That Crazy World of Fly Fishing - Has This Ever Happened to You?

[Missy]

Talking to Dave about those good 'ole times when we could fish more than we worked (or cared for kids) and some things came to mind:

One of my favorites, was when we were fishing for striped bass off the coast of Pigeon Cove (near Rockport, MA) and while reading from a book I brought, I felt a huge smack on my forehead... I put my hand to my head and felt something stuck there. My forehead was bleeding. I looked up to see Dave, standing on one of the boulders, trying very hard not to laugh. "This isn't funny," he said right before he doubled-over laughing. His large striper fly was hooked into the middle of my forehead. He got the hook out and when I went to work the next day, my co-workers wanted to know if he had beat me.

One of Dave's favorites was when we were fishing the Westfield River in MA for the first time. He was wading and stepped into a huge hole that took him more than chest deep into the water. He couldn't get out of the hole and started to struggle down the river. I figured that I didn't have enough time to run for help (which he never lets me forget), so I tried to get our dog to go in after him. The dog was afraid of water so that didn't work. Not sure what to do, I started to take pictures. I figured that if he did make it, he might want to have it on film. About 10 minutes passed, when he finally caught a branch and...stood up. He was just over knee deep in the river at that point. If I find the pictures, I'll scan and attach.

 

[Maurice]

Hillarious Missy! LOL!

Both actually happened.

I put a jutterbug in my brothers eyelid once.....laughed like Dave did...after we got the hook out.

and I went in over my chesties on the Yough and went to the bank and emptied out at a park, hung my pants and underwear and shirt in a tree and went back fishing in my chesties....

At lunch time I went back to get my clothes and got some strange looks from folks enjoying their mid day meal at the picnic bench.

 

[The_Sasquatch]

I took me own hat off me head once w/ a poorly backcasted wooly bugger. Fortunately no one was around to see it, but when I got home my wife wanted to know how I got my Irish tweed hat soaked....

Way too many falls to talk about on here...

 

[krayfish]

Many moons ago on the Susky, I burried a Clouser Crayfish through the top of my hat and into my skull. Couldn't get my hat off! LOL. Yanked it out and it had a chunk of hair on the hook.

Earlier this year, I burried a green drake emerger in the bridge of my nose... past the barb. Just yanked it back out. Blood running down my nose and onto my waders, I decided to fish with the 40 mph winds to my back for a while.

 

[The_Sasquatch]

I'm pretty sure you win in the pain factor there dude.

 

[ryguyfi]

I could write a book on how many times my buddy Greg has fallen in while we were fishing.

My favorite...


We're fishing Elk creek in the early fall. The boat ramp at the mouth is always jam packed with silt. So we walk across and I know to take my time but Greg wants to hurry up. He gets both feet pretty well stuck. Mean while I'm on my cell phone calling the other member of our fishing party to tell him we're coming upstream to pick him up. Greg then does his best matrix impression and falls backwards into the stream.... but his feet are still stuck! I'm laughing my head off on the phone and my buddy on the phone says "did Greg fall in again?!?!" His reputation precedes him lol. Greg sloshed in the water for a good minute, then came to his knees and he was over his chest waders. I'm still laughing. Then we finally get back to dry land and he pours his waders out and we head out to get some more fishing in. I still laugh when I picture it! lol


Ryan

 

[pete41]

Once in Va. when I found out rubber soled hip boots weren't gonna cut it and
Once in Montana when I was playing my second largest trout.Caught the same fish again the next morning.lol

 

[rrt]

Been there, done all of that! I've fallen in so often that I am often wet wading with boots or waders on. Worst fly was also a streamer in the nose that I put there, which may be why I seldom use streamers these days.

 

[theeel89]

recently while fishing falling springs i pierced my ear with a hares ear. it went completely through my ear. i yanked it out and then was rewarded a few casts later with a beautiful rainbow.

 

[greenghost]

I had a friend who was fishing on Lake Arthur in a canoe and drove a big deer hair popper into the back of his skull on a powerful forward cast. He had to go to the emergency room.

When the ER nurse saw the huge yellow and black popper with feathers sticking out of the back of his head she lost it and nearly cried laughing so hard.

 

[David]

Missy wrote:

One of my favorites, was when we were fishing for striped bass off the coast of Pigeon Cove (near Rockport, MA) and while reading from a book I brought, I felt a huge smack on my forehead... I put my hand to my head and felt something stuck there. My forehead was bleeding. I looked up to see Dave, standing on one of the boulders, trying very hard not to laugh. "This isn't funny," he said right before he doubled-over laughing. His large striper fly was hooked into the middle of my forehead. He got the hook out and when I went to work the next day, my co-workers wanted to know if he had beat me.

One of Dave's favorites was when we were fishing the Westfield River in MA for the first time. He was wading and stepped into a huge hole that took him more than chest deep into the water. He couldn't get out of the hole and started to struggle down the river. I figured that I didn't have enough time to run for help (which he never lets me forget), so I tried to get our dog to go in after him. The dog was afraid of water so that didn't work. Not sure what to do, I started to take pictures. I figured that if he did make it, he might want to have it on film. About 10 minutes passed, when he finally caught a branch and...stood up. He was just over knee deep in the river at that point. If I find the pictures, I'll scan and attach.

The first still isn't funny...Every time I laugh about it! The second story really wasn't very funny!!!

 

[pcray1231]

hmmm,

I've fallen in a few times, all of them were pretty run of the mill falls, though. Never stuck myself with a hook past the barb, well, at least while fishing.

I did take a hook pretty deep while swimming in the surf, which is probably my funniest fishing related story, only I wasn't fishing. Must have picked it up somehow in the wash while body surfing. Upper inside thigh, just below the real "ouch" zone. Through the shorts, into the skin, back out the skin, and back out the shorts. Didn't bleed much, and didn't hurt except when I'd walk the shorts would pull on it. I didn't know what was going on, but knew something wasn't right. So I had the wife check it out.

That was a sight, her kneeling in front of me on the beach looking up my shorts while friends made a towel ring to shield what was going on down there. Everyone on the beach is looking in our direction and assuming the worst, and the look on my face wasn't helping. With off and on pain, you make similar faces as, well, pleasure....

Turned out to be a very small hook, not appropriate for the ocean. So of course, we're now under the assumption that its one of mine from fly tying that somehow got in my shorts, as that would make the most sense.

Anyway, once we figured out the problem, we tried to get help, and none came easy, the lady lifeguard pretty much said she was unable to help. A bystander figured out what was going on and went for help, but we asked for wire cutters, and she brought a little more. In comes a fire truck, ambulance, and a team of lifeguards on ATV's, all with lights and sirens blazing. We found out later our bystander had struggled to get anyone to respond, and thus exaggerated the story a little, ok a lot, to get a response.

After the responders' initial dissapointment that I was far from "bleeding profusely" and "nearing death", they actually did help. They cut my shorts off right on the beach, and of course, I now had a sizable audience of 10-20 uniformed responders and the "rubberneckers" that this kind of commotion attracts. So they cut off 99% of the shorts, leaving me a few scraps to cover certain spots, and then they snip the hook and pull it out.

It's at this point things turned towards the better. To my relief, it wasn't my hook; upturned eye. I was given a towel to wrap around myself, filled out the paperwork, while a friend went out and bought me new shorts. We spent the rest of the day on the beach.

That's my funny story for the day. I've told it before but it's a good one worth repeating.....

 

[pete41]

Now if we are talking flipping a canoe-lol
many times.

 

[jay348]

thats an awesome story pcray...made me laugh

 

[dryflyguy]

I once found myself in an odd situation similar to what pcrays wife had to do.

I was fishing the yellowstone river with a buddy of mine in late summer. We were just driving along the stream, and we'd stop at every access area to cast hoppers along the banks.
Well, at one of these spots, there was a family having a picnic. And they had this rather large dog - untied - who didn't seem to like our presence there.
This pooch was growling and barking at us big time.
And as we were walking over to the rivers edge, it suddenly bolted over behind my buddy, and bit him - right in the ***.
Of course, we were quite concerned about the possibility of rabies. So, he dropped his jeans to see if the mutts teeth had broken through his skin. But he just couldn't see the spot well enought to determine that.
So, you-know-who had to get down and check his *** out real good, to see if there were any punctures.

 

[Wulff]

I fell through the ice on the Big Flatbrook in Jersey, on New Year's Eve years ago. I went down up to my knees, fell back and put both hands through to the river bed. I immedidiately took off my fleece gloves, warmed up my hands, and when I picked up my gloves they were frozen solid. They felt like they had hands in them. I think it was 26 degrees that day. Good times....

 

[Missy]

Pcray...how risqué of you! You guys are too funny! Love it!

 

[BelAirSteve]

I have two...one does not involve fly fishing, one does.

When I was a kid, I would spend a lot of weekends at my cousin's house. They close to Lake Williams in York County, PA. We would fish every day. My cousin was one of those types that bought every fishing gadget that came out. This particular summer, he bought a Popeil pocket fisherman. Well, he was never much for casting, especially with a little piece of plastic like that. I was standing next to him, and as he made his side arm cast, WHAM...his line and bobber wrapped right around my head. It felt a seering pain in my ear. I was screaming "Get it out! Get it out!" He looked, and the hook was resting perfectly on the ledge of my ear...the skin had never even been pierced. He reached around, said "Got it..." and we commenced catching bluegill all day. I never stood to his right ever again.

The next was the first summer I started fly fishing. I was fishing Deer Creek, a warm water stream near my house. I saw a plunge pool that I really wanted to get to, and looked at the far bank and thought to myself "Yep...I can get to it from there." A half hour later, I found myself up on some huge boulders, WAY off the beaten path. I thought to myself, "If I were to fall, no one knows where I am, no one would ever hear me, and my wife will have to live out her days alone, wondering what ever happened to me." I made it down safely, and the very next day I ordered a RoadID bracelet and report to her where I am parking and what direction I am fishing.