what crazy stories have you heard or seen out there when fishing the salt?
what crazy stories have you heard or seen out there when fishing the salt?
Well I have run into some crazy characters. You see the most of them when fishing weekends, or inlets usually attract the drunks.
That's why it's a good idea to take a break on weekends.
The reason I'm posting these is that there have been a lot of funny statements or behaviors I and others witnessed recently.
I admit to doing stupid stuff plenty of times, but I thought we could put up some of the more outrageous things seen and heard here.
Let's try to be as generic as possible. Don't describe the person or place in too much detail. We dont want to start arguments or cause bad feelings.
Here's why: My intent is not to make fun of the specific guy/guys that said it, but to have some laughs about the non-logical things we say or do sometimes.
Also to give us some entertainment during the long cold winter!
I can't laugh at others if I'm not willing to laugh at myself first.
A while back G and I caught a monster eel on bait. I decided to get the hook out without pliers, cause everyone knows eels don't have big teef!
Yep the small ones don't!
So that sucker clamped on my thumb and wouldn't let go, I thought we were going to have to chop his head off to get it to let go. Finally got it off, the cut from it's teeth took a week to heal.
Total goog move, yep that's me.
Now that I slammed myself, we can start talkin about the weirdness that comes out of other peoples mouths....
This morning while fishin, as Finchaser is unhooking and releasing a 30" bass, a guy "down the beach" comes up to him and says:
"Hey buddy that's a nice fish, but I just wanna tell ya if you were using clams you might catch one even bigger!!!"
The well meaning fisherman caught that morning.
Ya just can't make this stuff up!
Yesterday I was moving from one place to another so I could shoot the west wind wally video. There were 3 guys fishin, and 2 guys watching them fish, and commenting on them.
As I was passing by, I said, "hey what's up guys, goin fishin?"
They said "Yeah, but not just yet"
I'm thinking what are these guys waiting for King Neptune to authorize a full-out blitz? It was a slow afternoon pick but the fish were right there in front of them. They just couldn't seem to see that. There was less than an hour before it would be dark and the bite would shut off.
So I tried to help one last time. I said, "dudes the fish are there".
They said: "OK, thanks."
They got no fish that afternoon.
As told by Finchaser:
Coming off the beach one morning, ran into a guy who was raving about the fishing...
"Hey ya know we should catch a lot of fish today, there's bait all over the place!"
Fin:"What bait?"
Raving fisherman: "Why, don't you see all the clam shells there in front of you? That's how you can tell! "
**The clamshells are leftovers from the guys who fish that beach with clams. There are no offshore clam beds directly in that area.
.....or is it a matter of perspective?
Overheard as I was walking off the beach to get something to eat today. A guy I had fished next to for 45 minutes, and walked on (for the first time that day) the same time I did.
When oncoming fishermen asked him how the bite was, he says:
"Great, we had em on every cast!"
(the guy got 2 fish in 45 minutes, I got 1)
Moral of the story...believe 1/4 of what you hear, and half of what your see.
As told by Finchaser...
Fin comes off the beach after a successful dawn bite. It's now 8am and the water is dead as the tide has gone slack.
Guy walking on to the beach:
Hey how did ya do today?
Fin:
We did great, 8 to 11 apiece, still swimming.
Guy:
Hey great I'm going down to catch mine right now!
Fin:
Well the bite is over, the tide is slack now. Try to get here at 6am tomorrow and you should do well.
Guy:
6AM??? No way, that's too cold then, I'd rather come at 8.
No fish for you!!!
Maybe, maybe not!
As told by Finchaser:
He was walking off the beach this morning, location Atlantic Ocean. It was 40 degrees, and there was a decent swell to the surf.
On walks a young guy and his girlfriend.
The guy...wearing pants, Timberland boots, gloves, hat, ski jacket, NO waders.
The girlfriend...wearing pants, jacket, mittens, hat, NO waders.
The Reel...A VS
The presentation...He was already rigged to fish. The rig consisted of a 4" storm shad on the bottom, and a smaller 2" storm shad for a teaser.... PRICELESS!!
Didn't you know a VS makes everyone a sharpie?
I saw a guy who looked like that a week ago. It wasn't as cold as 40, but still cold and the surf was big. He didn't have waders then either, and was throwing the same 2 shad setup with the VS. It had to be the same guy. He was running up to the edge after the wave hit the beach, casting quick, and running back from the water like a little girl. Spent all his money on the Vs, none left over to buy waders.
How many times have you heard this?
It's absolutely true when you are throwing plugs or metal sometimes, you have to be able to punch it out to get that extra distance.
What about bait?
What about if you are fishing in a good hole at high tide, and are in the middle of it?
Throw it out in the middle of the hole, perfect spot, right?
Nope!
As related by Finchaser 12/7:
Today a guy is fishin in the middle of a nice wide hole, deep water to 6' right in front of him, good current, enough to draw a bass in there.
He has his clams set up.
Does he throw out into the middle of the hole?
Nope, he walks out onto a jetty, throws the clam to the part of the jetty where sand is built up the highest (shallow water), tosses the clam there, walks back to the beach with the bail open, and sets the rod in the spike.
5 minutes later he gets a skate.
Moral of the story? Gotta go to the beach at low water and read those cuts, troughs, and holes, people.
Fin spotted this guy a 2nd time a day or so later. Same setup and Timberlands, no waders or waterproof clothes. This time he was fishin solo. He walked out on the bar in OC, water was in the low 50's, got wet and started fishing. He's either incredibly stoic or incredibly brave. Hypothermia is no joke.
*Anonymously of course.
We proudly salute those hard core guys who fish every day.
Especially the ones who after catching a 34" bass, an admittedly small fish according to their stories, thereafter strap said bass to the top of their cooler instead of placing it inside, and then drive down 9 miles of beach to let everyone else know about their skill level.
Upon reporting their catch at 4 different tackle shops, they somehow can't keep the numbers straight, reporting that they caught anywhere from 15 to 19 short fish that day, in addition to their 34" bass.
We salute you, Mr Tackle shop hero!
This report just came in anonymously I was asked to post it up....
" I had 28 fish to 38" today, no, make that 46", and I kept one of the smaller ones at 38"! I put it on the top of my truck and used a bungee cord so people could see it. It fell off the truck when I stopped short. I measured it again and realized the first measurement was wrong, as the 2nd time it measured 42". That's the one I kept for dinner, and I just want to make sure people know that my reports are always accurate, in case anyone is doubting this."
Now if you're looking for more accurate reports that reflect what's really happening out there, here's one someone sent me from yesterday, from an honest angler:
[one 20" in the sfz this am. I also saw another at 15".]