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Posts: 8716
| Thought I'd resurrect this one so we can all share each other's misery.
Here's mine: (I'll try to shorten it, but with the number of things that went wrong that day, it won't be easy.)
Went next door one Sunday to sit in my buddy's boat and have a beer... (redneck much?) BEAUTIFUL day... " Today would be a perfect day to fish. Wanna go? Yeah, why not??" So we load up the boat and decide to head to Madison. It's a 2-1/2 hour drive on a good day. Not too far for half a day on the water...
So we get to 290, and traffic STOPS. Accident. 45 minutes GONE. Get through Rockford and almost to the state line, traffic stops AGAIN. Road construction. Sat in traffic for another hour. Looking kind of dark up North. The closer we get, the darker it gets. Definitely some weather moving in.
Get to Madison two hours late... Drive past the Monona Launch, wind is howling. White caps. Hmph. Wauby? Dumped the boat just as it was starting to drizzle. Thunder in the distance. We get out past the Bible Camp, maybe 50 yards from the landing, blowing like a MF... I see lightning. Yep. Here it comes. "Let's fish until the lightning gets bad..." *BOOOMMMM!!!* crap, that was kind of close. We make all of three casts, and it starts raining buckets. Lightning hits a tree right in front of us. "LET'S GET THE %&$* OUT OF HERE!!!!!"
So we hunker down and head back to the landing, wide open throttle. Rain HURTS at 40 MPH. Hail hurts worse. Park the boat, hop out, and RUN to the little fish house. Stand in fish house for well over an hour. It's the storm that will not end. Temperature dropping by the minute.
Finally head back out at around 6:00. First cast, my buddy gets a backlash, *SNAP!* Brand new bait gone. We search around, can't find it. He clips on another bait. *SNAP!*... Boat's blowing all over, we can't see anything, we're soaked, and cold. Too windy. "Screw it, let's go fish Wingra."
Pull the boat, head to Wingra, dump the boat, storm has finally dwindled down to drizzle. If it wasn't blowing so hard and I wasn't soaked, this wouldn't be so bad. We head down to the East end of the lake. First cast, the other guy who was with us gets his line all wound around the trolling motor. It was so bad we had to take the blade off. Lost another 30 minutes. Finally get back to casting, nearly dark now, and my buddy runs head on into the thick milfoil. I smell something burning. Trolling motor? DEAD. Someone wired it without a fuse and a big blob of milfoil was just enough to cook the wiring. So we fire up the big motor. It's that or nothing. I step up to throw a cast, slip, and land on my back on my tackle bag. Racked up my back pretty bad. Dark by now. We finally say "f-it" and give up.
15 minutes outside of Madison it starts raining. Drove home through that same storm in the direction it was heading, for nearly two hours. My buddy is white knuckling it the whole way. Since we're all so soaked and the heat is on in the truck the windows keep fogging up and we can't see. At one point about 45 minutes from home, the guy in the back says "Hey, turn off the radio. What the hell is that noise?!?" "I don't know, but it sounds BAD! I see sparks! What the... Oh %*%&!!!"
At some point on the highway the trolling motor deployed. Tore it up pretty good. Good news is it was already busted. Got home at 11:30pm. Everything at home was bone dry. Didn't rain a drop here. Spent the next two hours dumping water out of my plano boxes and hanging lures on everything I could find. My bucktails were dripping. Tools soaked, clothes soaked, underwear soaked, tackle bag soaked, camera soaked, I even dumped water out of my boots.
Definitely my worst musky fishing day to date. At least the boat didn't sink and nobody died...
10 years and that was definitely the worst day ever. I'm laughing as I type this, but it wasn't funny then. I think I swore more that day than any day of my life, and for those of you who know me, that's an accomplishment!
Let's hear yours.
Edited by esoxaddict 9/30/2014 8:26 PM
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Posts: 4080
Location: Elko - Lake Vermilion | I thought I had a pretty good one ,until I read yours....That really Sucks. |
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| Yikes! ! And I thought 1 follow was a bad day... |
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Posts: 558
| I think that takes the cake. Lol. At least things could only get better. |
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Posts: 23
| Geeze, none of my stories even come close to this. Sorry man... |
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Posts: 1023
| Yah. I've got nothing after that story. |
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Posts: 8716
| Aw come on guys. Let's hear them! It's not a contest. I'm sure you've all had a day where you felt like musky fishing was the dumbest thing you ever decided to do.
Edited by esoxaddict 10/1/2014 1:11 PM
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Posts: 4343
Location: Smith Creek | Not the WORST day but...
Took the wife and 3 & 5 year old daughters canoing. Had a jointed rapala dragging behind the canoe, rigged on the 5 year old's spincast combo. About 3 miles into journey I notice a fish jumping behind the boat. I also notice she had pressed the button on her reel so it was in freespool. I asked her to reel in and she replied that she couldn't. After a brief and exciting tussle we had the fish up to the boat, a nice bass of about 18". I had no net and wasn't about to lip a fish with a jointed rapala in its yap, so I reached under its belly and lifted it from the water. It squirmed out my grasp and onto my 3 year old's lap, barb imbedded in her knee. She howled. As I reached back to unhook my daughter and the fish my wife panicked and the next thing I knew we were all in the river. Snacks, car seats, phone, camera, kids, wife, all soaked (and frightened, and mad).
Fortunately during the flip the hook came out of my daughter, turns out it was barely in her leg. Unfortunately the water was low and I spent the better part of the last 3 miles dragging the canoe over shallow rocks, while my daughters and wife continually asked me when we were going home, and telling me they didn't want to canoe or catch a fish ever again.
Considering my dad died at a boat landing and several folks I knew have gone through the ice and died, this was really small potatoes.
Edited by Flambeauski 10/1/2014 1:00 PM
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Posts: 705
Location: Alex or Alek? | Not muskie fishing but a bunch of friends went up to the BWCA for a labor day getaway. We wake up and it is a beautiful day. We decide to take a day trip up a river and see if we can find some eyes. The day starts out pretty smooth, we start catching a couple bass and some small eyes when i hook into a 23" smally. All the sudden the sky starts looking pretty dark in every direction. We decide to haul A** to the "lunch spot", since it was around lunch time and we are all getting pretty hungry, and wait it out there. When we get there we thought we would have enough time to cook up a meal but little do we know the how bad it would get. as soon as we get all the fished filleted the rain, lighting, and thunder start. next thing we know the wind picks up the canoes and starts blowing them away. Myself and a friend jump in the river and retrieve them while everyone else(there was 9 of us) starts bringing all out gear into the woods so nothing else gets blown away. we all sit huddled together while rain is coming at us sideways and we are just hoping a tree doesn't fall on us(we where hearing a couple fall around us). finally after 30-45 min of just sitting there, wondering if it would end, it started to die down. we gather our gear and head back to camp and eat rice burritos that night because we couldn't buy a bite after that.
All in all most of us still want to make a return trip. |
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Posts: 1168
| It wasn't muskie fishing, it was walleye fishing. My partner snagged a corpse. |
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Posts: 8716
| ulbian - 10/1/2014 2:28 PM
It wasn't muskie fishing, it was walleye fishing. My partner snagged a corpse.
It better be the same guy from the "have you caught anything weird" thread, because if there is more than one guy out there snagging dead bodies, I really have to re-think this whole musky-fishing thing! |
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Posts: 2097
| Three years ago when I was a "rookie" I was out on the water in my dad's old boat. The boat started filling up with water, I gunned it back to the dock and water was almost over stern. As I jumped off the boat to get the trailer I stepped on a rod and broke it. I got the boat on the trailer. It turned out that the live well pump broke a fitting and that was allowing all the water to come in. |
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Posts: 131
| I agree the dead body thing is getting creepy...... |
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Posts: 711
| In no order:
1. The day I lost my first 50 plus
2. Having a 17,000 dollar fish on the line for about 4 seconds...in other words losing a $17000 fish
3. Finding a drowning victim about 3 minutes too late right by the ramp...technically not a fishing day...I went home after.
Edited by bturg 10/1/2014 8:53 PM
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Posts: 8716
| WTF Bob.
WTF!
That's three too many guys that found a stiff out on the water!
I know of one who caught his first 50 and keeled over dead into the net.
But this #*#* is getting weird!
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Posts: 744
| I can add to the corpse fun.... When I was 12 or 13 we had a big northern bass bite dialed in a farm pond/small lake biking distancefrom my house. The pnd saw no action other than the farmer who speared some int he winter. If you drive by the area now its all develped; the farm is gone, office buildings and and retial space make up the landscape. We went to our spot to start wading into fish and saw a car had gone off the freeway (494) went down the embankment and was half submerged inthe pond. We went over to invesitage and there was a dead guy in the drivers seat. He had been there cuple of days. My freind went over to the Farmers to call the police...no fishign that day for us... |
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Posts: 284
Location: Eagan, MN | Bturg was 3 mins too late to save that poor soul, but has saved more than one other guys life. That would go in another "Best Day" thread I suppose.
Brian |
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Posts: 345
Location: Poynette WI. | Depending on how I'm feeling this is either the worst day or a great day. Fishing the Eagle River Spring Classic this year my partner and I caught 4 fish that measured 29- 29.5 in, size limit was 30 in. had 4 others hooked that we lost, one we estimated 46-48in. big fish that day was 45in. I raised it with a top water bait and my partner through out a jig on 10lb test line for some reason, I had 5 other poles set up in the boat with 50lb or better line on them and one set up with a jig too, but he grabs his walleye rod, sure thing hooks up with the fish and all you can hear is the drag burning, had the fish on for 5 mins before coming off, it was his first tournament and i gave him the pass on it. another lower 40's i thought snapped my line or broke my leader, only to find out the snap was closed still after flying into the boat, so that means the wire broke on the spinner i was using, 2 other legal fish lost at the boat. My original partner for the tournament ended up having to work so I let my cousing come with on short notice. we had 11 other follows that were confirmed musky's. So all in all alot of action and so if it wasnt for it being a tournament it would have been a great day. 1st place was 8 fish so that made me feel better that we didnt lose out on that, but still wouldve been nice to finish in the top 5 instead of not even being on the scoreboard. I forget what the payouts were, but we should have been in the money and if we did, I was staying for the PMTT the following weekend because we left a lot of fish behind that i know were still there. Pre-fished the friday before and figured out that we our tackle was to big after having 10 fish follow, so made the adjustsments and downsized, but forgot how to put a legal fish in the boat I guess. That day still hurts to think about, but was one of the best days as far as action I've ever had. I would also like to thank a certain someone for pointing us in the right direction if your reading this, you know who you are. I'll be back next year and it's redemtion time!!! |
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Posts: 305
Location: Illinois | I think I have you all beat.
I fished the Fox Chain on a Saturday |
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Posts: 718
| First day I took the wife musky fishing. She never used a Bondy Bait before and while I put the trolling motor down, she swam the bait just under the surface to see the blade spin. Within 1/2 second a 20 pounder comes out of nowhere and she hooks it and freaks out. Too scared to hold it for a picture so we put it back. Seconds later I lift the bait in the air and our yellow lab grabs it and crunches down. After 20 minutes worth of balling wife and yelping dog, I was able to extract them. Thank God I had the knowledge and the tools or it could have been REAL bad. |
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Posts: 485
Location: On my favorite lake! | I got you beat husky jerk. I tried fishing the chain the morning of 4th of July. I should have checked into the asylum but I was already there. |
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Posts: 304
Location: Lino Lakes, MN | Well it was a rainy/drizzely September day much like today. I snuck out for a few hours of muskie fishing. Started out fishing with a bucktail for the first spot---- Nothing. Switched to a spinnerbait on the next spot fished 30 minutes and not a follow.... dead sea...... Switched to a Hawg Wobbler and 2nd cast a mid 40 inch fish hits boatside out of nowhere...... I pooched that fish.... huge flinch... bummed I cast off the other side of the spot. less than 7 casts later a fish rises up behind my bait it closes the distance and eats the bait. I feel the weight and set the hook.... muskie jumps once and throws the bait...... Check the hooks out and they are sharp...
Start casting in a different direction .. . wait here comes a muskie... it eats the bait I set the hook after feeling the weight of the fish.. 1 jump... 2 jumps a dive and fish gets off.... getting kind of discouraged at this point... start casting in a different direction and several casts later... another muskie pulls in behind the wobbler.. It closed the distance on the bait and ate it... wait set the hook on the weight of the fish. 1 jump swimming hard at the boat and a jump coming right at me. I cleared off the front platform and it lands just short of the boat..... a few runs and she is off... What the Heck....... I'm peeed off-- every cloud is soaking me just a little more... The fish are on fire..... never seen anything like it.....
Start casting after checking the bait... hooks are sharp.. a few casts later here comes another fish..... she closes on the bait and eats it. I set the hook at the weight of the fish... She jumps once.. comes up boatside and bang... bang... bang.... hits her head on the side of the boat.... and she comes off.......
Im getting wetter and colder by the minute.... I finish the spot out and by now I have lost count on the number of fish that have hit and that I had hooks into...Go to the next spot and sure enough here comes a fish..... closes on the bait and eats... several jumps later she is giving me the fin. getting wetter and colder the fish are still eating... make another cast or 10 and here comes another fish... I could see the blond glow behind my bait... Wait where did she go.... what..... she didn't eat the bait?????? as the water erupted my hawg wobbler walked out of the white water as one of the biggest fish I have ever seen streaked to the side leaving a wake on the surface for about 40 feet.......
Now I am really cold....Wet..... peeed off...... the muskies are going nuts.....I run to my car and grabbed some dry clothing ate a quick sandwich... recruited a net man and proceded to hook one of the 3 fish in the last spot.. jump,, jump... dive fight... jump and get off.
I had the follow from the giant again only she followed the wobbler to the boat to show off her girth and toothy smile.....
Went to the first spot and only got 1 more hit.... the window had closed....
I had really mixed emotions at that point.... half of the fish were 45 or better and they came from every direction that I was casting....
I did not sleep well for quite a few days without seeing those fish....
Looking back on it I was dam lucky to have had this opportunity and it may rate up there as the best day of muskie fishing I have ever had..... and that was way back around 2000 +-
Now I am a huge proponent of hooks with wide gaps.. rods with real backbone...reels with solid drags that can be locked down. I was using a 7'6" St Croix premier H from the mid 90's... a 6500 C reel 65# tuff line.
I love the Hawg Wobblers but still struggle with good hook ups with them. They are better with the longer rods with more backbone. I would like to see some bigger wide gap short shank hooks to load them up with without messing up the action.
Good luck
Steve
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Posts: 619
| Bturg - what happened that caused someone to drown at a boat landing? |
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Posts: 711
| 1997 I think, under the old Grays Bay bridge...right by the ramp at the old G B marina. A 19 yr old guy fishing from shore slipped off the steep drop off and was already under when I was driving thru as kids yelled that someone was drowning. I dove in and found him in about 16 ft of water (it was deeper under the old bridge) but it was too late and we could not revive him. It really sucked to be only about 2-4 minutes too late driving thru because I found him pretty quickly.
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Location: The desert | bturg - 10/2/2014 10:13 PM
1997 I think, under the old Grays Bay bridge...right by the ramp at the old G B marina. A 19 yr old guy fishing from shore slipped off the steep drop off and was already under when I was driving thru as kids yelled that someone was drowning. I dove in and found him in about 16 ft of water (it was deeper under the old bridge) but it was too late and we could not revive him. It really sucked to be only about 2-4 minutes too late driving thru because I found him pretty quickly.
You win, I guess. That's a rough one. Sorry to hear. |
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Posts: 3772
| Holy cow, dead folks. That'll leave a mark for sure. |
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Posts: 1283
| Lightning - 10/2/2014 6:22 PM
I got you beat husky jerk. I tried fishing the chain the morning of 4th of July. I should have checked into the asylum but I was already there.
So did I. But we did manage a little 30" fish right next to the sandbar and 100 mored boats. They looked at us like we caught Jaws or something. lol |
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Posts: 815
Location: Waukee, IA | Just had mine this past Thursday. Fishing a new lake and within an hour of each other I had the reel on my bucktail rod break and broke the case for the head of my maxxum, taking the steering cables and direction indicator with it. I might be done for the year and I'm really bummed about it. |
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Posts: 34
| Twice I have gone out with all my gear, rods, everything and forgotten to bring my TACKLE BOX. |
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Posts: 1283
| Jimmy_S - 10/20/2014 7:51 PM
Twice I have gone out with all my gear, rods, everything and forgotten to bring my TACKLE BOX.
Lol Thats just as bad as me. I drag race a Firebird and once rented a trailer, borrowed a truck, drove 100 miles each way, paid to race and entry for 2 other people and forgot the #*^@ keys to the car. |
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