I thought about my strange catches over the past 65 years while fishing last week.
Had a young sea lion grab a crankbait near San Pedro Island in Mexico. He tore off at full speed, lost most of my line.
Was trolling along on way back from Tortuga island in Sea of Cortez. Suddenly the reel started singing! By the time we turned the boat around and gave chase the thing had stripped off half the line, 150 yds. We chased it for 45 minutes gradually gaining line. It wouldn't stop or turn. Finally got the boat close and discovered the lure had caught the very tip of the tail of a gigantic 10 foot basking shark! We had used up some time and it was getting close to sunset, so I cut the line and left the area.
Like others I caught a few birds. A blue footed booby and a western grebe.
Not sure if these qualify as strange catches or not:
Lost a floating rapala to a largemouth bass and caught the bass several hours later and got the lure back. (10 acre pond)
Was flyfishing Honoeye lake in NY in front of where my grandfather's cottage used to be. Caught a small sunfish on a popper. Stripped it in quickly and a 4 lb largemouth grabbed the fish! The sunfish fell off the hook and the popper hooked the bass which I landed.
Last edited by Azshooter; 04/22/24.
