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Posts: 390
| So over opener I had 2 almost horrible encounters with a blue heron and a osprey trying to attack my lure. I was using a topwater lure and I have had birds approach before but never commit, but the interesting thing is that both birds "hit" the lure, and they sure hit it, splashes and everything, within 10 yards of the boat. It seems odd to me that these bird came so near a boat, when I would have never gotten anywhere near on land. I guess when your hungry.
Anyone else ever hook or have close encounters with birds of prey? |
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Posts: 119
| I had a mallard get a bill full of a clothespin spinner. I'm positive he was just taken surprise by it and bit at it as a defense mechanism ... surprisingly enough it was strong enough to fly with it stuck in his mouth. So I proceeded to reel in a flying duck in front of a few kids and their mother who were all totally mortified at the spectacle. Fortunately I was able to cut and remove the hooks and he went on about his feathery day unscathed.
But not on a story telling note - I'm sure y'all have seen the video of that bald eagle coming down and snatching a fly fisherman's trout whilst he was fighting it. That eagle took every inch of backing he had on that reel in a nanosecond lol. |
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| Had blue heron try and take multiple stabs at a wtd bait. Had a loon follow a bucktail underwater. Seagulls are always interested |
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Posts: 431
| My buddy and I used smelt for atlantic salmon on the st Mary's river. He backlashed and the bait landed on shore, quickly to be picked up by a seagull while he fixed his birds nest. It flew and fought as well but was landed without much trouble. Also had a realtor that pulled up a cormorant through the ice in the winter. He was 100ft from open water (dock bubblers) and said the thing hammered his minnow. |
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Posts: 8719
| Many. Caught a duck when I was a kid. Caught a pelican and Tern down in FL. Luckily there were others around to help.
Had a loon or two go around on the 8. Whacked a seagull on a cast once. Also had an owl try to eat a jackpot. That was by far the worst. Luckily he missed, because I sure don't want to be trying to unhook one of those.
Learned a trick from an old saltwater guy. It's a two person job, but if you cover their heads with a rag and hold them down while someone else unhooks them they remain pretty calm during the whole ordeal.
Edited by esoxaddict 6/5/2017 3:16 PM
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Posts: 770
| I had an owl pick a frog off of a lilly pad bass fishing he had it about 15' above the water a quick twich of the rod pulled it away from him, im thabkfull he didnt get hooked |
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Posts: 1275
Location: Hayward, Wisconsin | Had a seagull take a Cisco Kid. Luckily he came unpinned after a short flight/battle. |
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Posts: 735
Location: Apparently where the Muskie aren't | Had a canvasback eat a jerkbait. I thought it was a weird fighting fish for a while. I can't kill a canvasback but I sure can catch them. Lol |
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Posts: 153
| My buddy snagged a beaver last summer. He cut the lure off.
I hit a seagull on a cast a long time ago and snagged it. I was able to get the buck tail back by using the "bow and arrow" move. |
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Posts: 20179
Location: oswego, il | Has a seagull pick up a 6" jake once, reeled it in and released it. While releasing every seagull on silver lake circled our boat until we released it. Must have been 500 flying in a formation and squawking their asses off. Have had eagles pick up and drop baits before and once had a loon follow a lure to the boat.
Seagulls on the cooling lakes down here fly behind our boat wake looking for shad.
Edited by ToddM 6/5/2017 5:19 PM
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Posts: 1416
Location: oconomowoc, wi | had a seagull swoop down and pick up a #5 j-plug on lk michigan. that was interesting getting the thing unhooked! |
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| Fortunately, never hooked anything but have had gulls, eagle attempt to grab jerk baits. Last year I had a loon take a shine to a Phantom and almost didn't get it out of the water fast enough. Normally if I see a loon in the area, I am very aware of where they are etc., but this one came from well behind me and I didn't see it until it was six feet behind the lure. |
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Location: On the O | Once hit a bat in mid flight with a cast. Never saw it, my lure just came to a complete stop halfway out. Then I noticed the bat swimming to shore. Who knew bats were such good swimmers? It made pretty good time getting to shore. The whole time I thought something was going to crush it and I would have the next great bait idea. Sadly the Battling Bat never came to be. |
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Posts: 293
Location: Sakatchewan,Canada | BigC - 6/6/2017 6:26 AM
Once hit a bat in mid flight with a cast. Never saw it, my lure just came to a complete stop halfway out. Then I noticed the bat swimming to shore. Who knew bats were such good swimmers? It made pretty good time getting to shore. The whole time I thought something was going to crush it and I would have the next great bait idea. Sadly the Battling Bat never came to be.
Savage gear just released a Bat top water lure, a creeper. It has caught some big fish already! |
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Posts: 1168
| Made a mad dash across a lake just as it was getting dark so I could get to a bathroom before soiling myself and a coot blasted me in the forehead. Soiled myself anyway. |
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Posts: 221
| ulbian - 6/7/2017 12:26 AM
Made a mad dash across a lake just as it was getting dark so I could get to a bathroom before soiling myself and a coot blasted me in the forehead. Soiled myself anyway.
Was driving late one night in the middle of the lake and came into a pile of bats. Had two graze my head. 2nd grossest experience of my life. But did not release my bowels. |
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Posts: 1200
Location: E. Tenn | Had a seagull successfully dive bomb a Rapala, and crossed paths with a heron mid cast.. had some help immobilizing both, and they each went on their merry way, only slightly embarrassed, and no worse for wear.
A bit off topic, but "bat related"... our local gun club shoots skeet and trap one evening during the week. With a floodlit skeet field, and warm summer nights, flying insects are drawn like moths to a flame, and the bats have a buffet feast. We've always admired their agility, and abilty to stay out of the line of fire.
One night, one of the members and I were in the process off shutting the place down, which included burning the cardboard boxes that used to contain the clays. A glowing ember wafted up, and one of then bats figured he was about to chow down on the equivalent of a free filet mignon.... that is until he chomped down on said glowing ember, and promptly released it.. |
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Posts: 8719
| I'm surprised there aren't more bat encounters. They're agile, but if you've ever taken a good flashlight out in the boat and scanned the sky with it it's ridiculous how many bats are flying around near the surface. Kind of freaks you out when you can hear them whizzing past your head but it's too dark to actually see them. |
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Posts: 2228
Location: SE, WI. | Many moons ago, on Pelican lake, treacherous bay, fishing a topwater. I could see a Blue heron coming straight towards my boat about 20' overhead. As it got close to the boat, I saw a Pronounced head dip as he looked down at my surface bait, But what he really saw was a wall of water, and musky pushing a wake, chasing down my surface bait, Then I look at my lure, after watching the bird, saw the wake, then whoosh.....fish was gone!!!! #*^@ bird spoked the musky as it must have saw the 6' wing spand. Costed me a nice surface strike, and musky. Had many occurrences with loons chasing bucktails. I just leave the spot. I'd hate to hook a loon. JD |
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Posts: 98
| Yes, accidentally caught 2 seagulls on a rapala skitter pop while fishing for smallmouth and also hooked a beaver on it aswell still have the same skitter pop and it still catches fish |
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Posts: 1767
Location: Lake Country, Wisconsin | I suggest pulling the bait away from all birds under 5 pounds...
Edited by Musky Brian 6/16/2017 9:41 AM
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Posts: 1516
| Nuclear.smelt - 6/16/2017 7:43 AM
Yes, accidentally caught 2 seagulls on a rapala skitter pop while fishing for smallmouth and also hooked a beaver on it aswell still have the same skitter pop and it still catches fish
Was this an angry beaver like to one in the Duluth Trading Co. ads? |
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Posts: 2091
Location: Stevens Point, WI | I had a Blue Heron fly directly at me and not my bait, missed my head by less than a foot, it was not happy I was encroaching on his turf. I've also had Loons on a couple occasions swim under my boat checking out my lure on figure-8's. |
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Posts: 705
Location: Alex or Alek? | I had a hawk one day that wouldn't stop diving down after my jackpot. Everytime it got close i just did a harder, faster jerk and it flared off so it definitely entertained me for awhile. The stupid thing even followed us to 2 different spots! |
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