What is the wierdest thing you've ever caught?

[bassassinator]

at deer creek bouncimg jigs off the rocks for smallies i once hooked into a GI joe action figure. hooked him right in his hip/pelvis joint. didnt fight at all. i thought GI joes were elite fighters. also, at silver lake on a scout trip i took a carrot out of my lunch and rigged it on a worm hook, cast it toward a shrub and managed to hook a squirrel. now he WAS a fighter. an unpleasant release. the scout master was even more pissed than the squirrel.....
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[SBennett]

A turtle in the Bear River, on worm, above Cutler.
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[Ktrout]

I was bass fishing in a backcountry California pond with a live frog and caught a very large bullfrog in the process.
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[mactuna]

A seal in California, and got it too the boat.
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[chickendude1234]

A seal in California, and got it too the boat.

You actually got it to the boat? That's intense!

I was vacationing in SanDiego earlier this year and went out on a fishing boat to catch yellow tail and barracuda. We were having a hard time keeping the bait on the hook due to the sea lions all day. We would reel in to check the bait and it'd be bit in half.

The day started real slow chasing yellow tail boils that for some reason weren't producing.

We finally found a big group of 'cuda at the edge of a kelp bed and parked over top of them the only problem we had was that the sea lions knew we were there and were not letting our bait get to the 'cudas before they would decide to have a sardine snack. If you were lucky enough to hook into a fish you had to reel real fast or the sea lions were biting them in half and all you'd get for your trouble was a 'cuda head.

I set the hook on a fish and it started peeling line off like crazy. I was stoked, I thought I was going to be the first one to land a big yellow tail that day. But after only about 20 seconds of it peeling line off a sea lion comes to the surface about 150 yards out with a huge(for that day) 'cuda in his mouth. He was taking my fish for a ride instead of biting it in half. About a minute passed while I jerked at the line trying to get the sea lion to lose his grip so that i could salvage a fish that looked to be still whole. But finally he chomped down hard and took the meaty half of the fish. I got the head to the boat and the cap't said that by the looks of the size of the head that fish probably would have been a 35-40" fish.

Oh well, I caught a couple decent whole 'cudas that day and have quite a story about the half of the fish that got away.
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[mactuna]

Got it too the boat, it wqeighed about 175 lbs. I have caught 250 lb+ yellowfin tuna and 80+ lb yellowtails. The seal was the best fight so far.
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[happybob91]

I've had the same thing happen to me when I was fly fishing Logan
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[happybob91]

when I went to Alaska a few years ago, I caught these weird looking fish that my guide informed me was called a rat fish. It's an ugly thing that really does look like a rat
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[fishguru73]

You know TD; I'm the kinda guy that loves fishing so much that if I saw someone with a line in the Salt Lake curiosity would get the best of me. It certainly would look funny with two of us sitting on the bank up there.... but only one of us would be enjoying it. Damn your ornery.[laugh]

You forgot to mention your strange catch from Utah Lake in December about a decade ago. Remember? You were out in your float tube at midnight and pulled up a lit lantern with Joseph Smith's name inscribed on the handle.[sly]
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[fishguru73]

I've dragged in quite a few of those rock fish. You can always tell you've hooked one by the fight. They go straight to the bottom.[]
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[fishguru73]

Now that's a new one to me. Starfish are cool. It must have been really neat to get a close look at a big one.[]
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[fishguru73]

Please tell me it was a Bald Eagle on the 4th of July![]
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[fishguru73]

You and TD should swap techniques on hooking varmints. What the hell is wrong with you people!?[sly]
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[CoyoteSpinner]

RE: The baggie story: That gives true meaning to "catching a buzz", no?

In Florida (Del Ray Beach area) we were pier fishing for ocean perch (tall pier) and saw one kid snap a rod, while a burly fellow stepped up and hauled the line in by hand. Found a mid-sized shark, don't recall the flavor. Beach landings were forbidden, and there was NO way to haul that pup up to the pier, so they cut off probably 100ft of line, and away it went.
Also saw a StingRay get hooked up that same day.

Found a wounded perch at Hyrum, and dragged it around for a while. Had a small flock of seagulls that kept trying for it. In Michigan we commonly pulled in turtles and snakes. Often we'd go after them on purpose! (kids)

RE: Snakes - at Mantua was told there are baby rattlesnakes around that really don't look much different from garters, except for a diamond shaped head. So don't let the kids be off catching snakes, keep 'em fishing!
Didn't hook a bat, but have had "dinks" on my line by bridges along the bear river, kept trying to set the hook, check the bait - finally realized - at sunset, it was swallows darting around bumping my line, NOT fish!

Coworker had a video of Alaskan Salmon Fishing where they'd just netted a big salmon, and as they were trying to pull it into the boat, a polar bear comes from under the boat, takes net, fish, and almost fisherman and pole!

Seen a show where a big fat bass was found just floating (Mexico?) and they got up to it, found it was dead. Had a Talapia crammed in it's mouth. They pulled the Talapia out of the bass's mouth, and it was still alive - released and swam away. Another episode showed a bass being reeled in, when a Pike comes up and grabs the bass by the nose, and won't let go. Both fish come into the net. Pike wasn't hooked, but stubborn![mad]
River Monsters shows a lot of fishing in croc-country. Always wanna be careful pulling in fish, or nets, might come up with a big surprise.

Pat your SL story reminds me of trips to Jellystone - we'd stop our vanload of kids, and just get out and point. Acting like we were seeing wildlife. So other cars stop. Once a line forms - we'd get back in and drive on, leaving the others to wonder WHAT we'd seen. []
And hey if you every pull up a tiger pattern dipsy diver from Hyrum - I want it back! That had one of my favorite dogders too!

Ok - last one. Wasn't fishing, but my sister was canoeing on an Alaska adventure. Boat ahead warned them to look out for something in the water. My sis's boat was next one up - as they got close the "log" rolled, and a hand floated to the surface. They jumped back so fast, nearly capsized the boat. Turned out some lonely Alaskan had committed suicide after his wife died.
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[fishguru73]

Did you foul hook the bullfrog or did he eat the frog you were using?[shocked] I've hooked bullfrogs by the hind legs a few times while fishing. I've also used frogs for catfish on limb lines and they can work incredibly well at times. Catching a bullfrog with a small frog for bait would be new to me but anything is possible.
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[fishguru73]

I bet round 2 didn't start until you got him to the boat. Good job on handling him without breaking off. It takes some skills to deal with something that is fighting really hard on tackle that isn't designed to handle it.
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[fishguru73]

I can just picture the tour boat full of animal rights activists cheering every time you lost a fish. At least you got a piece of them.
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[mactuna]

No I just bet a friend I would get it too the boat fo $50 and it was on 40 lb test. Cut it off at the boat, but I still got it too the boat. We were fishing for White Seabass and I had been getting broke off with 20 so I went bigger. I did catch 2 White Seabass and 1 was 45 and the other was 52.
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[fishguru73]

I looked them up and you're right; they aren't the glamorous fish that bring people to Alaska. They are kinda cool looking in a weird sort of way but they ain't pretty.
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[fishguru73]

I guess $50 is good incentive to land your catch. When you say "white sea bass" I presume you are talking about what us land lovers call striped bass?
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