My most embarrassing fishing moment

[Jennie@ifish]

When I was a young Mother, I met a man by the name of Ben.
I was thinking of Ben, and the many places he took me to fish today. I thought of one story, and I laughed out loud to myself. Just had to share it.
I hadn't fished much in lakes until I met Ben. He loved to troll the lakes with a dry fly, or a rooster tail, etc for trout.
We sat on the Columbia River Beaches and he would tell me what we were going to fish for next.
He told me of lake fishing, of his John boat, how we would fish, what kind of method, etc.
This was all new to me. I had fished the lakes by bank, but not much by boat.
Then he told me the benefits of using an electric motor. They were quiet, he said, you can sneak up on the fish, he said...
I tried to picture this... AN ELECTRIC MOTOR? My mind raced! I hadn't heard of an electric motor.
I turned to him....
"But where do you plug it in?"
He still laughs about this to this day. He tells everyone that story. Was my face red when he got finished laughing and explained it to me.
Folks, I was serious.
I really pictured something like an electric lawn mower, plugged into the plugs at the bathroom.
He told me he had a really long extension cord!
And this is the girl that runs ifish.net.
Jen
:blush:

[ 11-29-2001: Message edited by: Jennie@ifish ]</p>

[Pete]

I have never in my life fly fished naked in the back country of Northern Idaho and there was never a pack train of mules heading up the canyon ... it never happened! And there were no people riding the horses. and they did not laugh.

[Threemuch]

Good topic Jennie! I have always told people who came on my old boat that "fishing is all about ridicule" and if they couldn't take a joke they should get back on the dock.

So one day, I am out trolling in the ocean for chinook. It's slow, and we have been trolling for about 4 hours. I am with two experienced saltwater salmon fishermen, Ron and Donovan, but nevertheless conduct an impromptu class on how to fight and land big, angry chinook. Finally we hook up, and it's a big fish on my rod. After 20 minutes or so, we can see the 35+ pound fish, with my 5" green mackerel Krocodile hanging from it's upper jaw.

Ron makes an attempt to net the fish, and it slides outside of his reach. Instead of being patient, I break every rule in my previous lecture by pulling the fish to the net.

The spoon pops out and comes rocketing at the boat, and Ron makes a desparate lunge at the fish getting something like 49.99% of the fish in the net. Well, I guess that is about .01% less than you need for the fish to fall into the net instead of out of it.

Of course, I have seen none of this, because I am on my back, wondering what the hell happened, with a trickle of blood coming into my eyes from the cut on my forehead where the warp speed Krocodile hit me.

I should have been fishing with bait, it doesn't hurt as much when it hits you.

[Grant Scheele]

Mine was floating down the Siletz river, by myself and not noticing the plunking shack full of people fishing for Steelhead and whipping the snake(ok, worm)out and peeing on their lines. They never said a word nor did they blink.

I have a buddy that was taking a bath on the back of his sled while camping on the Snake below Hells canyon when a sled full of tourist came through. The driver/tourist guide slowed down to a crawl and said something calm as can be on his loudspeaker to the tune of,"and on the left we have a naked camper taking a bath...."

[Dogfish]

I was heading out for a days fishing at Green Lake in Seattle. I had put all of my gear into my canoe and as I was getting in, I spied a nice Hottie that got my attention. I stepped into the canoe on the wrong side, and then landed right in the water, tipping my canoe.

I recovered perfectly, yeah right, and then after retrieving all of my gear, I went fishing, soaking wet.

That was the only time in 23 years of using that canoe that I ever tipped it over on accident.

[hawgcatcher]

Over the years, I have had plenty but probably the one that sticks most in my mind happened on Jennie's river, the Kilchis. I was fishing at the logging bridge and had only been contributing gear to the bottom (so Jennie could get them in low water) and caught up again. This time it moved, so I set the hook with a sharp jerk (yes just like the one on the pole end). Well not good, it was a branch under the surface not a fish. So I then figured, I might be able to pull it loose with a slow straight pull. The line got tighter and tighter and I just knew that it would break the branch and I would get it all back. Kerpow, The leader snapped. Lead didn't. Straight back it shot. As usual, my mouth was open, and pop, a sore mouth, minus one tooth. The lead hit my upper lip and broke the tooth off at the gum line, a clean break. I stood there for a moment, trying to figure out what had happened and why my tooth hurt. I looked down and there in the shallow water, I observed a white flash in the gravel. I leaned over and picked it up. My broken off tooth. I put it in my pocket and joked about it to the others around. I fished for about anothe fifteen minutes then decided maybe I should visit my dentist. When I got home, I went to see him and after he laughed and told me he appreciated my fishing trip, we made arrangements for a cap. That was a $500 fishing trip. Now I turn my head and keep my mouth shut (only when I am caught up).

[Bait O' Eggs]

Has to be a couple years ago when I was sturgeon fishing near Beacon Rock. I had the wife along on a beautiful day and she had to go to the bathroom. We cut loose from the anchor and I was going to run into the dock on the Washington side at the boat ramp near Beacon Rock and let her use the potty. As we come into the dock area there is a couple of the big yachts anchored in the harbor area. There is a babe in the water swimming towards one of the boats. As I get fairly close she crawls up on the swim platform and she is naked. :shocked: :shocked: Her sugar daddy was stading up a deck on the yacht looking down at his babe, and all the while I am kind of headed straight towards them. My wife is checking me to see if I am checking the babe out, I am trying to get a good look, with out looking like I am looking her way. Her sugar daddy is kind of smirking at me, with the "check out what I got sitting down there". I had kind of swerved to the right in the process trying to give her some room, I am glancing over at my wife intermittantly to see if I am in trouble, I could feel her eyes burning thru me, all the while keeping at least 1 eye on the babe standing there drying off with a towel, putting on a show for me. All of a sudden WHAM!!!!! I run the boat up on a gravel bar and was stuck. I couldnt back off and had to get out and push the boat off the gravel bar. When I finally got the boat free the wife wasnt interested in using the using the bathroom anymore.

I am still not sure what I did wrong, or why I was in trouble for not keeping an eye on the depth finder. I am only human, and she was hot.

Well there was the other time I ..... Never mind, we will just call it good there.

[salmonlips]

On a cold morning my fishing partner and I were walking across a pasture to get to the river. He was about fifteen feet ahead of me. We'd been clowning around most of the morning and I owed him one. I thought it would be real funny to kick some frozen horse manure at him. A big pile of the stuff was handy so I backed off, took a run and kicked with all the strength I had. Nothing moved. The stuff was frozen solid to the ground. Fished the rest of the day with a broken toe.

[CATCH AND EAT]

While fishing of the Columbia mouth last year for coho I had my buddy Dave and another long time friend Iver on board. It was a slow day out there and we were getting the hits but nothing sticking. So with cell phone in hand I was about to call my wife when I noticed Daves rod just bumping along with a fish on it. Dave was busy talking with Iver so I just dialed Daves number. As soon as his phone rang he looked at his rod and was trying to decide between it and the phone. I quickly to him to pickup the rod and forget the phone. I could'nt resist so I left a message "Dave, Dave, you have a fish on. Dave, pick up your rod. Then I just left the line open during the rest of the fight. He got the fish in. It was a twelve #'er.

He played back the message and could not stop laughing. Darn near peed his pants.

Last year during the Coho Run on Eagle Creek I called Spooled and said get up there! Come on Troy, tell the Story please!!!! :shocked: :grin:

Of course I do not personally have any embarrasing fishing stories. Like the time I pulled a guide boat off anchor at the fishery. Or hooking my mom in the face on a nice remote lake. Or letting out my line with a guide when told not to and then getting a nice 8# steelhead on to boot. So much for listening to the guide. Hey, at least I hook my own fish that day right Troy :shocked: :tongue: :grin: . Sorry bro, could'nt resist. Troy is probably in Mexico enjoying the margarittas and seniorittas. No I have never had embarrasing moments .

[ 11-30-2001: Message edited by: CATCH AND EAT ]</p>

[sinker]

I'd been trolling in a small lake for a few hours without so much as a bump. Finally as I was trolling back to the launch I hooked into a big trout. Probly 6-7lbs. I'd get him up to the top and he'd thrash around throwing water and then peel line back to the bottom. Repeated this about 10 times.
Had him on for a while at this point with brand new 4lb line I'd just spooled up with the night before. I know my drag was loose enough due to the fact whenever it wanted it peeled line right off.
Well it finally heads to the bottom and decides to rest, I raise the rod up to try and make it spend some more of that energy and POP!!!
Snapped me right off.
So I get ticked real quick. Start whipping the top of the water with my pole and hollering all kinds of not so nice words. I finally look up and everyone fishing on the bank (about 30 people) are staring straight at me. They've all got that look on their face that you can tell they're thinking "Wow, takes all kinds huh?"
I gently put my pole in the bottom of the boat, headed for the launch. Put the boat in the back of the truck and quietly left.

Pete, that was a good one. :grin:
BOE, now if you'd just stopped the boat and taken in the scenery, you wouldn't have beached yourself. :grin:

[Beer Waggin]

Returning from an ocean trip with limits of Coho two years ago, I let my Dad drive my new sled back into the dock at Hammond. Now he's been around boats his whole life, so I have all the confidence in the world in him. Yet I was about to learn a pretty good lesson. You see a sled with a rather large bucket on it will stop if you throw it into reverse hard enough. I knew this, but I'm not sure the old man did. As we were approaching a rather crowded dock, I climbed onto the bow planning he would just drop me off at the end and circle the marina while I backed the truck down the ramp. As we were approaching the dock, I noticed we were coming in a bit fast. I turned and told him to slow it down so we don't crash my new sled into the dock. As he says "I'm trying to slow it down", all I can think of is what the scratches are going to look like. I make a desperate attempt to jump to the dock, turn and grab the boat and stop it from pillaging the end of the dock. Nice plan! As I was about mid stride from the bow of the boat heading to the dock, the old man figured how far back he had to go with the throttle to get the boat into reverse, full reverse. I heard the engine roar and I could hope for was that I had enough momentum to get my foot on the dock, cause I was no longer worried about the bow of the boat. About midway between the boat and dock I realized I wan't going to make it. I did some kind of acrobatic air maneuver and end up landing face first on the dock, with only one foot in the water. I remember the fish checking gal, ya the good looking one, turning around and asking if I was alright. Ya I'm alright, wanna date? I'd didn't think so....
So from then on, the old man backs the pick-up down and I handle the boat.

[bait boy]

A few years ago Capin' Dan and I were fishing for sturgeon in Longview and we were both kind of new to the whole deal. needless to say we did not have the best of gear but we made do. I happened to be useing an old eagle claw fibergless moocher with the wooden handle. So.... here I am about to set the hook on old sucker lips and I pulled back to set the hook and I hear snap, snap, and my hand starts to hurt.

That rod broke in three places once halfway up the tip and again on the other side of the ferrule and in the wooden handle (thats what pinched my hand) .....

Needless to say I was able to retrieve the parts and the shaker on the end of the rod and Dan to this day tells that story whenever he feels I'm gettin' to uppity

[Bubzilla]

Mine is kind of a give and take. About ten years ago my brother and I were fly fishing on the Klamath River below Keno Dam. It was mid-winter, and there was almost no bug activity whatsoever. All of a sudden, the sun hit the stretch of river we were on, and a small hatch started. There were no fish rising, but my brother wasn't to be discouraged. He tied on a small Adams to match the bugs and cast out. No kidding, first pass he hooks a HOG. Fish was over 10 lbs. He gets it almost in, so excited he's about ready to wet his pants, and I try to land it. Without even thinking I grab the line. Needless to say, Mr. Trout got a long-line release. He didn't say a word to me--just looked down at me like he was wondering if he'd get caught if he just pushed me in!

About five years ago he and I were fishing the Nestucca in late February. I hook a monster steelhead. I get him in, and it's a 20+ lb. buck--fish must have been 45". My brother tails the fish, and yells, "he's got sea lice!" I run over, and look. "Where?" I ask. "There" he say, as he lets the fish go with one hand to point. Hmmm...20+ lb. steelhead held with one hand around the tail? Not good. Fish takes off back towards the river--my brother hot on his trail. He finally grabs him again. He's so excited, he holds the fish up in the air yelling "yahooooo!" Just then, the buck flaps his tail--hitting my brother smack in the face--and launches itself back out into the river. I swear to God that fish hung there in mid-air for ten seconds!

Both times, the biggest fish either of us had got--my brother's biggest trout and my biggest steelhead--and no picture. But if I close my eyes I can still see that buck slap him in the face with that fat tail! Priceless.

[WaterDog]

Since the rest of you are telling good stories guess I'll add mine. :grin:

This happend last spring. I just got my new boat and was eager to fish and get some hours on the motor. I asked a guy from work if he wanted to chase some mid willamette springers and he said sure. So he and his grandson came along. Well, we ended up fishless and had pulled the boat out of the water. I was snapping the front of the top down from the bow as I always do. I then step off the bow onto the top of the arm that attatches the winch to the trailer, then onto the bumper of the truck. I had done this a thousand times on my last boat. Well, this boat is a bit bigger. Its about 5 feet to the ground from the bow. You guessed it, I stepped onto the arm, and slipped right off. :whazzup: Well you know that neato anchor roller that Motion Marine makes that holds a river anchor. If it wasnt for the anchor I would have hit the ground. :shocked: Yup, there I was hanging off the anchor off the bow of the boat. :depressed: :blush: Good thing I had help or I would still be there.

Took the boat back to the shop and had a step mounted on that arm so it wouldnt happen again. :smile:

As a side note the guys with me never razzed me about it. However, two weeks ago, when we fished the Gorge together, the grandson noticed I had a step made. He kinda chuckled about it, then proceeded to chum for 2 hours until the river layed down. :grin:

[Bait O' Eggs]

Well since Fishbait hasnt come forward yet to tell his story in person, I will tell you the story he told me about himself.

Steve had been fishing every waking hours of daylight for weeks and as usuall he had nothing to show for it. His wife told him he couldnt come home from his coastal fishing camp if didnt bring a fish. (I dont think she thought he would be making it back home with that stipulation) Steve went to the hospital hole and wiggled his way right in the middle of the pack of bankies. He was having problems casting his reel and some 9 year old kid playing with some toys in the dirt while his dad fished was watching him pick out another backlash. The kid finally asked if Steve wanted a few pointers on casting with a spinning reel :shocked: . Steve tried to ignore the kid, but the kid was tenatious and was going to give him some pointers. He started with "hey mister, the reel goes on the bottom of the pole when you reel". Steve said, I have heard that, I was just trying it like this, since it wasnt working the other way. The kid came over and saw that Steve had the hook tied on the mainline above the bobber, with the sinker on the bottom of the rigging. The kid retied the set-up, and looked at Steves bait box and only saw some maggots, and said I dont think those are gonna work here. The kid reached out and snached a grasshopper from a blade of grass and put an egg look around it. The kid cast out and hooked a large salmon before he had a chance to hand the pole back to Steve. Steve got all excited and yelled at the kid to give him his pole. The kid showed steve how to pump the pole up and reel on a slow down stroke, then pump the pole back up nice and easy. Steve in his excitement yanked the pole out of the kids hands and pumped with a couple hard short stroke (Steve was use to short strokes :shocked: ), and broke the fish off. Steve then yelled at the kid to mind his own business and to go play in the dirt. The kid started to cry and the dad came over and asked if Steve wanted to do the same. :shocked: Steve left the river and drove to Fred Meyers and bought a farm raised salmon and headed for home. He told his wife of fishing pristine waters all alone and how the fish had made multiple jumps and if it were not for his expertise the fish would have been lost. And in his opinion there was only one other person on this planet that would have landed the fish besides himself, and BOE was the other one. :tongue:

Steve told me it was his most embarrasing moment because when the wife opened up the ice chest, he had failed to take the wrapping off the fish and it was still on the little foam tray with the price per pound listed. The receipt was kind of stuck to the package, and the change was in the bag. Steve wife looked at him and said, go get a shower, you stink!!

BOE 6
FB 7

[Gus Orviston]

I have a tie for first place, You all can decide which one is best.

#1 As I was walking up the Santiam River bank to find that perfect spot, I took notice of a Hornet's nest in the crotch of 2 Alder Saplings nearby. Of course I gave myself good margin to make my casts. As I fished away, I lost track of my location.... I hauled off with a monster cast but all I got was backlash, I looked at the rat's nest, but what I heard was much more disturbing (Bzzzz! in 5.1 dolby surround sound), I had hooked one of the Alders and split the Hornet's nest in two. It took me 3 hours to get my fishing gear back, got away without a sting though(Apparently Hornets can swim).

#2 I took my wife for a moon lite boat ride in Hebgen Lake in Montana. Beautiful night, planing off the shore line about 400 yards I watched the depth finder go from 30 to 20 feet, and then to 30 again. But hey why is it blinking now?(Blinking = Decimal point). We ran in 3.0 feet of water for another 50 yards before coming to a hard stop in 6"s of water. We had found the Great Slide. Now named after me. Nobody was hurt thankfully, except for my pride. I had my cell phone, so I was able to call camp and get a tow.

[Navigator]

I was by myself. Wilson River. A year ago to this very day. Caught a summer steelhead, tailed it and laid it on a rock behind me. Let go of the fish to get a rock so I could whack it. It flipped, slithered, went threw my legs, bounced and back in the drink. A bit stunned, I grabbed for the fish. Soon as I felt it, it gave a swoosh of the tail and was gone. I do not catch many steelhead so I had that empty feeling. As for the fish, if it survived it is one tough steelhead. If not, an early carcus plant.

[Jennie@ifish]

Bringing this to the top to continue.. partly cuz I am thinking of Ben... partly because it's a great topic. Let's hear more stories! Please, PG only... and no stinky wader stories!

[Jedcraft]

Wife & I are fishing Tilly at the Ghost Hole a couple Thanksgivings ago. It's cold, windy & rainy. I catch a bright 30# buck and hold it up for photos. I have on those new trick nitrile gloves and they get pretty slimed. Put the fish away and put on a fresh bait while the wife runs the troller. A voracious seagull swipes my first bait so I rebait and test this one up tight against the boat. The hungry swarm is still pacing us about 6 or 8 feet up just waiting. I take a swipe at one with my pole and it slips out of my slimed hand, does a couple endo's and lands out about 20ft. The herring is the last to drop and a gull grabs it and skates my pole along on the surface for anothert 20 or 30 feet before the herring comes off and my pole sinks. First thing I do is look at my wife and she is pale & speechless. Then I look around to see if anyone else saw it. So if anybody dredges up a one piece Rogue rod and Shimano Calcutta 400 loaded with green braid.....
Moral: Do not swip at seagulls with your pole.

[Adofish]

I don't own the gregor anymore, but it's still funny.

A couple of years back, I had my birthday off and planned a day of bass fishing on a local resevoir. I own a 12' Gregor that I have built a casting deck on with a foot operated bow mounted trolling motor. I, as with most bass fishers, carry many rods rigged for different techniques. With a 12' boat this can make for a lot of clutter.

Being that it was June I was fishing a Carolina rigged Zoom lizard. On making another cast with the Carolina rig, I heard a splash next to my boat. I looked down to find that on my back cast the leader had wrapped around another rod tip and on the forward cast I picthed it into the water. As quickly as possible, I tried to grab the sinking rod and reel. I knelt down on another rod and snapped it in half. I then took a second swipe at the slowly sinking rod. This sent me head first into the lake. One rod broken, another rod and reel at the bottom and a fisherman hanging onto the side of his boat.
After climbing back in the boat it started to rain. This was a sure sign to me and I enjoyed the rest of my birthday from the safety of a bar stool.

So, if you are out fishing and see some guy hanging onto the the side of a Gregor. Say hello as it will most likely be me.

[Salmo Gairdnerii]

Two springs ago my son "Sparkleboy" and his friend " Drakeblake" and myself took our new to us driftboat over to Devils Lake to try out our brand new Honda 8 HP motor. After I launched the boat, Aaron and Blake stayed with the boat and loaded their fishing gear. I ran back to the dock full of excitement as a kid on Christmas morning to get the motor fired up for the first time. After we motored out to where we wanted to start trolling, I realized in all of my excitement that I had left my gear back in my truck. I decided that wasn't so bad since I could run the boat while they fished. However, when the skies turned dark with rain (which they did numerous times that afternoon), I realized that I had left my rain coat in my truck too. We had a lot of fun that afternoon catching a few trout and motoring around with the new outboard, but I probally looked pretty silly sitting in the boat during the many downpours without a rain coat, soaking wet. SG