[NomDeTrout]

Saw this question get asked on a different thread and thought it might be a fun question to ask. I know I've seen discussions on odd things you hooked into on the river, but what is the weirdest fish you have ever caught that was completely not expected?

Not a fly fishing story but I'll start. I used to live in Texas and frequently fished the lakes out there for bass with my father. 10lb+ bass was not unheard of in texas waters so when something big hits your line and pulls hard, you just assume you caught the biggest damn bass in the lake.

Anyway, my family, along with some family friends were having a BBQ off a lake front, enjoying ourselves and was doing some fishing along the edge with bobber and minnows when the bobber just takes off. My father pulled his line up and after awhile, ended up dragging in a huge gator gar, must've been a good 5-6ft long and was frightening to look at. Now, me being a kid and having never seen such a big fish, this memory has forever been embedded in my head.

Whats your story?

 

[Poopy McButtfart]

fly fishing a few miles off the suwannee river (florida) in the gulf of mexico. it's literally only a few feet deep for miles off the mouth of the river into the gulf, perfect for fly fishing.... i consecutively caught a stingray, shovelhead shark, and a baby goliath grouper. the rest of the day was all speckled trout and ladyfish as expected

 

[waterworker]

Clam on a fly.It's not a fish but it has to count!

 

[DiejehHehdudhhe8373737]

.

 

[Mumbles]

Jellyfish, gross mess. Not a keeper.

 

[NomDeTrout]

Ah yes, jellyfish. I was fishing off Carkeek last year and came out of the water and found a damn jellyfish latched onto the side of my waders. Similarly, pulled up a giant one while crabbing out by Ocean Shores. nasty.

 

[Dr. Magill]

Caught a scallop - but in Convict Lake Calif. I caught a stringer of 5 nice trout - all still alive - while floating some bait off the bottom.

 

[jessejames]

I was fishing at Medical Lake near Spokane and hooked a large brown trout. It headed for the bottom of the lake and I tried in vain to get it back to the surface. It seemed odd that there wasn't much fight just a huge weight on the line. I eventually horsed it in and it had gotten entangled in some leader that was attached to an even larger brown trout. The fish had evidenly been hooked broke off and died. The decaying carcass was entwined with the trout that I had hooked. Man was it ever gross. I was able to free the live fish and it swam off and the monster carcass from the deep slowly sank out of sight.
Blessings
jesse

 

[Ernie Adams]

Hatchery winter steelhead on the Nookie.

Go Sox,
cds

 

[Daryle Holmstrom]

Hatchery winter steelhead on the Nookie.

Go Sox,
cds

 

[waterworker]

I got one of those too. Had a hell of a time getting it to let go of the hook. I also caught a shrimp once, but it was foul-hooked.

That's right....so did I.....it didn't want to let go.Funny!!!

 

[sroffe]

When I was a kid, I would take my 8 foot pram out and fish the sound. The first rat fish I ever reeled in, although not being very big, scared me. It was the glowing green eyes. I cut my line and let it go thinking it was some tropical freaky fish.

I would add squid while jigging for salmon on cold January day.

Sam

 

[Lugan]

Besides many clams, mussels and crayfish, I've caught a few baby flatfish (I assume halibut) while fishing Puget Sound beaches.

 

[NomDeTrout]

Lugan - probably just your standard flounder/sole in puget sound beaches. theres millionsof them! almost a nuisance at times. when i gear fish puget sound, i used to catch them literally every cast. If you watch your feed as you wade in the beach, you'll see the small ones swimming around away from your feet.

 

[David C. Reynolds]

I cauhgt a large koi fish near sunset on Silver lake near Everett a few years back nice white and orange color...

 

[NomDeTrout]

I cauhgt a large koi fish near sunset on Silver lake near Everett a few years back nice white and orange color...

funny you mention koi. I was walking along the shore of Lake WA near Newport shores and saw a giant koi. thought it was a carp but it had orange and black all over it.

 

[Zack Dudley]

koi are a fun catch!

 

[robl]

Catfish on the fly was pretty weird . . . . but those things are strong.

I once landed a snake river cutt in Wyoming three times while fishing the same hole. It's whole head was black as night and something was wrong with it's mind.

It was one of only two fish that I KNOW I caught twice. The other was a 10 inch rainbow on the lower Provo a few years back.

 

[ak_powder_monkey]

snagged a stickleback this year

 

[longstick]

In alaska we had terns dive bombing smolt so I decided to try and make a long cast and hook it with my fly or fly line. First cast at like 60 ft out my fly wrapped around the bird and tangled with the rest of the leader. The bird put up one hell of a fight. It was like flying a kit. The bird took of unharmed.