If you Could Have the Fishing Moment Back Again

[musky_man]

HI,

 

Thought this might be fun. We have all had fishing experiences that we wish we could have captured on film or relive -- I have had my share. Thought it might be fun to share a few ... I'll start.

 

Year ... about 1970 - I am 16 and my brother is 15. We are out walleye fishing in a fav spot. I hooked a nice 2-3 pound fish and bring it in and release it. My brother, as we often did back then, pretends he has a big fish on the line .... but this time it was for real ... he took the smirk off my face when this huge musky came right up beside the boat and put on a arial display like you would not believe. It was a beautifully marked fish and I could have reached out and touched it. We fought it for quite a while but we were beside a very heavy weed bed - she dipped into it and after that we could not move her. An old guy came over, jumped in our boat and tried to get her to move, but to no avail ... that is how I saw my first big musky ... the one that got away ... great moment to share with the bros.

 

And you ??

[SlowPoke]

I have many but one that comes to mind was fishing Balsam Lake near the park. It had been a really slow day and I washed nearly everything in the box. I tossed a J7 chartreuse a good 30yrds from the boat and watched the ripples develop. Just as I pulled to make the lure dive for retrieve, a mammoth Small Mouth nails it. There would be no fight as I pulled it right out of his mouth.

The first instinct was to burn it back and hit the spot. It never works. This time it did.

It was a nice fight back to the boat, darting left and right, pulling drag on a light mono rig. We were without a net but managed to land this golden beauty by hand. Never got a measurement or weight on it but I think it still stands as my PB smallie. I'd estimate over 5, under 6lb. I have a picture somewhere, long before the digital days.

-Brian

[OhioFisherman]

You can burn in a lot of memories, how do you pick just one?

 

LOL I will follow slowpokes lead, fishing an area of lake erie shoreline by myself on a week day, my brother fished it regularly for walleye and frequently caught a decent sized smallie. I had fished it with him a couple times but it was hard to get him to concentrate on smallies.

 

Fished the same area with my buddy and usually got one or two 20 inches+ made me upgrade my golden rule to a 22 incher. Spent like 8 hours searching and not much action from anything but sheephead, a big area to fish and it`s run up against the wind and get a good drift going and repeat.

 

Last pass of the day, around 3ish I got the hit I was looking for bam, and I had to fight to keep the slack out of the line, she was coming up! Lipped that rascal and threw the marker buoy over, a nice 20 or so inch smallie. and in the next half hour I got about 18 more, all between 18-22 inches. Then they shut down again and it was like no fish in the water.

 

A week or so later I took my buddy and his 2 sons and had a repeat, we all got some good ones. Never could break that 22 inch mark though, a spot over the years that has usually produced at least one 20+ inch smallie a trip. There are days when it ain`t easy.

 

LOL maybe I am spoiled? under 19 isn`t what I am looking for? LOL except on tournament day? Lot of days putting 2-3 times that many in the boat,but the size wasn`t there, 2-3 pounders are average.

[cranks bait]

Fishing with my late grandfather when I was a kid.

 

We were out in his 12 foot tinny at the cottage and I caught a huge fish right infront of the cottage. All we could see was this wide open mouth coming at us on the surface of the water. My grandfather grabbed the net. As it got closer to the boat he put it in the water but spooked the fish. He said he was gonna go deep for it as I could not bring it to the surface. Then he got a glimpse of the mouth again and pulled out of the water. "I'm not putting my hands in the water or near that" were his words. Eventually it went under the boat and snapped the line. After words he said he should have gotten his hands wet. We both chuckled for a bit about it. I didn't care that I lost the fish.

 

That is my greatest fishing memory. I do not want that fish back. Just the memory of fishing with my grandfather.

[tinbanger]

Too many to chose

but fishing in leaky wooden rental boats on Schooner lakes with my dad would be among them

early mornings leaving the house in Kingston , mist on the water when we arrived at the lake .

Lots of bass and a shore lunch .

 

Thanks for bringin back those memories.

 

TB

[bigugli]

Pretty hard to pick one moment out of a lifetime.

 

5 years back we were staying at Dalrymple Resort and the wife and daughter wanted to go fishing without the 'mouthpiece' (son). Up to the northeast bay and we started a very slow drift. The wife and I were using harnesses and the girl was bobber fishing.

Well we hit a school of large sunfish that stayed with the boat the 2 hours we were out fishing. The smallest in the school were 7" pumpkinseeds, the biggest was a 10 1/2 bluegill. After the first 20 minutes I just put my rod down for the rest of the outing. I was too busy taking fish off the line and rebaiting hooks. By the time the girls had had enough we had gone through 4 dozen worms and had a good 30 fish on the stringer. The daughter insisted on carrying the stringer up to the cleaning shed and show off her catch to everyone she met. She could barely keep it off the ground. Hazel put it on the scales at the store and the stringer was just over 15 lbs.

There were no monsters. Just a whole lot of fun. Heck, I wasn't even fishing.

 

Then there's the time stream wading where I got 2 dunkings......

 

I've a life full of those kinds of memories.

Edited March 26, 2009 by bigugli

[anders]

I was around 17, and my dad and I entered the Salmon Derby up here...we have never won, but sometime would place. On the first day of the derby, the friday...we were trolling in an area where there wasnt any boats....when the rod beside my dad pops...as he is fighting the fish...my knees are shaking and he is shaking, and for some reason is questioning everything he is doing with the fish...right or wrong...after a few minutes when its in the boat we look at each other...exstatic...looking at each other..shaking and happy...we go in to the weigh in and are thinking its big but not overly large...my brother was working at the dock with my grandma and when they saw us coming up...he knew something was fishy...as we dont come in unless we are having issues...or a fish...when we showed him the fish, he was like Donavan Bailey running the 100...all the way to the scales...turns out its just over 23lbs. We ended up winning the derby...the most nerve wracking and exciting derby for me ever...its one weekend when we still talk about it...its hard not to get the chills...that is 1 memory that i will never forget.

[lew]

I've been fishing for about 55 years and in all that time I spent the most hours in a boat with my brother Ed, and have absolutely no idea how many fish we boated together, but it sure was alot over the decades, but one fish will always stick in my mind the most.

 

Apart from all the normal times we spent fishing together every year, we always took off the day after Labor Day for a week long trip after everybody had gone back to work after the summer and every year we went to a different place.

 

In September 06 we went to Lakair on the West Arm of Nippissing for the week and had an excellent time, and on our last day there we decided to head out for one last time before we headed home the next morning. We ran down the lake to a favorite spot of mine and within 10 minutes I got this musky and Ed netted it and took this picture. A big electrical storm was moving in, so about an hour after this fish was caught, we headed in to avoid the lightening.

 

My brother died a few months later and this turned out to be the last of our camping trips and also the very last fish we ever caught together after 55 years as a team.

 

Every time I look at this picture I think of Ed and all the great fishing trips we had together, and I spose if I could ever have one moment in time back, this would probably be it.

 

Ed was also an OFNer and went by eddyk

 

[DRIFTER_016]

One I remember was trolling Lake Nipigon for brookies using a light action rod and old Cardinal 4 loaded with 6 # test with a small fire tiger little cleo.

I was over some deep water when the leviathon struck!!!!!! It tore off tons of line and I knew right then and there it wasn't a brookie but a big laker. After a couple of runs the fight settled into a tug of war with the fish sitting on bottom and me trying to get it up to the surface. The best I could do was to get it a foot off the bottom, and as soon as I did it would head back down. I fought the giant char for an hour before finally breaking the gossamer thread that tenuously connected me to the creature from the depths. In the epic hour long battle I never saw the fish I'm guessing it was in the 30 to 40 pound class.

I sure would have loved just a glimpse of the trophy that was not to be.

 

The End

Edited March 26, 2009 by DRIFTER_016

[huey graphite]

This thread topic is one of the best I've seen in a long time. The stories posted thus far are incredible and if I had to pick one as my favourite, I don't think I could.

 

I too have a hard time deciding which one of my memories I would like to relive.

 

Back in May of '99 I spent a weekend on Hay Bay with 2 buddies. I had heard many great stories about fishing in the Quinte area, but this was my first time. We had very little success the first 2 days and we're becoming a little frustrated. On our last day there, early in the a.m we saw a boat come back to shore (Pickerel Park) with three walleye all between 6-9 lbs. The guy was a little reluctant to offer any advice but after speaking with him for a bit he informed us that we were wasting our time fishing during the day and if we really wanted an experience, follow him out at dusk that night to which we gladly accepted. We spent a couple of hours trolling the shoreline north of the cement plant casting body baits at the shore with nothing to show for it. Once dark set in, we could no longer see the shoreline that was just a few meters away. We had to listen to our baits to determine if they hit water or the rocks on shore.

 

If the lack of fish in the boat wasn't bad enough, heavy rain set in for about an hour. Fortunately we had our rain gear.

 

Eventually the rain stopped and we switched to flatlining. I was using a 5" perch pattern original Rapala. The fishfinder was marking a ton of bait fish in 4-5 feet of water while we trolled the shoreline. A huge dropoff was right next to the boat. All of a sudden my lure gets smashed and before I know it my rod is bent over under the boat. The fact that I was taken off guard was a combination of fishing in pitch darkness and being skunked for the past 3 days. After a great fight I boated my PB walleye (at the time). It weighed in at 6.2lbs and was the highlight of the weekend.

 

I've since caught double digit walleye on Erie, but none have given me the thrill as this night time Quinte walleye.

 

HG

[camillj]

July 1968 .... with my dad ... very dark and very early (and dewy) ... sturgeon lake jigging for pickeral from a tinny ... it was one of the first 'hits' I remember ... and that adrenaline rush had me hooked for life ... I dont remember whether I caught the fish .. but it doesnt matter ... its one of the few memories I have of my dad... he died the following May.

[mikeh]

I know alot of people like trolling for Musky, but one of the most exciting things that happens when casting for Musky is when you see the fish hit your bait or you get a follow. Last year on Scugog fishing in shallow clear water I had a musky come after my buzzbait about 10 feet from the boat,I saw him coming up from behind the bait go to the side and attack the bait, set the hook on him and he leaped out of the water and got off. Although I didn't land the fish that was the most exciting Musky hit I've ever had.

 

A close second was on Scugog first thing in the morning on a calm day using a topwater plug, as soon as it hit the water , I saw the wake of a fish heading towards my bait from 15 feet away , waited a couple of seconds after he hit it and set the hook, landed it and released it.

 

that moment when you see the hit or get a follow is what has me hooked on musky fishing.

Edited March 26, 2009 by mikeh

[Cookslav]

Mine is a moment I wish turned out better for My Dad.

 

The company my Dad works for organized a fishing trip up at one of the lodges there, and my Dad convinced me to Cater for the 30 guys breakfast lunch and dinner for 3 days.....lotta work for one guy and a stove LOL!

But anyway,

We went up a day early to get the lodge set, and food prepped, and decided to head out Early the next morning before the guys came up for a few hours. Dad was pretty excited to catch a few pickeral, so he was rigged light(as in 6lb test)

 

Like every good fishing story goes he litterally thought he was snagged....till a MASSIVE musky broke the surface.

This fish was enormous!

To this day I still swear would have been worth a weight check, but anyway.

He had no chance at landing that fish...but to see him with his game face on for the next couple minutes before the hook was spit was just priceless....To see the shear excitement in his face was like Deja vous

That very same excitment for fishing he instilled in me as a kid was right there on his mug the very same as it was 33 years ago.

It was lesson about the passion one can share for this sport that I know will last a life time.

I only wish he had heavier gear cause the face after landing that brute would have been so much better.

 

But ya...

That was moment I'd like to have back...except I'd have made him use heavy gear LOL!

[kemper]

I have two....

 

First real steelhead I ever hooked by myself, out fishing with my dad in March when there was still sheet ice at the sides of the river.

I get the most colourful make I have seen to this day right up to the side of the ice, but with no net it was a struggle. Dad reaches for the lead to see if he can bring the fishes head up onto the ice and as soon as he touches the line its gone. Ice must have nicked it. I think he still blames himself for losing that one haha

 

Close second was three years ago on oshawa creek in march also when I hooked and battled a huge female (15 pound class) all alone and it worked me downstream a couple hundred meters. I asked if another guy could help me out and he reached down, grabbed the fish and then promptly fell on his ass with the fish going up in the air then down into the water with a splash and snap of my line. Really wish I could have landed that f ish, but also really glad the dude that helped me didnt drown in the process.

[doubleheader]

These are all really great stories guys. Lew, yours brought back a lot of family memories for me, and isn't that one of the things that has us going back to our old haunches. I always catch myself thinking about this time or that when I'm in a particular area. I have a story fellas, and it was over 45 years back, I guess I was about 8, so closer to 50. Anyhow, my dad and my brother and I decided last minute to go to Nipissing, not an easy descision back then coming from Pennsylvania. We stopped at my gandads on the way to pick up the gaff (thinking was different back then) but he wasn't home. We used to troll a lot during the day, mostly because dad knew I liked to catch pike, and back then you could catch hammerhandles one after another on a daredevil. Well, we had just come out of Deer Bay, fishing in a Lakair rental, when dad gets this hit. He always used heavy tackle but this fish would have none of it. It was putting on a heck of an aerial display and it was far bigger than any musky we had caught before or since. Well, we lost her at the boat at the last second, our net wasn't big enough and we were too inexperienced, but for years it was THE story that the three of us could relive. Both my dad and my brother are gone now. Some say once you pass everything is revealed, you know it all. I hope so, because Dad always wanted to know how big that fish was. She was a Nipissing giant, a once in a lifetime fish. Like all of you I've had many memorable moments on the water, but this one stands alone.

[MCTFisher9120]

One night in the summer when I was 11 years old i was fishing with my papa and my dad I was about 60ft away from my dad and papa in the pitch dark. I was using a topwater frog and i was casting not knowing where my lure would land...feeling a slight bite i reeled in my bait and did not say a word to my dad, so I took another cast out and it felt like i had a rock on the end of my line...still not saying a word to anybody my drag started ripping off my reel and i knew i had a big fish on the line. After about a minute of fighting the fish in the dark my dad ran over and grabed the fish out of the water and both my dad and papa were shocked to see the fish. It turned out to be my PB Largemouth bass, they weighed it and it was a nice big 6lb largemouth.I have lot's of great fishing moments but my PB largemouth bass is my most favorite experience, there is nothing like fishing in the dark and catching a great big bass. I still have not been able to get a bass over 6lbs but I'm not in a rush to do it either

And that's my story!

Edited May 3, 2016 by MikeTheBassFisher

[Guest ThisPlaceSucks]

July 12th, 2009 I was playing a set of music, just my acoustic guitar and I in a bar in Sault Ste. Marie to celebrate my July 13th birthday. I played some songs and drank rye while my buds (including troutologist) drank rye and hooted and hollered in the audience. Good times.

 

Fast forward to July 13th, my actual birthday. I woke up feeling as though I was dying of the plague. Eager to get rid of my hangover I threw the 12 footer in the back of the truck and went fishing for the afternoon/evening.

 

After a couple nice table walleye, my friend Winger and I settle on casting for a few smallies to break up the monotony of draggin' harnesses.

I pulled the boat up to a known fish haunt, a fairly large and cool bubbling stream coming into the lake.

 

My buddy cast to the mouth first and knew he had a good one on right away. Ten minutes later and this 51" beat emerged. If I could have had that moment back, I'd have casted there first! It was MY birthday afterall.... j/j

Always good to see a bud get a beauty.

 

p.s. pardon the worm stuck to the fish. no net/cradle and a boat so small he could tow it made the landing a little hectic with 4 fishing rods in the boat. she was released very quickly!

[misfish]

Well heres mine, til this day,I will never forget it.

 

Fishing a weeks holiday on lake Weslacoom with my parents and grandfather and uncle Del.

Pop and I ,and my granfather and uncle Del, head out for an evening of bass fishing. We traveled pretty much the whole lake that week and my grandfather says lets try this particular island. Now you have to picture this in yer mind. Theres this big boulder thats up against the island with 2 smaller ones. Behind it,is some water. You know ,the area where you wouldnt even think about throwing yer bait to.Well Gandad says, throw that Beno in there Brian. I look at pop and say no way,I,ll loss my lure forsure.Grandad say watch. He flicks the rod and in goes his bait. Wham,fish one. I say what?????????????

I throw in there right after he pulls his fish out and ,wham again.He throws again and wham.I throw and wham again.Can you believe it,we pulled 6 fish from that spot. Amazing.

 

Thats one time I wish I could live over again and again.

 

 

There was this other one,it will make you L Y A O.

 

Same week.

Pop and I go out and fish some pads. As were leaving the area,I make a long cast behind the boat with a jidder bug. As were slowly pulling away,I get a hit,pull and almost took my pops ear off. Some how,my line got limp and got looped around his ear.( IM LAUGHING MY BUTT OFF RIGHT NOW TYPING THIS) I yank back to set the hook and all I hear is,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,WELL YA KNOW. I missed the fish,but like then,I cant stop laughing at this.

 

Memories.Thier hard sometimes,but sure glad you started this thread.

 

I need to go and dry these tears of joy.

[steverowbotham]

In 2004, I was fishing a tournament on one of my favourite lakes. The spot is a near shore drop off. I fished it with a jerkbait and caught some nice smallmouth. There was a new tree blown down along the shore, so I figured I'd try it out. I dropped my jerkbait and picked up a senko. I cast it to the tree and pounded the hook back into a 7+ pound largemouth. When my partner went to grab the net, my jerkbait was all tangled up in the net and other rods. The fish shook off right at the boat. If I could relive it... I'd put that rod down somewhere else.

[profisher25]

Man I have many stories to share, like the time I caught 2 bass on one lure, or the time I had jumped into the water just because I dropped my lucky fishing hat into the water! I think the most memorable moment was at my secret spot in my secret lake (and no I'm not telling anyone where it is!). Thats where I caught my PB smallmouth. It was a late Sunday afternoon, I had just arrived at my favorite secret spot with my family. After a while, I decided to go fishing in the evening. Not even 1 minute fishing, on my second cast, comes my PB smallmouth. I did'nt know how I caught it seeing as i was using a small, 6 foot medium light action rod and 5 lbs test. Once I pulled her out, I realized I had her caught with one hook in the mouth, and the other in gills, hence the reason I caught her alot quicker then usual, but she did put up a good 10 second fight. Overall, I had a beautiful 20 inch, 4 pound fish! May not be the best fish, but she was a true "Gods Country" lunker!

 

....the sad news is that the camera quality is terrible, and of course, my parents only took 1 shot of the fish Oh well... there will be plenty more fish to catch and beat my PB in the future!

Edited March 26, 2009 by Profisher25

[Beans]

Let's see...I was born in 1936 so I'm guessing this was in 1946 or thereabouts...Every summer I was sent down to the family farm near Port Perry...After a good rain , I picked a whole bunch of dew worms so my grandad had me sew two "bobs" (25 worms sewn together lengthwise with a long needle then tied into a ball)...That evening was the first time I ever caught catfish without a hook...as soon as you felt a bite you lifted your 4 foot line on a six foot bamboo pole and swung the fish into the old wooden boat and into a large washtub sitting on the floor between us...as soon as the fish touched anything it would open it's mouth and drop off...We left the fish in a "live box" near shore and would retrieve as many as we needed for a meal anytime we wanted...

 

I have many memories of fishing or just being with my grandad back in those days...Too bad I didn't own a camera...

 

[muddler]

December 16, 1999. It was on of rare global warming days, sunny and 16C. I had driven to my favourite spot on the Notty to try from some steelhead. When I got there around 9:30 AM most of the fishermen were leaving, and few guys told me that the bite was over. It was really hot at day break but it was dead now. Well after 2 1/2 hours of driving I was going to try anyway. Wade out to my favourite spot and tried the standards - roe in all colours, worms and stone flies. Nothing. I had read up on purple wolley buggers, I tied up a dozen weighted ones with ribitt strip tails the week before. I tied one on and tossed in the water a stepped on it (an old tradition for wet flies). The fly rolled down stream about 10 feet and disappeared. I tightened the line to pick up the slack for the next cast and the water exploded. I hooked a nice trout. Landed that one. For the next 6 hours I had a day that dreams were made of. For about a 300 yard stretch I would hook a trout just about anywhere. Fast, slow, boulder and flat water all produced. Landed 41 trout that day and hooked ove 60. A couple guys were still fishing and asked what I was using, so I gave each one a purple bugger. They were catching trout too. I quit about 4:30 PM because my arm hurt too much (only time that ever happen).

 

I've fished that spot many more times in the future, and I never had a day like that again. Still run into some of the guys I met that day and we still talk about it. The purple wolley bugger would catch a lot of trout in years to come but that day it was THE bait to use.

 

 

muddler

[Moosebunk]

June 13th, 2001. Attawapiskat River.

 

A rare chance to travel up river by boat with work friends Abel (Epen) Mattinas and Jeremiah Hurtubise. Both fellas I shared many great days with.

 

After a full day on the river trying a number of fishless spots it was dinner time when Abel pulled ashore and got a fire going to boil some water for tea. Jer and I worked a narrow eddy off the river bend, me near the front and him towards the back. I watched on as Jer caught a few small pike before moving right to the head, and I cast a rusty ole' Red Devle in tight just over top of a boulder. The lure slid down in behind the stone and in the slack water there got smashed by a big pike. I instantly lost the fish.

 

Reeling in I was quick to change that spoon out for a brand new Len Thompson and I recast to the stone. Third try and I got smoked again by the pike. It was a tank that shook and leapt and ran the shallows of the eddy as I stood above it and watched on while it's massive back thrashed through emerging weeds, stirring up muck. It went from the stone to the head riffle back to the stone to the riffle and all around before finally stepping out of the eddy to just beyond the other side of the rock. It hit the Skat's heavy spring current and just before getting spooled I tried crimping the drag tight when it snapped the line.

 

Jer and Abel acted almost oblivious to the whole thing, not being close enough to really see the fish. Jer went on to release 8 snot rockets while I caught nothing. I skipped the hotdog dinner and tea and kept casting for probably an hour behind that rock.

 

As great a catch the fish would have been, it is still probably the most vivid and influential moment of fishing I ever lived. Some days I think I want it back real bad, other days I could consider it to be just the way it was meant to be.

 

 

Left to right - Me, Abel and Jer. The eddy we fished was just there in the direction we were facing.

 

Edited March 26, 2009 by Moosebunk

[brkygetr]

Chrysler Lake, First week of June, 1982. Somewhere off the #560 hwy. near Shining Tree.

This is when I was 'hooked' on fishing, the bush and everything that goes along with it.

 

It is hard to explain this story without pictures but all I can say is that my grandfather taught me more in a week in the bush, then I will probably learn from any single event in my life. A bold statement I know but true to my heart.

Catching lakers on lead-core, with half and half hammered Williams. My grandfather showed me how to cut the head from the minnow, remove the treble from the lure, insert/thread on head, then replace on the spoon. I distintincly remember asking him 'why not use the whole minnow, instaed of removing the hook every time?' He simply said just look at the tail when the fish comes up and i will tell you.

At some point that day we ended up with a fish in the boat.

Its tail was split.

He explained to me that lakers when trolling are prone to slapping the bait with the tail to stun it before striking. If you have the whole minnow on there it may break free and the fish may take the stunned minnow instead of the williams that is motoring away. Hense just use the head and nothing comes free.

Later on that trip while cutting my minnow head off on the gunnel I accidently dropped his hand made knife (of MANY years I am guessing) into the drink.

I would do anything to have that moment back.

The man was and is truley my hero. He taught me that nature is our solace for those who wish to concede to her bounties.

 

Rest in peace Bruce McLeod. May the fish and moose gods shine on you.

[muskymatt]

Great thread

 

 

Boy scout camp, circa 1972, I'm 7 and had left the group to fish a small bay that had caught my eye. First couple casts....nothing....third cast with my daredaevil and it gets slammed....fish goes left...fish goes right and then it goes deep....and futher and further away it goes.

 

I look at my reel to see it empty of line and then snap.....my rod goes and I lose my line.

 

7 years old and I return to camp with tears in my eyes , my rod broke and my line and lure gone.....but most important......not knowing what schooled me!!!!

 

 

I think that was the moment I knew I loved fishing...as bad as it had turned out.