What scares you when night fishing?

[Salar]

Hippos. Went fishing with the camp boss for tiger fish in the Okavango once, hippos come out of the water at night to graze, and they can bite you in half. Apparently they kill more people than lions. Did catch a tiger fish, didn't get bitten in half.

[slodger]

Undoubtedly the worst venue I've fished for 'Rat Wrestling' was Redmire Pool! I'd frequently open my eyes to see one or two leaping over the bivvy door sill to escape for inside. I even sat a few nights with a stainless bank stick held aloft over a piece of bait and whacked a couple into oblivion. The other rats would clear the corpses before you could blink!

[chesters1]

if you dont like rats have fun ,you must get the owner of the fisheries permission ofcourse ,anyway pinch your best white table cloth pin it down in a position you can see from your bivvy and in the center put a tin of luncheon meat with lots of holes in it skeward to the spot with a long tent peg (loose feed ,bread etc can be put in a net bag pegged to the ground) very soon you will see movement on the edges of the sheet then mr rat will slowly approach and try to carry off the "bait" he may at first dart away but will always return till he's so bold he will tug and tug at the bait ,at this moment a airgun pellet will ensure his end.

the white sheet is great ,it wont spoil your night vision as with a light ,its easily transported and cleaned and rats show up easily.

i had 13 rats one night at a swim bordering a railway embankment ,rats love embankments.

[Mr Nice]

Peter Sharpe:

Sleep paralysis. I went through a phase of becoming only half asleep at first light. I think was still dreaming, but it was so realistic that I couldn't be sure. I felt that something had jumped onto my chest and I was trying to will my arms and legs to move, but couldn't. I also felt as if I could see, but couldn't make the world look the right way up. It was absolutely terrifying, and after it had happened several nights in succession I was almost afraid to go again.

Whats all that about then? Happens to me from time to time, waking up or dozing off, very odd. Never had it happen on the bank though, that would be weird.

 

Had rats come into my bivvy by going underneath the bedchair to nick my bait. Didn't wake up though.

Years ago people were getting freaked out at a water i used to fish. A mysterious spectre was seen at night, or at least part of him was. The witnesses & there were several, all reported seeing a ghostly pair of legs walking along the bank. ghost One fella ended up spending the night inside his (locked) car after such an encounter.

Turned out to be an old wino sleeping rough, he was wearing well faded denim jeans

True Story

 

[ 15. April 2005, 11:34 PM: Message edited by: Mr Nice ]

[Andi]

Rats do it for me as well tbh i detest the little bleeders so i make sure i have one of my snakes out before i go fishing and i guess the aroma of snake keeps em away because i havent seen a rat since getting the snakes. did think about taking one with me once but the UK temperature even in summer isnt hot enough for them and not sure of other anglers reaction to a 13ft burmese python in yellow and white crawling round my bivvy

[kleinboet]

Salar you are absolutely right - a hippo could pick you up in that big ole mouth of his and snap you in half without even breaking stride!!

 

Ratty - a bank stick is too light! I have in my kit a big rubber mallet for knocking banksticks into the ground...... And it is ALWAYS to hand!!

[Stewart_Bloor]

I have fished thousands of hours in the dark (all alone) and don't get frightened at all.

 

At the moment I'm canal fishing for carp and with limited space stretching out on the towpath is funny when people come walking past after dark.

 

The one thing I don't like (as opposed to being frightened) though is rats. Disgusting creatures and some of them are so bold.

[Guest sslatter]

I don't like rats much, especially when they get in my tackle bag, but what really scares me when fishing at night is CTHULHU.

 

Peter Sharpe:

Sleep paralysis. I went through a phase of becoming only half asleep at first light. I think was still dreaming, but it was so realistic that I couldn't be sure. I felt that something had jumped onto my chest and I was trying to will my arms and legs to move, but couldn't. I also felt as if I could see, but couldn't make the world look the right way up. It was absolutely terrifying, and after it had happened several nights in succession I was almost afraid to go again.

Interesting Peter. I've been reading about this phenomenom a lot recently. Although it has never happened to me, it's a lot more common than I thought, especially the "thing sitting on the chest." Many people aver that they are awake when this happens, but your quote "..as if I could see, but I couldn't make the world look the right way up.." points strongly to the fact that you were asleep (but fairly awake faculty-wise) when this happened: that it's some form of dreaming.

 

[NB The disorientation of up/down is commonly reported by Lucid Dreamers].

[Ken L]

That would be the hag.

Lots of versions of this in all sorts of cultures and if memory serves, the German name for the phemomenon is the origin of our word nightmere

[mpbdsnu]

I have also suffered from sleep paralysis - not happened 'yet' whilst fishing though, probably because i too do not sleep properly when fishing! (Intentionally)

 

The only thing I've found to be frightening whilst night fishing, is to hear people walking close by, talking, and getting louder with them making comments "its one of those fishing things", and for me to shoot out of my bivvy to find nobody there???