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whats your worst fly fishing blooper?

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i have a mix of angling tales.

 

i had a guy wishing and praying that i'd go for a swim after walking straight into the run just upstream from him (gotta love noobs, lol). nothing like the feel of gravel shifting under your feet.

 

i locked myself out of the van, at 0200, in the rain, in the middle of nowhere. my saving grace? the arm for closing and locking the back side window was broken (2000 Dodge Caravan). don't ask me how i squeezed 6' and 200lbs through that back window without the glass or hinges breaking. after this, i always carried two keys with me.

 

last summer i went for a swim. i was wet wading, running and gunning a run for bass. as i was working downstream, the water depth and flow increased. the next thing in know my chest pack and backpack start to float, threatening to tip me face first into the water. no biggy i'm a good swimmer. did i forget to mention that i had about 30' of fly line out? have you ever tried to reel in line that is wrapping around you and swim at the same time? a tense moment for sure. lesson learned? no. i just made sure to have my line in the next time i had to swim :)

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I

'll spare you the tale but give you the quick lesson learned. Never -- no, NEVER -- cast a bluegill popper at a Water Moccasin!

 

Rocco

Another lesson about snakes, learned from a friend (I did NOT do this, but he did). Never try to shoot a snake in your boat with a pistol. You'll put holes in the boat (he emptied a 9 round clip) and probably miss the snake (It calmly crawled out and swam away).

 

I HATE snakes! More than once I've sat down on a log in the stream to change flies, and found myself sitting next to a snake getting a tan. I now know J. C. isn't the only one who can walk on water.

 

I'm basically with you guys on the snakes -- I'm okay as long as I see them from far enough away that I can avoid crossing paths. On a certain section of my favorite smallmouth stream here in Michigan, I think I have encountered a good sized brown water snake just about every time I've fished it. Typically he swims up from behind me, going upstream (the current is very slow there), and I become aware of him when he enters my peripheral vision, usually a few feet away, but once he brushed my wader leg swimming by. I didn't care for that so much. Fortunately, there's only one venomous snake in Michigan (the Massasauga Rattlesnake), but they're very rare in my part of the state, but still, I don't like being surprised by reptiles. Even when I know they're harmless, they kind of creep me out.

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While surf fishing for stripers along the Maine coast, the waves were pretty big that day but as long as I bent my knees when they hit, I was fine. But as I was removing the hooks from a smaller fish and not paying attention, I looked up to see a rogue wave about 5' away and waist high - plowed me off the rocks head first into a deep gully. My waders were open and as I "dove" in, filled with air near the feet. When I finally bobbed up, the air in the waders feet kept my feet above water so I was a perfect "VEE". Finally had to use my hand gaff to puncture each foot so I could get my feet down and back on the rocks. Have "wet-waded" ever since. BTW - as I was going in had the foresight to toss my 13' surf rod up onto the rocks so all was not lost.

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i had a guy wishing and praying that i'd go for a swim after walking straight into the run just upstream from him (gotta love noobs, lol). nothing like the feel of gravel shifting under your feet.

 

What does this mean?

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I

'll spare you the tale but give you the quick lesson learned. Never -- no, NEVER -- cast a bluegill popper at a Water Moccasin!

 

Rocco

Another lesson about snakes, learned from a friend (I did NOT do this, but he did). Never try to shoot a snake in your boat with a pistol. You'll put holes in the boat (he emptied a 9 round clip) and probably miss the snake (It calmly crawled out and swam away).

 

I HATE snakes! More than once I've sat down on a log in the stream to change flies, and found myself sitting next to a snake getting a tan. I now know J. C. isn't the only one who can walk on water.

 

I'm basically with you guys on the snakes -- I'm okay as long as I see them from far enough away that I can avoid crossing paths. On a certain section of my favorite smallmouth stream here in Michigan, I think I have encountered a good sized brown water snake just about every time I've fished it. Typically he swims up from behind me, going upstream (the current is very slow there), and I become aware of him when he enters my peripheral vision, usually a few feet away, but once he brushed my wader leg swimming by. I didn't care for that so much. Fortunately, there's only one venomous snake in Michigan (the Massasauga Rattlesnake), but they're very rare in my part of the state, but still, I don't like being surprised by reptiles. Even when I know they're harmless, they kind of creep me out.

 

I have to state ... I like snakes. I was rooting for the snake as Ricky told me about his pistol shooting run-in with it. I've had various snakes as pets through the years, the oddest was a 30 inch Copperhead. Indiana had a lot of Copperheads, Bryon. Are you sure you don't have those up your way?

Massasauga Rattlers only get about 20 inches long ... and that's a huge one. I don't think there ever been a reported bite from one, unless the person was actually handling it.

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I was fishing with a new reel that I had switched from left to right hand retreive. I hooked a Steelhead that decided to run and was taking out line. The next thing I know, the spool falls off the reel. I'm left trying to hand-line a raging Steelhead while trying to figure out what the hell happened. Turns out this reel has a gear on the spool that you unscrew in order to switch retrieves and if you don't screw it back on really tight, it can unscew itself. Then your the one who's screwed.

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Getting wacked on the knuckles the first time I hooked into a salmon up in NY state. My buddy who had been doing it for a number of years warned me but no, still managed to try and grab the handle on a hot fish. OWWW!

 

On another trip a few years ago I was up in Maine fishing for spring land locks with a friend and his brother. We had to camp down the lake and take his boat a couple of miles up the lake to where the river came in each morning and back in the evening. Of course we never broke the rods down for the trip so one day as I was pushing the boat off for the trip back to camp I broke the last several inches of his brothers rod off jumping into the boat. He was remarkably calm about it but I felt pretty bad.

 

For the "I almost wet myself" folder. Standing in one of our local trout rivers, concentrating on getting a decent float and I feel a big whack on my leg, look down to the head of nice big snapping turtle go by on its way downstream. A couple of years later I'm in about the same spot, again concentrating and get whacked. Almost wet myself thinking it was another snapper; was really embarrassed to find out that I had been hit by a bowling ball someone had tossed in the stream.

 

Steve

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I once caught a water snake on a dry fly. And one time I was false casting and had a dragonfly take my fly in the air. But the blooper was driving from Orange County California to the Klamath River (about 700 miles) and found my reel case empty. I forgot to load it again after I cleaned them. Had to buy a reel to go fishing.

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Aside from not locking my spool in and dropping that to the bottom of lake I have been rather good about not hooking myself or going for a swim. But one day I went out to fish a new bog I had never been to before, it was about a 1/2 mile bushwhack from the nearest logging road. About 100ft off the road I notice an old Pepsi bottle hanging from a tree so I go take a look at it. As soon as I got near it I could smell the anise. For those of you who don't know, black bears love anise and someone was baiting.

 

So I walk back to the car and rig up a spear, I guess I thought I was Rambo or something and could just stab a black bear to death. Then I head back up into the woods and make it to the bog. Before the sun got too high I caught a few nice brookies. Then the fishing tapered off pretty quick. I notice a beaver coming up the bog and decide that since the fishing is shot anyways I'm just going to slap my line on the water to get the beaver to slap it's tail. If you've never heard it they make quite a wallop. The beaver doesn't take any notice and keeps on swimming, but the black bear that had mosied on up behind me very quietly across the sphagnum was rather pissed.

 

I didn't hear it until it started sprinting and its paws made a plodding noise. I thought I was going to be mauled right then and there, but the bear goes right past me about 30ft off to my side. It leaps into the bog and attacks the beaver, I'm still standing there with my mouth on my feet. I might have reacted in a few seconds but time was in slow motion, I come to my senses and just turn and run. I had a bunch of line out, that's gone, I broke my rod tip sprinting through the woods, and I lost a bunch of stuff out of my pack, but I made it to the car in less than 5 min. So much for that bear pongee I made, I bet it's still sticking up out of the sphagnum. I later learn that there's actually a pretty high frequency of black bears going after beavers, and that if your in bear country, have bear mace.

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All the talk of dropping spools, reels and rods.

Not fly fishing, but I did have a spinning gear problem while fishing salt water in North Carolina. I carried multiple spools for the reel. One with light line if the non toothy fish were running, another with much heavier line if the sharks or other toothier fish were. This was back before the super braids.

 

Anyway, fishing one day, and the people at the end of the jetty start hooking sharks. I get out my heavy line spool and promptly drop it down into the rocks. I get a piece of the line and try to jerk the spool out ... no luck. I try reaching the spool ... no luck. In order to save the spool, I end up pulling all 200+ yards of line off to get to the knot, allowing me to lift the spool up.

 

Back to fly fishing ... I used to have a 10 foot jon boat. I'm sitting, cross legged, on the front (my usual) position. My brother-n-law is in the back. When not using a rod, the handle rests on the deck with the rod lying back through the boat. So, I've got a couple of rods lying on the deck, some tackle and the rod in my hand. My bro-n-law decides to wash his hands off by leaning over the side without warning me. I go backwards off the deck, my foot hooks the rods on the deck, my other leg hooks the tackle and the rod in my hand goes flying. All of my fishing rods are sinking to the bottom and my foot also caught the anchor line. I am hanging with one leg hooked over the side of the boat, the rest of me upside down in the water. I lived, my rods are still at the bottom of Shingle Creek.

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This summer a friend and I were fishing a stretch of a stream and the Game warden showed up and wanted to check our fishing licenses. The hitch was that we were on the other side of the stream and he wanted us to come to him obviously. We both had up to date license so there was no problem so off we went across the stream. I wasn't paying attention and crossed at a part where the water was moving much faster and slipped on a stone and down I went filling my waders up with water right in front of the game warden..... Gave him a good laugh and a good fishing license to look at...

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I got this chance to fish Montana with a free flight hotel and car rental. So have a great day of fishing. I do the work I am suppose to do on monday and I catch my flight. I of course being the well travel preson I am I bring my rod in its tube on the flight. It's in the overhead with my bags. Well I am excited to be home so I grab everything and head off the plan. Get to bag to pick up my larger suit case and meet my wife. I start telling her about the trip. Then it hits me I don't have my rod. Hand to face. So I find a nice bagge guy he goes and gets it off the plane for me. I have never done that since.

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Yes, there is life after loosing a fishing outfit. Been there done that, twice. Not the exact same way, but I have fallen in more times than I can remember. One time on very slippery rock I dropped the rod, to catch myself, and it was whipped away into deep swift water. I can't see it, and I don't have any thing left but some leaders and split shot. Spend any hour along with someone else trying to find it. Might still be there in the Provo River, but I doubt it.

 

On a different trip, I was bushwhacking through a lot of heavy brush. After about 400 yards, I come once again to the stream, and I discover that the tip of my 6 piece rod is gone. I proceeded back through what I thought was the same patch of brown willows looking for a 14" brown rod tip. No luck. I was able to rebuild the rod from a different rod section. Still fish it.

 

Still a different trip (my first in my new kayak,) I lost a spinning outfit. I wanted to stand a fish, so I got up made several casts to test the stability of the kayak. To sit back down, I laid the rod down along the side of the kayak. Then reach down to grab the handles as I sat down, I hear a plop. No outfit. That one is still in Lake Conway.

 

Blooper stories, I got plenty. The longer you fish, the more you collect, and I have been fishing more than 60 years.

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i had a guy wishing and praying that i'd go for a swim after walking straight into the run just upstream from him (gotta love noobs, lol). nothing like the feel of gravel shifting under your feet.

 

What does this mean?

 

the full story......

 

i had just got into fall fishing. i had been on the water no more then 3 times. all my gear is brand spanking new. the g/f and i decide to hit the Beaver River in Thornbury, ONT. i have zero knowledge about reading water. there is an island that splits the river, and has a walking bridge across it. what i didn't see or know about was the steps from the bridge down to the island. sitting on the rocks is a angler fishing the run right in front of him. looks good to me; so i go the cross the river, upstream, through the run. as the water starts to get deeper, the flow started to pick up as well. the next thing i know, i can't go forward, nor back. by this time the gravel is starting to shift under my feet. he has a sh!t eating grin by this time (who wouldn't?). some how i was able to get my rod to my wife and she help pull me to safety with a branch. lesson learned, lol.

 

as i spent more time to learn the river and angling etiquette; realized how bad i failed. i came to the realization that 75% of the river flowed there this area, and the water is over 5' deep. it would have been a quick ride out to the bay. i learned the rules of fishing as well wink.png

 

the ahhhh moment..... we loved Thornbury so much, we spent our honeymoon there....14 yrs ago.

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