Best thing you ever found on the river or bank....

[EULACHON]

Hi all

Picked up a couple of nice boat fenders and a big orange float ball over the weekend in the Columbia river. Figured I was not catching anything else so I may as well break anchor and go after them as they floated by.

Just wondered what other things people have found while out and about on fishing trips.

Eual

[Lemon Head]

Beer!!!! Floating full beer cans (Bud) in the middle of the Columbia. Five of them!!

Got out the net and got some fresh ones!!

But do we ever think that our findings might have come from an upside down boat? :blush:

Goodfishin' LH

[sliverslinger]

A buddy and I were fishing the wilson a few years back at mills bridge. we were in a boat anchored on the other side by the backwater. All of a sudden the water got dirty Then a bit later we seen what looked like a fishing rod butt coming down the river. We both were casting for it and my buddy finally hooked it. When we brought it up we found out that it was a G Loomis IMX 1025c rod with a shimano coriolis (sp.) reel. What a find Later after we took out we found out that someone had dumped their boat up river a ways and lost everything. :depressed: Kindof felt bad but we didnt know who it was to take the rod back to them so my buddy kept it and still fishes with it today.

[garyk]

My wife...

[Gundog]

Couple of bathing beauties with only half of a two piece bathing suit on.

[FastAction]

I have seen Lots of Stuff, and found lots of stuff.

Last year a fiend and I floated the sandy at 12' from Ox down and found lots of West coast floats in just about evey back eddy. We found enough floats to cover shuttle and Gas!

I found an old Pfluger fiberglass rod and spinning reel (ultra lite) at a lake in Eugene. It is the sweetest trout rod around!

My friend found an alien rock at the sandy river, I saw it first! He says it was left by the aliens that stacked the flat rocks at Oxbow park!

[24 on/ 48 off]

A nice Columbia Sportswear rain jacket.

--spud--

[Jennie@ifish]

Peace of mind.
Pure Joy.
A river of strength when I was weak!
and.... lots of whoops and whoo hooos with fish on!

Jen

[Cohoangler]

A brand new Leatherman Tool but without the case. It must of dropped out. A quick trip to the factory on Airport Way to get a new case and I had a nice tool for my belt.

[MacFish]

A Swiss Army Knife on the Salmonberry and a full fly box floating in an eddy on the Deschutes and a rock to stand on on the North fork Nehalem :grin:

[The Stallion]

Solitude and a better outlook. My favorite purple blue fox.

[rola76]

I've found a bunch of chrome on the end of my line!!

[Boatdog]

A couple of Jumbo Jet divers netted, a screw together stack of 3 dozen various flies floated into me on the Metolius, a boat bumper, and an anchor that we pulled up with ours.

Unfortunately, I've lost a lot more than that to the river.

[SKP]

I went fishing on the Columbia yesterday, and found some well rotted cash in a well worn cloth sack that had the words DB Cooper.

Believe it or not.

SKP

[FinFansea]

DB Cooper.

Solitude and a better outlook.

Definately

[fishjet]

Hyacinths' for the soul!

[Wild Chrome]

A good fishin' Buddy.

[Drachir]

About ten years ago I found a Jet Sled!!!
I was on the Clackamas one afternoon after work. I was just below Coffee's waiting for a sled to come through the chute before I proceeded upriver. I waited for a long time as this Jet Sled just drifted downriver sideways. As it got closer I realized there was no one in the boat. I waited fro it to get down to slower water went up alongside with a rope tied of to my stern cleat. I slowly motored over to shore and tied off the Jet Sled to a tree. Then I got in my sled and ran up into Coffee's. I found a nice lady working in her back yard, and she saw the neighbors boat floating downriver. I told her I had rescued the boat, and that is was tied off to a tree downstream. She said her neighbor was on the way with a friend to go rescue his Jet Sled. I left my name a phone number, and never even recieved a thank you. If I had that person I would have bent over backwards for saving the boat from being wrecked.
That was the biggest thing I have ever found, maybe I should have kept it!! Nah!!

[KingFisher85]

A lamiglas Rod and an Abu reel last spring sitting in the shallows below a nasty over hangin tree. Figured a drift boat/sledder went thu there and go a little to close to the tree and out pops a rod :grin:
Within a few weeks later, I found a 100 dollar bill layin in the parking lot with no one in sight!!

[B-RUN STEELIE]

A little story.. fishing on the Salmon river last october down by White Bird we pass a wooden box that was up on the bank a couple of times. Fishing was pretty slow one day so we stopped the boat, climbed up the bank near the high water mark and found that it was an old jewlery box. Started sorting through it, had mostly old ladys costume jewlery, but also had several items that were made of gold. Took the stuff to these ladys at Whitebird and showed it to them, we were all trying to figure how it got in the river. Then someone says it had to be from when the little salmon river blew out some years ago and washed a couple of old houses away.. This is like 30 miles down stream from there. Anyway, a couple of the pieces were engraved and sure enough, this stuff belonged to an older woman who lived in one of the houses that was washed away... she got her stuff back like 8 years later.. pretty cool.

[springstrughead]

My inner child.
No worries.
No responsibilities.
Just Fishing.

[Lucky one]

I grew up on the clack, and spent a lot of time cruising the river and shorelines all summer long, I would have to say the best thing I found was topless rafters. Come to think of it sometimes that was also the worst thing I found!

[Oregonhunter]

Well for me it was a nice 20 lb anchor that I reeled in with my rod while fishing for springers this past season at the Waterloo hole on the S.Santiam. My hook got caught in the few feet of rope that was still connected to it, I thought it was a log but ended up being an anchor.

It was the only 20 pounder I caught there in that hole all season!

Oregon

[RODACTION]

A bobber I could not get.
Empty pop/beer cans @ 5 cents.
Sun glasses missing one lens.

I guess I'm not looking hard enough.

[Green Willie]

Scrounging is one of the great things about floating a river. I haven't bought a corkie in years, and it looks like I'll never buy another bobber. When I was younger, in early spring, I would take my mask, snorkle and fins and cruise the riffles. I recovered a ton of lead, swivels, corkies, spinners, and spoons.

My best finds of late: 3 drift boat anchors to date, and one 100 foot anchor rope in perfect conditions.

I would love to see some video of the things people (including me) will do in order to get to a bobber, plug, or other treasure. (Like climbing tree limbs while your partner holds the drift boat under the limbs, or watching my partner strip to his scivies and go over the side for a drift boat anchor--"that's gotta be cold"---in the winter)

JN

[**busyfishin**]

Most of all I find peace of mind. Other than that I have caught and landed a robin while dry fly fishing, a harly boot, a Fenwick trout rod, and some springer rigs and other misc fishing gear. The best...was when I met my wife five years ago on the bank of the middle Rogue near Hogs Creek.

[Fshklr]

Man..all kinds of things..

A coleman double mantle lantern submerged to the handle at waters edge. Works perfect.

A bucket at a boat launch empty of all vehicles and trailers in the winter, containing glacier gloves, a dozen cannonballs, 2 Abu 6000's, leader holders, and pretied drift rigs galore. ( I asked for 2 months and never did find the owner)

A beginners Kite surfing board.(put on wind surf website lost and found, never claimed) Sold for $100

Rod holders a plenty.

A broken9'6" 8 to 12 Okuma casting..took it in and told them "I found this" any chance of getting it replaced or discounted?
Yup..Go grab one off the shelf free.Woo Hoo!!

Numerous Knives, including kershaw fillet, Buck 7" skinning, and oldtimer lockback 4 1/2", many sets of scissors.

20' of Tow Chain.

and last yr July 5th 2004..$400 of MOTARS on the beach still in bags ..We had one heck of a NEW YEARS on our block!!

[Old Coot]

B-Run,

Kudos to you for your ethics and character!

[jocose]

once a few years ago i was anchored on the columbia across from the airport fishing for springers and reeled up to check my alvin and had a sock on the hook.. i was fishing deep and had hit the bottom a few times.. it was a bit freaky wondering where the sock came from or what foot it was pulled off of by my alvin... so i moved... :shocked:

[Amahnee]

Me.

[FISHHEAD212]

I was fishing at Oregon City last year, budy forgot his lunch and had me pull over so he could run up the hill. Found a wallet on the bank while I was waiting, got his info off of his fishing license and sent it back to him.

[fishncliff]

On the Skagit river during humpy season, I found a gold bracelet. Kept it for a couple of years and when I moved I took it to a gold dealer.

He gave me 150$ for it.

[50 out]

In a Coastal river tide water,10 years ago I found a 17 ft gruman canoe. Still have it,a little leaky but intact.

[sparkleboy]

Peace.

[mandinga]

20 years of hard fishing and I have found nothing...I have lost plenty, but never found anything or had anything returned to me.

I remember being late to work and trying to get back in my car asap and I left my fly rod(scott S3 about $600) and reel on the top of my car....never saw that setup again... Now I am depressed...THANKS ALOT!

[Buck]

The cell phone that had just fallen out of my pocket...

[Salmo Gairdnerii]

The incredible feeling I get from sharing a day of fishing with my son, Sparkleboy, and my dad, either from the bank or from our driftboat, on our favorite stream. No matter what the weather or whether we even catch fish, just being outside and enjoying the most spectacular place in the world is reward enough.

[No-Limit]

32lb Anchor and 300ft. of rope, caught it on an alvin " blue tip" at the lake line Oregon City!!!

[suckerfish]

An intact set of weights and scale. Probably belonged to someone involved in drugs.


suckerfish

[spinner53]

Peace n Hapiness.
I also found a woman's purse,checkbook I.D.'d etc in the park at the mouth of the Clack. Took it all to the local PD.
On the Nestucca whilst looking for crawdads, I found an old silver thimble. I put it on my pinkie, walked over to the db where the wife was snoozing, tapped on the boat twice and said "Two Keys ?!". That got a laugh out of her.
Anyone know what I'm refering to ?

[B-RUN STEELIE]

Also have found a couple of knifes. Last one was laying on a rock at the take out right next to a couple of skiens of eggs someone had layed out. I kept it. It was a leatherman and says "wave" on it.

[fishingls]

I found a wallet with mony, ID, credit cards and more. Tracked the gentleman down who had lost it. He was surprised as he had lost it over a year ago. I also snagged a Beckman landing net in real good condition off the river. It made up a portion my deposits in the river of three sturgeon rigs, one salmon rig, two knives and a pair of expensive sun glasses. I am still embarassed over the details of a couple of those deposits.

[Vandon16]

Ended up landing a few new friends over the years. And of course, PEACE.

[fisheromen]

My best find was a GL2 and reel on the banks of the Columbia along with an Ugly Stick. Took it into lost and found at Bonneville and no one ever claimed it.

Other than that there's been a lot of knives, tackle boxes, and fishing gear.

Oh, and a broken beer bottle in the bottom of a pristine Alaska stream 30 miles from anywhere found my foot once. $%#@^&*!!!

[tag-a-long]

During high water on a local small river we found a 10' plastic boat that was half full of water and hooked on a tree limb because the water was so high. We tossed a rope at it for a bit and hooked it and pulled it to the bank and left it under the bridge there. Whoever lost it must have found it because it was gone a few days later. Boat looked near new but had no reg. numbers on it.

[D$_KFalls]

Two summers ago while trolling at Lake of the Woods, we motored up to the sandy beach to use the facilities. About 20 yards from shore, I saw some sunglasses on the bottom of the lake ... grabbed them, and it turns out they were Smith & Wesson shooting glasses in near perfect condition. I wore them all year, until last summer. We were at Lake of the Woods again, and playing around near the shore, I dropped them in the drink. My brother-in-law started snorkeling around, and I told him "Dude, leave them alone. That was meant to happen." Well, he found them, after about an hour-and-a-half. To this day, I'm nervous to wear them. I think they belong on the bottom of the lake.

[SuperT]

When I was about 12 a few friends and I were fishing at a little lake near our house and found a wallet on the ground by the dock we were on. Opened it up and there was $1600 dollars in it (16 nice new $100 bills). It probably took us all of 30 seconds to list all the stuff we'd buy with it (new bikes, new BB guns, new fishing poles), but then thought better of it and looked at the ID. We called the guy up and he said he'd meet us there as quick as he could.

By now, we're thinking this could at least net us a little reward. About 10 minutes later this guy is walking towards us and asks, "Are you the kids with my wallet?". We say yes and walk to him and try to hand it to him. He grabs my friends hand, rips the wallet out of it and says, "There better not be anything missing out of here or I'll kick your little *&#^$%^!" The guy counted his money and walked away. He never even said thanks. To this day, I regret not spending every cent of that jerks money.

[Heatmiser]

Last year I found over 40 10'-12' aluminum boats on the bank of the White Salmon! Even though the were all beat-up, I took 'em all home. They're piled up in my back yard. :grin:

Really, though, a buddy and I were once fishing the East Fork Lewis. He was fishing downstream from me and felt "a bump" serveral times through the drift. About 10 minutes later, as we both worked downstream, I felt the same "bump" and set the hook. It turned out to be a decent spinning rod and reel. We split it; I kept the reel and he took the rod.

[firstBoat]

Within a few weeks later, I found a 100 dollar bill layin in the parking lot with no one in sight!!

Closing your eyes while you pick it up doesn't count!!

[cimfl]

Does a lake count? Fishing three years ago in the crystal clear waters of Ollallie lake, I saw on the bottom the glint of the chrome reel seats....let down a big spoon with a large treble hook, and snagged up a very nice Shimano rod and reel combo...still use it to this day...I call it my Ollallie special!

[larryb]

found a wallet belonging to anarmy guy had his shot records in it he wanted to give me $100 because he didn't have to take all his shots again.

[Fly Fanatic]

I few years ago I was in MT fishing the Madison and stumbled across a loaded Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum in the shallow water. It obviously hadn't been there long as it was in excellent conidtion (aside from the filed off serial number). I turned it into the police and the officer said they had been looking for this gun in an ongoing investigation.

[northriver1]

A car....With two people in it....Making babies. Trouble was they were blocking the entrance to the parking lot, I guess if you have to go you have to go. Or something like that.

[Simon Peter]

I was fishing the Alsea right above "the Crusher" a very heavy set of rapids. There on the bank was a very nice little bucket of AWESOME bait eggs and an EXCELLENT set of bait scissors. I couldn't believe anybody in their right mind would have left those there........ then I started putting the picture together (for those of you who know this area you might guess)

The guy comes up and puts his gear down. Puts on a glob of the Primo-Super-Eggs. Casts out and hooks the mombo-Chinook which runs down through the crusher-rapids. Guy goes following fish....... bye bye.......

Anyway, the scissors I use every trip out egg fishing and the bait caught a nice couple of fish that day!

[Zodiac-Fisherman]

Back in High School, i backpacked the Appalachian trail,(7 months, 1500 miles)(something I'll never do again ) We had been hiking for a good 10 hrs, and covered at least 12 miles, we had arrived at our destination,, some campsite in the middle of nowhere in Maine, I decided to whip out my 5 piece St Croix fly rod, and head to a creek that ran through the campsite, managed to pull out 3 brookies, then the next thing I saw was a 12 pack of Budwieser flowing downriver, it was ice cold. The beer sufficed for at least a 1/2 hrs worth of filturing creek water for that night. Oh did i say, it was a HOT HOT day, the suprise couldn't have been better, great timing..

[yankemnbankem]

I found a new Lil Cleo spoon right after a flood. It was just sitting on a rock about shoulder hieght. Divers and other stuff.

[bobber_boy]

last summer, on a little creek/ditch by my house, I found a pillow case that had a dead cat in it :shocked:
It was snagged on my anchor

[SMACKDOWN]

Found two hot women sitting totally naked in a hot spring next to my favorite fishing hole on the wind river. It's rare to be able to combine hot naked women and hot springer action at the same time, but when it comes together it makes for a very memorable experience.

[Wreckless]

I too have found inner peace on a river or lake......BUT, I consider myself a semi-pro river scrounge. I have found the usual knives, corkies, lures....once while duck hunting Tillamook Bay right after the river came up in October, my friend & I picked up a small bucket full of kwikfish, plugs and drift bobbers!! I found 2 cold beers one a hot afternoon on the Deschutes . But the best is snorkling the local rivers & lakes. I haven't done it in a while (my wetsuit shrunk or something ), but I have found HUNDREDS of Blue foxes, Metrics, plugs.....you name it. We even got 11 anchors one day!!! . Watches, keys (mine are ALWAYS on a float when I'm on the water), a prop, tools.....the list is unbelievable, really.

Scrounging is FUN!!!