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3. And then I hooked the friggin bat, Page 3

John,
I think it was Shawn who was questioning the legitimacy of your "big catch." I'm glad to know it wasn't fair-hooked. Personally, I think that large bovines munching on bass plugs are one of the signs of the Apocalypse!

As for your question about getting knocked around by a fishing partner's casting, that's pretty common, but when that partner is your dad, there might be more going on . . . . ;)


You know, Louis, the more I think about it, that may explain why the rivets eventually fell out of my beloved old Marquis Multiplier. Here I was blaming it on catching too many steelhead on a click-and-pawl reel, but I think the boat may have started its decline. (Hardy lovers, don't weep for me; its all fixed and good as new.)

Sorry Gonzo, "my bad" as the kids say!
JW

Not at all, John. Some people might be offended by being confused with Shawn, but I am not one of them. :)

PS--Speaking of signs of the Apocalypse, I just noticed my number of posts! [666] I think now would be a good time to shut up and go fishing for about a week. (I should probably try to catch a few fish before the End of Days is upon us!) :{

John, I always love it when a non-English major picks up on one of my misplaced modifiers. But beware, as Gonzo can attest, I don't get mad; I get even.

Louis,
"But beware, as Gonzo can attest, I don't get mad; I get even."


You shouldn't have to wait very long for that opportunity. Cuz like I went to skool and they always teld me that my participles wuz dangling. The guidance dude even suggested I try some meds because I's was always using the wrong tense, and then he gotst upset when I axxed him if that was legal.

;)

JW

JohnW, I see that you, like Gonzo, don't play fair. You have now preempted any attack I could have made and I just have to sit and take it.

I like to use 7X when I go after bats. Since they are a lot smaller than the trout I catch I like to give them a figthing chance to escape.
I catch a couple Sulfurs and affix them to a hook with a bit of Zap-A-Gap then as it begins to get dark I just let the wind have it's way with my leader and as it flips this way and that way the bats home in on my treat and we duke it out to until the best mammal wins.

see your not the only one!

http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u54/Jasonbaker_album/DSCF9110.jpg

After many years of being around bats while night fishing, I finally hooked one on the Rifle some years ago. I was finishing a good night, three trout caught and released, and I was heading downstream towards my car and floating a dry fly in front of me on the way down. I didn't hear a thing but I suddenly felt something tugging on my line. Low and behold, I turned on my light and here's this little bat flying around attached to it. Oh great, how am I going to get this little bugger off without getting bitten? Fortunately, the fly was caught in the web of skin between the hind limbs and the bat had already worked a small hole around it (and just about chewed everything off the fly itself). I laid the little critter on the trunk of my car, pulled out an old Army wool blanket I kept for emergencies (such as this, I guess!), covered the bat except for the hooked area, popped it out with no problem, and the bat flew away when I took off the blanket. Three trout AND a bat, caught and released!

Concerning invertebrates, I once had a big fishing spider (3" legspan!) jump off a log to get a close look at a White Wulff I was floating by. I felt rather complimented!

A few weeks ago I did mange to foul-hook a teenager who made the mistake of walking behing my backcast. He didn't put up much of a fight - he just wanted the hook out! His parents were rather amused (though I was extremely apologetic) and we released him unharmed.

As far as "unusual" fish species on the fly rod go, I hooked and lost about a 2-foot spotted gar in the San Marcos River in TX a couple of years ago - talk about a fight! I also caught two channel cats - one on a small deer-hair popper, the other on a favorite streamer pattern - in a stocked but mostly unfished pond down there. I would be curious to hear other folks' stories about unusual fish catches on the fly rod.

By the way, I am a recent arrival to this site and I am most enjoying it! It's wonderful to trade stories and advice with so many like-minded people.

Jonathon

Welcome, Jon. I think you'll be well received on this site despite missing the 'h'. We have a pretty forgiving group.

And let me second the motion you made in the other thread about warmwater fishing. I've had many fond memories fishing warm water with a flyrod, and I think everyone who frequents Spring Creek ought to take it up.

-Shawn

Many years ago on Armstrong Spring Creek I hooked, and fought, a muskrat. He put up a good fight but on 6x Gladding it didn't last very long. Two years ago on the Missouri River near Holter Dam my buddy and I were fishing the tail of "The Million Dollar Riffle". It was near dark and my friend let out a holler and said he hooked a big fish. He actually fought this "fish" for about ten minutes and had to walk into the shore area to net it. All of a sudden he let out a hoop and holler and yelled "holy crap, I landed a muskrat". He later told me he was about to take the hook out of his "fish" when he saw a mouthful of sharp white teeth and recognized he had landed a mammal. I know this sounds preposterous but it is a true story.

On the Delaware, above the Junction Pool I hooked a 2-3 foot long eel of some sort. He fought like crazy and broke my tippet, which was fine with me. I didn't know those long, slender guys were even in there until then.

Do you think you might of snagged a lamprey eel? The ones with the circular mouths filled with triangle shaped teeth. There are many of them there, to spawn, in May and June.

It was May during the E. dorothea hatch. No, he sucked it in with his big lips!

(Okay, just kidding. Yes, I snagged him when I saw a swirl right where my fly was.)

I also once had a very large snapping turtle grab my bass popper. He hissed, snorted and spit water at me. All of a sudden he bit down and crushed the fly and the hook, then disappeared. I waited for him to come and climb in my canoe and eat me. Luckily I was wrong. :)

so you can't cast in the house because the cats will chase the end of the line, even if the ceilings in these McMansions are high enough

...so i went outside and was doing pretty well with the 8 wt, using a few inches of white cotton kitchen string as a fly. along comes a mockingbird, swoops at the fly, and lands on the ground next it. she follows it some distance as i strip it in, pecking at it and shaking it. every time i cast, she does this, for about 10 minutes. even when a passerby stopped to inquire about whether they were biting, she kept going for the string. told him i was starting an aviary...

Well said.

-Shawn

Once as I was fishing the Battenkill above Rexleigh bridge with a caddis emerger I felt a tremendous tug on my line. I fought the big brownie for about 5 minutes and when I finally pulled the brown onto the shore it turned out not to be the brown that I had imagined, rather it was about 10 pounds of fur with a flat tail and buck teeth. Let me tell you this beaver was not enthusiastic about the way we had met that afternoon. He began to growl and hiss at me and when I went to take the fly from its tail it almost latched on to my hand. I then decided I'd rather keep fishing and not go to see my local medicine man so I clipped the line and waited for the beaver to return to the water.

Here's another beaver story, and a few other tales for folks who started posting recently.

I've seen it happpen to more than one fishing partner but I have somehow managed in almost 25 years of flyfishing to avoid hooking birds, bats, beavers or cats. Now, if you want to talk about bushes, trees, rocks, moss, deadfalls, and yes, even cased caddis larva -- I have admittedly hooked my share. And I have on rare occasion been known to hook a trout. Despite my lack of piscatorial prowess, and unlike the character in the Sparse Grey Hackle classic, I have not yet resorted to pounding up fish with dynamite.

i'm actually surprised that so many people have done it before. I've never heard it, seen it, or done it. Makes for a good story though. Ha!