While fishing for sunnies I foul hooked a good sized snapping turtle. That battle was longer in duration than any I’ve ever had.
When beached he challenged me vocally at which time I just cut him loose. He kept the fly as a gift.
I’ve had many run ins with wildlife while fishing but a couple come to mind quickly. One spring afternoon I was walking in very deep grass going from one hole to another when I took one step ahead and right from under the foot I was about to step down on out flushed a female turkey with such an outburst of noise I nearly soiled myself. After I regained my composure I looked down at a nest with four of five eggs in it. Last summer I also foul hooked a soft shell turtle in the side and I thought I had hooked a large log midstream except that it was slowly going upstream. Best fight I ever had on my five weight and ended up having to just back out of the river to get it on land. My fishing buddy was coming upstream to get a picture of my “catch” when the turtle got tired of being someplace it didn’t want to be, swam out into the river and broke my six pound leader like it was nothing.
Reading through these reminded me of some other encounters.
I’ve had Mink walk right up and practically step on my feet.
One late afternoon at a local pond, I had to endure the noisy, agonizingly long and tortuous death of a mallard drake at the hands of a snapping turtle that had grabbed its foot and tried to drown it in water that was probaby just a bit too shallow for the task. The turtle did eventually win.
While fishing a crick which flowed into a canal, I got chased out by rats. They seemed totally unafraid of me and were getting too close for comfort (I HATE rats!!!). Good sized ones, too. I guess they were street-smart and knew how to handle humans who may have something edible to share. I gave 'em nothing!
Plenty of wildlife sightings in Yellowstone. The closest encounters onstream have usually been with herds of grazing bison; never felt threatened and I made sure to give them a wide berth when moving. Got to watch a coyote jump a mouse/vole/whatever about 10’ away while fishing; took maybe 2 bites to swallow it. Also had the First Meadow on Slough Creek all to ourselves because a bear was charging back and forth across a field about 1/4 mile away (2 guys fished and the 3rd watched the bear).
Only time I’ve really felt threatened was by an irate bull protecting his harem on Fallings Springs, PA; got out of there ASAP.
Regards,
Scott
Those occasional wildlife encounters are some of my best fly fishing memories. My best was being across the river from a grizzly in Alaska. He sat down in the water, sat up, and began swiping salmon from the river and eating them just like we eat corn on the cob. He’d strip one, toss it and swipe up another one. I went from being scared, to being fascinated, to laughing out loud at the gluttonous antics.
I’m another kayaker that fly-fishes. I’ve seen deer along the bank that decided to take a swim. Bald Eagles, an Osprey, Beaver, Muskrat, a few snakes, some Raccoons, etc.
Over the years there have been too many encounters to count. Had a muskrat come up in a fish house while ice fishing. Spent a half hour watching a mink hunt crayfish on a stream. One time turned to see what that odd sound was and a mink was dining on salmon about three feet away. Most memorable encounter by far, stepped down from a beaver dam while brookie fishing and stepped straight into a yellow jacket nest. Very memoranle!
I am fortunate to live very near a trout-stocked reservoir which has resident nesting bald eagles and ospreys. It is really cool to see them fishing. They seem to know when the place isstocked, and they feast on the newly stocked hatchery trout. They seldom miss.
I have also spotted porcupines on river banks.
Last Fall I got to see one of our resident Bald Eagles chasing the resident Osprey for a fish it had just caught. The dogfight lasted about 20 seconds.
I’ve had two very close Grizz encounters in Wyoming. The first was in Y’Stone near the West ( Cody) entrance and the second in/near Grand Teton NP near Flagg Ranch. In the first case, the park entrance was closed for certain hours daily for road construction. We were parked in line for about 2 hours when I decided to better use my time and try my luck at the roadside stream??? I shoulda stayed in the car. About a mile from the car, I surprised it or did it surprise me?, a BEAR at about 50 feet away. Armed with only a fly rod , I thought THIS was how STUPID people end up as lunch. I WAS ultimately eaten by that bear and now am resurrected as Marco ( but MUCH wiser)
The second encounter was a bit less dramatic ( I survived) . It was about 5 miles So th of Flagg Ranch on teh Snake River, We were eating our lunch near a suspicious “mound” which turned out to be a buried moose carcass stashed by Grizz for future consumption. Well he did show up and seemed to be concerned about our presence so near to his stash. We started screaming, clapping, whistling ( FOR OUR LIVES) and the bear sauntered off. We did walk backwards for much of the way back to our car.
As a result of these incidents, I now carry ( where legal) a 44 mag revolver and a large can of UDAP.
I have also “encountered” squirrels but that story for another day.
Mark
I’m sort of surprised at how many replies reference animal encounters only in national parks. Thinking back through the years about the only noteworthy animal I have NOT encountered while fishing is an Elk.
Walking the trail at Slough Creek in Yellowstone Pk. I had a buffalo lying across the trail. I decided to fish else where.
Some really great stories here… Great stuff to read while waiting for the Polar Vortex to recede… I was hoping to hear of a Sasquatch sighting, but Oh well…
I remember Patrick McManus saying in one of this stories, “There are two kind of cows, slow mean cows and fast mean cows.” I have been around cows my whole life, started driving the cows to the barn from the back pasture using a bullwhip (therefore qualifying as a genuine cracker) when I was 8. Mostly a bunch of mixed breed cows and steers and a good Hereford bull, which were usually as gentle as a large kitten.
In the late '80’s I was fishing in a small aluminum boat with my brother in law and his son in a pond on their small farm. A young Hereford bull had escaped from a vet’s corral and gone looking for girl friends. He came through the barb wire fence and began acting like a young bull in a pasture with a older resident bull. After fighting around the pond they got in the pond, I moved the boat to put deeper water between us so they wouldn’t capsize the boat. My nephew was about 9 years old and freaking out. We beached the boat on the opposite side of the pond, it goes without saying the fishing was pretty much over at that point in time. I was amazed the young bull, who got the better of the fight, actually tried to push his opponents head under the water. I don’t think the episode caused my nephew any emotional harm, he still hunts and fishes every chance he gets.
I’ve had numerous encounters with wildlife while fishing, but the most memorable was while fishing the North Platte near Saratoga. My buddies and I were taking a lunch break on the bank when a VERY loud “Kerrrr-ahhhhh” rang out. Several seconds later a magnificent bald eagle soared out over the cliff behind us, followed shortly by the beautiful golden eagle that was chasing the baldy out of his territory. Needless to say, this was followed by a bunch of "Oh My God"s and "Wow"s.
Got chased off a golf cart by the world"s largest fox squirrel. We took an 8 and moved on…
^^^ 
Like the rabbit in The Holy Grail…Run Away!!!
Got accompanied by a young bear while taking the dog for a walk - faster I walked, faster he walked, till I jumped down off the road, then looked back and he had gone off the other side. Sure was glad I didn’t have to hit him with my dog leash.