Some Dumb Things I've done For Fish

[bushart]

Cliffs' thread got a few old timers (Me excepted) into sayinging how we have put time and effort into learning about fish and techniques...

 

Well coming with that--I'm sure we've all done some lets say, less than Einsteinian things over the years...

 

Here's a couple of mine (course there's more)

 

1/ Being a kid growing up in the North End of Hamilton----just dying to fish anywhere---1st ice out used to be in Spencer's Sewer --I mean creek in Dundas

I used to ride my single speed bike out there like in March or early April and fish for suckers---being a kid--no arthritis---so friggin cold I could hardly move my fingers to thread a worm---that's kinda harmless

 

2/ This one's better---when I was 18 I took a job with "The Bay" and they posted me in Northern Saskatchewan---so I landed there a few days before my winter gear (with my boots)---this was like May and the ice was still on but snow mostly gone----so I heard you could catch Grayling (Something I had'nt done)

in the Fond Du Lac river about 5 miles outta town----so genius decides to walk the slushy ice in running shoes to go fishin with a 20 dollar outfit I just bought at The bay---I did make it---caught zip---seen some though---decided to take a camp road back to town----got somewhat lost---made it out though---yep lots of thought went into that fishin trip where Dudley Greenhorn tours wolf country tryin to catch a fish.

 

Next....

 

Bushart

[kickingfrog]

A hot bite.

 

A looming, hot, summer thunderstorm approaching fast.

 

At the time an almost complete lack of respect for lightning, coupled with my youthful invincibility.

 

18ft cederstrip.

 

... and a very old 5 horse evinrude.

 

Part way back to shore I began to think I would be better off swimming for it instead.

[bushart]

I hear ya--not a real lightnin guy myself---the hail in the face at 30 mph is also a nice touch

[vance]

Lake Openongo May 24 - 12 ft boat 6hp motor-near freezing-dense fog-and a fair bit of wind and we figure its safe to head up the lake to go fishing.Well dad and I got lost in the fog the waves nearly swamped the boat we never even got to fish because we were too busy bailing.When we got back to the dock one of the local guides asked us if we were nuts to go out in this weather.We told him we nearly made it to the west arm,all he said was IDIOTS and walked away and after a pause my dad said you know he is RIGHT, and what ever you do DON"T tell your mother!!!!

 

Vance

[bushart]

You know they usually start out like a good idea. I imagine May 24 Opeongo Lake was li'l on the chilly side

[grt1]

When I was a kid (a long time ago) , growing up in Brantford, I talked my dad into taking me fishing "up north" because I had just seen a guy up the street bring home a northern that he had caught "up north" and it was edible. (at that time the Grand River was SOOOO polluted the fish were just good enough for fertilizer).

 

Anyhow, he piles me into the car and away we go, Up North, all the way to Belwood Lake, yup, the one by Fergus. To my dad that was as far north as he wanted to go, anyway he rented a rowboat and off we go , but, the boat leaked so bad that I spent all my time bailing, he spent his rowing and just when we were 1/2 way to where we wanted to go, a storm appears on the horizon so he turned around and we headed home without even wetting a line.

 

not much of a fishing experience but a great memory of him and his effort to keep a kid happy.

 

 

A couple years ago I started out to go fishing but the fog on our lake was thick out on the main body of the lake and our bay was just semi-foggy, you know the kind you can see through, . So off I go , I can see the island down the bay and know my way past it, but when I hit where the island was supposed to be the heavy fog had rolled in and was really dense. I knew if I followed the shore line of the island I would be in the main body of the lake in no time. I followed the shore line for an hour, when the fog lifted, I was back in front of my own dock.

 

Now I take the gps.

[bigugli]

A few years back, the late fall walleye bite was hot up on the French. So we decide to run up to the trading post for the weekend. Got up Friday morning, weather was in the low 40's F and the bite was great. 20+ walleye and pike over 4 hours is darn good. Overnight the bottom dropped out of the thermometer. We woke up to 10F . Heavy frost and everything iced up and heavy squall bands coming in from Huron. On top of that, we did not bring winter gear. Me and the other Einstein decide we'll tough it out anyway in the tin boat. My fingers ached for days. All for a glorious 1 pike tween the 2 of us

Edited February 6, 2010 by bigugli

[tdotfisherman]

Dumbest thing I've done due to my obsession for fishing was probably going out on a crappy boat alone. I knew the boat was having problems starting and I knew that it was getting late and that cell phones didn't work up there.. but I went out anyway..

 

The boat finally started after about 15 minutes of pulling..

 

I don't take chances like that anymore..

[vinnimon]

Cliffs' thread got a few old timers (Me excepted) into sayinging how we have put time and effort into learning about fish and techniques...

 

Well coming with that--I'm sure we've all done some lets say, less than Einsteinian things over the years...

 

Here's a couple of mine (course there's more)

 

1/ Being a kid growing up in the North End of Hamilton----just dying to fish anywhere---1st ice out used to be in Spencer's Sewer --I mean creek in Dundas

I used to ride my single speed bike out there like in March or early April and fish for suckers---being a kid--no arthritis---so friggin cold I could hardly move my fingers to thread a worm---that's kinda harmless

 

2/ This one's better---when I was 18 I took a job with "The Bay" and they posted me in Northern Saskatchewan---so I landed there a few days before my winter gear (with my boots)---this was like May and the ice was still on but snow mostly gone----so I heard you could catch Grayling (Something I had'nt done)

in the Fond Du Lac river about 5 miles outta town----so genius decides to walk the slushy ice in running shoes to go fishin with a 20 dollar outfit I just bought at The bay---I did make it---caught zip---seen some though---decided to take a camp road back to town----got somewhat lost---made it out though---yep lots of thought went into that fishin trip where Dudley Greenhorn tours wolf country tryin to catch a fish.

 

Next....

 

Bushart

Still looks and smells like one esp at cootes drive.Mind you they replaced the railing at crooks hollow over the dam.Still looks like a sewer drain to this day.Just my 2 cnts worth

[BillM]

Me and Solo on our way out from a spec fishing trip last spring..

 

The waves didn't look to bad until we got in the middle of the lake..

 

Holy Crap!

 

I hate canoes to start off with, this was insanity

[TJQ]

Umm for me its a long long list...

[fish_fishburn]

I remember many years ago I think it was 1988, my partner for the fishing tournament was spending his weekends in jail and I had to pick him up at the jail each morning for the tournament and bring him back to the crowbar hotel after the day of fishing. Anyway on the morning of day 2 the gun goes off and away we go. Got about a klick away and the motor stopped. No problem just change the gas tanks and were off. Well the other tank was empty too and we had to be towed in to get gas at the marina. Man felt like a idiot that morning.

[trevy727]

my dad used to take me out in front of the bruce nuclear power plant in lake huron. We'd enter the chinook chantry classic every year and fish out of a 14' springbok with a 9.9hp merc. in between the 3-6' rollers we'd see nothing but the top of the next one. we used to go so far out we couldn't see shore. somehow my dad always knew where shore was. we caught fish. my mom came 3rd place in the trout catagory 1 year with a 15.43lbs rainbow.

[pike slayer]

ohhhh boy where do i begin with this one!!

 

hiking a couple km into a lake carrying a 50lb battery, fishing in a rubber dingy and just slaying the lakers and loosing almost all the fish do to the lack of a net and lack of being able to move in the dingy, we did bring home our limit.

 

biking into a back speck lake then have the boat sink and having to walk around the lake through the bush! great!!

 

4wheeled 2hours in the pouring rain, get to the lake, get out 200 feet and goodbye prop, 2 hour 4wheeler ride back in the pouring rain.

 

hiked 3-4km through 3feet of snow with no snowshoes, slayed the lakers though!!

 

fished in lots of blizzards

 

gone out breaking ice with the boat.

 

gone out in april on superior with a 12foot tinner getting smashed by ice bergs haha

 

camping on an island and having a wild storm come in and not bring able to leave the island till the storm died out and had to get home for work hahaha!!

 

been buried in some nice mud holes and given the truck a beating

 

ohhh the list goes on!!!

[smitter]

1. Canoeing into a backcountry pickerel lake on opener one year, weather was great on the first two lakes and the portage, but when we got on the main lake the wind was nuts. We were going to camp on an island, and there was no safe place to beach on the route. The wind was so bad, we were just crawling forward, big waves for a little canoe. When we got to the Island I got out of the canoe and hugged and kissed my wife like it was the end of time. We didn't leave the island all weekend, luckily we could catch walleye right off the island.

 

2. Hiking with camping gear in 10km in the middle of winter in LSPP -25 nights, brutal. Normally not all that bad, but we got SKUNKED all weekend.

 

3. put my truck in a ditch, again in the middle of winter on our way to a speck lake. I though we'd be out there all night. Thankfully a kindly snowmobiler with a cabin near by came by and offered to get his truck to pull us out.

[purekgw]

a good example is what i did today didnt look bad i caledonia but by the time we got to long point it was 50-60klh winds with blowing snow (total white out) but we kept going

 

would walk 3 feet and get blow right back

Edited February 7, 2010 by Pure

[vance]

Fundy National Park in N.B.- the lake on top of the mountain-a rented 10ft canvass boat on a no motor allowed lake.I was ALLOWED to row down the lake and we anchored in 8-10ft of water.After 15 min my dad says to me DON'T MOVE in a whisper,out of the bush comes a bull moose and walks out into the water not 5 feet from us and proceeds to eat off the bottom.His head and neck are out of the water while he is chewing and he just STARES at us and then he calmly turns around and SILENTLY-did I say WITHOUT a SOUND disappears into the bush.After a minute or so dad says it might be a good idea if you used those oars.

 

vance

[Twocoda]

oh man...which one ...i could probably write a book one this subject...

 

if you will .....

Last day of derby...pending thunderstorm on the horizion.....other boats high tailing it in at the first distant lighting strike ....i seem to always have to push the limits and stay to the bitter end....finally decide to start pulling up the gear as the rain and lightening is now upon me ..... i proceed to pulling first rigger up and the second goes off....fish on !!!wind ...waves now picking up and rain is horizontal....i fight the fish for about ten minutes till the hail rears its ugly head into the mix....and it HURTS!!!! still about 6 miles from shore that i now cant see because of the rain /hail mix....so i break the fish off and get things secured in the boat for the daunting task of trying to make it back....wind gusts are now 35-40 knots and visibility is about 10 feet waves are roughly 20 footers with a the rouge "perfect storm wave" that has me worried about attempting to turn the boat from the most comfortable direction....but realizing im going to have to at some point or ill overshoot my port of call and end up on McGregor Point ....unable to lift my head from the exposure of the elements and lack of visibility i relied solely on the GPS to steer me home....this goes on for about 40 minutes and the storm finally subsides to the point i can see land .....waves are still breaking over the bow of the 28 foot Caravelle....now the worst has passesd ....or so i thought ....so i start to ride the waves head on at a little more speed to make up real estate back to port as i now realize that for the 40 minutes i was fighting the elements with zero visibility the wind had moved me way north of my port and i was now 14 miles away from home .....so i get a little more aggressive with the throttle to get back on track and now to the point i can see the beacon at Logies rock ( 2miles from port ) im much more comfortable and even more aggressive on the throttle with the confidence im going to have a story to tell the boys but NOT the wife.....waves have subsided to 10 footers now with the rogue 15 footers...and as i round Chantry Island cruising straight into the waves towards port the twin yammys start to sputter then shut down....i cant get them going and now im adrift blowing sideways straight for the island the has the notorious boat eating boulders under the surface of the water....realize im out of fuel!!!!!!! but not worried cuz i have a gerrycan in storage of one of the live wells ....open up the live well to retrieve it and its tipped over with the lid off floating on its side amidst all the water i have taken on from the waves breaching the bow and gunnels.....uh oh ...what next???? i find my cell phone that is amazingly still working and call home for my son to rescue me with fuel on the sea doo ...he is on his way.....getting closer to the boat eating boulders i throw the anchor out to stop the boat in its tracks.....rope is only 50 feet long and the waves are still ten - fifteen feet high and wind is 25 knots....it wont catch on anything and if it did ....the fifteen footers only unhook it from the bottom ....the water rises quickly from 30 feet to 12 feet just off the island with boulders exposed at the trough of the waves.....what to do ????? load the cannon balls on the riggers and drop em down and hope for the best....two more anchors couldnt hurt....or could it ...depth is now 30 feet .....two riggers down and the anchor off the bow.....wham!!!!!!! something catches ...left side rigger is locked to the bottom....brake is on and the rigger is making seriously not so funny noises of stress....uh oh ....the rigger is going to snap right off the gunnel.....boat come to an abrupt stop !!!!! yay!!!!!! the anchor has finally locked to the bottom hit the switch on the right rigger to get it up off the bottom before it catches and starts making noise..no issues but i cant move the left rigger up at all .....grab the wire cutters and cut the rigger cable ....bye bye cannon ball .....( better then losing the whole rigger)....now im safe.....boats fixed to the bottom ....sun is out and the boat eating boulders are still 40 feet away from me .....sit down and have a victory smoke to celebrate.....nope they are soaked.....oh well i now have a visual on my son jumping waves on the seadoo with what i perceive to be ...the smallest fuel can in the world.....and it was....after the system was finally primed and running again ....i had the insight to connect the seadoo to the boat for a tow....good thing ....cuz the amount of fuel ran out just as he pulled me into the confines of the break wall....

 

moral of the story.....teach your kids about white lies when it comes to reporting to mothers/wives on fishing adventures

[vance]

moms and wives see right through white lies ,for them you need a WHOLE different color!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

vance

[Paully]

moms and wives see right through white lies ,for them you need a WHOLE different color!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

vance

 

 

First time i've heard that one..nice.

[Syn]

Three dumb things I did about 15 and 30 years ago. All done in Europe.

 

1) While on holiday fishing from a rocky ledge in the Mediterranean caught a cool looking bright red fish. I lipped like a bass and it presented its high back spine, so I thought it would be a handy place to grab the fish from. I'm holding the fish from the spine making it look like its floating horizontally. My uncle comes around the corner and is yelling it me to let it go which I did. Found out it was a scorpion fish and the spines are highly poisonous.

 

2) My cousin and I got bored fishing from a concrete pier in 40 ft of water. So we went back to the house and sharpened the ends of two broomsticks. We went back to the pier dived in and there were 5 foot in length white/silver fish about 30 feet away. We thought we were going to throw spears at the fish while underwater. For some reason physics in real life does not work like it does in cartoons.

 

 

3) Thought I would be a good idea to pull myself down to the bottom of an anchor rope and explore the bottom rocks. So I pull myself down to about 25 feet, my ears are killing me from the pressure and its dark and suddenly I'm less than an arms length away from a moray eel with a head that's bigger than mine and I'm frozen with fear watching it, its looking back at me and its taking large breaths. Thank god it was not in a bitey mood. I surfaced quickly and had a pounding headache for the rest of the day. Wonder if it was the bends?

 

I just realized I've done more dumb things for fish than dumb things to impress women.

Edited February 7, 2010 by Syn

[bigugli]

I just realized I've done more dumb things for fish than dumb things to impress women.

 

As it should be. Fishing should be more important than chasing women, unless you're chasing one that actually loves to fish.

[bushart]

K note to self......

 

Offer to take twocoda bass or walleye fishin if he wants but maybe decline the great lakes adventure series if he offers