Humbling experiences...

[dfv87]

While fishing this weekend a buddy and I were telling stories about catching fish in a way I would have never tried... 2 summers ago we had gone on a fishing trip to Ottertail and at our outpost where we stayed the guide had a couple fo guys in from Chicago to fish eyes. Well we went out and rigged and jigged for eyes while they casted huge swedish pimples with baitcasters, which at the time we all kind of laughed at the process. I mean it just didn't look right... we needless to say, at the fire that night the chicago boys had a limit and we didn't.

I also took some friends fishing this winter and without a flasher or anything I got outfished badly. I don't have millions of dollars in equipment but they had a cheapo rod reel and a hook, sometimes we all overthink the fishing... anybody else have a hummbling experience?

[motley man]

4 of us in a boat in Canada fishing big crappies and 1 guy is using 12# test line and big spinning reel set-up out fished us all.

[Boar]

Ive had similar experiences, my thoughts are that I put to much emphasis on catching instead of just fishing. when I relaxed an just started to enjoy it for wat its was my catch rate increased 10 fold. That was along time ago, an it is humbling to have many hundreds of dollars invested in the latest an greatest an get out fished with a dowel rod, but an awakening to.

[tracker x-2]

Mine is similar to the OP where i went out ice fishing with some folks i know and they didnt have a flasher or hardly a clue what the bait was called the were using, just dropped their line down on their jiggle stick and started catching fish grrrrr lol

[leech~~]

my thoughts are that I put to much emphasis on catching instead of just fishing. when I relaxed an just started to enjoy it for wat its was my catch rate increased 10 fold.

It's all about good Karma!

[kiowa]

I have been fishing a rarely used 3 to 4 acre pond for about 6 years now. It’s is in a well-to-do neighborhood and no one there fishes it, I felt like it’s my “private” pond. Over the years I have caught a lot of monster bluegills, decent bass with a rare crappie here and there (2 in 6 years), in the shallow bays that have a lot of downed timber. I have never caught anything in the deeper areas any time of the year. It appeared the fish were only on structure....

One day there are two guys out on the deeper basin, just hammering 12-14 inch crappies, they had 20+ between them. These fish had been right under my nose for years! Needless to say I felt like a fool when the newcomers showed me up on “my” turf.

[pathogen]

Years ago, I am out fishing panfish with my brother and young son. We are having success but my son is getting feisty because he wants to fish for bass. I told him we were not in a very good bass spot and he really had no experience in fishing bass anyway. We really were pressed for time and wanted to continue with something we knew was a sure bet. He fussed and whined until out of desperation I put an old, heavy rusty jig on his line and some huge piece of plastic that I had never caught a fish on. I knew his chance of catching a bass was zero. I handed him the rod and watched him drop the lure straight down over the side in about 6 feet of water. I picked up my rod, turned to cast...and saw him sitting there wide-eyed and rod bent over double. You guessed it....he comes up with a 4 lb bass. It was not only humbling, it was a tad humiliating.

[Boar]

How true how true

[muskE]

Back in the day I had my (at the time) very young brother (I think he was about 8 or 9)with me as we broke off to show dad just how good we were. Needless to say pops was (secretly) thrilled to have some much needed peace and quiet.

After a long, sunny afternoon of hearing him "fight" every weed, working on changing the audible pitch of various lures hitting the side of the 14" aluma in perfect cadence with the waves, and just plain brotherly whining I was about done. I made an ultimatum that he either fished or face swimming back. I would eat those words soon thereafter.

Needless to say he "fished" by letting out about 2' of line and ziz-zagging in and around the weeds as the boat passed them with the trolling motor on and then it happened. "I got one...I got one!" he exclaimed.

Of course I didn't believe him as I was there to show him how to cast your arm off to catch a ski. Then it splashed and ripped his drag on his Zebco special (he felt the Johnsons we were using were too heavy). He managed to do everything (in my eyes and I was letting him know it) wrong to bring it back to the boat and I nettted it...his first muskie...a 54 incher!

He was content after that and fished the dock for perch the rest of the week and even offered for me to use his pole "...if I ever wanted to catch one."

A few decades later he's hooked but still doesn't let me live that one down.

[queenpdog]

Where is the "like" button? These are great stories. Thanks for the smiles guys.

[Stick in Mud]

Oh goodness, is there anything more humbling than fishing?!? Nothing else that I know well has such a degree of randomness and uncertainty, two things that lead me into humbling trips all of the time.

The last one, which happened a week or so ago, was a hot bite I had going on Mille Lacs. I was catching a limit of nice keepers with plenty of big fish nearly every trip out....there were lots of nice fish fries at my place.

I was trying to impress the girlfriend's dad, so I unwisely talked up the bite...sure enough, got out to the spots, and couldn't get ANYTHING. We didn't even mark any real fish (nothing but dinky perch). Drilled numerous holes over spots that had put out fish EVERY trip all winter. Found nothing. I should say he drove up from Iowa for this trip. And what do you think happens when we get back to the bar after fishing? Most of the guys who sat in their permanent houses on the same old spots caught nice fish. grrrrrrr

But that's why I love fishing. Sometimes I'm the guy who outfishes the "hotsoht." Sometimes, alas, I'm the hotshot who gets outfished.

[Scott M]

Haha that's a great story MuskE.

Fished a spot on a great crappie lake a couple weeks ago that we always hammered them. We talked to a guy new to the lake on the way out, we kinda b.s.'d him a little..."yeah, we're gonna try that spot, see how it goes...we don't know much about the lake." Well, we caught a handful of fish and it was dead. On the way back to the access, we visit with the other guy. He says "I got a few." B.S.'rs B.S.'ing each other is what that was. The next night we go out, not too far from his spot, had the lake to ourselves, and we just hammered them. Just when you think you know it all!

Went to the boundary waters with my brother in law and his really green buddy from California. We portage into a lake trout lake, get geared up, and then start our paddle out of the dogleg shaped bay. We get maybe 20 rods in and this guys got a fish on. We can still see bottom, it can't be more than 20 feet deep. "I bet you got a rogue pike." After a short fight, he lands the first of what would be an awesome day of trout fishing. As it turned out, some were deep, some were shallow, but that one by far was the shallowest.

Trolling for northern pike in a Chippewa Nat'l Forest Lake way back in the woods. Fishing has been slow. My mom looks through the tackle box for another lure to try. She grab's my dad's old Obie Glitter Gitter. This lure was the butt of so many jokes about futility over the years that she put it on more in jest. Five minutes later, she hooks into one of about three walleyes I've ever seen caught on that lake. And it was a nice one, about 26 inches if I remember.

Those aren't the most humbling of stories, but I have plenty of skunks and poor days. Anyone that hasn't been humbled lately is just one day closer to the next time it happens. It's a fishing fairy tale to believe that professionals, guides, and the best among us don't have bad or humbling days. Sweet doesn't taste as good without a little bitter every now and then.

[UKCM]

Back when my buddy and I were in our 20's and thought we were hotshot bass fisherman, we took my buddies father out with us. My buddy and I were catching a fair number 2 lb Tonka bass. My buddy's father was not catching much. Towards the end of the fishing excursion sure enough my buddies father catches a 4lb bass. As he is holding it he looks at us with a big smile on his face and says 'I generally cath the bigger ones'

That is probably over 20 years ago and whenever my buddy or I catch a nice fish we look at the other smile and quote his father.

[mainbutter]

Fighting a kodiak-area lingcod was pretty humbling, cuz the fish almost won that fight! Pound for pound, fish (even the big ones) are way stronger than we could ever hope to be.

[Stick in Mud]

Yeah, no kidding, mainbutter. I'd hate to see a smallmouth bass in a bar fight.

[paceman]

Ah yes the art of being humbled. Back in the day my soon to be wife and I were out fishing a local lake that I have done very well on. We were simply pulling plugs for pike. Of course this day they are not very active. I catch a few but she gets bored and wants to bobber fish. I told her I don't have any live bait with, but she said she has gummy worms along. I said that will never work but I learned early in our courtship to not aurgue the small stuff. So we pull up to a shallow weedbed and she tosses it out there under a huge bobber. Of course 10 seconds later a 10 lb northern gobbles it up and the fight is on..... She still enjoys telling that story and now we always have to have gummy worms in the boat and she will toss one out now and then just to tease me:)

[roadkingclasic56]

Fishing the mouth of a stream on the north shore of lake superior one morning with some other guys. We were all outfitted with the best waders, the best fishing vest, the best ultra sensitive fly rods, the best reels, etc, etc... We had fished this pool for about 3 hours with no action when here comes this older fellow with blue jeans and 2 flannel shirts, ankle high rubber boots, Zebco 202 combo, and what looked to be 30 lb. test. The kind that maintains it's coil from rod tip to bait. He literally sets down on a rock next to the water with a Bush's bean can and pulls out a fat juicy night crawler. He throws it out into the current and lets it soak for about 5 minutes. All of a sudden his line takes off down stream and he is in a fight with a nice steelhead. The gears on his 202 were grinding and clunking and the drag was making some kind of a noise I didn't think a reel would make. He battled for close to ten minutes and had the fish tired and he pulled the fish to shore and used the rod to drag it up on the beach, threw the rod and reel down in the sand and grabbed the fish with both hands. Once he had the fish secured he picked up his gear and walked up the hill leaving us modern fisherman with yet another lesson learned.

[Finlander]

Well, if we didn't have bad days, we would have good days!

[TruthWalleyes]

I was fishing winni with my dad and brother roughly 8 years ago. It was 95 degrees, solid sun, and the lake has never been so flat. Not a ripple. Well we're in about 20' or so and quite a ways from shallow water and my brother throws on a white spinner bait...I tell him "No way are you going to catch a fish in the dead heat of summer on the surface with that lure" 2nd cast he pulls in a 20" walleye. I still can't explain that one. The water had to be 100 degrees on the surface!

He casted that lure for 2 more days I was happy when he finally lost it!!

[mskyfshntchr]

Fishing a clear, trout lake in Canada a few years back, early spring. Me and my buddy in one boat. His dad and uncle in another. We wore our polarized glasses, they didn't have any. We hit a spot with a river pouring in and the suckers were running. We could tell they were suckers, but without glasses, you had no idea on the fish.

When we met up with them a little while later, we decided to play a joke on them. I had seen a few blue and silver baits in their box. So, we said...Hey...we were fishing over in the bay and there are a ton of lake trout in there. We had one on with a blue and silver spoon, but it broke us off and we lost the spoon. Only color they would hit and we threw the kitchen sink at them!

They took off over there all excited and we were laughing hysterically.

They come back about an hour later with 2 nice trout. Both caught on blue and silver. 1st cast they nailed a trout and a little while later another. Right where we told them...

Guess the joke was on us!!

[Acemac]

I stoped at the dam in pilligar MN one morning on the way through and got all my "expensive" gear out There was a local guy sitting there on the shore with me catching walleye after walleye, after he watched me change my lure about 20 times cause I coudl not catch anything he looked at me and said "I paid $14 for this outfit" and smiled as he reeled in another eye.

[BartmanMN]

I love these stories. They crack me up.

[varmithtr]

Summer after 8th grade, back when you could get you boat permit at 13 (probably still can). I have a buddy with at the family lake place and want to take dad's boat out fishing. He will only let me go if I take my 11 year old sister with us. I pout and pout, but he doesn't give in. In the garage on the rod rack there is a gag lure made by miller lite, a real gaudy looking, multi colered jig. I tie that on for her, complaint a lot, and take her with. Me and buddy: 0. Sister and new jig: 3. All nice walleyes. Still hear about it 25 years later.

A few years ago on a trip to Canada, we are fishing a lake known to produce huge fish, but not great numbers. We show up with quite a few hundred in jigs, rigs, etc... Find out we are not catching as many fish as most. We, of course, think we should be better living in lakes country and fishing all the time. After the next day of trying everything fancy I finally ask the owner of the resort. His response was to use a red hook and split shot, no fancy junk. Next day I boated a 30" eye.

[dfv87]

Happy to know it happens to all the "experts"... All the kids stories reminds me of this last summer I am fishing with my 13 yr old daughter, 14 yr old nephew (they have a hotly contested debate who is a better fisherperson) and 6 yr old son... We decided to cast for bass... to save the tangles I didn't fish and while the 13 and 14 yr olds argued over who got to use which lure my 6 yr old son caught the only bass of the afternoon on his 5 foot ugly stick crappie rod with a beetle spin... he was so proud and still gives the big kids the business about it. Not sure which makes me more proud the catch or the smack talk...

[TylerS]

It took many years, but I finally learned to trust my wife when she said, "I think I got a bite."

Years ago, when we first started courting, I took her ice fishing on Devils Lake. It was a wing and a prayer, really. I had a small, two-person Shappell 2000 shack with cheap plastic tarp for fabric and barely enough room to set the hook.

In North Dakota during the winter, a person can have four lines down. So with two in the shack, that meant I could set up six tip-ups rigged for pike between the two of us.

My wife gets cold really fast, so after we hiked the couple hundred yards to the spot, I hand augered two holes as fast as I could and got her comfortable. Shortly thereafter, I caught one of the lake's numerous slough sharks, and figured we were in for "one of those days." Seems like when the toothy critters are on the chomp, that's all you will catch.

Considering I had six holes to cut by hand, I decided I'd better get working on it before it got too late. Halfway through my second hole, I hear the wife yell:

"I think I got a bite."

"Well, watch the bobber and see what happens."

It was silent for a while, and figure it was just her minnow doing a little dance, I got back to my back-breaking work.

"I can't see my bobber any more."

"Give it a little bit of time," I said.

Hole No. 3 is nearly through when I hear the yelling start.

"Come here and help me, it's a big one!"

"Sure," I think. "Probably just another northern."

When I get about 50 feet from the shack, I can hear the drag ripping like a miniature weed-whip.

I ran the rest of the way and tore open the zippered door.

"It's probably just a northern," I say, as I watch my wife wrestle with the fish on the other line. "But be careful because they can bite the line off pretty easily."

She gradually gains on the fish and, for the first time in about five minutes, we can see the fish.

All I see is a football shape and a giant white tip on the tail.

Then I got ballistic.

"BE careful!" I say. "It's a big walleye. Ease up a bit. No, don't put the rod so high! Watch it! You're going to lose it!!!"

"Do you want to reel the D*** thing in or can I do it," she snapped?

Eventually, and despite my "help," the big walleye graced the top of the hole.

It was a beauty, and all of 23 inches. But I noticed something strange as it came up through the transleusent cylinder of ice. It seemed to have gotten wrapped up in our transducer cable. That was impossible, however, as the cable was in the opposite hole.

Then seeing the rusty tip on the line, I figured out what it was: The walleye had a blue stringer still fastened to its lipped. It had bored a hole through its bottom jaw the size of a plum, but the walleye didn't seem worse for the wear.

Given that my wife refused to handle fish, I found it utterly appropriate that she hold the fish up by the stringer. Seemed like the perfect match.

To this day, if Erin says she thinks she has a bite, I drop whatever I'm doing to check. Believe it or not, she outfishes me quite a bit these days...