Anyone ever re-catch their lost rod?

[mike morris]

Rare story here... I think. Was fishing a lake for crappies when I had to step outside for a minute. Came back only to find my rod was taken by some large fish straight down the hole. Stupid mistake to forget to leave the bail open.

Anyway... I came back the next evening in the same spot. My bobber went down, so I reeled in what I thought was a fish. I got my hook above the water, and noticed I had only caught red line on the hook, the same line that was on my lost rod/reel combo. I then started bringing in that line, just as if I were pulling in a rattle reel, and there it was! My nice rod/reel combo I had lost the night before, and attached to that hook was a nice 4 lb. northern.

Anyone else have any stories like that?

[eyebjim]

I've caught several rod/reel combos but not with fish attached and not the one I just lost. Nice catch. I did catch a buddys rod he managed to drop down the hole. But that took a underwater camera and a treble hook.

[JigginIsLife]

Yup a few years back i was fishing with a buddy that had been out there the day before, with his dad. His dad had lost his rod sometime down the hole and thought never to see the fish again. Well low and behold a perm house next to us that next day heard his dad swearing in the portable and they asked if we had lost a rod we said we didnt but his dad did, he showed us the rod and sure enough that was the pole. talk about weird.

[Hatchman9]

As teenagers back in the late 80's my brother and I were fishing Tonka and I went outside the fish house for a few minutes and came back in to find my jigging stick (old wood ones) gone. My brother said he thought he heard something and laughed. Anyway that was on a Saturday and the following Saturday we were back out there and my bobber went down a little bit. I set the hook and it felt like I had a weed and pulled up to find fishing line. Sure as heck, my jigging stick at one end and a little northern on the other. It was also the same hole it went down in.

[fishgutz77]

sugar Lake 16 yrs ago I watched my rod take a ride when I was reaching for the siccors to clip my bobber stop a little shorter. I grabbed my partners second rod and got my line the second cast. on the other end was a 6 lb eye that I released to take somone elses rod someday. On the pond yrs ago 10 o'clock at night we had a quad going and as I was fighting my fish when I saw Metro's rod going down the hole. I reeled my first fish in and with the second came his fish as well, with the rod in tow. I teased him that 3 out of four were mine.

[Deadbleepingalien]

On Sag several years ago, I was cooking a hot dog and looked over at my ice hole just in time to see my rod and reel disappear. Next morning I hooked the line by complete accident. The bail was open and the reel was almost spooled. Got it up on the ice, closed the bail and then commenced to reel in a 6 pound laker. It must not be the most unusual thing.

[sarcoid man]

I was fishing the Miss draging jigs and a friend had a snag, pulled the rod out of the rod holder and into the water. A week later we were fishing the same area and he hooked his rod, I could not believe it.

[folke2000]

Had my brother-in-law and his kids in the permanent shack about a week ago, and his little girl dropped a combo down the hole. About a week later, a buddy's wife caught it out of the same hole. A happy little girl.

[jpaulson]

My dad lost a rod on lake of the woods sioux narrows area trolling probably to a snag about five years ago. Last summer he went back and was trolling the same area and the person who was with him hooked up with something and it turned out to be his combo he lost. It will never be able to be used again but its a nice decoration piece now.

[IFallsRon]

We were sturgeon fishing on the Rainy River out of a canoe many years ago. I had caught about a five-pounder and had it reeled in and up to the boat. I set the rod down so could unhook the sturgeon and it decided it wasn't ready to cooperate, taking my rod and reel to the bottom. About 30 minutes later my brother-in-law hooked the line and pulled in the rod, reel and fish.

[Zemp]

Quite a few years ago on Diamond Lake I was fishing with my brother and he lost one of the old style wood rods down a hole. A little while later that day he was re-baiting or something by the same hole and he let out a "bad word usage." (as the site would say) I look over and see him plunge his arm down the hole, and then, up comes the rod and about a three pound northern on the business end. He saw his bobber float by the bottom of the ice, and across the hole, followed by the wood rod. I would never have believed it if I had not seen it!

[dirtking]

Late 80's the brother and I were fishing out of a portable. Tip up out side and a small northern bit. We went out to pull it up and when we got the fish to the ice and threw it back I noticed a small jig on the ice? It looked familiar - pulled the line up and here came my jiggle stick from inside the portable.

[jtillman]

My first trip to LOW back five or six years ago, we were fishing about 35ft of water and a school came through. As I was bringing one up through the hole, I looked at my other setup just in time to see it go kir-plink down the hole. My buddy was laughing at me and I was pouting like a big girl (neither of us had an extra reel/rod), so I was only able to use one line during the 'hot' bite.

We were shooting video for a resort, so each time one of us had a fish on, we'd grab the camera and video the catch. About 20-30 minutes after I lost my rod/reel, my buddy sets the hook and he's yelling at me to grab the camera...I'm still being a big baby about the entire situation, so I refused to take video.

He pulls up his line and it's my rod/reel combo. We start High-Fiving and laughing....and then start to argue on who the rold/reel now belongs too when I say, "Geez, I think there is a fish on this!" Reeled it up and it was a very nice jumbo perch that I should have put on the wall....and to think we could have had it all on video!

[shooter_mcgavin]

Second-hand story here, but too good not to tell.

My dad and his friend were fishing on Devils lake, when my dad's buddy accidentally dropped his pole in the middle of the lake. He was pretty upset, as it was a brand new setup. They tried dragging for it to no avail, and gave up.

Back in MN a few weeks later, my dad is talking to another friend who had just returned from Devils Lake. "how was the fishing?" asks my dad "not great, but I caught a real nice rod/reel setup, you wouldn't believe it, works great!" He happened to have it with him, and showed it off......

After discussing where he was fishing, and identifying the rod/reel setup, it was confirmed....he had caught the pole they lost a few weeks before! Like a good sportsman, he gave it back.

[ArcticArmor1]

I've "caught" a few lost rods fishing the Allegeny River here in Pittsburgh. Many of them get dragged in by huge carp that are common here. But I have to pass along a story that I consider incredible... I arrived at the boat marina one morning to find one of the workers almost in tears. He had walked out to the gas pumps and accidentally dropped his key ring into 20 feet of water. He said he had so many keys on this ring, that he wouldn't even know where to start to replace them. Well I guess you know the rest of the story... Same day, bouncing a nightcrawler off the bottom, I thought I hooked a bullhead catfish. The key ring must have had 100 keys on it. I went into the marina office and said, "Guess what I caught?" When I showed the keys he almost fainted. This happened probably 15 years ago, but to this day when I see him, he still thanks me!!!

[Sandmannd]

We used to fish a lot on lake Sakakawea in North Dakota growing up. My Dad had a fish on and broke the rod at the handle. Left him the cork handle, reel and rod went in the lake. He offered my brother and I $20 if we could get the rod out. I caught it the next day from shore.

[slipperybob]

Sure is lucky that people catch/get their rod combo back...

I don't think I'll get to be as lucky...Shimano Sustains on TB Sweethearts. I don't ever plan on losing them through the ice hole either. That's near three Ben Franklins. You see why I'm kind of overly protective of them...LOL's

[Se Mn FishSlayer]

I was fishing in ely last summer jigging for walleye all of a sudden i thought i had a bite so i set the hook it felt really big but wasnt fighting at all it ended up being a really old rod and reel full of weeds i hooked it through the last eye in the rod bet i will never do that again.

[talltines]

Fishing on round lake Nisswa. In a porty with my bud, b.s.ing looked to my hole and NO ROD. We only had the two combos so I headed to S&W Bait for a new one. When I got back I dropped my new line and bam bobber down. Set the hook and missed em, reeling up to rebait I noticed a little extra weight looked down the hole and I could see my lost rod on my line. Got it up and started hi fiveing my bud ect.. When I picked up the lost rod I noticed I had no line left, started reeling in and holy s**t I ended up catching a 27" walleye. In hindsight I should have put her to the wall, but let her go. My bail was open.

[vermilionwally]

Ive had many close calls but have only lost 2 rods to the bottom of a lake. One through the ice and one during the summer. Never was lucky enough to catch either of them though.

[dougger222]

A couple years ago I was fishing with my brothers on the Mississippi River and all the sudden I hooked something. Figured it was a stick and I was amazed to find my fishing pole on the end of the line. I looked back at my brother who was using it and he said, "Sweet, you caught it". At that point I didn't know it was missing. He was just sitting in the back of the boat with his hands in his pockets thinking I wouldn't notice the missing pole.

My cousin told me the story about catching a 27 lb pike on a tip up with a fishing pole hooked to the line. About a half hour after the catch a fisherman came over and asked for his pole back at which time he handed over the pole.