Wayne Lost his Fishing Rod + Reward offered!

Status
Not open for further replies.
wayne gustaveson

wayne gustaveson

Moderator
Staff member
On Saturday I went out with my nephew and friend for the second day. The first day we identified a great smallmouth bass pattern which included looking for flat, table top size rocks about 5-10 feet deep near shore. Caught lots of bass using this pattern and saw bass nests.

On the second day, we switched to stripers and traveled to Buoy 25. We saw 3 boats along the main wall and moved in to see if we could find fish. We did not bring bait but saw a floating striper which we filleted into bait size pieces. We drifted along the wall and caught 30 stripers quickly with 3 anglers in the boat. The average size was good but we were looking for healthier fish so we moved on.

We went to the back of Last Chance and trolled hoping for fatter fish to eat for dinner. Trolling on the back of main Rock was slow. So we moved to the next side canyon. Trolling in clear water was not productive so we went to the back of the canyon. In 30 feet of water we got the first hit and reeled in a striper. I always cast behind a troll-caught fish to look for followers. I immediately hooked up with another fat healthy fish. We all started casting and the fish responded on every cast. It seemed like we were in a sub surface boil with stripers going crazy right under the boat. We caught fish as fast as we could get the fish off the hook and make another cast.

My nephew, Darrell caught a fish, unhooked it, laid his rod down with the lure laying on the waters surface as he turned to put the fish in the cooler. He did not make it to the cooler before he saw a striper grab the floating lure and dive for the bottom. The rod was balanced on the side of the boat so the weight of the fish swimming away caused the rod to flip out of the boat and land in the water. He was amazed! I thought it was pretty funny that his rod was stolen by a fish. We all stopped and just gazed at the surface in amazement.

The fish did not resurface. We cast out trying to hook the rod with no luck. We put on spoons and dredged the bottom trying to snag the fish or a the rod. One brave soul (Steve Fish) actually got in the water and walked along the shoreline to 6 feet trying to make contact with no luck. We gave up packed up our gear with a cooler full of fish.

While taking inventory we realized that the fishing rod so skillfully abducted during the fish ambush was not Darrell's rod but was one of mine!!! Wayne had his rod stolen by a vengeful school of stripers!

If you happen to be fishing in Last Chance and hook a fishing rod being towed around by a striper, please let me know. Your reward will be to have your picture taken with the fish bandit and Wayne at the same time. Can't wait to get that sneaky little fish into the boat. I need your help to complete chapter two of this fish story.

Wayne
 
Last edited:
My BIL threw my anchor and 75 ft of anchor rode overboard without attaching it to the boat when anchoring bow-out in 35' of water in Warm Creek. He felt terrible and convinced me to drag the bottom with my other anchor to see if we could hook it. I did knowing it was hopeless - BUT low and behold, we hooked the line after about 10 minutes and brought the anchor and line in, so it IS possible to do, but with a fish on the other end of a rod pulling it somewhere I think the chances go down a bit:oops:
 
I snagged a pole in Yuba Dam many years ago with the lure still attached to the line and fished for walleye with it for about two years before a Canadian friend of mine set it on the bow and donated it back to the lake. We drug bottom for a while but laughed about it returning home again. Last we ever saw it. Hope for better luck on this one.
 
Don't give up hope Wayne, I actually caught a crappie at Alamo lake a couple years ago that that had a rod and reel still attached. It's hanging on the wall in my garage to this day with the lure still attached.
 
I will also say that one of my boys lost a rod into the water in the rincon area a couple years ago. It was in 25-30' of very clear water. I could see it on the bottom so I tied on a really heavy spoon and started "fishing" for it. It took about 15 minutes but I finally snagged it and pulled it up!

Gotta love fishing with young boys....they are constantly costing you time and money.
 
friend of mine told me of an 8# bass he caught in this little this canyon, I smiled and told him I sunk a lantern in the same canyon that winter ice fishing and that later in the spring, I hooked something while trolling and it was that lantern ,pulled it up and it was still lit. well he called BS on me immediately, so I said "you take 4 pounds off that fish, and I'll blow out the lantern
 
I caught a rod and reel a few years back. When I boated it found it was a G-Loomis with a Shimano Chronarch reel. Took it home and cleaned it up and made some good money from it.
 
we were fishing boils a number of years ago -- 4 of us in boat --- we would see a boil, race to it, cut engine and everyone would cast as we started to slow -- talk about a fire drill --- well one BIL got a little to overzealous, tried to cast, slipped, lure goes out, and rod follows a few feet behind it. while this was happening, the other two BIL's cast, and both hook up--- as one is reeling in, it snags the line of the lost rod, he pulls in his fish, grabs the line, and eventually pulls in the line, the lost rod, and the fish that was hooked to the lure from the lost rod --- given I was boat captain, I had to end the argument on who got to claim the fish on the end of the lost rod. -- laugh about that one every time the 4 of us get together--
 
I too have lost one of my rods to the LP depths thanks to a striper. I've learned never to set a pole down unattended and unsecured. Costly lesson....I have also donated a rod thanks to my old Velcro rod straps opening up while trying to traverse the washing machine main channel one trip.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top