Crazy Fishing Story Contest.

[Tarpon4me]

Have you got a cool fishing story you'd like to share? Here's your chance to spill the beans and win a prize doing so!!!!

This contest is for registered BFT users only. So if you're not registered, get registered NOW!!!! It's completely free!!!

Myself and a few other Moderators will be scoring your stories and the winner will be based on a vote. Only first place gets a prize, which will be a shirt, hat, or beeny of the winners choice from the Bigfishtackle gift shop. I will try to arrange for all the participants to get a BFT sticker.

How do you enter? It's simple!!!! Simply reply to this post with your story, that's it!!!!!! Only one story per person please! The contest dates are as follows:

April 27th, 2006 through May 15th, 2006

You do not have to be a South Carolina Resident to enter this contest. Moderators and Admins can enter, but cannot win. Once the contest is over and the winner has been decided, the winner will be PM'd, and the final results will be posted on this thread.

Stickers will be given out to participants apon request, so if you'd like a sticker for entering, type:

"I WANT A STICKER"

at the end of your story, and i'll contact you by PM and get your shipping info.

Above all else, HAVE FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!! I look foward to hearing your stories!!!!

Bryan D.
[signature]

[Tarpon4me]

I'll kick things off with a story from back in my teenage years [cool]

When I was younger, we use to shark fish from the tidal breakers a little past Garden City peir in Garden City Beach, SC. They aren't but about 2 feet off the the water at high tide, and only about 2 1/2 feet wide and have no rails.

My buddy and I were fishing there one night. It was only a couple of days past the full moon, so the tide was a little high. We had been fishing all night, and hadn't got the first run. I remember my salty partner reeling in his bait to freshen it up a bit. While he was digging in the cooler for some fresh scraps, he had laid down his old black faced Penn 6/0, and his bait was just barely dangling in the water because of the long leader.

Normally what we'd do if we hung a shark was head strait to the beach and fight him from there. It really wasn't safe on those breakers, especially considering how close to the water they are, and how slippery the ancient wood construction was with the surf crashing over the side.

I was on the front of the little tide breaker, and I turned around and saw the biggest shark I'd ever seen!!!!!! My partner had his back turned to his rod, and that shark seemed suspended in the water, almost completely on his side, staring up at us. I'd never seen anything like it before in my life, and the first thing I thought of was if that shark really wanted to take a chunk out of our rear end, it wouldn't be too difficult. About the time I saw the shark, my buddy turned around and freaked out. I almost ran over him bolting to the safety of the beach. We finally went out and got our equipment after the tide went down. He never admited it, but I swear he peed his pants. [cool] Needless to say, I never shark fished from those breakers again. I always wanted to know what kind of shark that was, it was so dark and it happened so fast, I wasn't able to tell.
[signature]

[duke-i]

[] Back when I was just a young boy, I took my younger sister fishing for her first time. We were fishing for the yellow perch. The bait of the day was corn. ( Why corn you ask?) Back then the grain boats unloaded at the pear we were fishing off, and corn was free. Also the perch loved it.

So my brother and I are bringing in a mess of good eaters, sister is catching none, when she let out a yel and brought in the bigest jumbo I had ever seen.


Threr were old used tires as bumpers on the pear, her line had been in the one in frount of her when she brought that fish in, he must have gotten in there and the only way out was on her hook.

After that we still fish together, me and her that is.
[signature]

[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]MY FIRST BIG TROUT. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I was born in Idaho and lived there for my first 11 years. My whole family fished and I had a rod in my hand before I was six. But, I never caught anything more than the little stream trout in the trickle cricks in the mountains. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Our home, in Idaho Falls, was only a half block from Willow Creek. It now runs underground, all through the city, but in those days there were long open stretches and double culverts under all the roads that crossed the creek. I spent many hours fishing for the chubs and suckers in that creek and only dreamed of maybe catching one of the large rainbows that I occasionally saw in one of the holes.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The big rainbows either worked downstream from the creek's mountain origins or upstream from the mighty Snake River, into which it dumped. These were beautiful fish, with no scars or fins rubbed off in a hatchery. Many were over two pounds and some I saw were two or three times that. They were the stuff of a young angler's fantasies.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]One day, when I was about 8 years old, I was playing along the creek banks and stopped in front of one of the culverts that ran under a street close to my home. I caught a grasshopper and tossed it into the water, watching as it floated into the culvert. KABLOOSH! A big beautiful rainbow had annihilated the hopper. A second hopper met the same fate.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]My young heart pounding, I raced the two blocks back to my home, to grab my fishing pole and to offer another hopper to that rainbow. My mother had other ideas. She wanted me to stay home because we would be having lunch in a half hour. I guess she recognized my excitement and desperation because she relented. I could go, but I had to be home in a half hour.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Not sure what the land speed record for an 8 year old kid is, but I probably was a contender. As I arrived, huffing and puffing at the culvert I grabbed a hopper off a tall weed and pinned it on my hook. Then, I stripped off several feet of the old hand-me-down fly line bequeathed by a favorite uncle. A sloppy lob cast got the hopper on the water along with several loops of semi floating fly line. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I held my breath as the offering floated slowly past the edge of the culvert, and then a few feet inside the dark tunnel. Then, out of sight, there was a splash. I had no idea what I should do, so I waited a few seconds and then started cranking in the remaining loose coils of line on my old single action baitcast reel. The three section steel telescoping rod bent into a straining arch and it was GAME ON. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]For at least a couple of minutes (seemed like hours), it was a standoff. The fish did not want to leave the water and I whimpered with excitement as I tried to convince it to do so. The flimsy rod just did not have the lift necessary to break the stalemate. In frustration, I tossed the rod aside and grabbed the line. Since the leader was only six inches of the heavy snell material used on the packaged hooks I used, it held under the challenge and I dragged the poor trout unceremoniously out onto the grassy bank.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The hook was deep down in the trout's throat and it was bleeding. I had no way to remove the hook, so I merely gathered up my rod in one hand and clutched the flopping and bleeding fish to my chest with the other...and started running back to my house. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I think I made it before my time limit. I don't think it would have made a difference if I had. My anglers' mother was as excited as I was. Over the next couple of summers we still lived in Idaho, before moving to California, I caught many more large rainbows from Willow Creek. And, since then, I have taken countless fish much larger and more glamorous. But, nothing will ever replace the memory of that one fish.[/#0000ff]

[signature]

[Tarpon4me]

I can't believe you actually have a picture of your first large fish. Not many people can say they've got a picture of their first fish or first large fish.
[signature]

[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]That picture is over 50 years old. The original was done in stone tablets.[/#0000ff]
[signature]

[cat_man]

My fondest memories from when I was a kid almost all seem to come my fishing trips with my dad. I was lucky enough to have a dad who would take me fishing often as a kid growing up.

I can't even remember my first fishing trip because I was still in diapers and couldn't even talk yet! My first memories of fishing that I can remember are of catching bluegills with my dad at a Monet's Creek Reservoir near our home when I was probably around 4 years old, as well as fishing for rainbow trout at Bottle Hollow at about that same age.

As long as I can remember, fishing has been my therapy, my way to get away from it all, my peace and quiet. It has also been my excitement, my source of adrenaline rush, sleepless nights of anticipation waiting for an early morning fishing trip the next day.

Until my late teens, fishing with my dad was the only way to fish. It still is one of the better ones. Now, I take my own son fishing (his first trip was when he was almost one years old) and hope to pass that tradition on to him as he grows.

Fishing is still one of the biggest thing that bonds my father and I together, and I intend to make sure that that bond continues with me and my son as well.

Once, when I was probably around 14 years old, we decided to make one of our many yearly trips in dad's green Coleman canoe to Strawberry Reservoir. We'd been going there ever since he got that canoe a few years back. My dad was (and still is) so proud of that
boat. He wanted it for years and years but never had the money to get one. He alwasy talked about wanting that "Green Coleman Canoe". When he finally did get it, we all benefitted from lots of fishing and canoeing trips all over the state of Utah.

This particular trip, we headed up to "The Meadows", a popular area to fish for trout in a protected cove on Strawberry. We'd been there many times before, and usually did pretty well for average sized rainbow and cutthroat trout trolling with flies or rapalas, or tossing out worms or power bait. On this trip, we unloaded the canoe off the car, piled in all our fishing stuff, and walked it down to the water's edge. I never did like carrying that dang thing around, but it sure was nice not having to fish from the shore!

We set out into the middle of the bay, and set up approximately where we thought the creek channel would be. Then we tossed out our bait and waited. My dad was the first to hook up, with a nice 14 inch rainbow. Next was my brother. Another decent sized trout. Then, my dad again. I was happy for them, but I was getting a little discouraged since I had not caught anything after almost an hour!

A little while later, I reeled in my power bait, washed it all off my hook, and decided to try a worm and a marshmallow to change it up. I found the biggest, fattest, juiciest worm I could find in the worm carton, stuck a marshmallow on my hook and then stuck that fat juicy worm on after it. After making sure it was nice and secure and wouldn't come off when I casted, I leaned back, brought the pole back, and zzzzzinggggg, chucked that bait out there as far as I could from the boat.

After setting back down from almost capsizing the boat from my violent cast, I sat patiently waiting for a bite. I really needed to catch a fish, or I'd never hear the end of it from my brother. I decided to have a snack while I waited, so I began munching on some of the fig newtons we'd brought with us.

Suddenly my dad yelled to me, "Kevin, get your pole!" My pole was bent tight, the tip curling down nearly into the water! Good thing I had stuck the handle under the seat or I might lost it and been one fishing pole short of a full boat!

I set the hook hard, and the line went tighter. I couldn't reel it in!! The fish was pulling hard, and I couldn't even get it to budge! My dad and brother began reeling in their poles so they wouldn't be in the way, then began slowly paddling the boat towards the fish so I could bring up some line.

I reeled as much as I could to keep the slack out of the line. Finally, we were above the fish. I couldn't get it to come up though! "This fish must be HUGE", I thought, since I couldn't get it to surface! Finally, the fish began to tire and rise up. My dad got the net ready. I saw a quick flash of a HUGE fish, just before it ran under the boat, pulling my pole down with it.

After fighting with it for a minute or two more, the whole time horrified that my line would break and I would lose this big monster trout, I finally got it close to the net. My dad nets the huge fish, which turns out to be a nice 5 pound Bear Lake Cutthroat Trout! We took the monster home and weighed it using the bathroom scale, first weighing myself without the fish, then with the fish, and subtracting the difference.

Wow, it was the biggest fish that I had ever caught!! It also became a tasty dinner too! That day, I was the proudest I had ever been while fishing, I think. I only caught that one fish that day, and even though my dad and brother each caught more fish than I, I had the honor of catching the biggest fish any of us had ever caught at Strawberry Reservoir.

Here is a picture of that fish:


Hopefully some day, as my son grows, I can provide many similar experiences for him as well. I think fishing teaches a kid a lot. Things like patience, respect for nature and for the environment, a love of all the beautiful things that God has created for us, determination, as well as other practical things like outdoor skills.

Best of all, there is nothing more fun on this earth than going fishing with family or friends!
[signature]

[daymere]

well my craziest story would be about tne years back . i was out on the mississppi river the river was really low and sand bars everywhere you look .we were walking to the main channel to see how low it actually was whenmy cousin saw a littlechannel of water running in a ditch about 15 ft lower on the sandbar we were above the 2 ft wide channel of water when a catfish at least 75 pounds and close to four ft long was moveing up and down the cut off channel so my cousin jumped from the top of the bank into the channel and i have never seen anything so funny in my life him and that catfish looked like they were on wwf wrestleing after watching him and that big cat go at each other was so funny he could have drown and we couldnt have helped him after about a half hour of them slamming it each other he yelled for us to pull him out he had fianally got it out of the water and was so beat up he couldnt even stand up we through him a rope and pulled them up all we could say was i didnt think you would do it. after we got it up and out he said that that fish was going back in the river because anything with that much fight deserves to have a fighting chance and we took it to the main channel and released the big catfish. i still cant beleave he jumped in and fought that fish but i understand now why he let it go.
[signature]

[Tarpon4me]

LOL, that's pretty funny. Instead of "free gaffing," he "free handed." Catfish are tough, I don't think i'd have jump on a 75 pounder.[cool]
[signature]

[daymere]

all he needed was a dle and the rodeo was on or a rope and he went bareback all he needed was a rope to ride that bull of a fish.
[signature]

[Tarpon4me]

Great story bro! I tell you why I like that story so much, I lived it for many years. I grew up fishing Myrtle Bch. St. Park peir. Infact, I worked there for 2 years in my younger days. I still venture in that direction from time to time, when taking the boat out is not possible. I use to fish every spring and fall king tournament off of that peir.

As for your log in not staying up, i'll going to let a "higher power" know about it and see if we can get that fixed for ya. Once we get that strait, i'll Private Message you and get your shipping info. Looks like you're the only entrant that isn't a moderator, so it's looking good.

Thanks for the entry, maybe i'll catch you on the peir some time!

Bryan
[signature]

[Tarpon4me]

OK partner, I think I know what's up with your log on.

When you sign up to bigfishtackle.com, you get an email sent to the email address you entered. In that email, you have to click the link to verify that you did not enter your information by mistake, and to verify your email address. Once you click that link, you're good to go. You have 72 hours from the time you enter your information to click the link that will be emailed to you.

You may need to re-enter your information and pick a new log on. However, if it's not over the 72 hour period, you may just need to go to your email and click the link.

Also, if you tried to change your log on name after you've already signed up for BFT, that will create the same symptoms your having now as well.

Anyways, see if this info helps you out! Once you get logged in successfully, I can private message you, get your shipping info, and get that sticker and maybe the winning prize out in the mail!!!!!! Good luck!!!!!

Bryan
[signature]

[Tarpon4me]

Try and pick a new log on and do it over again.

If you tried to re-sign up using the old log on, it's not going to work either. You HAVE to pick a new log on.
[signature]

[Tarpon4me]

Just so you know, YOU WON! As soon as you're able to get successfully logged on, I will be able to contact you and get your prize and sticker right out!

If you are still having issues, post problem on the "message board help" message board and one of the administrators can assist you in getting set up.

Congrats bud!!!!!!!!!!!!
[signature]

[Tarpon4me]

What would be even better is if you can PM me with your name and shipping info. [cool] Just click on my log on name "tarpon4me," and at the bottom you can click on "send private message." That's strange that you have PM's but it doesn't allow you show up on the message boards.

Along with your sticker, you'll be getting a BFT hat to go along with it for winning the contest!!!!!!

How's the fishing on the beach side right now?
[signature]

[HuckelburryFinn]

You wond a brand new ocian going 12 foot tracker with twin 90 horse Evenrude motors with 2 down riggers on the back and one on to the front of the boat. Live well big enough to hold to full grown maco sharks.

the name on the tracker is "Little Missy"
[signature]