An interesting experience

[Quade]

I am sure that we have all had our share of interesting experiences in our day, so please, if you wnat to share some of the craziest things that have happened to you while fishing, please do. I'll start us off.

Yesterday afternoon after I got off of work I decided that I would do a little fishing in the creek down the street from my house. As is turned out I only got one fish but I did get something else. Over the past few days, we have gotten a lot of rain in the D/FW area and so the creek that I normally fish in was a little muddy and swollen. Not being one to give up that easily, I decided that even if I didn't catch anything that atleast I was outside and away from my wife for a few minutes. The first couple of casts went un-noticed, but the second was hit pretty hard by a LMB that was about 1 pound. That is where the fun ended. After this fun little fight, I decided to move up the creek a bit and try another spot. Finally I found a spot that I like and start my false casts and laid my clouser in the water, which was greeted eagerly but I missed the strike. My second cast accidentilly landed on the bank by about 6 inches or so, but even on land you can still catch something as I have found out due to the 2 and a half foot Cotton-mouth that struck my fly when I tried to retrieve it. For those of you who have never foughta snake on a fly-rod, I highly recommend it as it is more exilerating than a strong cup of cappuccino. After a good fight, I had gotten the snake close enough to me that I could see how I had hooked him, but I never could get him out of the water(although I was able to keep him far enough away from me to keep from getting bit, thank God for my 9' rod), so now I was in a real predicament. Finally it hit me, I could simply false cast him off of my minnow(yeah right). Thankfully there was no-one around to see me because I am sure that they would have died laughing watching this idiot flail a poisonous snake around with a fly-rod. Finally the leader broke with my clouser and the snake still attached. Later on in the night, I lay in bed thinking about what had happened. This raised a very interesteing question. Does anyone else carry a 12 gauge pump shot-gun with them when they go fly-fishing as I do now?

[Joe Valencic]

No, but I do carry a .40 Glock.

[Quade]

Good to know. I thought maybe I was just crazy or soemthing.

[William Fitzgerald]

Try being waist deep in a Smokey Mt stream and have a Copperhead swim right toward you. No shot-gun just a fly rod to beat him. BILL

[Quade]

Oh I didn't have one with me yesterday, but I carry one with me now, haha.

[shorthaul]

I was fishing by myself on Pennsylvania's Tionesta Creek around Ross Run when a huge thunderstorm with lightning came over the hill. With me grounded nicely in the water with my "lightning rod" sticking up, I decided to get out of the water onto a small island.

I walked about 10 ft and saw 3 rattlesnakes---so i got back in the water.

[jeffnles1]

I was fishing by myself on Pennsylvania's Tionesta Creek around Ross Run when a huge thunderstorm with lightning came over the hill. With me grounded nicely in the water with my "lightning rod" sticking up, I decided to get out of the water onto a small island.

I walked about 10 ft and saw 3 rattlesnakes---so i got back in the water.

I think I'd take my chances with the snakes

I do carry a .357 S&W snubbie when I fish anywhere it's leagal to do so (i.e. not in the national parks). Don't think I'd shoot a snake but mean dogs are a different matter alltogether.

As for catching strange stuff on the fly rod, I guess a big bull frog would be the most unusual thing I ever hooked on a popper.

Jeff

[shorthaul]

jeffnles---i wanna go fast

On the frogs---i dont know why people gig them---they will always take a dangling fly---the fight isnt that spectacular and they only jump AFTER you get them OUT of the water!

the other thing that happened on the Au Sable in Grayling was ---3 of us got out of the water and were walking back down Shaw road to Gate's Lodge when we took a wrong fork in the road and ended up at somebody's cottage ---we turned around and were walking back and there were bear tracks over our bootprints in the sand----yikes!

[Quade]

Its a good thing that you had friends with you that day shorthaul. At least then the bear had a choice and you might have been able to get away, haha.

[jeffnles1]

Bear tracks, now, that's a different matter.

In July, my son and I were at Yellowstone. We were fishing up Black Tail Deer Creek. About 1/2 mile from the road there's a willow thicket one has to either go through or around. There's a good fisherman's path through the willows so we chose to save some time.

We were making a lot of noise, talking loudly, etc. My son kept saying "Dad, this looks like bear country". Yes, I answered let's keep talking and making noise.

About 20 yards farther, he looked on the ground and asked "Dad is that bear poop". Well, it was some kind of scat and not being a bear expert, all I could say was "something pooped there but I'm not sure if it was a bear." About 50 or so yards farther, my boy said "Dad isn't that a bear track in the sand?" Well, I'm no bear expert, but that was the biggest bear track I have ever seen. It looked as big as my head.

We decided to go out of the willows and move on up stream.

Upon returning to the road, we saw two park service volunteers wearing headphones and waving a tracking device antenna around in the air and pointing toward the direction from which we came. They hopped in their suv and moved on up the road.

Jeff