Peregrine Falcon?

[Scupper]

The wife and I were out Sunday night in farm country about 60 miles west of the metro on a lake I have not fished in 10 years or so. We were on a spot that was giving up Sunny's, bass, bullheads and walleye's.

A bullhead swallowed the hook and I cut the line and released it. A couple minutes later she gets another bullhead and it was the same fish previously released with the line hanging out of it's mouth. Gut hooked again I cut the line and released. It was not doing so well and was swimming around our marker buoy when what I will guess as a peregrine falcon started circling and finally made the dive for the bullhead. He missed on the first try and flew away. After some time it came back with another falcon and made the dive again with success.

It was really cool to see and to be that close. The pictures were really dark and I photo shopped them with just the basic filtering options. The first photo is the successful catch.

Second photo is when he missed it and the third photo was his wingman keeping an eye on us...

The bass was just short of 20". All fish were caught and released.

[Duffman]

Looks like an osprey to me. I bet that was pretty cool to see in person.

[MN Shutterbug]

Nobody ever said bullheads were smart. That would have been neat to see. That is one nice bass. I hope I hook into one like that tomorrow.

[Dbl]

That must have been fun to watch!

[123fish]

That's an osprey for sure. Nice bass!

[Dave S]

Much too large for a Peregrine. I agree with the others. Definitely an Osprey.

[Bobby Bass]

Peregrine Falcon are also not fish eaters, they are hunters of other birds that are attacked in flight. Duluth here as a few pair and they do a number on the local pigeons. Good pictures and a Kodak moment!

[Scupper]

You fellah's know your birds...

I googled osprey and sure enough there was exactly what you guys described and more such as pictures and videos.

I apologize for the poor quality of the pictures as I did not take the time to change the settings of my economical point and shoot to the low light setting.

It sure makes one humble as to appreciate the effort and knowledge involved in all the fine photos that are posted here.

Good Luck...