Most shocking catch?

[Skinny]

Just wondering what is your most shocking catch? Example being one day I was at Vail and my friends told me that the bass there love hot dogs. I was like yeah right, but it was true, I fished catfish style with farmer johns and caught a ton of bass on a dog sitting on the bottom! Who woulda thought of that, it was weird. I felt like I was cheating.
So what's the thing that shouldn't have worked that did, for whatever species?

[Bass Boy 14]

I was fishing for bluegill at Legg Lake one day with a small fly and I got slammed! The fish starts running and then snaps my line....I retie another fly and get slammed again! I set the hook and again it snaps. This time I set my drag lighter, tie on another fly....and get slammed a third time! This time my drag works and after a long fight....I pull in a 4lb catfish with three flies in its mouth lol. Sorry I can't upload the photo right now, having issues uploading. But that's my crazy weird story

[DEVOREFLYER]

My most shocking catch was bass fishing the stumps at Lake Palestine in Texas many years ago with my uncle. Had caught a good number of bass when I got the biggest strike of the day. To my amazement when it appeared from around the side of a big stump it was not a bass but a large Cottonmouth snake that had attacked my frog lure. While I yelled to my uncle to cut the line he took the rod from my hand and cranked it into the boat.

The snake was well hooked and angry thrashing on the deck all the while I was thinking of jumping overboard. I would have gone overboard but the snake might have a brother nearby and I wasn't going to chance it. My uncle calmly cut the bad boys head off and proceeded to take two pair of pliers and extract the lure from the head of the snake all the while the headless body still thrashing on the deck..

While I have seen many snakes swimming in the water and have heard stories of them even climbing on board I have never heard of one getting hooked up. Something I will never forget, creeps me out just thinking about it today.

[DarkShadow]

Weirdest bait used to catch a fish? An orange peel.

Most shocking catch? A 2 foot Arowana out of Echo Park. Best fighting fish I've ever encountered.

[old pudd fisher]

I was fishing for bluegill at Legg Lake one day with a small fly and I got slammed! The fish starts running and then snaps my line....I retie another fly and get slammed again! I set the hook and again it snaps. This time I set my drag lighter, tie on another fly....and get slammed a third time! This time my drag works and after a long fight....I pull in a 4lb catfish with three flies in its mouth lol. Sorry I can't upload the photo right now, having issues uploading. But that's my crazy weird story

I caught a good size bass at the pudd years ago with a meal worm under a bobber from shore, and caught a few cats on spinners.

[Bass Boy 14]

I caught a good size bass at the pudd years ago with a meal worm under a bobber from shore, and caught a few cats on spinners.

I also caught a 4.5lb bass from the pudd on powerbait fishing for trout

[TUNAVIC]

Once after spending the night on an end tie in Alimitos Bay,my wife and I were relaxing on the deck of the boat in the afternoon,she cut up some cheese and summer sausage with a few crackers on the side.
After sitting there a while I thought,man I feel like fishing even though we're just sittin tied up to the dock,so I take a light spinning outfit I have and throw on a piece of sauauge,cast it out and let it soak,I stick in the rod holder and kick back,after a while my wife says I think you got something,I look over and the rod is bendo,much to my surprise I end up catching a 12lb halibut on sausage while tied to the dock!
Also saw a guy catch a barracuda on a dreadlock that he cut off his own head during a wide open bite on the old Queen of the Sea party boat.

Cya Tuna Vic

[VIVID_FLY]

Casting a small popper on my fly rod when i caught a small Trout at the PUDD. This was about a foot from the shoreline.

[Stray Cat]

8 lb bass on a crawdad tail while I was night fishing for catfish. Thought it was a good cat till it jumped 6 ft in the air.

[HawgZWylde]

I don't know how unusual it is but I caught a 7lb Bow on a Shad colored blade in a major windstorm in 3rd cove at DVL. On another day I caught a 4lb Flathead on a Bluegill colored blade at the East dam and I caught a Pelican on a small shallow running paddletail swimbait at the East Dam...

[etucker1959]

Fished with the GF one night at La Mirada lake for Catfish. We were using shrimp for bait under a Bobber and catching some catfish. She get's bit and get's a drag puller, "I know it not a catfish." I'm thinking Bass or Carp!!!!! Sure enough it's a DD Carp, "that's unusually enough!!!" But when I netted him, "I noticed this huge top water bass lure in his mouth." "I'm thinking man this carp is mean and hungry." I safely released him and congratulated the GF for doing something some wannabe Bass angler couldn't do, "LAND THAT FISH!!!!" lol

[twin22s]

Mackerel on a cigarette butt, cats on spinner baits, also once caught a 1 lb bull catfish on a 9" shad and 4/O EWG worm hook, very disappointing, lol.

[City Dad]

sucker on a fly

[Misfitdog]

For me it would have to be a Bat on a piece of power bait , i was casting out just after dark and i never heard my bait hit the water , but i felt something kind of wiggling on my line . So i reel it in and i am looking at the end of my line at what appeared to be a leaf or so i thought , i was like must have hit a tree .. So i reached down in the dark to pull said leaf off my line and it grabbed me back , I instantly grabbed the flashlight and to my surprise saw this bat on my line with the hook in mouth . lol

[Stray Cat]

For me it would have to be a Bat on a piece of power bait , i was casting out just after dark and i never heard my bait hit the water , but i felt something kind of wiggling on my line . So i reel it in and i am looking at the end of my line at what appeared to be a leaf or so i thought , i was like must have hit a tree .. So i reached down in the dark to pull said leaf off my line and it grabbed me back , I instantly grabbed the flashlight and to my surprise saw this bat on my line with the hook in mouth . lol
Winner ! Haha... Freakiest catch for sure. I had one tangled in my spectra before but never hooked one in the mouth.

[Stormcrow]

Weirdest bait used to catch a fish? An orange peel.

Most shocking catch? A 2 foot Arowana out of Echo Park. Best fighting fish I've ever encountered.


You caught a 2 foot Arowana? That fish is worth at least 100 bucks. Did you keep it?

I caught a HUGE tiger oscar on a small rebel crankbait at El Dorado fountain pond on Studebaker back in the 80s. Thats probably my wierdest catch.

[shinbob]

For me it would have to be a Bat on a piece of power bait , i was casting out just after dark and i never heard my bait hit the water , but i felt something kind of wiggling on my line . So i reel it in and i am looking at the end of my line at what appeared to be a leaf or so i thought , i was like must have hit a tree .. So i reached down in the dark to pull said leaf off my line and it grabbed me back , I instantly grabbed the flashlight and to my surprise saw this bat on my line with the hook in mouth . lol

That would totally freak me out. Not afraid of bats, they're pretty cool actually, but am afraid of rabies. By the time you realize you have it, it's too late to do anything about it and you will die a horrible death. You're lucky it didn't bite you.

[DarkShadow]

You caught a 2 foot Arowana? That fish is worth at least 100 bucks. Did you keep it?

I thought about it...but my fish tank at home wasn't big enough for it.

Plus, I never kept anything out of that lake so I didn't have a stringer or bucket or any way to keep it alive. (I actually contemplated using an empty KFC Bucket that I found in a trash can but I knew there was no way that it would survive in the Colonel Sanders' Live Well so back in the lake it went.)

The fight was awesome. It was like if I had hooked a baby tarpon on 4 pound test.

[CL SmooV]

Dildo out of Echo park in 2010 on a crank (yes I cut my line in absolute disgust)

3 Pound Bass at the lagoon with braided line coming out of his ***

DD Flathead out of Canyon lake on a T-Rigged Craw (thought I caught a fish of a lifetime---WRONG)

Bass on crank bait that had another mans crank stuck in its mouth at the lagoon

Bass on a drop shot rig at Saguaro Lake that had talon scratches from the local bald eagles

[DarkShadow]

Dildo out of Echo park in 2010 on a crank (yes I cut my line in absolute disgust)

Quagga! They found your lost dildo.

[Skinny]

Nice, that's some catches to remember. I like the bat though. I think that takes the cake.

[twin22s]

I know a guy who caught a bat false casting with a fly rod once, wish I was there when it happened.

I once rope gaffed a rock in the dark off san clemente pier for a friend, it was at night and we forgot the flashlight.
I successfully stuck it and hauled it over the rail, boy were we disappointed!
believe you me he still hasn't heard the end of that epic battle with that 8 lb rock,:ROFL:

[Brent]

Mine wasn't a fish but the was the strangest thing ever. While fishing the south jetty in Galveston Texas we got into an epic Spanish Mackerel bite that were a good 3 feet long and if you've never seen one, they're a beautiful cross between a barracuda and a wahoo. Toothiest things in the gulf. We were prepared though with 6" steel leaders and a box full of various spoons. However, the dang things were so greedy that they would fight over the hooked spoon and get the line in their mouths and started taking all of our gear.
My buddies down to his last leader and grabs an old company logo spoon I gave him years ago and ties it on and says here goes nothing. A couple of casts in he gets hung on the rocks and loses it, he's now out of gear and I'm on my last spoon and leader also and then it happens. All the sudden I get hung up on my last spoon. I start pulling walking around yanking and everything to get it loose and then finally screw it I'm breaking it off. As I pull to break the last lure off and finish the day, it comes loose and I real it in.
The damn hook on my spoon in the 3 foot surf had gone right through the eye on his steel leader of the corporate logo spoon he had just lost and I got both back. We sat in disbelief for a few minutes, downed another beer and proceeded to catch about 3 more before finally losing the last two setups. Crazy as hell.

Brent

[DarkShadow]

I know a guy who caught a bat false casting with a fly rod once, wish I was there when it happened.

I once rope gaffed a rock in the dark off san clemente pier for a friend, it was at night and we forgot the flashlight.
I successfully stuck it and hauled it over the rail, boy were we disappointed!
believe you me he still hasn't heard the end of that epic battle with that 8 lb rock,:ROFL:

I saw a guy battle a PIG at DVL for about 15 minutes while a few boats lingered around trying to see the epic match.

Too bad it was a huge tree that the dude unearthed with his 1000 lb braid. That guy must have been so embarrassed considering his hootin' and hollerin' attracted all boats within earshot. I think I heard someone yell, "YOU NEED A NET *LOL*?!!?" after they saw the twigs break the surface.

How on earth do you not know you hooked a tree and not a fish? Regardless, it was a great time for everyone watching. I'm sure he told everyone that the 20 pounder must have wrapped himself around a tree.

[etucker1959]

My buddy Bruce once caught an Owl at La Mirada lake. The interesting part about it, the Owl was attracted to his red light up bobber.

[dhntr48]

Hi guys , I thought about this for a while . One time I caught a tire on a party boat , I was so embarrassed Thinking that only happened in cartoons ! One day 1976 on the sespe creek close to Filmore , I snagged two sea lampreys .One got away and one I beat to death to show my Buddy , It was a high water period and the water was steelhead green ,I was about 2 miles north of the 126 hwy . In 1975 I caught a 13 inch steelhead off the Malibu pier ,I had to do a triple take on the fish for identification . Then released it to the sea !! I met a guy with pictures of 7 to 10 pound steelhead from Malibu creek circa 1970"s

[gwurzel]

Fishing a surf casting match in the UK, target species were thornback rays - threw my line out as far as I could , 2nd rod went out about half the distance. Thornbacks make your rod tip bounce in a very easy to spot bite. Rod tip on the distance rod started bouncing, so I started reeling in. This was a night match, so we're all wearing head lamps. Saw a flash of white, and it felt heavy (thornbacks are white underneath, and camoflaged on top). Kept reeling in, taking it easy as they have the crushing plates and getting a good hook set can be a tad difficult. Saw another flash of white, thought to myself, excellent, good start to the match. Finally got it to the edge where the surf meets the beach - found myself attached to a plastic chair someone had lost. I can tell ya I fished hard for the rest of the night for the other chairs and hopefully a table.

Came 3rd in the match tho, caught 4 overall, for just over 15lb.

Wurz

*And the buggers running the match wouldnt let me weigh it in. Caught it fair and square on a rod and line too. Made for a comfy wait tho*

[trail blazer]

a 8 ft umbrella out of a local lake,,BUENA VISTA,, while trolling with a Umbrella RIG

Bout 5 yrs ago I think it was posted here

T/B

[camdozer]

It's a saltwater story, but I'll share it anyway if I may :)

My stepdad, my mom and I went down to Loreto, Mexico in early April in I believe '02. It's the transition period between a strong yellowtail bite and the northward migration of the dorado in those waters. A strange time to go sportfishing, no doubt, but it lined up with my spring break and we made a family vacation out of it. Even if we mostly pulled up skunks we figured it would be a great getaway.

We were actually doing quite well on the top water for small dorados in the 15-25 lb. class range one day when I got the weird idea. I tied on an 8/0 circle flylined onto 20 lb. mono with a big mackerel and just threw it out there on my spare pole. Set the clicker, put the pole in it's holder and figured I'd just leave it out there on the off chance a real monster was lurking out there. If not, no disappointment as the captain had already assured me it was much too early in the season for anything to hit that other than a big marlin that we simply didn't have the gear to land anyway.

Sure enough, right about when I'd forgotten I ever set it out there (maybe a half hour), that clicker started SCREAMING!!! I grab the pole, tighten up the drag, set the hook and WHAM, I'm on something real here. Seconds later I'm looking off into the water and see him. A big old 60 lb. class bull jumping like you wouldn't believe trying to shake my hook. After a minute or so run, everybody on the boat realized we'd get spooled if they didn't reel up, fire the motor back up and start chasing this big daddy.

We chased him to the boat 5 times with the captain screaming "NO NO CALIENTE!!" He wouldn't gaff the thing for fear of broken gringo legs :) Finally on the 6th pass the captain of the panga felt ok enough to gaff the sucker.

My stepdad, who stands about 6'1" held that sucker up after I got my photos and it's tail was still flopping about 8 inches on the deck of the boat.

We pulled into the Marina to the hoots and hollers of every other gringo and panga captain because they had heard over radio about our huge catch. I felt like a freaking king when we ate his meat that night.

He wasn't my biggest catch (well he was my biggest do-do) or my hardest fight, but given the season we were there and the way it all went down, I can confidently say that it still stands out as my proudest (and certainly most shocking) experience fishing. I'll hit up my parents to see if they still have the photos somewhere so I can post that big daddy.

[Highsierraslayer]

I saw a guy reel in a trout at Lake Hemet with a line and a fishing rod and reel attached. Found out he lost the rod and reel the week prior when the trout took it into the water and he was unable to grab the rod.