Have you ever hooked a gull?

[SuperDave]

Happened to me today. Fishing bass on the Upper Niagara with a popper when a juvenile swept down and grabbed it with its beak. I fought it back down to water level and as it squawked I cut the hooks off. I'm afraid the poor thing has a couple of hooks stuck in its face though, I felt pretty bad about it. Stupid bird.

[Joeytier]

I remember firing a big cleo right into to the side of once. I don't remember how it ended but don't recall it being fun for either party

[Burtess]

I have tangled a few gulls in the line along with a really pissed off goose once (that one sucked to get untangled). Never actually sunk the hooks into one though. Usually happens when the most people are out walking etc. so there is a large audience.

 

Last one was off Oakville pier in the spring, had a gull wrapped around the wing about midway out, had to fight it in and hold it by the wing while cutting the line off. Had my last Krocodile on in discontinued chartreuse pattern and it was still in the water so I had to make sure I stood on the other end of the line. Safe release of the gull and got the lure back too. Everyone clapped

 

Burt

Edited August 26, 2014 by Burtess

[Dara]

I was fishing with my son this spring and he got some weeds on a brand new 13 dollar Rapala.

 

It was at the surface and an Osprey swooped down and grabbed it...I hadn't noticed that and I was casting mine out and saw it going for it as it hit the water so I pulled it away...thats when I saw my sons rod going crazy because he already had it hooked.

 

It readily broke the 8 lb mono and flew off with the Rap stuck in its feet

[Andy]

When my son was a young lad, a gull picked up and got hooked on a floating crankbait. He reeled it in and I pried the hooks out of its mouth. I was surprised how small and light the actual body of the gull was under all the fluff and feathers. It flew off just slightly the worse for wear. Still have the odd one check out lures like top waters.

[lookinforwalleye]

Yep got one many many years ago with a jitterbug I was about 10 years old, can't remember how it ended.

[jedimaster]

A long time ago in Hamilton we were fishing a bridge and there was a bunch of lines broken off on a wire, you know the kind. A gull fly by and hooked itself on the wire. We tried everything to get it down. A guy had his golf clubs in the car and we taped a knife to and eventually got it cut free.

[chris.brock]

A few years ago, Bob Lake, Haliburton, at dusk, had a great grey owl make a play for my skitter pop, I yanked it away when I saw what was happening, the lure came sailing dangerously back at us in the boat, very cool bird

[craigdritchie]

I was out fishing as a very young man, with my first-ever baitcasting outfit, and I tied on a floating Rapala. I cast, the bait traveled about 20 feet and my untrained thumb blew it, instantly resulting in the biggest birds nest of all time exploding out of the reel. There's huge coils of line everywhere. Crap. And to add insult to injury, right on cue a gull swoops down, grabs the Rapala, and tries to fly away with it. My fishing partner, Marty, was laughing so hard I half expected him to keel over from a heart attack.

 

Without much choice, I hand-bombed it into the boat, popped the hooks out and sent it back on its merry way. It didn't put up much of a fuss at all.

[Cosmos]

Fishing Simcoe for perch from shore got me one. I was able to remove my hook. Stupid bird got away safely.

[BillM]

Caught a cormorant a few weeks ago, that was fun.

[AKRISONER]

Caught a cormorant a few weeks ago, that was fun.

good job bill i hope the friggin thing died. These birds are becoming ridiculous in our area, the poor loons have nowhere to go anymore.

 

A year ago i witnessed a family out fishing with bobbers and obviously a live minnow underneath, needless to say a persistent circling bird put on a hilarious show for a good 15 minutes before the family was able to scare the bird away ahaha.

[kenzy31]

Yep, got one on a Super Spook at the Barrie waterfront a few years ago. An older gentleman who was perching helped me wrangle it and perform minor surgery lol. He flew a few yards then landed in the water to lick his wounds. Silly gull, Spooks are for bass! lol

[LucG]

Had a loon hit a jerkbait right at the side of the boat once. Though I had a musky on at first. Luckily enough for both of us, he got off only seconds later. Then came up to the surface and had a "what the duck just happened" look on his face. haha

[mukluk]

Buddy and I were fishing a small Haliburton lake when out of the blue this gull comes in for a landing a short distance away from the canoe. It had a black flat fish lure hooked in the corner of it's bill.

 

We tied bread to a lure-less line and tossed it out to him. When he went for it. I gave the line a flip and intangled the lure in it's bill.

 

Reeled him in with very little resistance. Took the lure out and let it go. It proceeded to dip and dive in the water for about a minute thanking us; then flew off.

[Hank Jr]

My son and I use top water lures for Stripers in the spring and have had this happen several times . When we see them coming we stop the action and usually they swing away at the last second but sometimes they hit them hard and we have to unhook them . So far they have all flew away unharmed .

[Mike Pike]

A woman fishing next to me at LaSalle Park in Burlington last year hooked a seagull so I got her to play it into the net, got my pliers and got to work. It's amazing how docile the bird became one we had it on the pier, and began to extract the hook. Like it knew we were there to help.

 

Same thing happed to me at Dalhousie Harbour this past winter. I hooked a duck, which I played into the net and it behaved very well while I unhooked and untangled it. In fact, it just stayed on the pier next to me for a bit, 'til I gave it a pat to send it on it's way, none the worse for wear.

 

Several years ago, a swan flew into my line while carp fishing in Hamilton Harbour and that was a bit frightening. Those things are nast and huge. Fortunately, as I was reeling it in, it miraculously untangled itself and I got back my rig and everything in one piece. Whew!

[crappieperchhunter]

First gull was trolling at the mouth of the river in Thornbury many years ago. Hit my flourescent orange rap while we had stopped. Set the hook and watched my line go skyward .Broke me off and we watched him fly into the sunset with the rap stuck in his face with a ton of line trailing behind him. Can't imagine that ended well for him. Got a second one at the cottage twitching a rap across the top of the water. Got this one into the boat and got the hook out of him. He sat on the transom right beside me for quite awhile before he finally flew away.

As a kid I nailed a mud swallow in midair with a cast under a bridge. Knocked him right down into the water.

 

And finally just this summer I was reeling in a nice crappie and while it was flopping around on the top of the water an osprey nailed it. He broke off my 4LB line after about 10 seconds and made off with my crappie and my finesse jig.

[Beans]

And right there...the price of fishing just went up...LOL

[crappieperchhunter]

And right there...the price of fishing just went up...LOL

And I told my 2 fishing partners that when the Osprey made off with my jig. Told them I got that line from another fishing buddy of mine

[musky666]

Trolling a Skitter pop for Smallies once- works wonders over 10' deep weed flats, and had gulls drop on it- first one dropped it but the second one was hooked. Reeled him in, put on my fillet glove and grabbed it- pliers unhooked it and away it went.

[OhioFisherman]

Not personally, but my cousin hooked one accidentally years ago. It was legal to use perch for bait on the G/B up to the first impassible point. An old Canadian guy that lived down the road from the camp we were at showed us his pike bait, perch! The bigger the perch? The bigger the pike!

 

I think he was frugal, why buy chubs suckers or minnows? You can even eat the leftovers! LOL

 

You did have to pay attention and use a heavy enough amount of weight, or they would stay on or near the surface and attract the gulls.

[scuro2]

 

We went to Cuba mangrove fishing and the gull kept on attacking my bud's lure. I had my back to him but heard a whole lot of squawking so turned to see my bud reeling in his gull like a kite. Too funny. The thing was all claws so once he had it boat side he had to grab it by the neck and submerge it. His imitation of noise is priceless...something like sqwa...gurgle gurgle. Took over a minute until the gull submitted to his will and then he unhooked it. You can see the gull in the pic.

Edited September 1, 2014 by scuro2

[creditmaster]

was once deep sea fishing for mackerel and a garnet ate it and was hooked bad i had to cut the line

[Sinker]

I caught a merganser on a salty under a float at the pickering nuke plant, a few gulls...mostly casting at night off lake O piers, had a loon chase an inland rainbow right to the boat, then once the fish went on the chain, tried to steal it multiple times....had to bonk it and put on ice...crazy birds!

 

S.