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Posts: 2091
Location: Stevens Point, WI | This morning when I was fishing a small lake close to here I had a very strange event happen. I was working a Doc along a deep weed edge and I saw a blue heron standing on some timber along shore about 30 yards from my Doc when out of the blue (pun intended) it squaked and tore after the bait over open water!!! Mind you I was retreiving the bait directly towards me and it took 3-4 swipes at the Doc with it's feet! I had to reel it in as fast as I could, thank god for the higher gear ratio on the 6500 C4. Anyways the bird missed me by about two feet on the follow and I could feel the wind from it's wings. I don't know if I was more shook up from that or the mid 40's I had take a couple swipes at the same bait a half hour before that. It definately made for an interesting morning. Had two other blow-ups on a Pacemaker and one follow on a Slopmaster. |
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Posts: 1769
Location: Algonquin, ILL | Had a Bald Eagle take a few swipes at a suick once, that's all I need is to have the feds come down on me for hurting a Eagle I'm just glad it missed
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Posts: 2091
Location: Stevens Point, WI | I've had eagles interested in baits but have never seen a blue heron so aggressive. |
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Posts: 3242
Location: Racine, Wi | I had that happen a couple of weeks ago. Earlier this year, on the same spot, same bait, my dad had an owl try to hit a topraider. Then as I was telling my buddy this, he says "HOLY $#@%" I look over, and the heron is almost standing on the water trying to spear the topraider!!!! That is nuts!!!!!! |
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Posts: 2091
Location: Stevens Point, WI | It was almost like a scene in a cheesy movie with a Pterodactyl swooping in at it, I really thought there was going to be a collision. |
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Posts: 691
Location: nationwide | Blue Herons chasing baits is pretty rare although I have seen it twice in the boat this year. Once on a suick and once on a pacemaker. You can always tell if you have a customer when they are standing because they straighten out their neck and turn their head sideways - then take off for the attack. The heron that chased the pacemaker actually walked on the water with its wings out flappin' for about 20 feet before deciding the bait was too close to the boat and flew off. We were rollin on that one. Other creatures to follow and/or swipe at baits include owls, eagles, hawks, seaguls, pelicans, snapping turtles, pine snakes, loons and a mink. I look at it this way, the bait is supposed to look injured and easy prey and if these things are taking a look it must be doing it's job. The worst ones are owls because they usually hit after dark and you never know until you hear the rush of wind from their wings and it all hits the fan within a second or two. Now thats night fishing!!!!!
Corey Meyer |
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| Had a Bald Eagle chase a Topraider a few years back, something to see for sure!  |
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Posts: 303
Location: Valentine, NE USA | There have been several instances where I've caught bats (technically they caught me) while fly fishing in the evenings. Kind of surprises the hell out of a guy! |
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| I have had a few seagulls actually take my glide baits into the air and finally let go about 20 feet in the air. You feel helpless. Try to pull thhe lure away and you may snag the bird. Let it go and you have a "Bird kite". Fortunately all of mine let it go after a short flight. Silver Lake (Kenosha wisc) seems to happen the most. |
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Posts: 1335
Location: Chicago, Beverly | I had a Eagle swoop at a spinnerbait a few years ago... Had a Swan try and chase a Pacemaker this past Tuesday 3 times... Multiple Turtle follows and have actually caught a Soft Shell turtle while bass fishing, on a Rapala Shad Rap once. |
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Posts: 20281
Location: oswego, il | We caught a seagull a few years ago. It is wild what all the other seagulls do when that happens, they all ralley to the cause.
Last week my grandfather had an interesting follow to the boat, it was a loon! Glad we did not hook that one. |
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Posts: 425
Location: Elkhart, IN | So if it doesn't make contact with the lure is it considered a follow  |
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| This is for the birds! I also had a great blue heron take some unsuccessful swoops at a giant jackpot a couple years back on Loon lake in IN......caught a "Booby" bird in Cannes Australia fishing for Black Marlin (10 fish (marlin) day by the way)....and a large frigate bird in Costa Rica trolling for sails/marlin/dolphin. Both birds came in reluctantly but were very well behaved on board and were released w/o harm. Had another weird bird encounter last weekend where a beautiful white/black carrier pigeon landed on my boat while in my driveway and proceeded to hop around on it and coo to me---well we struck up quite a conversation for about an hour....I then gently reminded it not to take a dump on my boat and poof it was gone.....shortly after I headed down the road to hit the water and to my dismay found the poor little thing smooshed on the road about a hundred feet from my boat right in front of me!!! Almost got teary eyed......think I'm going batty!
JK |
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Posts: 158
Location: Eagan, MN | I actually caught a heron (I think, or an egret, not great at id'ing birds) on a jackpot about seven years ago. Luckily by the time I had it boatside the hook fell out and the bird flew away. |
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