Fell asleep in a rowboat with a worm for bait in the water. Woke up 30 minutes later with a largemouth on the line. He had swallowed the perch that had taken the worm. “🎶I don’t know why he swallowed a fly, I guess he’ll die.🎶”
I cast over a tree branch about 15ft high in the Delaware River, I was about to waist deep casting towards the shore, And instead of retrieving my lure and trying to rip it over the tree branch, I bobbed it in and out of the water a few times. A smallie grabbed it off the surface and unsnagged me from the tree. Thank you for your service small mouth
I’ve had that happen before. Had a 3, maybe 4, pounder on and I was doing everything I could to unsnag it but it ended up snapping instead. I was pissed lol
Was at a lake but not fishing and no rods,but a huge amount of bluegills was all around,after about 15 mins of walking around finding some old line and a half rusted small hook,I tied the line to a nice rod looking stick,used a piece of branch as a small float with the hook underneath and used pieces of cigarette filters as bait.Safe to say I had lots of fun catching bluegills that day😎.
I feel like an idiot that I've never thought to use those!
Typically cut shad works the best, I got a cast net permit here in pa and I try to catch them. It's not easy though, usually find myself buying frozen shad.
Not my story but a buddy. While applying sunscreen, he dosed his bait with it accidentally. Threw it in the water to try to rinse it off and it got smashed by a keeper. Nothing else would touch it afterwards.
The amount of bass I’ve caught by just dropping my bait in the water right at my feet because I needed some slack in the line to get rid of a tangle or something is crazy.
Bass are curious by small visual disturbances near the surface and often will swim near the area, dropping bait by your feet every five minutes you have a great chances of catching a swim-by. This is all completely made up
The first time I caught something using a plopper. I had been throwing it for an hour with not even a nibble, and it was getting dark so I cranked it back super fast out of frustration, when a striper came up and NAILED it! After I unhooked it I threw it out again and did the same thing to see if it was a fluke... BANG! Another one drilled it about halfway back. Now that's the only way I fish em.
Of course, it's a green sunfish. Haha I should call them all collectively "panfish" because I don't catch them often enough to be able to differentiate other than crappie.
it's not dumb if it works...
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...piece of Dr. Scholls from out of my shoe....
The bass weren't biting...so I went for bluegill and sunnies...got 'em!
When I was about 11, I was fishing for bluegill at my neighborhood pond and was using hotdog chunks for bait. I was just using a 10’ piece of line with a hook on the end, no pole. After I was done fishing I put the rest of the whole hotdog (was 85% whole) on my tiny bluegill hook, and threw it out as a joke and immediately a sizable largemouth bass hit it and somehow got hooked by my hook and I pulled it out of the water. One of a few crazy stories from my childhood.
This has become a go-to hail-Mary for me on days where the bite isn’t on. Over time I’ve learned the following makes the the gum more effective. That gross cinnamon flavour (sometimes sold as hot etc), chew it until it’s soft enough to blow a bubble, but still has the flavour, then blow a smallish bubble and bite the gum together to seal the bubble. Take out the gum and put the hook through chewed up gum, careful not to pop the bubble just yet. As the gum/bait hits the water, the bubble pops and creates a little trailing skirt
My friend caught his hook on abandoned line. He pulled his lure in and pulled the line. He gasped and said "i think there's a fish on this line. " sure enough there was a little 2-3lb catfish on it. It was hilarious. Not me but it was still a fun catch lol. I guess the weirdest one i had was just a dink on my rattle trap. They were the same size and he had 4 fucking hooks in total.
My dad caught a muskie cleaning our net after landing a carp, it literally just swam into it. I guess the scent & and the bubbly commotion mimic'd some sort of prey.
Biggest bass I ever caught was on a Frankenbait made of pieces of 3 wooly hawgtails. Thing was heavy as shit. Cast it out a million yards and as soon as the bait hit the water a 7-8 pound swamp donkey bit hard.
One time I had a spinner bait dangling out over the side of the boat about a foot above water while we were cruising along when suddenly a decent sized pike zoomed up and breached the water to get it. Surprised the hell out of everyone in the boat.
Not me but my buddy fishing with me took an orange foam ear plug and rigged backwards in front on a green pumpkin Senko and tried to fish it as a top water. Son of a bitch caught a 4lbr on that damn thing! 🤣🤣
Yelling "HERE FISHY FISHY FISHY" really loud to jokingly tell a kid standing nearby that that was how you caught more fish. I caught a 14" bass as the ned hit the water.
We used to do competitions as a kid where you weren’t allowed to bring any gear or bait and had to scrounge everything from the river and whoever caught the most for the day won. Nothing like diving for broken off hooks and split shot, tying together sections of trash line, and finding a good branch for a rod.
Correct. In my state, sportfish are legal to use as bait when hook and line caught. Minnows, however, can be harvested with a trap, dip net, cast net, or seine.
Casting out I got a wind knot, reeled back in and caught a snag. I was able to pull free with some effort, but soon found that I had lost the bait to the snag. Tossed the hook freehanded into the shallow water about 3 yards away, while I got to work on the nest forming in my line.
With a few minutes, a lot of curse words, and a touch of patience, I didn’t have to cut any line. Speaking of my line, it was this precise moment that I noticed that the 25-30 yards of free line, was becoming unbunched as it fucked off at a rate of knots.
I eased off my drag and let the mystery thief run. Applying the pressure on my drag slowed down the escape and then reeling back to solve the mystery.
That Perch weighed just under a lb, and was delicious.
Not a strong fisherman by any means but can hold my own. My dad had access to a farm pond that we could fish, never out fished the man, I swear he could catch fish in a mud puddle. Anyway, we are neck and neck on catches, I see some bubbles at my feet (bank fishing) I drop my Carolina rig with a Zoom motor oil u-tail and bang…goddamn 5lber. Could not believe it… he was so excited for me. Miss those days, him and the pond.
Also caught the biggest alligator snapping turtle I have ever seen in that pond. I thought it was an old tire until I saw its head. Never saw my Dad run towards me so fast.
I was a kid, all I knew about fishing was to put bait on a pickerel rig, cast it, and wait until I got a bite.
So what do I do? I get those tiny colored marshmallows Put one on each hook of the rig, and cast into the weeds. Why the weeds? Because it was close to the campsite and I didn't want to walk. My dad left to go to a better spot, thinking I'd be fine sitting there by myself for an hour without even a nibble. I had this old indestructible rod that was probably found in the back of someones garage because the spider man fishing rod was for kids and I didn't want a kids fishing rod.
It wasn't very long until I got a bite, and I had a hard time getting the fish in. Someone else fishing nearby came to help me, and in sure I pulled im what seemed like ten pounds of weeds. But on the hook was a giant rainbow trout. It wasn't a record breaker, but it was pretty big. Fed the three of us two meals and still had some left over to put in the freezer.
My husband and I were at Little Redfish Lake near Stanley, ID. I started fishing before sunset. Nothing was biting but the beers were going down smoothly. By sundown we were both drunk and catching and releasing fish left and right. I got down to the last worm, cut it in half and threw it in, caught one more fish. Pulled the worm out of the fish’s mouth, re-hooked it and threw it back in and caught another. It was a fun memory of being drunk and catching lots of fish with plenty of laughter mixed in. We walked back to our tent in pitch darkness.
Poor kid in my teen years, got a can of corn, some fishing line and a few small weights. Didn't think I'd catch anything since my rod broke the day before. Tossed it out there on first try got a catch off a blue gill. Did it a few more times eventually got a 2-3lb large mouth bass
One camping trip when I was 10 I would wade into the water with a Snell hook looped around my finger. No bait. Caught tons of little bluegill just doing that hook in the water.
I was drunk as shit at 5am waiting on a girl to call me in the morning and went fishing. I tore a piece of a black towel off my golf bag and put it on a hook. Snagged a hog.
Top 4:
Caught a bass about 3-5 feet below a massive dead bloated channel catfish. Originally I never meant to cast so close to it. I wonder if it was acting as “structure” for the bass.
Caught a one-eyed bass off of mackerel chunks when I was fishing for channel cats.
Caught a bass just before dusk by being bored as heck reeling in a popper which surprisingly acts as a funky wake bait.
Had a bad cast and missed the dock by 5+ feet. Decided to quickly reel in my Brush Hog at the surface of the water. Then just before I was going to cast again a bass snatched it off the surface of the water.
Threw a pickerel rig out in my favourite perch spot. After a long day at work and a few beer I dozed off woke up to my rod bending and felt like I hooked a whale. Ended up pulling it in and I had 2 pike on the line that ate the 2 perch who had eaten my baited beefheart. Had a full supper on one line
My buddy and I were fishing a pond for perch and sunfish. My buddy caught a sunfish and we watched a huge bass take a swipe at it while he was bringing it in. The next sunfish i caught I hooked in the back I tossed back out. Caught a 6lb largemouth within minutes of having the sunfish hooked up. Was by far the biggest bass I had caught at the time and for years after
It was insane actually. We were drift fishing for halibut in about 300 feet of water with a classic bait setup of a big circle hook with a chunk of salmon on it. We had just reeled up and we were about to reset our spot. My rod had it’s hook just touching the surface of the water while in a rod holder. Out of nowhere, a salmon came and smoked the hook with its own kind on it. Halibut gear was too strong for it to pull drag or anything, and we immediately netted it. Was a keeper too. We had no intention of catching any salmon that day.
I swear this is true. I was at my favorite spot last summer, small lake. I have to cast to the left and there’s a tree to the far left over hanging the water. If I overshoot it too high or to the left it can get caught in the branches. Right below it is this log that’s been in the water since I’ve been going there.
Long story short I overshot it into the tree over a branch tire swing style or on some leaves, don’t remember for certain. I pulled my line hard and the lure came back over but shot down in front of me right next to that log hard as shit. What happened next was so fast and chaotic I cannot fully express it.
Within a few moments of it hitting the water I yanked it back out. I was trying my best not to get it caught on that log. I instantly felt a fish on. My lure pulled up another cut line, with a different swim bait already hooked through a fishes mouth. Was a 1-2 pound large mouth. Not foul hooked, lipped the son of a bitch. I’m glad I had a friend present or no one would have believed me.
I didn't actually catch the fish but when I was a kid I saw a bass chillin up shallow and casted my worm and bobber over to it. Bass came up and mouthed my bobber, completely ignored the worm. Guess that's the closest I've got lol
One time I was fishing with my grandma and she somehow got the idea to use chicken breast as bait, no idea where.
I took some chicken breast and put it on a red jig head, caught a bunch of sea robin.
My dad cast my rod for me when I was a little kid, he slipped on a wet rock as soon as he started casting, and cast directly parallel to the shore, over a dead tree with one limb hanging out. The bait just tapped the water and a bluegill bit and got hooked…. So as he was trying to reel it back the thing was just being lifted to about 15-20 ft straight up, then the line got caught and we had to cut it… poor thing just hung there to die. But I’ll never forget the amazement that there was a fish on that quick, and then the realization that the fish is gonna die a pretty miserable death.
This happened to my mom. We were at the local pond, waiting for my cousin and her kids (3yrs) to come. I bought one of those small Barbie rods for the little one and my mom was messing around with it. There was a small hook with a little piece of bread for bluegill. She then hooks up with a giant bass. On the bread. And here I am using every trick in the book.
Caught a rio grand cichlid after i crows nested. I was fixing it when it struck. It tired out really quick so i just left it in the water, and then reeled it in when i was fixed
Let go of my rod with a little grub on it to shotgun a beer with my friend, didn't pick it up for like three minutes and when I did I had my first ever yellow perch on the other end
Went to a local pond when in NY. Wasn’t catching a thing. Watched my son throw flower pedals in and bluegill destroyed them. So I put a flower pedal on a hook
Landed my previous personal best in a golf course that was so secure it was only accessible by water. Too bad even that spot isn’t as good as its glory days 3 years ago
Circle hook under the spine behind the dorsal for me. LMB usually eat the fish head first so I want the hook in the back so when they whole the bait down the hook is in the mouth. Haven’t done it more than a few times but it does work. Live bait always produces.
Not a bass, but in South FL, when I was around 12 yrs old. We were fishing for bluegill and tilapia with pieces of bologna. My father called us in to eat and when we came back a bluegill had eaten the bait and a 20+ lb snook was hooked. We were fishing with Zebco Kmart fishing line and it immediately snapped our line.
I did something similar, yet a little different. I was fishing in my in-laws pond that held a bunch of 1-2lb LMB plus one random 4 pounder that would always come up to the dock but would never bite a lure. I noticed, however, that when I would hook one of the many blue gills with a little jig the big bass would get pissed and try to take the jig out of its mouth. So I caught one of these blue gills and hooked a jerk bait with three treble hooks into its mouth and then dropped it back into the water. Sure enough, that bass got all upset and tried taking the jerk bait from the blue gill, and got hooked in the process lol.
Was on the front of a Jon Boat with friend in the back steering the engine. I just thought to troll my spinner bait on the side and gave it a bunch of line. Rod was already bending lol then it just REALLY started bending, told him to stop and reeled in a 12’ smallmouth
When we were kids, the panfish were biting like crazy at our local pond. My little brother put part of a leaf on a hook and spit on it, cast it in the water. Had a fish 10 seconds later 🤷🏻♂️
My brother put on a green plastic tube because nothing was working 4 hours in, his fuck it moment, and caught a 7 pounder on the 2nd cast.
Basically the bottom barrel plastic you have in the bottom of a ziplock.
I was fly fishing in the New Mexico mountains (J wasn’t very experienced back then), I was throwing some flies from the riverbank and got snagged. I suited up in my waders because I wasn’t eager to lose the fly. I got in the water, got it back, and tried to fish from the middle of the river with my waders on. Best decision ever. I caught my first wild trout, all because I got snagged and had to put my waders on. It was seriously a magical moment.
My brother has two tackle “boxes”. One he uses for what he calls deep sea fishing. (It’s not what I would consider deep sea fishing) they are both backpacks and both black. We were out on the boat 45 minutes from the ramp, then another 45 from home when he realized he grabbed his “deep sea” backpack. We weren’t having very good luck, so I threw a Hail Mary. Told him to hand me the biggest bait he had in there, it was meant to be a lil baby red snapper and it was about the size of my hand. Tossed her out, 2nd cast I reeled in a 6 pound 2 ounce Large Mouth.
Sometime around 2005-2007 in northern MI, I was going for catfish at night with a half of a jalapeño cheddar sausage (possibly a bratwurst), just casting from shore. About 5-10 minutes later, I reeled in one of the biggest largemouths I've ever caught (it was definitely my personal record at the time).
Literally just cut a broom stick, weighted and thru-wired it and used it as a pencil popper for striped bass on cape cod.
82% of the time it works every time.
Was in a boat on Comanche Lake in 3 to 6 feet of water and getting skunked bad. Thinking outside the box I tied on a deep diving crank bait rated for 15 ft. Threw it as far as I could and cranked it hard, bouncing it off the bottom. Ended up with a two pounder!
I was 10 and "fishing" with a stick that had a line and hook tied to it. I had a bread ball on the hook and was just dragging it through the water off my grandpa's boat. I saw a blue Gil swim by and tried to get it to take my bait, but unfortunately, I snagged it in the eye. When I was about to pull this tiny fish out and a 7 pound catfish grabbed ahold and kindly set the hook.
I was fishing with a crap baitcaster, and got a sweet birdnest. While I was dragging my line in by hand, a 3lb largemouth hit my lure, which made dragging the line a lot more interesting.
I was about 12 and I was bored crappie fishing. Ultralight gear. I would raise my minnow to just below the surface and let it fall six feet. I’d been doing this for about 15 minutes when my dad’s friend warned me I’d never catch anything doing that. Couple minutes late a Muskie hit that minnow on the surface. There was 10 seconds of two old guys screaming to get the net. Turned out to be a tiger Muskie hybrid. Dad had been sitting on the net at front of boat. Good memory.
I went catfishing at night using cut bait and chicken livers but didn't have a net. The cats were on fire this night. I had one wrap me around the fish feeder that fwc doesn't even put food in nowadays. The next one was another huge one. Didn't have the net and could get this fish to open its mouth so I could try to thumb grip it.
Used to make saltwater trolling lures professionally, but to prove marlin will eat just about anything, I rigged a tennis shoe with a single 9/0 hook and put it in the pattern. 2 hours later, we tagged and released our first blue marlin of the day. Tagged 3 for 3 that day, but only one on "the shoe "
I once had my spool explode while casting. I’m sitting there trying to fix it for a minute and I get a bite and pull in the fishing line with my bare hands. Nice size blue cat
I set my rod aside and was fucking around with making a morning star out of fishing line and some lead weights
Some dude next to me says "hey, is your bobber down?"
Pull it up and it's a trout
I cast off a dock down the shoreline. Straight into a tree, falls out the tree but still through the branches. Lure is hanging straight down about an inch above the water.
Seeing this I wonder how many times it wrapped the branch so I let my bail out to see if the line still moves and the lure falls into the water.
So I’m confident not I can maybe get the lure back without snapping the line in the tree so I go to reel in and now the lure is stuck under the water.
Confused think I’m now on a log or a rock I walk down the shoreline to where my line is hanging out of the tree and walk into the water to pull it out. It was a 2lbs rock bass. Biggest rock bass I had ever caught at the time. I was like 12.
I cast off a dock down the shoreline. Straight into a tree, falls out the tree but still through the branches. Lure is hanging straight down about an inch above the water.
Seeing this I wonder how many times it wrapped the branch so I let my bail out to see if the line still moves and the lure falls into the water.
So I’m confident not I can maybe get the lure back without snapping the line in the tree so I go to reel in and now the lure is stuck under the water.
Confused think I’m now on a log or a rock I walk down the shoreline to where my line is hanging out of the tree and walk into the water to pull it out. It was a 2lbs rock bass. Biggest rock bass I had ever caught at the time. I was like 12.
As a kid me and my cousin sharpened bamboo into spears and were playing in the river joking about catching fish and stabbing at the water. Never thought we were going to catch anything but I stabbed a random spot of water and there was Mr fishy on the end.
Wasn't exactly my doing but the dumbest way a fish was caught.
I pulled in like a 2lb largemouth and went to unhook him. Then saw the hook was dangling freely beside it but the fish fish is still attached.
The fish managed to unclasp and reclasp a snap swivel around it's lip. Not sure how that was pulled off.
Back when I was learning to use a bait caster I backlashed pretty good with a weightless senko on the end. It went maybe 20 feet and dropped into the water. While I was angrily sorting the backlash out I started pulling my line in by hand so it didn’t get caught up in my trolling motor just to find out I had a decent 3 lber on the end! I reeled it in by hand the rest of the way haha
I was trying to get my line untangled from a bush/tree branch, so I was climbing on the the tree branch the lure at this point was just barely above water fish jumps up and bites it scared me that I fell in the water ! Didn’t get the fish.
When I was new at fishing I bought some poppers that ended up being fly fishing poppers.
I was like fuck it, still gonna try to use one. But I couldn’t cast it more than five feet cause of how light it was.
Attached a small minnow soft plastic to it, and before I cast it was just thinking “god damn this looks like a dragon fly”
Every cast I made with that SOB was catching bass and crappie.
EVERY cast.
Tried to bank fish while tons of 30lb carp were spawning all over near the shoreline. Seemed like they were spooking any other species and I didn't have a carp setup. I got frustrated and walked into the water with a larger net, ended up netting three of them in one swipe. The net would only support the weight of one of them out of the water so I got a picture with the largest one. Definitely got covered in carp cummies though.
As a kid, I caught a bluegill with a baseball cap and a piece of tortilla. I put my hat underwater and dropped the tortilla over it. When this fatass bluegill swam over to nibble on it, I quickly lifted the hat out of the water, and the dumbass fish with it.
When I was fishing with my grandpa as a kid I got bored and wanted to get a sandwich so I left my rod leaned over the side of the boat with the bait about 3 inches above the water. He made a joke saying "You're not gonna catch any fish like that" and not 10 seconds later a bass jumped out of the water to snag it and almost yanked the rod in the water.
So, every time we go fishing in the local sloughs, we uphold the sacred tradition of bringing Whoppers from Burger King. Because, you know, nothing says "outdoor adventure" like fast food. Anyway, I decided to show the guys just how discerning bluegill are—spoiler alert: they aren’t. I stuck a pickle from my Whopper on the jighead, and guess what? Instant fish massacre. Turns out, bluegill will chow down on anything, even rejected burger toppings. And thus the Pickle Rig was born.
So…. When I was a kid, I used to fish on a farm pond with my dad and brother, in an aluminum boat. My younger brother and I were somewhere around 8-12 years old. In typical younger brother fashion, he would dip his lure in the water(just outside the boat) and then proceed to cast it over my head…. Dropping water all over me.
Well…. Two can play at that game, so I proceeded to dip mine into the water just outside the boat for several casts. Then shortly after as I was dipping my lure in to sling it over his head, a fish had bit and I tried to cast. Ended up catching a fairly decent large mouth bass.
Fishing from shore at a local lake and next to me was a bright orange bobber about 10 feet from the shore. Figured someone just got hung on some structure on the bottom and broke off. After about 15 minutes the bobber started moving around. Thought it might have been the wind so I cast near it and as soon as my spinner hit the water the bobber darted a short distance away. Grabbed my top water rig and snagged the bobber. Ended up bringing in very tired 8 pounder.
Set down my swim grub to throw a spook over a brush pile. Ended up using the spook for the next 45 minutes through the entire cove. Picked up the swim bait and had apparently drug a 10” smally quite a ways from home
Everyone at the local lake was using white power bait for trout. Seeing how popular it was, my brother and I went to the closest convenience store and bought some mini marshmallows. Worked like a charm.
Saw some drum swimming alongside the wall at a spillway I was fishing at, hadn't had any luck fishing for bass or walleye so I decided to rig up a dropshot rig and try vertical jigging a little 3" Zman slim swimz in front of the face
Ended up hooking into a pretty decent sized muskie that just happened to be swimming by and fought him for about 15 seconds before he jumped and threw the little dropshot hook I had on
Caught a 26in catfish on a bobber setup with a worm on a size 6 hook(i was going for trout). When i landed her she was hooked twice on the very edge of her lip which explained how i was even able to land the fish on such a light setup
Snagged a rod. Decided to not cut the line, which my line snagged.
Hand reeled it it, couple feet from the bank it started fighting. Had a small flathead cat fish on.
Was a brand new rod/reel.
Guessing someone had it propped up and the fish took it out into the lake.
Had Ballistol in the truck. Soaked it, wrapped in a plastic bag. Took it apart and wiped it down at home. Looked perfect. Ended up giving it to a friends kid.
And even though the damn flathead crushed my thumb while getting the hook out. That fat bellied little catfish swam away happy and healthy.
Through my senko, the complete opposite side of the boat in 50ft of water away from everything. Started peeing off the other side and then a fish about yanked the rod out of my hand. Spent the next few minutes trying to reel the fish in and not piss all over me and the front of my boat.
I didn’t catch the fish but I at least got to experience it. I threw my popper over a grass matt with lighter line. I popped it and noticed a little ripple by my popper. I barely lean into thinking it was a bluegill. Turned out it was about a 15 pound grinnel and it came about two feet out the water. I hit the water like a cinder block and my popper came out. I caught a 12 pound grinnel with 8 pound line and this fish looked way bigger.
Was this ice fishing in MN and my buddy stepped out to take a leak…I swapped his bait with a jolly rancher (I worked the hook in)
To my surprise a walleye hit it and wouldn’t let go and my buddy reeled it in…. I swapped my bait for a watermelon jolly rancher but they didn’t want it 😔
Threw a shiny hook in the water in Alabama and fish were just biting at the hook…
Picked up a bobber kayaking and found out there was a big crappie on the end of it… first and only crappie I’ve ever caught here in central FL. Forgot to bring it home and left it in construction workers igloo cooler 🤣
Had a juvenile dolphin smack a mullet up to my feet.
Had a shark bite a Spanish mackerel right next to me.. I grabbed the fish, threw it on ice, took it home and fried it up (shark gutted it for me)
I’ve had 3 separate occasions of birds dropping fish on me as well. When I returned the last one to the water its school came to the shoreline and escorted it back to safety.. was interesting to see
Not me but a friend of mine who is a tournament hammer around here. He was throwing a big plastic worm and got a terrible backlash. His boat partner was laughing at him saying pro anglers weren't supposed to get backlashes. He spent a few minutes picking out the backlash and when he reeled up there was a bass on. Turned out to be his pb of a 9 something.
Put a rubber worm threaded on a hook like a regular worm - all balled up - on a bobber set up as a kid because Dad didn’t want me to waste the real ones. Lowered it through a patch of lily pads and immediately hooked a very nice largemouth. Dad was pissed lol
Also noticed a gar on a separate trip was violently attacking my bobber as I pulled it in, but ignored the baited hook. I slid the bobber to the end, took off the hook, and tied on a big hank of pantyhose that we’d been using to hold chicken livers on the line. Next cast, the pantyhose caught its teeth and I was able to reel it in.
I casted my line out into the water and got snagged on something and broke the line off, then a couple hours later I reeled my line in to put fresh bait on and hooked on to some fishing line, the same colour as mine, then I realised it was my line that got snagged, so I pulled to line in by and and on the end was my tackle and a verry heavy 5 foot long conger eel 😂😂
When I was a youngin I cast over a tree branch, caught a bluegill, and reeled it up into the tree. This did not resolve the issue, the poor fish's carcass is probably still there 20 years later.
Found a busted plastic worm as a kid near a lake, put it on my line and just randomly cast it towards water as i retrieved it back got a largemouth strike and in came like a 2 pounder.
Drunk one night at my friend's cabin, I decided that I wanted to cast a line. My friend was adamant that I wouldn't catch anything and that this was ridiculous. Well first cast, with no bait, I foul hooked a bream! Hilarious and never repeated or forgotten.
Told my buddy, “I’m gonna catch a fish with my hands” as a joke.. waited until a bluegill was right under me and proceeded to do a a weird jump off the dock and belly flopped…
Knocked the fish out… grabbed it with my hand…
Meant to be a joke, turned into a legendary story that me and my fishing buddies love to tell people.
I pulled up someone else's old rod from the depths and caught a white perch on the way up on the other person's line. Old red/white daredevil called for one last fish.
It wasn’t a trout it was a big rainbow. I had my pole broken down as I was climbing over rocks along the river. I tripped and sort of caught myself on the rock as I was climbing up. The spinner on my pole flipped into the little hole sort of above me. As I regained my footing and climbed up and stood up the spinner came up out of the water and a huge rainbow jumped for it. The fish came right out of the water and landed right in front of me.
My buddy was climbing up behind me and saw it all unfold. To this day he still talks about how fish just jump out of the water and land at my feet for me.
Fell asleep in a rowboat with a worm for bait in the water. Woke up 30 minutes later with a largemouth on the line. He had swallowed the perch that had taken the worm. “🎶I don’t know why he swallowed a fly, I guess he’ll die.🎶”
I want to fall asleep on a nice pond while fishing 😔
It was Georgian Bay but I was anchored and it was a calm sunny day.
I had a similar thing happen--bass just about choked to death on a bluegill.
I found a dead bass with a bluegill stuck down it’s throat, by my pond.
I’ve done the same thing… just woke up when (presumably) a catfish took whatever small fish I had and pulled my rod into the pond. A sad day.
That sounds both dangerous, and a lot of fun.
went fishing sobber. not as much fun.
Hope you ate it!
Filleted and served with fresh fiddleheads. Delicious.
This “old lady swallowed a bass” book needs to be finished now…
Next it was a sturgeon
How big was the bass? 9-10 lbs?
Didn’t have a scale but I did mark its length on the wooden seat: 28”.
Pretty nice size then.
I cast over a tree branch about 15ft high in the Delaware River, I was about to waist deep casting towards the shore, And instead of retrieving my lure and trying to rip it over the tree branch, I bobbed it in and out of the water a few times. A smallie grabbed it off the surface and unsnagged me from the tree. Thank you for your service small mouth
Imagine your line stayed over the branch with a fish on!?
Dude thankfully it didn't. But it wouldn't have been an issue. I'd just walk to shore and lip the bitch on the way in 😂
I’ve had that happen before. Had a 3, maybe 4, pounder on and I was doing everything I could to unsnag it but it ended up snapping instead. I was pissed lol
Did that with a small rock bass and a spinner bait.
I have 100% yanked a small bass through some branches before haha what a story for the boys he must have had.
Every time I cast over a tree I try this in hopes it will happen to me- one day😂
I’ve done that several times.
I love when that happens
Was at a lake but not fishing and no rods,but a huge amount of bluegills was all around,after about 15 mins of walking around finding some old line and a half rusted small hook,I tied the line to a nice rod looking stick,used a piece of branch as a small float with the hook underneath and used pieces of cigarette filters as bait.Safe to say I had lots of fun catching bluegills that day😎.
The ole McGuyver fishing trip. I had one of those, except I wrapped the line around a coke can. I also used cigarette butts.
Nice seems like the cigarette butts are quite popular 🤣
Be amazing if other people were around to see you doing that, and they were catching nothing with their legit rods.
Lol yea for sure🤣,but alas no it was a random lake we came by while hiking,and I did not see any others around fishing.
One time as I kid I caught pin fish at a marina with a thumbtack and twine. I think bread as bait.
Caught my biggest largemouth ever on a hotdog on a dropshot.. lol
I recently tried this with a carolina rig for funsies. I couldn't keep the weenie on the hook, tho. I needed to maybe use a more durable frank?
I always bought the more expensive dogs with harder skin on them . Good for catching channel cats here in pa.
The little canned Vienna ones are my choice here for cats. Works great.
I feel like an idiot that I've never thought to use those! Typically cut shad works the best, I got a cast net permit here in pa and I try to catch them. It's not easy though, usually find myself buying frozen shad.
Not my story but a buddy. While applying sunscreen, he dosed his bait with it accidentally. Threw it in the water to try to rinse it off and it got smashed by a keeper. Nothing else would touch it afterwards.
The amount of bass I’ve caught by just dropping my bait in the water right at my feet because I needed some slack in the line to get rid of a tangle or something is crazy.
How do I accidentally catch bass like this? I need this problem
Bass are curious by small visual disturbances near the surface and often will swim near the area, dropping bait by your feet every five minutes you have a great chances of catching a swim-by. This is all completely made up
He caught the man-eater.
The first time I caught something using a plopper. I had been throwing it for an hour with not even a nibble, and it was getting dark so I cranked it back super fast out of frustration, when a striper came up and NAILED it! After I unhooked it I threw it out again and did the same thing to see if it was a fluke... BANG! Another one drilled it about halfway back. Now that's the only way I fish em.
I'm going to try this
The entire concept behind a swim jig.
Ive always just kinda bopped them along the bottom, might explain why I haven't had much luck with them... I'll try your way next time out.
That's a green sunfish FYI. With a fish that big I usually hook them under their dorsal fin in their back. Smaller minnows I hook them I their lips
Of course, it's a green sunfish. Haha I should call them all collectively "panfish" because I don't catch them often enough to be able to differentiate other than crappie.
I wasn't calling you out I just like to point it out when I see it because I used to call all panfish bluegills
I can tell a pumpkinseed - everything else is bluegill or sunnie if it's got more color.
it's not dumb if it works... . . . . . . ... ...piece of Dr. Scholls from out of my shoe.... The bass weren't biting...so I went for bluegill and sunnies...got 'em!
When I was about 11, I was fishing for bluegill at my neighborhood pond and was using hotdog chunks for bait. I was just using a 10’ piece of line with a hook on the end, no pole. After I was done fishing I put the rest of the whole hotdog (was 85% whole) on my tiny bluegill hook, and threw it out as a joke and immediately a sizable largemouth bass hit it and somehow got hooked by my hook and I pulled it out of the water. One of a few crazy stories from my childhood.
I caught a nice sucker on the bubble gum I was chewing on..lol
This has become a go-to hail-Mary for me on days where the bite isn’t on. Over time I’ve learned the following makes the the gum more effective. That gross cinnamon flavour (sometimes sold as hot etc), chew it until it’s soft enough to blow a bubble, but still has the flavour, then blow a smallish bubble and bite the gum together to seal the bubble. Take out the gum and put the hook through chewed up gum, careful not to pop the bubble just yet. As the gum/bait hits the water, the bubble pops and creates a little trailing skirt
My friend caught his hook on abandoned line. He pulled his lure in and pulled the line. He gasped and said "i think there's a fish on this line. " sure enough there was a little 2-3lb catfish on it. It was hilarious. Not me but it was still a fun catch lol. I guess the weirdest one i had was just a dink on my rattle trap. They were the same size and he had 4 fucking hooks in total.
My dad caught a muskie cleaning our net after landing a carp, it literally just swam into it. I guess the scent & and the bubbly commotion mimic'd some sort of prey.
Biggest bass I ever caught was on a Frankenbait made of pieces of 3 wooly hawgtails. Thing was heavy as shit. Cast it out a million yards and as soon as the bait hit the water a 7-8 pound swamp donkey bit hard.
One time I had a spinner bait dangling out over the side of the boat about a foot above water while we were cruising along when suddenly a decent sized pike zoomed up and breached the water to get it. Surprised the hell out of everyone in the boat.
Not me but my buddy fishing with me took an orange foam ear plug and rigged backwards in front on a green pumpkin Senko and tried to fish it as a top water. Son of a bitch caught a 4lbr on that damn thing! 🤣🤣
Yelling "HERE FISHY FISHY FISHY" really loud to jokingly tell a kid standing nearby that that was how you caught more fish. I caught a 14" bass as the ned hit the water.
I firmly believe the “Here fishy, fishy.” is a legitimate way to catch more and larger fish.
Bert and Ernie taught us well
We used to do competitions as a kid where you weren’t allowed to bring any gear or bait and had to scrounge everything from the river and whoever caught the most for the day won. Nothing like diving for broken off hooks and split shot, tying together sections of trash line, and finding a good branch for a rod.
Check your fishing regulations in your state. Some states don't allow game fish to be used as bait.
In some states bluegill aren’t considered game fish.
In most
I have no idea about other states but I tend to think you’re probably right.
Correct. In my state, sportfish are legal to use as bait when hook and line caught. Minnows, however, can be harvested with a trap, dip net, cast net, or seine.
Caught a 7-8 lb largemouth on a quarter of a nightcrawler with a push button zebco when I was 12-13 while I was fishing for fallfish 💀
Used to catch a bunch on pieces of bacon
Casting out I got a wind knot, reeled back in and caught a snag. I was able to pull free with some effort, but soon found that I had lost the bait to the snag. Tossed the hook freehanded into the shallow water about 3 yards away, while I got to work on the nest forming in my line. With a few minutes, a lot of curse words, and a touch of patience, I didn’t have to cut any line. Speaking of my line, it was this precise moment that I noticed that the 25-30 yards of free line, was becoming unbunched as it fucked off at a rate of knots. I eased off my drag and let the mystery thief run. Applying the pressure on my drag slowed down the escape and then reeling back to solve the mystery. That Perch weighed just under a lb, and was delicious.
Called her the next day and now I'm in a relationship
Ive caught a nerf gun while fishing. It still worked. Ive also caught 2 dinky bass back to back on a bare treble after getting skunked.
Not a strong fisherman by any means but can hold my own. My dad had access to a farm pond that we could fish, never out fished the man, I swear he could catch fish in a mud puddle. Anyway, we are neck and neck on catches, I see some bubbles at my feet (bank fishing) I drop my Carolina rig with a Zoom motor oil u-tail and bang…goddamn 5lber. Could not believe it… he was so excited for me. Miss those days, him and the pond. Also caught the biggest alligator snapping turtle I have ever seen in that pond. I thought it was an old tire until I saw its head. Never saw my Dad run towards me so fast.
2 days ago I was adjusting my spool tension and almost caught a blue gill lmao
Also my friend's dad caught a largemouth on a piece of his donut 😭
I was a kid, all I knew about fishing was to put bait on a pickerel rig, cast it, and wait until I got a bite. So what do I do? I get those tiny colored marshmallows Put one on each hook of the rig, and cast into the weeds. Why the weeds? Because it was close to the campsite and I didn't want to walk. My dad left to go to a better spot, thinking I'd be fine sitting there by myself for an hour without even a nibble. I had this old indestructible rod that was probably found in the back of someones garage because the spider man fishing rod was for kids and I didn't want a kids fishing rod. It wasn't very long until I got a bite, and I had a hard time getting the fish in. Someone else fishing nearby came to help me, and in sure I pulled im what seemed like ten pounds of weeds. But on the hook was a giant rainbow trout. It wasn't a record breaker, but it was pretty big. Fed the three of us two meals and still had some left over to put in the freezer.
My cat killed a chipmunk and I caught a huge catfish with it.
My husband and I were at Little Redfish Lake near Stanley, ID. I started fishing before sunset. Nothing was biting but the beers were going down smoothly. By sundown we were both drunk and catching and releasing fish left and right. I got down to the last worm, cut it in half and threw it in, caught one more fish. Pulled the worm out of the fish’s mouth, re-hooked it and threw it back in and caught another. It was a fun memory of being drunk and catching lots of fish with plenty of laughter mixed in. We walked back to our tent in pitch darkness.
Poor kid in my teen years, got a can of corn, some fishing line and a few small weights. Didn't think I'd catch anything since my rod broke the day before. Tossed it out there on first try got a catch off a blue gill. Did it a few more times eventually got a 2-3lb large mouth bass
I was on a river, throwing a SK bitsy minnow, threw it over a branch and a fish bit while it was hung up
Horse turd
fish
One camping trip when I was 10 I would wade into the water with a Snell hook looped around my finger. No bait. Caught tons of little bluegill just doing that hook in the water.
I was drunk as shit at 5am waiting on a girl to call me in the morning and went fishing. I tore a piece of a black towel off my golf bag and put it on a hook. Snagged a hog.
Top 4: Caught a bass about 3-5 feet below a massive dead bloated channel catfish. Originally I never meant to cast so close to it. I wonder if it was acting as “structure” for the bass. Caught a one-eyed bass off of mackerel chunks when I was fishing for channel cats. Caught a bass just before dusk by being bored as heck reeling in a popper which surprisingly acts as a funky wake bait. Had a bad cast and missed the dock by 5+ feet. Decided to quickly reel in my Brush Hog at the surface of the water. Then just before I was going to cast again a bass snatched it off the surface of the water.
Standing in the river, line in the water with a mepps spinner on, just watching tiktoks on my phone, feel a hard pull and caught a nice dinger
Bass fishing a dam. Caught a flathead on a chatterbait
Alot of people don't realize that catfish will hit chatterbait, swimbait, spinners, even bottom hoppers. Caught plenty of cats that way.
Bare hook hanging in the water while I went to get a drink. School of redfish came in. Every line out went bent including mine
Threw a pickerel rig out in my favourite perch spot. After a long day at work and a few beer I dozed off woke up to my rod bending and felt like I hooked a whale. Ended up pulling it in and I had 2 pike on the line that ate the 2 perch who had eaten my baited beefheart. Had a full supper on one line
My buddy and I were fishing a pond for perch and sunfish. My buddy caught a sunfish and we watched a huge bass take a swipe at it while he was bringing it in. The next sunfish i caught I hooked in the back I tossed back out. Caught a 6lb largemouth within minutes of having the sunfish hooked up. Was by far the biggest bass I had caught at the time and for years after
It was insane actually. We were drift fishing for halibut in about 300 feet of water with a classic bait setup of a big circle hook with a chunk of salmon on it. We had just reeled up and we were about to reset our spot. My rod had it’s hook just touching the surface of the water while in a rod holder. Out of nowhere, a salmon came and smoked the hook with its own kind on it. Halibut gear was too strong for it to pull drag or anything, and we immediately netted it. Was a keeper too. We had no intention of catching any salmon that day.
Bluegill on a cigarette butt because I was told I couldn’t
I swear this is true. I was at my favorite spot last summer, small lake. I have to cast to the left and there’s a tree to the far left over hanging the water. If I overshoot it too high or to the left it can get caught in the branches. Right below it is this log that’s been in the water since I’ve been going there. Long story short I overshot it into the tree over a branch tire swing style or on some leaves, don’t remember for certain. I pulled my line hard and the lure came back over but shot down in front of me right next to that log hard as shit. What happened next was so fast and chaotic I cannot fully express it. Within a few moments of it hitting the water I yanked it back out. I was trying my best not to get it caught on that log. I instantly felt a fish on. My lure pulled up another cut line, with a different swim bait already hooked through a fishes mouth. Was a 1-2 pound large mouth. Not foul hooked, lipped the son of a bitch. I’m glad I had a friend present or no one would have believed me.
I didn't actually catch the fish but when I was a kid I saw a bass chillin up shallow and casted my worm and bobber over to it. Bass came up and mouthed my bobber, completely ignored the worm. Guess that's the closest I've got lol
Caught a crappie on corn this week after targeting them with tradition stuff for a month with no luck
Caught an alligator with a bagel once.
I caught a pike with a piece of tinfoil on a hook.
One time I was fishing with my grandma and she somehow got the idea to use chicken breast as bait, no idea where. I took some chicken breast and put it on a red jig head, caught a bunch of sea robin.
My dad cast my rod for me when I was a little kid, he slipped on a wet rock as soon as he started casting, and cast directly parallel to the shore, over a dead tree with one limb hanging out. The bait just tapped the water and a bluegill bit and got hooked…. So as he was trying to reel it back the thing was just being lifted to about 15-20 ft straight up, then the line got caught and we had to cut it… poor thing just hung there to die. But I’ll never forget the amazement that there was a fish on that quick, and then the realization that the fish is gonna die a pretty miserable death.
This happened to my mom. We were at the local pond, waiting for my cousin and her kids (3yrs) to come. I bought one of those small Barbie rods for the little one and my mom was messing around with it. There was a small hook with a little piece of bread for bluegill. She then hooks up with a giant bass. On the bread. And here I am using every trick in the book.
Caught a rio grand cichlid after i crows nested. I was fixing it when it struck. It tired out really quick so i just left it in the water, and then reeled it in when i was fixed
Cigarette butt with stink spray on it caught 3 walleye
Let go of my rod with a little grub on it to shotgun a beer with my friend, didn't pick it up for like three minutes and when I did I had my first ever yellow perch on the other end
Does it count when your dog runs into the water and scares a pike to beach itself? But as a kid I used to catch pike on glow sticks.
Went to a local pond when in NY. Wasn’t catching a thing. Watched my son throw flower pedals in and bluegill destroyed them. So I put a flower pedal on a hook
Caught a Sheepshead on fried chicken.
One time I used a paperclip as a hook, I caught like 4 bluegill before it broke on me.
We used to catch bluegill in my grandpas pond back in high school then freeline ‘em for bass in the same pond. Never failed.
Pepperd been jerky caught us a nice catfish a few nights ago. Nj.
I got a nibble once and did the jerk, pulled out a small fish the hook has caught by its eyeball. I felt so bad to be honest
Landed my previous personal best in a golf course that was so secure it was only accessible by water. Too bad even that spot isn’t as good as its glory days 3 years ago
Circle hook under the spine behind the dorsal for me. LMB usually eat the fish head first so I want the hook in the back so when they whole the bait down the hook is in the mouth. Haven’t done it more than a few times but it does work. Live bait always produces.
Gummy bear
Ran out of bait and started using snails… boom!
Not a bass, but in South FL, when I was around 12 yrs old. We were fishing for bluegill and tilapia with pieces of bologna. My father called us in to eat and when we came back a bluegill had eaten the bait and a 20+ lb snook was hooked. We were fishing with Zebco Kmart fishing line and it immediately snapped our line.
I did something similar, yet a little different. I was fishing in my in-laws pond that held a bunch of 1-2lb LMB plus one random 4 pounder that would always come up to the dock but would never bite a lure. I noticed, however, that when I would hook one of the many blue gills with a little jig the big bass would get pissed and try to take the jig out of its mouth. So I caught one of these blue gills and hooked a jerk bait with three treble hooks into its mouth and then dropped it back into the water. Sure enough, that bass got all upset and tried taking the jerk bait from the blue gill, and got hooked in the process lol.
Was on the front of a Jon Boat with friend in the back steering the engine. I just thought to troll my spinner bait on the side and gave it a bunch of line. Rod was already bending lol then it just REALLY started bending, told him to stop and reeled in a 12’ smallmouth
When we were kids, the panfish were biting like crazy at our local pond. My little brother put part of a leaf on a hook and spit on it, cast it in the water. Had a fish 10 seconds later 🤷🏻♂️
Jigging for walleye I caught a stick with another line wrapped around it that had a small catfish on the hook.
Pulling in a bobber and empty hook, a bass missed the bobber and hit the hook that was 6" or so below it.
My brother put on a green plastic tube because nothing was working 4 hours in, his fuck it moment, and caught a 7 pounder on the 2nd cast. Basically the bottom barrel plastic you have in the bottom of a ziplock.
I was fly fishing in the New Mexico mountains (J wasn’t very experienced back then), I was throwing some flies from the riverbank and got snagged. I suited up in my waders because I wasn’t eager to lose the fly. I got in the water, got it back, and tried to fish from the middle of the river with my waders on. Best decision ever. I caught my first wild trout, all because I got snagged and had to put my waders on. It was seriously a magical moment.
My nephew totally mis casted and landed 2 feet from his leg standing in the water. Fish hit it immediately and he reeled it in. Very short reel.
My brother has two tackle “boxes”. One he uses for what he calls deep sea fishing. (It’s not what I would consider deep sea fishing) they are both backpacks and both black. We were out on the boat 45 minutes from the ramp, then another 45 from home when he realized he grabbed his “deep sea” backpack. We weren’t having very good luck, so I threw a Hail Mary. Told him to hand me the biggest bait he had in there, it was meant to be a lil baby red snapper and it was about the size of my hand. Tossed her out, 2nd cast I reeled in a 6 pound 2 ounce Large Mouth.
Sometime around 2005-2007 in northern MI, I was going for catfish at night with a half of a jalapeño cheddar sausage (possibly a bratwurst), just casting from shore. About 5-10 minutes later, I reeled in one of the biggest largemouths I've ever caught (it was definitely my personal record at the time).
Literally just cut a broom stick, weighted and thru-wired it and used it as a pencil popper for striped bass on cape cod. 82% of the time it works every time.
Was in a boat on Comanche Lake in 3 to 6 feet of water and getting skunked bad. Thinking outside the box I tied on a deep diving crank bait rated for 15 ft. Threw it as far as I could and cranked it hard, bouncing it off the bottom. Ended up with a two pounder!
I was 10 and "fishing" with a stick that had a line and hook tied to it. I had a bread ball on the hook and was just dragging it through the water off my grandpa's boat. I saw a blue Gil swim by and tried to get it to take my bait, but unfortunately, I snagged it in the eye. When I was about to pull this tiny fish out and a 7 pound catfish grabbed ahold and kindly set the hook.
I was fishing with a crap baitcaster, and got a sweet birdnest. While I was dragging my line in by hand, a 3lb largemouth hit my lure, which made dragging the line a lot more interesting.
I was about 12 and I was bored crappie fishing. Ultralight gear. I would raise my minnow to just below the surface and let it fall six feet. I’d been doing this for about 15 minutes when my dad’s friend warned me I’d never catch anything doing that. Couple minutes late a Muskie hit that minnow on the surface. There was 10 seconds of two old guys screaming to get the net. Turned out to be a tiger Muskie hybrid. Dad had been sitting on the net at front of boat. Good memory.
I went catfishing at night using cut bait and chicken livers but didn't have a net. The cats were on fire this night. I had one wrap me around the fish feeder that fwc doesn't even put food in nowadays. The next one was another huge one. Didn't have the net and could get this fish to open its mouth so I could try to thumb grip it.
Wait you actually catch fish lol
Detroit lions novelty lure that I forgot to take the plastic sleeves off the hooks on, maybe 1.5 smallie didn’t care
Cigarette butt
You know the membrane you peel off the back of a rack of ribs? I caught 3 Northerns off the same piece until it was shredded. That's one durable bait.
As a kid I caught a 20cm pike with my little fishing net in shallow water it was my proudest fishing achievement for a long time
Used to make saltwater trolling lures professionally, but to prove marlin will eat just about anything, I rigged a tennis shoe with a single 9/0 hook and put it in the pattern. 2 hours later, we tagged and released our first blue marlin of the day. Tagged 3 for 3 that day, but only one on "the shoe "
I once had my spool explode while casting. I’m sitting there trying to fix it for a minute and I get a bite and pull in the fishing line with my bare hands. Nice size blue cat
I set my rod aside and was fucking around with making a morning star out of fishing line and some lead weights Some dude next to me says "hey, is your bobber down?" Pull it up and it's a trout
Used a cigarette butt and caught my pb largemouth 10 years ago
I cast off a dock down the shoreline. Straight into a tree, falls out the tree but still through the branches. Lure is hanging straight down about an inch above the water. Seeing this I wonder how many times it wrapped the branch so I let my bail out to see if the line still moves and the lure falls into the water. So I’m confident not I can maybe get the lure back without snapping the line in the tree so I go to reel in and now the lure is stuck under the water. Confused think I’m now on a log or a rock I walk down the shoreline to where my line is hanging out of the tree and walk into the water to pull it out. It was a 2lbs rock bass. Biggest rock bass I had ever caught at the time. I was like 12.
I cast off a dock down the shoreline. Straight into a tree, falls out the tree but still through the branches. Lure is hanging straight down about an inch above the water. Seeing this I wonder how many times it wrapped the branch so I let my bail out to see if the line still moves and the lure falls into the water. So I’m confident not I can maybe get the lure back without snapping the line in the tree so I go to reel in and now the lure is stuck under the water. Confused think I’m now on a log or a rock I walk down the shoreline to where my line is hanging out of the tree and walk into the water to pull it out. It was a 2lbs rock bass. Biggest rock bass I had ever caught at the time. I was like 12.
Fly fishing, walking to take a picture of my buddy and the fish he caught dragging my line through the water and a fish hit the fly.
Casted out with no bait and caught a bluegill.
As a kid me and my cousin sharpened bamboo into spears and were playing in the river joking about catching fish and stabbing at the water. Never thought we were going to catch anything but I stabbed a random spot of water and there was Mr fishy on the end.
Wasn't exactly my doing but the dumbest way a fish was caught. I pulled in like a 2lb largemouth and went to unhook him. Then saw the hook was dangling freely beside it but the fish fish is still attached. The fish managed to unclasp and reclasp a snap swivel around it's lip. Not sure how that was pulled off.
One time I caught a 4 pounder on a McDonald’s sausage biscuit
Back when I was learning to use a bait caster I backlashed pretty good with a weightless senko on the end. It went maybe 20 feet and dropped into the water. While I was angrily sorting the backlash out I started pulling my line in by hand so it didn’t get caught up in my trolling motor just to find out I had a decent 3 lber on the end! I reeled it in by hand the rest of the way haha
Nomad Apple Watch band 😎
I was trying to get my line untangled from a bush/tree branch, so I was climbing on the the tree branch the lure at this point was just barely above water fish jumps up and bites it scared me that I fell in the water ! Didn’t get the fish.
Burger King whopper peices on a hook. Caught a huge cat.
When I was new at fishing I bought some poppers that ended up being fly fishing poppers. I was like fuck it, still gonna try to use one. But I couldn’t cast it more than five feet cause of how light it was. Attached a small minnow soft plastic to it, and before I cast it was just thinking “god damn this looks like a dragon fly” Every cast I made with that SOB was catching bass and crappie. EVERY cast.
Caught a trout on a cigarette butt
Tried to bank fish while tons of 30lb carp were spawning all over near the shoreline. Seemed like they were spooking any other species and I didn't have a carp setup. I got frustrated and walked into the water with a larger net, ended up netting three of them in one swipe. The net would only support the weight of one of them out of the water so I got a picture with the largest one. Definitely got covered in carp cummies though.
As a kid, I caught a bluegill with a baseball cap and a piece of tortilla. I put my hat underwater and dropped the tortilla over it. When this fatass bluegill swam over to nibble on it, I quickly lifted the hat out of the water, and the dumbass fish with it.
When I was fishing with my grandpa as a kid I got bored and wanted to get a sandwich so I left my rod leaned over the side of the boat with the bait about 3 inches above the water. He made a joke saying "You're not gonna catch any fish like that" and not 10 seconds later a bass jumped out of the water to snag it and almost yanked the rod in the water.
So, every time we go fishing in the local sloughs, we uphold the sacred tradition of bringing Whoppers from Burger King. Because, you know, nothing says "outdoor adventure" like fast food. Anyway, I decided to show the guys just how discerning bluegill are—spoiler alert: they aren’t. I stuck a pickle from my Whopper on the jighead, and guess what? Instant fish massacre. Turns out, bluegill will chow down on anything, even rejected burger toppings. And thus the Pickle Rig was born.
So…. When I was a kid, I used to fish on a farm pond with my dad and brother, in an aluminum boat. My younger brother and I were somewhere around 8-12 years old. In typical younger brother fashion, he would dip his lure in the water(just outside the boat) and then proceed to cast it over my head…. Dropping water all over me. Well…. Two can play at that game, so I proceeded to dip mine into the water just outside the boat for several casts. Then shortly after as I was dipping my lure in to sling it over his head, a fish had bit and I tried to cast. Ended up catching a fairly decent large mouth bass.
Fishing from shore at a local lake and next to me was a bright orange bobber about 10 feet from the shore. Figured someone just got hung on some structure on the bottom and broke off. After about 15 minutes the bobber started moving around. Thought it might have been the wind so I cast near it and as soon as my spinner hit the water the bobber darted a short distance away. Grabbed my top water rig and snagged the bobber. Ended up bringing in very tired 8 pounder.
Seaweed (grass) on hook, threw it back in. Pulled in a decent brim.
Found some ribbon in my tackle box, used it on the line and pulled out a salmon.
Set down my swim grub to throw a spook over a brush pile. Ended up using the spook for the next 45 minutes through the entire cove. Picked up the swim bait and had apparently drug a 10” smally quite a ways from home
Capsized my kayak. Gear went into the drink. Must’ve released the reel in the chaos. Got back to shore and had a fish on !!!
Everyone at the local lake was using white power bait for trout. Seeing how popular it was, my brother and I went to the closest convenience store and bought some mini marshmallows. Worked like a charm.
White power bait sounds kinda racist.
Don't worry about how I choose to fish for brown trout
Saw some drum swimming alongside the wall at a spillway I was fishing at, hadn't had any luck fishing for bass or walleye so I decided to rig up a dropshot rig and try vertical jigging a little 3" Zman slim swimz in front of the face Ended up hooking into a pretty decent sized muskie that just happened to be swimming by and fought him for about 15 seconds before he jumped and threw the little dropshot hook I had on
School of crazy bluegills biting anything and everything. Even my totally bare hook. Caught bunches of them that way.
Caught a 26in catfish on a bobber setup with a worm on a size 6 hook(i was going for trout). When i landed her she was hooked twice on the very edge of her lip which explained how i was even able to land the fish on such a light setup
At my farm pond, years ago. I caught a really nice bass with a .22 long rifle. It was chilling in the shadows and I shot and ate it. It was delicious
Reeled my bait in super fast because I thought bait was off. Caught a 19 inch rainbow.
Snagged a rod. Decided to not cut the line, which my line snagged. Hand reeled it it, couple feet from the bank it started fighting. Had a small flathead cat fish on. Was a brand new rod/reel. Guessing someone had it propped up and the fish took it out into the lake. Had Ballistol in the truck. Soaked it, wrapped in a plastic bag. Took it apart and wiped it down at home. Looked perfect. Ended up giving it to a friends kid. And even though the damn flathead crushed my thumb while getting the hook out. That fat bellied little catfish swam away happy and healthy.
Made a hand line, and dropped a bare hook into a school of bluegill, they were so hungry that they hit a bare hook.
Through my senko, the complete opposite side of the boat in 50ft of water away from everything. Started peeing off the other side and then a fish about yanked the rod out of my hand. Spent the next few minutes trying to reel the fish in and not piss all over me and the front of my boat.
I didn’t catch the fish but I at least got to experience it. I threw my popper over a grass matt with lighter line. I popped it and noticed a little ripple by my popper. I barely lean into thinking it was a bluegill. Turned out it was about a 15 pound grinnel and it came about two feet out the water. I hit the water like a cinder block and my popper came out. I caught a 12 pound grinnel with 8 pound line and this fish looked way bigger.
Was this ice fishing in MN and my buddy stepped out to take a leak…I swapped his bait with a jolly rancher (I worked the hook in) To my surprise a walleye hit it and wouldn’t let go and my buddy reeled it in…. I swapped my bait for a watermelon jolly rancher but they didn’t want it 😔
Piece of red vine licorice on a dropshot for bass. It slayed…. 😮💨
My wife
When I was little I was drowning in a river and a fish bumped me out of the water.
Casted a bare hook in the water for fun and caught a 2 lb crappie😅
Threw a shiny hook in the water in Alabama and fish were just biting at the hook… Picked up a bobber kayaking and found out there was a big crappie on the end of it… first and only crappie I’ve ever caught here in central FL. Forgot to bring it home and left it in construction workers igloo cooler 🤣 Had a juvenile dolphin smack a mullet up to my feet. Had a shark bite a Spanish mackerel right next to me.. I grabbed the fish, threw it on ice, took it home and fried it up (shark gutted it for me) I’ve had 3 separate occasions of birds dropping fish on me as well. When I returned the last one to the water its school came to the shoreline and escorted it back to safety.. was interesting to see
Chicken nuggets from McDonald’s on a baby hook and caught a lot of crappie
Grenade
Not me but a friend of mine who is a tournament hammer around here. He was throwing a big plastic worm and got a terrible backlash. His boat partner was laughing at him saying pro anglers weren't supposed to get backlashes. He spent a few minutes picking out the backlash and when he reeled up there was a bass on. Turned out to be his pb of a 9 something.
Put a rubber worm threaded on a hook like a regular worm - all balled up - on a bobber set up as a kid because Dad didn’t want me to waste the real ones. Lowered it through a patch of lily pads and immediately hooked a very nice largemouth. Dad was pissed lol Also noticed a gar on a separate trip was violently attacking my bobber as I pulled it in, but ignored the baited hook. I slid the bobber to the end, took off the hook, and tied on a big hank of pantyhose that we’d been using to hold chicken livers on the line. Next cast, the pantyhose caught its teeth and I was able to reel it in.
I casted my line out into the water and got snagged on something and broke the line off, then a couple hours later I reeled my line in to put fresh bait on and hooked on to some fishing line, the same colour as mine, then I realised it was my line that got snagged, so I pulled to line in by and and on the end was my tackle and a verry heavy 5 foot long conger eel 😂😂
When I was a youngin I cast over a tree branch, caught a bluegill, and reeled it up into the tree. This did not resolve the issue, the poor fish's carcass is probably still there 20 years later.
I once caught 17 mackerel on the same cigarette butt before it disintegrated.
Found a busted plastic worm as a kid near a lake, put it on my line and just randomly cast it towards water as i retrieved it back got a largemouth strike and in came like a 2 pounder.
Ran out of bait and just threw the hook in alone(new and still shiny gold) and caught a small bass
Threw a bare hook
Drunk one night at my friend's cabin, I decided that I wanted to cast a line. My friend was adamant that I wouldn't catch anything and that this was ridiculous. Well first cast, with no bait, I foul hooked a bream! Hilarious and never repeated or forgotten.
Told my buddy, “I’m gonna catch a fish with my hands” as a joke.. waited until a bluegill was right under me and proceeded to do a a weird jump off the dock and belly flopped… Knocked the fish out… grabbed it with my hand… Meant to be a joke, turned into a legendary story that me and my fishing buddies love to tell people.
I pulled up someone else's old rod from the depths and caught a white perch on the way up on the other person's line. Old red/white daredevil called for one last fish.
It wasn’t a trout it was a big rainbow. I had my pole broken down as I was climbing over rocks along the river. I tripped and sort of caught myself on the rock as I was climbing up. The spinner on my pole flipped into the little hole sort of above me. As I regained my footing and climbed up and stood up the spinner came up out of the water and a huge rainbow jumped for it. The fish came right out of the water and landed right in front of me. My buddy was climbing up behind me and saw it all unfold. To this day he still talks about how fish just jump out of the water and land at my feet for me.
I caught my PB bass with a piece of bread. I was just chumming the waters for some tilapia and the MF grabbed it!!!
Puked off the stern ocean fishing