Best non-Trout Fish Caught while Trout Fishing?

[Traveling Trout Co]

Interested if anyone wants to share any stories or pics of non-trout species surprisingly caught while trout fishing in PA?

I got a striper on the lower Brodhead (excuse the plug it was before fly fishing enlightenment) and a jumbo fall fish on Pine.

From Manchester VT, cheers guys.

 

[Tigereye]

Not the best but the oddest was a pickerel on an egg fly.

Numerous large suckers , ~3 lb SMB, and a few shad on wets and/or nymphs; Most memorable was a large carp on a dry fly. A Lt. Cahill if memory serves.

 

[SBecker]

Throwing big streamers for trout and smacked a musky.

 

[Broodstock]

A pike on 5x and yellow perch are always fun. River chub.

 

[sixfootfenwick]

I once caught a gigantic smallmouth while fishing for trout. My 2wt took forever to get it in.

My strangest was a bullfrog. While I was looking upstream, it took a dry fly that dangled out of my rod tip.

 

[jifigz]

A pike on 5x and yellow perch are always fun. River chub.

I'm surprised you landed any pike, regardless of the size, on 5x tippet.

 

[rancid waders]

Carp on a small 3wt. I did have a snapping turtle eat a black circus peanut once

 

[Bamboozle]

Does a baby duckling count as a fish??

I caught it on a Trico spinner... 😉

 

[Tigereye]

If we are talking non fish species. I did catch a bat once. Foul hooked it in the wing. As far as I know, the hook is still there

 

[Cougarbaby]

Hooked a muskrat striper fishing on Lake Arthur on night (snagged) but still had to boat it and let it go

 

[td566]

As Tigereye mentioned, big suckers out of prime water while nymphing are exciting at the beginning and then a letdown. But still a decent fight.
I have also had bats tug on a dry fly before it hit the water surface.
Weirdest catch was when my buddy and I were surf fishing for bluefish at Outer Banks in the 80s. He foul hooked a 2 inch seahorse on a Hopkins spoon. I had no idea they would come that close to shore.

 

[Broodstock]

I'm surprised you landed any pike, regardless of the size, on 5x tippet.

Was a very lucky net. Went fast at the fish. Trouthunter.

 

[sixfootfenwick]

We can look forward to Best Bat Towns in Pennsylvania.

 

[Bamboozle]

We can look forward to Best Bat Towns in Pennsylvania.

BAT-h and BAT-tle Hollow come immediately to mind... 😉

 

[bingsbaits]

 

[moorestowngreg]

If we are talking non fish species. I did catch a bat once. Foul hooked it in the wing. As far as I know, the hook is still there

Me too!

 

[Mikey2006]

I briefly had a great blue heron on the end of my line. Thank God the hook came free when it took flight

 

[Bamboozle]

Besides the usual fish suspects like suckers, fallfish, sunfish, carp and a bruiser of a smallie I caught at Little Pine Creek on a Prince nymph; I've caught a duck, a gosling, an adult Canada Goose (on a Senko), a seagull and numerous bats, all released unharmed...

Speaking of bats, when it got too dark to see our flies on the water, we used walk off the creek and intentionally target bats under streetlights along the Letort where it runs through town and in the parking lot at the Run. We used old battered Sulphur dry flies with cut-off hook points.

The trick was to make lazy slow false casts under the lights and entice the bats to grab the fly. Of course they would immediately drop the fake bug but that still counted as a catch.

It's pretty dang funny, a bit hair-raising when they come right at you, good sport and a lot of fun...

My best night was six, all wild!! 😉

 

[gulfgreyhound]

Caught a Sand Dollar trolling on a spoon. GG