Strangest catch

[dutch1862]

What's the strangest thing you've ever caught? I have a couple of instances...

 

I once caught a terrapin. It was back in the early 90s when they were every kids pet of choice because of the Teenage Mutant Ninja/Hero Turtles. Somebody had dumped one in the Nottingham-Grantham Canal in what we used to call the basin (adjacent to Gamston Bridge). We'd seen this thing basking in the sun in the middle of the basin on a partially submerged branch. And then it disappeared, not long after my float dipped and when I struck I knew straight away that it wasn't a fish (I've caught harder fighting gudgeon). Having landed the thing unhooking it was a worry as I didn't want it to bite me (don't they carry some diseases?), although luckily the hook practically fell out. A mate kept it.

 

Also on the same canal, but a different stretch I caught a 7lb pike. Not that odd except it was on double maggot! It was the depth of winter and I decided to pop down and see how it was fishing. After a few hours of freezing I was just getting ready to call it a day when my float disappeared. It was obvious straight away that it was a good size as it put up one hell of a fight, I thought it might be one of the carps that were in that stretch - imagine my shock when I realised it was a pike!! Just as the fish started to tire and I was bringing it in the mother of all bird's nests formed on my reel leaving the fish a good 2 metres away from the range of my landing net. Luckily there was someone out walking their dog and I was able to get them to walk down the bank with my rod to pull the fish towards me. It was the first (and only pike) I'd ever caught and as I pulled it out of the water and started to think about how I'd unhook it without getting bitten I noticed that the hook was buried in my landing net! A very welcome fish that day!

[Si...]

Was fishing at woodlakes in norfolk during the mid 90's when i had a few bleeps on the alarm. I struck into it and was felt with a solid resistance. Thinking I was snagged I pulled and it was slowly coming in.

I was thinking I was pulling in a branch.

To cut a long story short, 10 minutes later, I pulled in a carp of about 7lbs. Nothing weird about that you might say? Well ti was weird as the carp had no tail, it has been bitten off around the anal fin area.

The wound was healed up and the fish seemed in good health. how it had survived I do not know.

[Chris Plumb]

I had a PB frying pan back in the autumn!

 

http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/Strange...p;hl=frying+pan

 

Pike of maggots is not that uncommon - I've had one this season whilst fishing for chub.

 

 

C.

[wellyphant]

My present girlfriend..

[mjbarnes12]

a wheel of double gloucester cheese

[lutra]

A couple of seasons ago while fishing in a winter flood for barbel i got an almighty take followed by an unstoppable run which dragged me down 100yrds of river, fighting and banging away like the fish of my dreams. How sad I was when I got it to the bank in a slack to find out it was only a door.

[ayjay]

I've never caught anything really strange, but I've had a couple of strange occurrences.

 

One I remember was when fishing for Tench and Crucians at Frogmore pits, I had a completely normal bite and played and landed a Crucian of about 1.5lbs, when I went to unhook it I had to really search for the hook, it wasn't in it's mouth, it wasn't actually in the fish at all, the line was wrapped right around the fish and the hook was around the line forming a lasso.

[corydoras]

Not a true 'catch' but a strange fish all the same. When I was a wee laddie I used to work weekends and summer holidays at Lynn's boatyard in Balloch, Loch Lomond.

 

One afternoon I was spearing old ring pull drink cans out of the bottom of the river with a boat hook. One can had a small eel in it but we couldn't get it out the can. Someone ran off to the canteen or the tea hut and found a can-opener to release the unfortunate eel. It must have spent most of its life in that can, it was about 10 inches or so in length and shaped like a corkscrew. We released it back into the Leven and it swam away like a spiral in the water.

[arbocop]

A really weird one was a gudgeon from the Kennet caught whilst spinning with a mepps I brought it back above a weedbed and there it was, properly hooked. Oh and a bullhead on a lobworm.

 

Near 2lb roach with no tail, not recently damaged but started bleeding from the flesh when I held it. Caused by a pike I assumed - one of the biggest roach I have caught but not one for the photo album! Like the carp story I couldn't believe it was so healthy - it still pulled hard.

 

Numerous deformed fish, including a 2oz roach with a severely bent spine and 2 tails.

 

Whilst fly fishing, have caught perch, dace, roach, rudd and ruffe on trout flies.

[smalltincup]

Was out sea fishing as a lad, hooked in to some thing and started to reel in, but every ten yards or so i would have to stop and pull in like i was snagged, throught i wass getting caught in seaweed/or kelp but when i got it in i had an octupus (probably the wrong spelling) on the end, it had been attaching itself to rocks as i reeled it in. Made for interestig unhooking, and oh boy was he less than impressed when we finally throw him back.

 

STC