Wierd and rare catches

[Aquaman01]

When I was a kid we used to swim a pool on a river in VT, and one dumb*** kid tried taunting the snapper that lived under a cliff - lost a finger for his trouble.

I don't know if wading for dogfish, using my body as a trotline, is my thing. Thems got nasty teefers!

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Aquaman
< )/////><{
"I think we're gonna need a bigger boat."

[erikwells]

Crawlerman, the turtles are also stringer hunters. I had a turtle that had a head about the size of a softball come within 5 feet of me while wadefishing some backwater. I saw the head and screamed like a bad horror movie. When I tried to get away the bottom was soft and it was like a bad dream when you can't run. If he would have gotton ahold of my stringer I think he would have dragged me out to sea.

[deadeye]

Wow, lots of interesting stories about snappers/dogfish. I have one story about those dogfish too. I was working a scout camp a couple summers ago running the fishing oupost. One night we were out there and the guy I worked with got a huge dogfish, I got it in the net and up on the dock but when I picked it up(by the gill plate) it turned and tried to bite me. It ended up just getting a nice chunk out of my shirt. Luckily it didn't get any skin, but man that scared the dump out of me! We had a scale and the thing weighed just over 15. It would have broken the state record but we didn't even want to look at it anymore so we tossed it back. I have a picture of it and it bugs me to even look at it, I think that fish really had it in for me!!! ><>
deadeye

[Lunker]

Thanks guys, this is intresting, id like to catch some bowfins this year. What time of year do you atch them mostly? I saw some come out of lake hiwawatha in minneapolis last spring. Im gonna try there.

[Dennis Steele]

My wife caught a bowfin while fishing for pike from shore.It was a backwater lake and the water clarity was pppr so I thought it was a pike.I jumped in the water to grab hold of the fish.I wrestled around for a few minutes to get the thing to shore.I tell you I was very surprised to see what I had been wrestling.They have some nasty looking teeth!
Now hearing these stories I can tell you I will not be bowfin wrestling anymore!

[Crawlerman]

You thought it was a Northern so you tried to handle it? They also have sharp teeth and very sharp gills., and are just as fiesty. I usually have to net mine unless they decide to jump in the boat for me...

[Dennis Steele]

That does sound a little silly doesn't it.i guess when a guys is familiar with a species your a little less apprehensive about handling it.Those bowfin look a scary anyway.Those beady little eyes are staring at you and you think this guy wants a piece of me!

[Fish On]

i once caught a 1 1/2 pound largemouth smallmouth cross tossing raps at night on th croix....on another note we catch quite a few dog fish while cutbaiting for channels

[erikwells]

My father lipped a bowfin once! Tore his thumb up. I don't know what he was thinking maybe he thought he was Bill Dance? He won't do that again.

[JP Z]

Lunker,

Spring is the key time that's when they are in the shallows. I've always gotten bowsers when they are hanging around nests. If you think it's a log on the bottom LOOK TWICE!

[Lunker]

How do you know it was a hybrid? That would look like a cool fish i would imagine.

catch the big ones(then throw em back)

[Dragon Fish ll]

BUMP

[Sturgeon46]

Not so unusual, but I frequently catch mudpuppies when I'm ice fishing on the st croix. Those are some disgusting s.o.b.s!

[Dragon Fish ll]

New twist, in 1998 in the Mississippi river By the Lake st. bridge I caught a fish I still have no Idea what it was. I know most species of fish,at one point I thought it might have been a gar, but after checking the mississippi fish species site I found it wasnt. It was a Long fish with kind of big silver scales,it had sharp evenly rowed teeth and just like a northern the dorsal fin was not on the back. I have compared the scale size,way different much smaller, and northern have jaggedy teeth of different size.the fish took a live fathead. the snout was not long nor did it compare to a short nose gar.Hmmm may never know what it was. I think it was something from way down below. being from so cal. earlier in life the silver scales looks alot like many of the salt water species Ive caught. As for Bowfin I have never fished for them but have caught them everywhere. on anything from worms to 8 inch sucker minnows, and evan mepps spiners.I seen a big dead one in caloun lagoon last year. but never caught one there. sinc you fish the Missi try for those by the stone arch bridge. between the locks.and at the same time you can catch everything else there is to catch there. except one like I caught above. evan seen a american ell in there. Good luck fishing

[Lunker]

I caught a crayfish ice fishing out of nokomis in january this year on a minnow. that surprised me.

[Bobb-o]

i caught a clam when i was lindy-rigging one year on mille lacs. I have also caught a couple fishing rods down on the river.

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"I may not agree with what you have to say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"

[This message has been edited by Bobb-o (edited 03-12-2003).]

[ricqik]

Iv'e hook alot of stuff from lakes and river too. I've reeled in clams, marble size snails, crayfish, soft drink cups, cans, plenty of sticks and branches, t-shirts, socks, rocks, rods with reels, fishing nets, plastic bags, and grosses of all, little bags of dog do do.
You never know what you'll catch.

[Aquaman01]

Coolest thing, I think, was a big stick from a popular fishing hole that had a nice Rap and an inline spinner stuck in 'em. A little soap & water, a dremel, a couple of hooks and bam...$6.00 worth of tackle from the hole! I catch another $94.00 and me & that hole will be even!

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Aquaman
< )/////><{
"I think we're gonna need a bigger boat."

[irvingdog]

A pelican. While surf fishing in Florida. We catch these marvelous tasting fish called Whiting, and if the pelicans see a fisherman reeling one in, they swamp you; sometimes dive bomb you. As it happened, I couldn't get the fish in shore fast enough, and a big bird grabbed it and took off. I had to hang on to the pole. It landed, and was very upset, but not as upset as when five of us wrestled it to the ground, unhooked and released it.

I'll never forget that.......

[Crawlerman]

I caught a plastic bag that had a few crayfish hiding inside it once, but I never had one go after the hook though.. that's pretty wild...

[Dennis Steele]

I caught a squirrel once on a peanut!
Ya what little kids do to amuse themselves.
I also caught a cat a few years ago.I left a rod hanging against the baot that still had a minnow on it.The cat took the bait and my rod.I have never seen a cat move so fast.Poor thing.It was still kinda funny to see though.

[vern]

When I was a kid I caught a duck on Lake Harriet fishing with corn for carp. Not very fun. Vern

[cvikes80]

this is a great topic. man....that poor cat dennis...too funny. I caught a clam last summer out of the red river here in grand forks. the weird part was that it clamped onto my weight 12 inches away from the hook. couple years before that i pulled up a 10 speed bike. also that same year mt dad and i were fishing the local cat fish tourny and caught the same snapper on cut goldeye, noway was he going to come in our boat cut the line both times cause i doubt he would have been a nice guest and left happy. good luck

[This message has been edited by cvikes80 (edited 03-16-2003).]

[Lunker]

I too have caught a duck, fishing rods, and clams. The clams ive caught often because of the way they feed. They sit on the bottom with their shell slightly open with their "tongue" or whatever you call the insides hanging out a little. When something brushes against this flesh, they snap shut.

[Toad]

Hey Guys,

Ok, let's talk fishing for flying "fish." In some lakes, rivers or reservoirs, a guy just can't help but hook the odd bird, every now and again.

Kinda goofy, but I've caught a fair number of these critters over the years-- mostly gulls (pity the PETA member who reads this). Ok, so here's a question, is it proper-- I mean, way too out there-- to talk tactics for enticing gulls to eat a bait?

Maybe so, but still kinda fun when the fishing (for real fish, I mean) gets tough. They love surface baits, by the way, especially ones like a Heddon Zara Spook, or a Poe's Giant Jackpot (they'll follow these forever). Just out of curiosity, is it wrong to set the hook into a bird?

Kinda goofy, too, because birds like gulls actually put up a pretty impressive fight for their weight-- amazing the torque their wings provide. "Fighting" an average sized gull isn't too far from pulling a small erratic kite from a moderately breezy sky. (God forgive me if I've stepped over the bounds of ethical treatment at this point).

Alright, so it's probabaly time to digress. But it's mostly just fun to think about the other directions this topic might eventually take (thanks a lot Dennis! ).

So, what about snapping turtles on cutbait, for example-- you know, those big mean beasts the size of manhole covers? (Turtle soup isn't just too bad anyway.) They're not real uncommon in some catfish waters, you know. Or we could even take this discussion into the realm of other terrestrial beasts, say, like moving automobiles (just kiddin)-- but maybe we'll save that for next year's cabin fever season, eh?

-a friend called Toad

[This message has been edited by Toad (edited 03-17-2003).]