing again. I sold the rod and reel.
[Weird fishing #2[/
About 20 years ago my wife and I were fishing the St Lawrence seaway in the Thousand Islands region. We were in a narrow section between a few island and the current was moderately swift. Because of this I had brought a few large detergent bottles with a 6 oz sinker attached to hold in the current.
I dropped a marker on a breakline in the current and it held fine. I motored back to my starting point and started my run with wire (30 ft depth). I had just arrived in the vicinity of the marker when my brain short circuited and I was disoriented--really. My problem was that the boat was moving forward but I did not advance past the marker. Go figure! I finally woke up to the fact that the marker was moving along with the boat (about 15 ft separation) and against the current! After about a half city block the marker stopped moving and settled into a new position.
For as long as I live I'll always wonder what fish got tangled with the marker. It had to be good size to move the buoyant bottle and weight against a good current. Was it a big carp? A giant northern? A trophy muskie? Or another large fish that got temporarily snagged on the marker line. I took a deep swig from the flask after this one.
Weird fishing#3[/
MY wife and I were fishing on Saratoga lake when the quiet was broken by a fish making some splash and commotion. About 25 ft away was this large bass coming out of the water, splashing around crazy like. The bass looke kinda weird also. Finally we knew why the fish looked different.
The bass had another fish hanging out his mouth. Apparently his greed got the better of him and he tried to swallow a fish that was not swallowable. After a short while the bass went down and that was the last we saw of him. Wonder if he ever got that fish out of his mouth.
Weird fishing #4
This is one from Jim Mason, a spoonplugger friend of mine. He made his annual trip to my lake, the Sacandaga a few years back and while he was fishing a bear suddenly appeared not but a few feet away. They were concerned because the bear seemed to be laboring and in trouble. Anyway they got behind the bear and tried to steer him toward shore and they were successful. When the bear was on solid ground they told me that "he ran to the woods like a bat out of hell!"

Anyone who spends time on the water eventually encounters these kind of things. Lets see some posts,Okay?

Pat,

What a hoot!

Weird Fishing #5

I was fishing at Kentucky Lake years ago with the owner of Moors Resort. We motored across to the Land Between the Lakes side which is a wilderness area. We were casting up in a cove when I saw a "dead " fox up on the bank. I couldn't get Tommy to see it, so I cast a plastic lizard at the fox to point it out. Well, it woke up and immediately gobbled up the lizard and turned back into the woods. I started tearing off line as fast as I could as the fox went deeper into the trees. I tugged gently and the bait came loose and I reeled like a madman trying to get it back before Mr. Fox could catch it again. He raced after it all the way to the shoreline! I succeeded with a pounding heart. I sure didn't want to have to wrestle that poor animal to get the hook out.

Weird Fishing #6

I was night fishing at Rough River Reservoir in Kentucky one July about 25 years ago. I was fishing a plastic worm along a steep river swing in when I felt a taptap. "Knowing" how deep the fish was I thought I had better set the hook extra hard. I really reared back. Then nothing. I said to my partner, "That felt weird." And then just sat there looking at the back of the boat where my partner was sitting. Little did I know that I had pulled the lure up on top of a large boulder and the small bass had actually hit the worm in only inches of water. Well, I know this now because as I was waiting for my Buddy to reply this small bass was hurtling through the night at what must have been a wicked speed because when I felt the slap against the side of my face and then the dead weight of the fish stuck in my face by its dorsal fin, I had NO idea what had hit me until the bass came alive and wiggled against my mouth and cheek and fell to the floor of the boat.

Weird Fishing #7

I was flipping buck brush on Lake Barkley when this technique first came about back in the 70's. I had only caught a couple of fish at this point and they were both big - around 4 pounds. So when I felt a tap I again set the hook real hard. Well, again the fish was only about 10 inches long and just came flying out of that shallow water. Ok, so he had been right below me and when I set the hook he came straight up and as he cavorted upward he throws the hook and just keeps on going - upupup!
I couldn't believe how high he went. And then he starts down and it takes forever and then to my horror hits the gunnel of my boat, quivers and dies. I left him under a buck bush for a raccoon, but this event haunted me, and I have never to this day set the hook hard again. I buy sharp hooks and just snap back a bit. If I get hooked up - fine. If not - that's ok too.

Your animal loving spoonplugger,

Noel

Great tales! I'm sure there are many more hiding out there. C/mon guys let's hear them.
P.S. I'm an animal lover also

P.S.S. I'd wager that Douglas has a bunch to tell

Below is part of another great posting by Douglas. This part of his post really belongs here:

Wired fishing #8 (by Douglas Bush)

Speaking of crummy boats....here's a funny story.
Long time ago...maybe around 1965 I had a small johnboat and it was not worth a flip...the engine was good though, a 9.5 Johnson. I was at a lake one day and I mean everything went wrong, I stayed hungup,got water over the side, I lost spoonplugs, lost rods into the lake, got hooks stuck in my hand, you name it. Finally I had enough. I headed for the ramp.
I unloaded it, took the engine off and put it in the station wagon too. Then I got my 12 gauge shotgun out of the wagon, went back to that damn boat and began blasting that sucker with double 0 buckshot.
Man, people and bank fishermen started running for cover ("that man's having a fit over there") and after I had reloaded another 4-5 shells and blasted it some more it just sank away into the depths. I sure did feel good seeing that miserable thing fading away to the bottom. Got in the car and went home.
Wife said, "where's your boat?" I said...."dont even ask".
Regards,
Douglas

First time sucker fishing

I started fishing for muskie about 25 years ago and due to I done lots fishing in the fall I started fishing with suckers single hook through the lips with a 3 inch cork bubber. Anyway this was on friday toward the middle of the day I set up a sucker next to the channel drop off near a litle grassy island all the sudden i saw my bubber go down I got very excited, I kept the boat in place and I was just overjoed, I waited half hour before i set the hook, I was so nervous I was shaking, when I set the hook I felt weight and I taught I felt some side movement, but to my dismay I pulled a huge log. It was a long ride back home

Gino

Many moons ago I went to pickwick and my partner was to meet me a couple of days later so I had some good time to look things over by myself. This was one of the Alabama outings and Frank Hamill had taken me under his wing and tried to teach me something. He would draw me a map and tell me to go to this area and check it out. At one point, he told me that there was this island downstream a few miles and I knew where it was. He drew me a map and said that there was three rows of limestone cap rock which went all the way across the river to the island. He said that I would be able to identify it with a depth meter and the lures. I couldnt wait to get started and look this thing over. I made it down there and looked the thing over but could not see any changes in bottom hardness on the meter. So I put the lures down there and it all seemed rock hard to me. Up and down and up and down I went and across and side to side trying to distinguish this lime stone cap rock. I just couldnt tell the difference. I finally determined that it might be over towards the other shoreline away from the island because it was the only area that I had not looked at. I had my head burried in the meter looking for any change on the meter and also had the lure on the bottom feeling for any changes. Low and behold I was going downstream and ran right into a large tree that had fallen in the water and it stopped me dead in my tracks. I was a little shocked and the first thing that I did was to look around to see if anybody saw that dumb ass run into that tree. The line was running under the boat faster than I could reel but I managed to get it all in without getting hung. Lucky for me there was nobody around.
They might still be sitting there laughing. John

Me and a fellow spoonplugger (Doug Travis) were fishing Jackson Lake, south of Atlanta (not THE lake jackson in Florida) and I had my .410 shotgun along and I was blasting cottonmouth moccasins out of the trees overhanging the water. I was up front and he was running the motor in back.
I shot this cottonmouth, cutting him in half, but he was still swimming in the water spewing venom everywhere and striking the air at nothing.
So I wanted to get a closer look and I was down on my knees sort of leaning out the front and I'm telling Doug, "go slow now. go slow".
And about that time , while I am concentrating on that snake Doug slowly pulls a plastic worm across the back of my neck from behind me and MAN, you talk about someone who almost went 10 feet in the air!!! It scared me to death feeling that plastic worm across the back of my neck while looking at that moccasin in the water. Whew, it gives me goosebumps to this day.
That was back in our wild days....
Regards,
Doug Bush

Im sure that if i think about it 4 a while,i will think of many,But one really stands out .Back in the 80's when i was just starting spoonplugging,me and my neighbor,tom went to a tidal brackish water creek.I was running the motor and trolling a 500 up next to the bank. He was up front facing me trolling, i think a rattletrap. Anyway had been doing this 4 a while when all of a sudden something jumped over the back of the boat and landed on me. Talk about having a damn heart attack,all the while tom dying laughing,scared me silly.But what got was a jumping mullet. I told tom see this spoonplugging really works.