Crazy fishing stories

Probably thirty years ago on vacation, I wasfishing on the family pier on Little Lagoon. It was hot. Must havebeen close to 100 degrees. The water was still. My line had beenout there for several minutes before I realized it had tightened up. It wasso stationary I didn't notice for a while. At first, I thought I had hooked iton some submerged hurricane debris 150 feet or more out into the lagoon. It was dead weight. Still, I kept pulling on the line from side toside trying to loosen it. Then just before I thought I was going to haveto wade out there, to my surprise, it began to move. It was ever so slow,but it was moving. What it this thing?

It was a large sting ray and too big to haul upon the pier. After what seemed 20 minutes of tugging I finally got it allthe way down the pier and beached. It was around lunch time and none ofthe family was down at the water to see my catch. I was kind ofdisappointed not be able to share this with someone else. Well, we kept avery large washtub just onshore to dump our freshly caught crabs from a fewtraps we would anchor out past the pier. So, I dumped several buckets oflagoon water into the tub. Then, lifting the heavy but exhausted ray withone hand securing the spine with pliers and the other holding on to one of thewings, I slipped it into the tub. Then I headed up to the house to getthe family to come down to the water to see floating in the tub, the largestingray I had caught. Well, my daughter and a friend scurried down tothe water quick enough to see but I got held up by a phone call just then fromwork. By the time I got off the call and came back out of the house thekids were waving at me and screaming. They were almost in a panic. Uh oh, I thought. I must have somehow injured the ray and it wasdying in that tub of by now very hot and de-oxygenated water. And, maybeit was dying, but before it was going to die ... SHE decided she had betterfinish some important business.

Sure enough, when I got down to the water's edgeand the tub, I found out why the girls were making such a commotion. There were three baby stingrays floating in the tub along with momma. Their bodies were each about the size of a bread and butter plate. Well, the last thing I wanted to do was senselessly kill four innocentsea creatures right in front of these little girls. Catching a smelly oldfish was nothing, but a big stingray seemed kind of special somehow. So,as quickly as I could pulled the tub into the lagoon and lifted up the side toreturn the ray and her offspring to their habitat. It took her a littlewhile but the momma eventually made a slow deliberate retreat to deeper water. The babies, though, they were just suspended in the water for what seemedlike forever. Then, just as the girls were beginning to cry, and even Iwas beginning to give up hope, one by one they each began to flap their littlewings and gracefully glided away. I was so relieved. I guess thatexpectant momma was pretty stressed by the long fight she gave me and innature's way she knew it was either then or never to unload her young. I'm nota doctor, but that day I figure I induced labor and delivered, if a bit aheadof schedule, three young lives into this world.

The invasion of tens of thosands of 10 to 15lb bluefish in either 1989 or 90 and the hurricane Elena grouper are two events I will never forget.

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Originally Posted by john g

The invasion of tens of thosands of 10 to 15lb bluefish in either 1989 or 90 and the hurricane Elena grouper are two events I will never forget.

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what about that wahoo

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Originally Posted by bigboyjames11

Not as much of a "big fish" story but more of a ghost story. Right after I graduated high (2004) me and a few friends went down to the Key's and fished one of the bridge's, cant remember which one to save my life. We headed down Friday night to miss traffic and catch the outgoing tide. So we setup camp, little camp on the bridge with small stoves sleeping bags etc....... so for some to walk by us we would know. So its late and we have some baits out, caught some snapper and grouper and we bear music and see a light about 100 yards away towards the end of the pier. We all just think its other people fishing (got there at night and couldn't see if anyone was there when we got there) but there were no other cars in the lot. So we dont even think twice about it. Tide goes slack and we all rack out for a few hrs. We all get up the next morning and start catching bait and buddy of my notices that theres no one fishing at the end of the pier. Couple of use walk down and check it out and there's trash on the ground but doesn't look fresh, and no one that we know of walked by us during the night. We all think its weird but dont really think about it anymore. So we fish all day into the night again and there's been a few people on the bridge but as it gets dark we can see that there is definitely no one at the end..... so were fishing all night and again we hear music and see a bright light at the end. So this time me and 2 of my. buddies take a walk to see what it is. We get probably half way and start to say, hey, who's over there, etc.. on the keys bridges people aren't always friendly and most carry guns so we didn't want to just walk up and surprise them. So we get probably 30 yards away and the music stops and the light fades away. So we keep going and get the where we thought it was and theres nothing! We walk all the way to the end and nothing! Weirdest part about it is when we get back to our camp the guys that stayed and fished were making fun of us for for scaring that old man and woman from there fishing spot. They all said that a couple walked down from where we were while we were looking around the end of the bridge. When we told them that there wasn't anyone out there they all freaked and we all left that night. Still gives me goose bumps just thinking about it.

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holy crap thats creepy!

I also got in on the big boy blue fish invasion and the year guess sounds about right to me as well. We saw lots of busted tackle during that invasion. There was a state fisheries biologist on the pier examining some of the fish and he told us that a migrating school out of the Carribbean had missed their turn off the Fla keys and came up the west Fla coast instead of the east coast. The biggest one I caught that week was 14 pound 6 oz.

I was down at fairhope pier and had my flats blue setup for redfish and i wasnt thinking and forgot to set my drag. Went to throw the net to catch some bait and told a friend to watch the rod. 2 minutes later my friend yelled at me sayin my rod was hangin over the pier. The second i looked it shot over the railing. Bout 20 minutes later some kids reel starts screaming and he reels it in and its my rod an reel hooked by the bail of my reel. He gave it back to me with the fish still on my line and i reeled it in and turned out to be a big ole bat ray.

Was fishing at the DI golf course last summer and had a rod out with a live shrimp. I was a good ways away catching bait, so when I walked back to my rod there was a decent sized blacktip sitting at the bank with a speck in his mouth, and the rod holder with my rod still in it was sitting in a couple inches of water. I reach down to grab the rod, and BAM! the shark disappears with rod holder, rod and reel and I never saw him again. Next time I was down I was flounder fishing with a Carolina rigged bull minnow. Cast out, feel dead weight and reel back in. Sure enough it's the same rod and reel I had lost the last time. It was ate up with salt and corroded out, and is now hanging in my shed!!

Memorial day weekend my girlfriend and I were fishing at about 10 o'clock at night and there were a few tourists fishing directly across from us when all of a sudden everyone was frantic. Apparently one of the gentlemen didn't set the drag on his reel and a nice size shark or stingray took it over.I joked with them that I was going to catch it and their fish. Shortly after that the group decided to leave. I threw out my cut bait and as I was reeling it in I felt resistance, I had caught another line. So as I'm pulling it up I find a lure and then I feel it getting heavier as I pull up a rod and reel fully intact. My girlfriend runs down the pier finds the group and they are so ecstatic two of them run to the end of the pier to get it and we're very thankful that I had caught it