Fishing weird?

Question

What are some of the most unusual observations you have made while on the water?
I have seen deer swimming across a 1 1/2 mile wide spot in an open lake to get to a small island.
I saw a naked Mexican Indian family while fishing a remote lake in Mexico (is that unusual?) fishing from a ponga boat with no rod, using only his hands, some mono and a spinnerbait trying to catch enough to feed his family. They were living in a makeshift tent on the shore and had a freshly killed deer hanging in a nearby tree. Truly odd to see this in the 21st century. It was like I had gone through a time warp and ended up hundreds of years ago.
On a trip to Texas with a friend, we came around a bend backing into a small cove and lo and behold there were 4 teenage girls getting the ultimate suntan au natural and when they saw us they ran and jumped in the water. We all laughed but we continued fishing the cove leaving with a big grin.

How about you telling your strange stories here.

Answer 1

Cool stories Exert


I have not told many people about this but.

3 of us were catfishing one night in the French Broad river in NC . We were catching lots of small catfish and we heard a big splash a ways up the river . Suddenly the fish quit biting and the 3 of us were looking out on the water and saw a dorsal fin well over 1 foot high and the outline of a fish swimming down the river . We all sat there in amazement and watched it swim by . None of us reeled in or tried to cast out there we all were in shock. I am not afraid of any fish I swim in the ocean and have had 5 + feet sharks swim next to me . But this fish made me back away from the edge of the water.

I dont now what it was none of of do, its not a real large river either. The first thing that came to mind was shark but its hundreds of miles to any ocean . I have seen and caught some large fish in the ocean , but never nothing like this in a river , we could see 2 foot of a greenish colored fish in front of the dorsal and more behind it so the fish was well over 6 or 7 feet long because a large portion of it was still underwater. I still am in amazement today when I think of this . If I would have been by myself I would have thought I imagined it but there was 2 other witnesses to it , and NO we werent drunk or nothing. Another strange thing was we never caught a fish the rest of the night after we saw it . And couldnt keep bait on a hook before it swam by for all the fish biting.

This story may discredit me on here but it is what 3 of us saw . I still have a hard time grasping the reality of the size of this fish ,and am uncertain what type it was . It almost makes me beleive about the giant catfish divers tell stories of seeing in reservoirs.

I have seen some neat wildlife while fishing also . I saw a solid white deer on the bank of Lake Marion in SC ,

I watched a Bobcat and a large alligator stare at each other for over 10 minutes in that same area on Lake Marion neither one moved a muscle. Then the Bobcat turned and went to the woods . The bobcat didnt even look at us and we were only a couple hundred feet away he was fixated on the gator.

I watched a pelican eat small duck at a park here in FL.

The most recent about a month ago a 3 pound bass was chasing minnows and jumped out of the water and landed on the bank beside me . It was kinda scary and shocking having a fish jump out of the water right beside ya . I grabbed him up looked at him and let him go

I have seen some people do funny stuff , I was driving up a mountain road going to a trout spot and was crossing a bridge. I looked up the creek and there was a naked woman standing there . Her boyfriend was taking pictures of her I guess ,he ran out in the creek and tried to cover her up by hugging her .But it was too late we had already seen her lol

I watched some guys drinking and swinging off a rope swing in a lake cove. The one guy I guess was tired of swinging and tried to swim across the cove to his campsite. He was almost to the other side and started hollering help. I had to kick off my shoes and swim to get out there to save his drunk azz.

I have seen a guy lose his boat in a lake as well he forgot to put the plug in lol.

I have seen some strange and hilarious stuff hunting as well but thats to tell on another day.

Answer 2

We've got a bioluminescent algae in the Indian River Lagoon here where I live... when the water temps start staying around 70 degrees, this stuff goes into a major bloom. Any movement in the water causes these little single-celled algae to glow. When it's good, I sometimes forget to fish (I never have had a bunch of luck fishing in it, though...), it's too much fun watching the fish. Unless you can tell by how they move or body shape, you can't tell what type of fish you're watching, but a big school milling around is most likely to be mullet... and they'll scatter like fireworks when a redfish or whatever else cuts through them... I'm gonna have to try to get some photos this summer.... don't know how well it will work, but I should try... stingrays kicking up a glowing cloud as they lift off the bottom. And don't get me started on watching dolphin hunt in this stuff... it's mindblowing.

And those of you with drainplug problems, don't feel too bad, I watched the coast guard do it once.... came running back to the boat ramp halfway underwater.

Anyway, maybe not too strange, but there you go.

Answer 3

First It really sounds like you have had some really good fishing trips I'm sure you have caught your share of fish to.
1- When I was young I say what must have been a electric transformer short out. I was checking limb lines and all of the sudden the sky lit up in rainbow colors to the south. A transformer is all I can think of to account for this. It was pretty amazing.
2 - Checking lines again I was in the front of a Row Boat - I know ( Whats a Row Boat ) And we thought we had a fish. When we got Right on top of it. It turned out to be some kind of a snake (HUGE) from the black lagoon. It had my bait and I had the 3ft string It was attached to in my hand. We couldn't get backed away fast enough.
3 - Saw the Leanne's asteroid belt While Fishing .4am That was pretty neat.
4 - The last thing is I enjoy cave BIO counting. I have counted over 100 Southern Cave fish (Typhlichthys subterraneus) You might not understand the joy I get - sights Ive seen doing this . But to me its incredible
Happy Caving Carroll

Answer 4

I have a couple of strange ones to add.
1) My friend and I were putting our little boat in the Amite River and a body popped up beside the boat. I used a pole to hold her there while my friend called 911 at the bar. It became a friggin circus. In no time at all there were a couple of drunks from the bar(8 AM mind you), volunteer firemen from both parishes(the river is the line between 2 parishes), sheriffs from both parishes, city police from the towns on either side, state troopers, coroner, sheriffs water patrol with divers, and a few spectators on the bridge. After they tagged and bagged the floater and we gave our statements, they finally let us go and we went 50 miles away to fish that afternoon. Ive never been back to fish that spot, but it gives me the creeps every time I pass by.

2) I was fishing in the swamps once and got this creepy feeling. I saw this log out of the corner of my eye just a few feet from the bank I was standing on. I realized that it hadnt been there before. Im glad that 14-16 ft gator was just curious and not hungry..........

3) Fishing for crappie once, a little 1-2 ft gator came out from the weeds like a torpedo and attacked my cork. It was amazing how fast he was. I kept the cork as a souvenir cause of the cool tooth marks.

Answer 5

Well, you have had some cool experiences. I fish the same area, and the fishing is awesome (Lake Champlain). Weirdest was a deer that fell through the ice, and had to be rescued by the fire department. Unfortunately, some humans that winter were not so lucky.

I guess I'm paying so much attention to fishing, I don't really pay attention to what's going on around me.

Yesterday though, neighbor was fishing for perch with a bobber, moster bass came up and attacked the bobber (not the hook), and took it under. That's kind of cool.

Good luck fishin', that's what I live for.

Answer 6

I have one. A couple years ago I was heading out to the lake to fish for sandbass, we were a few miles away from the lake and the sun was just starting to come up. I was sitting in the passenger seat looking out the window in boredom. We came to a valley, well it wasn't really a valley but it was a low place in between some hills. I saw a light like one you might see on a airplane except it was not blinking or moving, the light wasn't in the valley, it was above the hills. I didn't think anything of it until another one appeared and then another one until there were about seven, maybe a little more. They were starting to get brighter and brighter until the sky in the area of the objects was almost pure white blinding me. Then quicker than it started it dimmed very fast until it started to look like a star and completely disappeared. They weren't in any formation they were just randomly in the sky. I don't believe in UFOs or aliens but did see something very unusual in the sky that morning.

Answer 7

Years ago. My buddy and I were fishing from the bank at night, fishing for catfish. It was 2 or 3 am and everything was kicking in. A glow started to float over the lake. I ask him if he was seeing it also ,he in a very low voice said" yep". It was sooo eerie, it would glide just above the water in a orb of blue hazy light then just go away. It would appear again in a few minutes. This kept on for about an hour or so, totally freaking us out. What was it? A UFO? Spectral ghost? Then It became really freaky it started coming straight at us. We jumped up and were just beginning to start the afterburners when a guy ask "y'all catchin any?" Black lights had just been invented for night fishing on boats. True story.

Answer 8

When you work in a tackle shop you hear ALL the weird stuff people do and see. My favorite was this one:
One of my good customers told me a story about how an 8 Ft gator climbed into his Ranger during a tourney. He said he was trying to retrieve his "lucky lure" in akle deep water. He leaned over to unhook it from a log and a gator just about took his arm off. He scrambled to the back of the boat and the gator jumped IN the boat with him! Thankfully, he was able to "shoo off" the gator with a paddle.

Me and my wife were fishing near High Springs, FLA in a canoe. She was along for the ride to "take pics" and relax. She got the unpleasant urge to "pee" so we pulled over. As she took care of her "business" behind a tree, I happened to notice a Water Moccasin sitting in a branch above her head . I didn't say a word until she was back in the boat! She was SO "PISSED" I didn't warn her! But if I HAD warned her that snake woulda got her for sure.....Now everytime we fish together she points out that I should "Tell Her" if any critters are around.(lol)

I once saw over 20 "flounder prints" in the mud/sand that were at least 30 inches wide,(And NO I won't tell you the name/or directions to that creek! LOL). I came back to fish it later , (during high-tide), and caught some NICE flounder.

I watched a Hammer-head maul a big 'Cuda once. One second we had a big 'Cuda on the line; 2 seconds later we had a 1/3 of a 'Cuda on the line!(lol)

My buddy took me fishing in his brand new boat years ago and forgot to put the plug in. We were at least 200 yards from the ramp before we noticed. His boat almost sank! After we got her back on the trailer and got the water out we both laughed our *sses off!

There is a spot in Jax. FLA where you can anchor up and catch all the croakers in the world, (big ones too). After pursuing "Reds" all day, me and my partner decide to hit the "Croaker Hole". We anchor up, and begin to notice that you could HEAR the croakers "croaking" right through the hull of the boat. Weirdest sound you ever heard!

Me and my dad were "Shiner Fishing" for Bass in Lake George, FLA in the early A.M. when an Osprey decided he wanted our 8 inch shiner! He swooped down and grabbed my dads shiner and accidently hooked himself. Do you know how FUN it is to unhook an Osprey that is pissed off?? Not very! We managed to eventually set him free, but both of us, always talk about that Osprey when we are Bass fishing!

Exert, the indian family thing is very cool. "There but for the grace of god go I".

And I wish I coulda been with you on the "cove" day! HUBBA HUBBA! (lol)

Brandon: I wonder if it was a shark or what! Coulda been a porpoise , maybe? freaky!

Have a great fishing weekend you guys!

Answer 9

Well I've got a few of them, but the one that sticks ta' mind, was Bass fishin' with a friend and heard this ever so slight bumpin' noise and for the likes of me couldn't figure out what it was, so asked my partner if he had heard it and he CASUALLY responded, "Yeah, can't you see that RATTLER right below you"!!?? With that I like ta' "pass a brick", the D _ _ N thing was about two feet from me in the water X@#!!X%!! Eventually it left but ta' top all things, on the ride back home, my FRIEND said it was just tryin' ta' get into the boat and it happens to him all the time. Needless ta' say it's been awhile since I've done any fishin' from his boat! Only, only kiddin', we're good friends and still enjoy goin' fishin'...

Answer 10

Can't beat yours, they are pretty darn good. We've had fish jump in our boat which is hilarious, and Pelicans try to steal from us, other than that , that's it for me.
Brandon I like your story- I live not to far from the French Broad River. Wow, now you got me wanting to go.
The only other thing is seeing these guys that obviously don't know what they are doing back up to un-load the boat in the water and sink boat and truck -Honest to God True story-Seen this twice- They were nice trucks at first.