Wrong fish?

[Pilar]

We've all done it. Announced "I'm going fishing for ....." and then come home with something else. You know the guy that goes fishing for springers off the bank and catches a sturgeon on a spin and glow with WD-40 on it.

A few years ago on a drift trip down the Sandy I hooked a huge *********. It was in the same spot where for three weeks in a row the first sandshrimp tossed under a certain tree had resulted in streaking, jumping, chrome fish on.

That squaw felt real heavy but never jumped and fought like a log. It was almost 23" long and full of eggs. Bonk!

Another guy I know caught a old torpedo with a real warhead in his drag net. They waited on the boat for 3 days in Astoria for EOD to come and claim their prize.

Offshore I've started out with a sea bass and then it got real heavy and it was a ling cod. The surprised lurker was netted before he realized his situation and fell off. Not hooked but locked onto the back half of the black bass and too mean to let go.

What have you caught by accident using the wrong rig or bait?

[ 11-08-2001: Message edited by: Pilar ]</p>

[Salmonator]

last summer I caught a starry flounder at 12 pulls on a whole herring behind a fish flash out at the CR bouy, close to 160 feet deep I think.

[BlueWater]

My little girl, 2.5 at the time, caught a 5 pound bass on her snoopy pole with a piece of worm about 1 and a half inches long plunked on the bottom. She had it on for about 15 minutes before I realized she didd have a fish on and was not just snaged on the bottom. I had never even seen a true 5 pounder untill she caught hers. And yes I do have pictures to back up my story.

BlueWater

[Pete]

Too easy! Two years ago there was the 34 pound springer hen caught on smelt in 65 feet of water. Man were we surprised when we saw that fish ... especially after handing the rod to a 10 year old, thinking it was another shaker.

[willierower]

When I was about 12 or 13 my dad took me fishing for sea-run cutthroat on the Coquille river. I was using a crawdad tail for bait. I got a bite and picked up the rod and set the hook. On the hook set my rod doubled over and the 6 lb line was disappearing of the spool at an alarming rate. My dad got the anchor up and the boat started. We chased the fish and gained back most of the line. The then decided to stay deep and swim in big circles under the boat. After about 15 minutes the fish wich we suspected was a chinook surfaced. Were surprised to see a striped bass with my line in its mouth. 20 lbs of striper on 6lb line and a #8 bait holder hook, now thats was an accident. Now the striper resides on my wall :grin:

[Barnyard]

While fishing for Sturgeon out of deep river.(Blind Channel)with anchovies. We hooked not one but three silvers...We had planed on Salmon fishing when the tide was right..Guess it was....

[Fishing freak]

I took my son to the Rogue to fish for 1/2 pounders on labor day weekend. 15 minutes into the drift (near Agness) he hooked into a 23lb. chrome chinook. It took 1 1/2 hours to get the fish netted (6lb. test, 4-6 lb. G-loomy rod, small Panther Martin) He also caught a 7lb. coho that day plus numerous 1/2 lber's.

[Pilar]

Last weekend we hooked a peeler on a light salmon rod. Wrong bait, smelt, wrong size hook, 6/0 and in the wrong spot, slow water. Oh and wrong line too 20# mono.

Any where you go there is the collective wisdom telling you if you want to catch this kind of fish use this rig.

Below Oregon city falls, springer fishing, use a prawn and jig it. Not me, I had a deep 6 diver and a whole herring. 15 pulls, wham springer on!

[Gooey - Bob]

fishing last year in alaska for halibutt with Chris Sessions i hooked a 50 pound plus fish as i was bring it in the line went slack i thought i got off to my suprise as it got to the top of the water there was my fish in the mouth of the bigest salmon shark i have ever seen in my life we were on a 32 foot boat and this thing was over half the boat as this shark kept eating my fish Chris said give him more line give him line **** he can have the pole and everything he swam around the boat about ten times to tangle every budy up ang then said good by chris said this fish went at least 800 pounds

Gooey - Bob :grin:

[Dogfish]

Two different fish.

First was another starry flounder. I caught it on a shiny decoy weight while duck hunting. The decoy started moving out against the tide. The flounder had swallowed the weight and then the weight had fallen out of it's gillplate.

Second fish was 20+ lb King that I caught just below the Bonneville dam. I was casting a chartruese jig for shad, and hooked it by mistake. It put up a great fight, and sure surprised three Korean fellows who were fishing beside me.

Andy

[Fish Hunter]

Last spring while anchored up for springers we hooked and brought to the boat a monster sturgeon. This 9' 3" old gal took a wrapped gold/ red k15. Of course it grabbed the rig on the thinnest pole and weakest reel. Took 1 hour 20 min to land. It had a freshly broken off herring rig in it's mouth. We were dam lucky not to get spooled or wrapped up in the shad fishing hoglines fishing the Multnomah Channel that day. I need to scan the photos and post them some day.

[FM2]

Fishing at Astoria this year I had just let my line out which had a fish flash set up..WHAM!!!!!...fish hits, I set the hook and then total slack. Reeled up and I broke off. Few minutes later another fish on, brawled a nice coho and after bringing it to the boat discovered this fish had all my other gear with my herring in it's mouth. Got a nice 12lb coho and all my gear back. :grin: :grin:

[Trick]

Did the flounder thing trolling a whole herring out in 10 one year. It was about the size of a dinner plate.

My best one was when I was a teenager plunking for steelhead off an island beach in the lower river. It was the incoming tide and I had my ultalight trout rod with maybe 50 yards tops of 6lb mono. I was knocking the heck out of chubs, *********, etc... on a 1/16th ounce rooster tail casting out into the shipping channel on an incoming tide. I hooked into what I thought was a record *********. I yelled upto my two buddies that were tending the campfire to "check this out". The fish started to strip line and then it broke water revealing it's true form. A nice 8lb steelhead had somehow found that microscopic lure in the middle of the Columbia? That fish came within 2-3 feet of spooling me several times and after at least 30 minutes of the back and forth we were able to net it while snapping the line at the same time. Boy, I was one pumped 14 year-old to pull that off and have eyewitnesses to boot.

Caught a big carp on a spin-n-glo a few years ago and a big yellow perch on a spin-n-glo while plunking for steelhead. Caught a largemouth bass tossing spinners for silvers one year.

[4Salt]

This last July, I was fishing for dollies on a north Puget sound river. Mostly just playing around, not really expecting to catch much. I was using my 7 1/2' Browning ultralight rod with 6lb. test line and a 1/16th oz. black roostertail. First cast into a hole where a small creek enters the river, my rod doubles over, and line starts screaming out. I knew it wasn't a dolly, but I wasn't sure what it actually was. After tearing up and down the river for about half an hour, I finally landed and released an approx. 20# chrome spring/summer chinook.

[fish forever]

caught a Bat once (the furry flying kind) once tossing rapala's at bass at twilight. Was interesting trying to get it off the hook.

[Dogfish]

Oh yeah,

I have also caught seagulls, muirs, one duck, one goose, and a greeb. Various lures and baits, but a plug cut herring is a killer bait for gulls and muirs. :smile:

[Artwo]

Tihs didn't happen to me personally, it was my buddy but I was there. We were trout fishing at Carmen Reseviour on the headwaters of the McKenzie river off of a low bridge. We were drifting Pauskie eggs out in the current at the inlet to the lake. There had been an ospray dive bombing the lake all morning. My buddy hooks this little trout and while reeling it in it comes to the surface and you guest it, that osprey shot right between the two of us and splash. My buddy yells OSPREY ON and the fight was on. He's got his pole in the air and he's fighting this osprey, determined to get his fish back. His line finally breaks and it comes shooting back at us with the split shot leading the way, all of the sudden it hits me in the shoulder, man did that hurt but not as much as my gut from laughing.

JK

[wetaline]

3 years ago in the spring, anchored on the rogue in 5 feet of water using size 4 spinners... the Rod burried and never came up... a couple seconds later a 8 1/2 foot green sturgeon did a tail walk behind the boat w/ a trebil in its nose...

We followed it down below the hole into the shallows ... 3ft of water or so... pretty cool floating above a fish like that in very clear water.. .of course a mail boat showed up and watched us, thinking we had on the biggest salmon in the rivers history.

[TH]

I have two..
three years ago on the Elk river in late March I hooked what I thought was a monster steelie. When I finally got a look at it, it was a 30# chrome chinook.. :smile: (hatchery fish too boot)
That fish started my new personal goal, that is to catch a chinook in every month of the year.

The second is a 6'+ blue shark out of Charelston last July.. that was cool. My 7 year olf though that we had hook JAWS :grin:

[NAUTI-NOTIONS]

I was about 12, my dad and i were fishing just around the cornor from nea bay for salmon. I noticed my telephone pole size rod started to bend. it was really weird. it would take as much line as i would give it but could stop and hold it at any time. we cut the kicker and started to drift working it. if felt like the bottom,, after close to what seamed like for ever (1 hr)the most god awful ugly thing lay just under the surface staring me eye to eye. begging me to reach down and put my hand in the water. neither of us wanted any thing to do with this beast.. jagged teeth from **** all around,,, what was it? a monster skate. at least 5 feet across. we cut the line. only later to find out how good their wings are to eat.

[nivtup]

Well it was several years ago,

I had just recently moved out from my parents house, but was invited to go along on the family camping trip to Potholes Reservoir.

We had been there a couple of days mostly catching buckets full of Crappie, when I was elected by my father to take my three younger sisters fishing.

Deciding to keep things as simple as possible, I took them out in the old fiberglass tri-hull to catch a few yellow perch for some fine table fare. I got the girls all set up, real complex, rod and reel, line, splitshot, hook, worm.

They were doing quite well catching the spiny little buggers so I thought I would catch some rays on the bow of the boat. I grabbed my rod, and set it up with the technically advanced "strip of perch" for bait, figuring I wanted to do more catching of rays than catching of fish.

Within minutes I hook into something rather large, it is taking line, really pulling, .......

Suddenly a 6 pound rainbow trout jumps about 50 feet from the boat, that is when I realized that I had not hooked a carp.

Needless to say, I was quite surprised by this catch, maybe I should try it again, still havent beat that trout.

[fishbait]

8 ft skate while throwing buzz bombs for Silvers off the Nehalem Jetty.

17lb springer while shad fishing with 8lb on my 5wt flyrod blank that I tied as a ultra lite spin rod.

22lb fall nooker while jack fishing in September with my med wt steelhead rod in Madges drift on the Nestucca.

[FM2]

Ok, my first post was marginal for this topic so I thought I would add another :tongue:

I was fishing a couple of years ago on the Wilson for steelies at the end of December near the lower end of Donaldsons drift. I was the only boat there since it was the middle of the week. It was close to lunch time so me and a buddy decided to anchor my db and just throw out the plugs and let them work while we chowed down. I was using a blue wart pirate with a bronze bottom since it was cloudy outside. I forget what Mike was using. While we were sitting there a huge herd of elk crossed behind us, they were so close we could smell them. Pretty cool. Anyway the sun came out and I decided to change my blue pirate to a silver bottom to reflect the sun. Now, I just got a new Loomis rod which is great for steelhead plugging like I was fishing for. After I changed the plug and let it back out and dropped it into the rod holder so I could finish my lunch, the rod goes off. I jumped up, pulled the rod out of the holder and set the hook...wooo hooo... fish on!! Well there was almost no resistance and I was reeling the fish right back to the boat. I said to Mike, feels like a trout, grab the pliers and we will release it. I kept reeling in and when the line got close to the boat, like right along side, I looked down probably about the time the fish looked up, and Whowwww, it was a chrome large fish that took off downstream like it was nobodys business. I said to Mike, I think it's a big steelhead. I brawled this fish for what seemed like eternity but was about 20 minutes. This steelhead rod is not a real stout one so I would get the fish close to the boat and it would run. I finally told Mike that I'm going to give it everything this rod has to bring this fish close enough to the boat to net it. I was reefing like mad to get it close to the boat when we both saw it and shouted "chinook". I kept pulling on the rod to get the fish close enough to net, mind you this rod was bent in half, and as soon as I got it close to the boat and said Mike "Now". He reached with the net but the fish was about 6-12" from the net. About that time right after he tried to net it my line went "piiffffff" and the fish was gone. Major bummer. We both sat down and Mike was laughing and saying "dude, your knot came untied". Of course in defense I'm saying "no way man". I reeled up my line and couldn't believe what I saw. The fish straightened out the swivel, yeah, the swivel. I had not seen one straightened out like this before and then I started cracking up and saying to Mike, "see dude, it wasn't my knot".

So fishing for steelhead, hooking a chinook and ending up with nothing is what happened on this trip!! :shocked: :shocked: :shocked: :shocked: :shocked:

[Hoosier Daddy]

Skin diver instead of bottomfish off Newport Jetty when I was about 13.

[nipper]

Last Fall landed a ling in the Coast Guard hole while chasing the nookies. A little too close to the rocks on that pass.

Nipper

[Pilar]

Nipper, you crack me up. I've been too close to the rocks before too!

Great stories ...

I'll tell one for my buddies Krystalflash and Puffin.

We went out Tuna chasing with our two boats and found the fleet about 30 miles out. It only took a minute to get our gear working and no more than a minute after that the radio crackled 'Fish on!'.

We weren't very far apart and I looked over to see Krystalflash with one foot on the gunwale of the 'Puffin' trying to get the rod out of the holder. It was bent big time. He got it free and we veered off and started to catch Tuna 2 or 3 at a time. I radiod 'Puffin' when the first 2 hit the box, "Dead fish, dead fish!"

John answered back 'Yeah we're still catching the first one'. 10 minutes later Gary and I were knee deep in thrashing tuna, laughing uncontrollably.

Mean while on 'Puffin' Mike and John were trying to unhook a black and white porpoise. John had it by the tail and they couldn't get the head out of the water to get the rig out. They had to cut it off.

I guess when it hit flipper sounded straight down and took almost the whole spool, 300 yds. Mike didn't know what he had hooked.

An hour later 'Puffin' had 13 and we had 14 and decided to go home.

What a day! BTW the tuna was dolphin safe.

[Hookset]

Yah, I'll say, happens almost everytime I go fishing, always catching the wrong fish.

While sturgeon fishing, I catch sculpin.

Salmon fishing, I catch sculpin.

Bottom fishing, I catch sculpin.

Perch fishing, I catch sculpin.

Those pesky little sculpin seem to follow me every where.

Pilar, don't forget, trolling for salmon in the Ghost Hole catching a 12 inch herring on a whole herring.

This past July fishing for sturgeon below the Megler bridge we landed a chrome bright native silver in 13 feet of water.

Hey, does stick fish count? Always seem to land several of those every year.

Gregg

[HORNBLOWER]

Nine years ago, out of Port Hardy, B.C., we were fishing for bottom fish in 300' of water. I felt a light "hit" on my line, but no real action, so I decided to reel-in & check the bait. Suddenly another stronger "hit" occured, and the rod went wild. As I landed the 20# Ling Cod, I noticed that it was attached ton 8" Sculpin(??) which had taken the original herring bait. The skipper laughed as he looked at that 2nd bait; said "It still looks good...leave it on. Maybe you'll catch another." That suicidal sculpin served to catch not one, but FOUR MORE fish...another Ling, and two Red Rockfish, all 15-20# each. (Have pictures to remember the experience by).

[salmonlips]

We wife, kids and I were entered in a 3 day salmon derby out of Bellingham. After fish weigh in the first night we went back out to overnight on the water so we could fish the late evening bite, camp on the water and be ready to go at first light. We were anchored up in a cove. To save room on the deck of the boat for the kids to roll out sleeping bags I threw two crab rings out. We were barbecueing and laying around when all of a sudden one of the crab lines started to twitch. I went to pull it and met a whole lot of resistancce. A solid 5 foot skate, (didn't know what it was at the time) had tangled his nose in the mesh of the crab ring. After an unwanted shower, we finally got the thing loose.

Second prize goes to a 22' springer on a stonefly nymph on the Deschutes.

Third prize went to a couple of friends from Texas out sturgeon fishing with me. They each caught a brown bullhead on their sand shrimp. I've fished the same hole countless times before and since with the same bait and setup. Never a bullhead. I think the fish wanted those guys to feel at home.

[Snagly]

A gray Sea Eagle with a 7' wingspan this September on a trolled popper in N. Australia . . . glad he finally came off on his own as there wasn't any way I was going to face that beak and those talons and wings in the boat.

A 12lb carp on 4lb test and a black Mister Twister grub and 1/16 oz jighead while crappie fishing when I was 16 years old.

A wire mesh crab trap 2' x 3' x 1' that had TWO 4'+ lemon sharks jammed into head (heads stuck in there). Another untangling adventure . . . .

My first steelhead was a snakey kelt caught in Alaska in July while drifting eggs for Kings. About 30" and 7lbs he started what appears to be an irreversible addiction.

Fishing for barramundi in September, I caught a 4lb grouper on a Woodchopper (prop bait -- a surface lure). That was a surprise!

But most of the "surprise" fish I've hooked have never seen the light of the camera flash -- just big ooglies that leave you shaking your head saying "What was THAT?!!"

[happybrew]

I caught a nice kokanee while fishing dry flies for trout about two years ago, in about 2 feet of water where a creek entered Big Cliff Reservoir. At that point, I had never fished for kokanee, didn't know what they looked like. After eating it, I decided I needed to get more of them!

happybrew

[marky-sharky]

A good friend of mine caught a tiger musky on the willamette by Oregon City while throwing spinnners for bass. How about that, there is even a picture of it on the reel spooler at fishermans marine supply-O.C. There was also an article in the Oregonian about the fish.

[Navigator]

Fly-fishing for summer steelhead on the upper Rogue River with a 6 weight trout rod. Using #14-#16 small nymphs behind a larger attractor fly. I had a 30 lb plus Chinook take the small nymph. Eventually came unbuttoned as the hook straightened. Later that day, I had a second salmon on that was even bigger.

[Grant Scheele]

Snagged a rock bottom fishing out of Newport. Brought the rock up and a couple of seconds after it hit the bottom of the boat a baby octopus crawled out.

[JPSFISHY]

Fun Topic. While fishing some out of state boys for shad, a flyrod/shad dart caught a keeper sturgeon above the Fisheries. Boy did that shad fight!! We got him.
While waitng for fish light on the 101 hole/Trask,drinking coffee and eating smoked salmon & Tillamook smoked cheese, I prepared our baites. While showing my guys how to get a bait out, I got bit-fed-set the hook---SWISH--Greasy/cheesey rod-(out of the hand) bounced on the water twice and was gone- with a fish on the end of it. The Dairymen fishing the bank were laughin their butts of. I was sick. 45 min. later, one of my guys got bit in the same hole, set the hook,fish on. As he reeled, I noticed his line tangled up in some tuff line-Mine. He reeled to where I got ahold of the line, pulled up my rod,gave my drag a quick check, and landed MY fish. A 32lb Chrome Hen. You shoulda seen the look on the Dairymens faces then!!!!
So, Beware of smoked cheese,in the rain,with no towels to klean your hands.ha I'll never live that one down as long as I live.

[MoJet Driver]

My most memorable was a 36" steelhead (and first steelhead) on an ultra lite rod with 4 lb test. I was fishing for them pike minnows for some entertainment and wham(!) the fight was on. I was using one of the smallest Rapala Countdowns. Finally got the fish in after 45 minutes of back and forth. I'm sure the fish didn't realize it was even caught for the first 10 minutes or so. Even got to the point that I didn't care whether the fish got off or not, I just didn't want him taking my only Rapala since I was a po' college kid back then. Since I didn't have a net, I tried lipping him Bill Dance style and got an education on teeth. Finally when the fish was pooped, I grabbed my beloved plug and drug him up the bank. Even though it's been 19 years ago, I still see that fish in my dreams.

[Jennie@ifish]

I have done this a ton.
I'll never forget going fishing for perch one day, and ending up catch and releasing carp. It was SO much more fun!

Can't eat them, but I was too tired of releasing huge fish at the end of the day to cook them, anyhow!
Jen

[pearl]

One comes to mind

Two years ago I was dipping smelt on the Cowlitz with out a lot of success. Was going to make one last swoop with the net and when I dipped it it got really heavy. Thought I hit the mother load. Pulled the net out of the water and to my surprise there was a beautiful steelhead which I guessed to be around 15lbs. - released.

[Thumper]

Many years ago my youngest son (Grass Hopper here on Ifish) was guiding a father and his very young son in the lower Lewis. They took a lunch break at the mouth of the river and threw out the anchor.

To amuse the little tyke Tom showed him how to cast a bare U-20 flatfish. On the kid's second cast (only a few feet) a giant of a steelhead grabbed it. With his Dad's help the little guy boated a 20ish-pound B-stock summer steelhead. I wish I still had the picture. The fish was actually longer than the kid.

[wayout]

Fishing for halibut in Prince William Sound, AK... hooked the botttom. No wait a minute not the bottom. It's moving a little. Yeah its something on the bottom maybe I can get it loose. Hey I think it might be a fish I'm picking up line and its moving. No. Doesn't feel right. Not head shaking or running, kind of pulsating. Strange. Everyone asking "Do you have a fish"? "Well, I'm not sure." I don't know what I have, but finally we see it. A big reddish orange Octopus. That explained the pulsating feeling. Got him on board and in a bucket. Used 1 arm for bait. Didn't work for us that day.

Fishing near mouth of Nehalem using herring for silvers. Found some local guys using little nails to hold their mouths shut when trolled (the herring mounths, not the guys). Cool we'll try that, we said. So they sold us some little brads for a fair price. We started catching fish. A little while later. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Rod bent hard over, line peeling out, something's heading straight for the ocean and really, really fast. Excitement. What the heck is that? Couldn't turn it. Soon it was gone, broken off. What was it? I keep thinking it was Jaws. Sure wasn't a silver.

[summoner7]

Just the other day I was out for steelhead and got a smolt! Wrong fish, back in the water he went. I guess I don't have any good "wrong fish" stories

But a few years ago, however, my wife got a morning class at OSU cancelled, so she decided to take her trout pole up to the lake and toss a line out with some power bait for a little while. Next thing she knows, the pole is bent clean over and about 10 minutes later, she's landed a nice steelhead!

[Spoiled Daddy]

2 years ago a friend and I were anchored up in the Yaquina trying our luck for sturgeon. I tossed out a rather large mud shrimp with a hunk of squid on too. Before the bait settled on the bottom, my rod bounced hard. I brought about a 9 lb. steelhead to the boat a short time later and released it. I have no idea what he was doing hitting a big ol' smelly sturgeon bait, but it was fun and we got a good laugh out of it.

the Spoiled Daddy

[The_1_I_Lost]

Dec 6 2002. I was fishing on the wilson. I had been out all day and not hooked a thing!!! After walking at least 3 or 4 miles I said heck with and called it a day. I stopped at jones creek store on the way home to grab a soda, When I pulled up there was two guys standing at the scale with a 9lb steelie. I GOT THE ITCH!!!!!!! U all no what I talkin about. So I said heck with! what's another hour. I figured I would go down 3\4 of a mile to jones creek so I did. I peered over the bridge to see a couple of fish laying against the ledge on the west side of the bridge. I almost didnt bother fishing there. I thought these fish would be a little spooky. I made my way down the embankment to the water. Made two cast's with a black and red jig and bobber down. Boy oh boy did he pullback after setting the hook a couple of runs through the hole I realized either this was record steelie or fall nookie. Then I saw the tail WOWOWOWOW This a huge nook!!!!!! Hour and 47 minutes later I was able to land him. the biggest, darkest buck I had ever caught. 12lb main and 8 lb test. I estimate that fish weighed an easy 45 lbs. No bs Ive caught my fair share of tillamook hogs and this is one of the biggest fish I've ever seen. after a peaceful release.I watched as he swam away, So dark but so beautiful. Moments you will never forget.
Oh there was that keeper sturgeon year before last fishing near goverment island for springers wrapped kwik in 23 feet of water. 53 incher!!! That was another one I will never forget.