Ever have an animal pop up next to you while fishing?

[The Yeti]

I was fishing off shore the other day and had a mink pop up about 5 yards from me in the rocks. Scared the cr** out of me!! I don't know if he knew I was there. He looked around a bit and that's the last I saw of him.

[morpho]

last monday we had a mink/muskrat /whatever messing around the boat was around or 10 min or better left us along then he came back.. cool lil fella i shoulda taken pics

[This message has been edited by Rick (edited 09-13-2004).]

[Gissert]

Yes, it has happened to me a few times.

In a dark house while spearing, I have had muskrats pop up for a visit more times than I can count.

Onece, and beaver steamed through right under the ice (about 8 inches thick). I had to go home and change my shorts after that incident.

Last year on duck opener, I had a coot that kept sticking its head out of the cattails right at then end of my duck boat. All of the sudden, it came out like a rocket with an otter hot on its tail. I barely got my hand on the dog's collar before that one. Sadly, I had no clean shorts with me. The otter was about a half a canoe paddle away from us. That was one of the neatest things I have ever seen while fishing or hunting.

[LocalGuide]

While fishing on Sag in early August me and dad had a close encounter w/a hen mallard duck.
It was a rainy day w/some scattered small showers. We caught some small eyes and a few northerns. After about being on the lake for 3 or 4 hrs we were just working around this island. And we haven't caught a walleye in a while. So dad yells out, "Here Walter (The walleye )."
Then wouldn't you know, all of a sudden a duck flys right over the boat about 20' high. We watch it as it goes bye, then all of a sudden it turns around heading back for the boat. Its going directly for the motor and then "Splash"! Scares the sh%t out of dad! LOL
It landed about 5' from the back of the boat. It starts to swim in a circle and comes up right next to the boat. Well we had some old bread to get rid of so I get that out, give a slice to the duck. She takes that theres no tomorrow. Then after thats gone, she looks at me like she wants to come in the boat! Sure enough, she flys in the boat and lands on the livewell cover (Its a 16' boat w/a livewell all alone on one side.) She looks around then jumps out. She now swims over to the other side of the boat and jumps on the railing. Looks around for a bit and we took 2 pictures. Then it jumps back in the water looks at us for the last time and flys away! We never seen it again for the rest of the day. We couldn't get over what just had happened in the last 10 minutes and were just laughing.
That duck must of been one of them that frequently visits some of the camp sites on the lake. B/c it appeared to be pretty tame and brave. But it was sure a sweet once in a lifetime experience, and I even got some pictures to back my story up someday!

I have also been really close to some loons that have either had young on their back or just have came up from beneath the water. Them birds are really pretty close up!

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And keep those hooks sharp!

[mnrstrider]

Yeah, imagine this, I was fishing "otter point" and a otter showed up, that's the only time I've ever seen an otter in the wild, pretty cool, he was probably looking for a stringer of fish, but silly otter there were no fish.

[The Yeti]

A while back, me and a buddy, were fishing up in Ontario, we had a very curious, young loon take interest in our boat. Dove a couple of times under the boat and popped up on the other side. Pretty cool. The mom was about 10 yards away watching the whole thing. this went on for about 20 minutes. It was neat!!!

[The Grebe]

One morning I had the idea that if I could get to a certain spot on the river and fish the 1st hour after day break, I could catch some elusive walleyes....got there before first light, foggy, chilly, dead calm and quiet.

I was settling into the eerie early morning and a beaver dove and slapped it's tail about 10 feet from me! I thought someone had shot at me with and ought six! Scared the beejeebers out of me.

[The Grebe]

I looked down the ice hole in the fish house one time and there was a human head in the water face up, staring right at me!
It was my own reflection, had me on high alert for a sec!

[BDR]

Yep them Beavers have made me have to change my shorts a few times.

The best story I have, me and and a buddy(overly macho harley riding biker gang type) were fishin down on the Mississippi by Wabasha, here comes a water snake tryin to come up the side of the boat my buddy jumps up on his seat screaming like a little schoolgirl "get the **** away from it" I thought he was going to pee himself, so of course I tried to grab it to give him a closer look but it swam away when I startled it.

I still give him a hard time about that every chance I get.

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Brian Rogers

Iceleaders
JR's Tackle
Catch-N Tackle and Bio-Bait

[email protected]

[This message has been edited by BDR (edited 09-12-2004).]

[bucketmouth64]

Spearing on the Miss. river and a muskrat pops out of the hole scaring the beejeebers out of me.
An adult loon swimming underwater next to my boat...neatest thing I have ever seen other than seeing eagles fly around and snatch a fish out of the water, or an osprey catching a fish.

[friendlyfisher]

Sleeping on the floor of a fishhouse when I wake up to a slish and a slosh, look to my side and a muskrat is looking right at me. I almost lost it. He took of back down the hole and I sat up shaking.

[steve schmidt]

One time ice fishing, I walked over to a hole in the spring, put my pail down and sat on it...reached to drop my lure down the hole and an otter slithered out and back down just as fast. I raised off my pail at least three inches.....thats how much "**** " he scared out of me

[CrappieJohn]

I've had the muskrats do me a fit or two while ice fishing. Not quite on the same topic....whenin high school a buddy and I got into the girls locker room while the class was in the pool. We lifted an access cover in the floor and slipped a maniquin's hand under it so only the fingers were showing along the floor. This cover was right in front of the showers, so when they watered down...well you get the picture. I got three days suspension- during the pheasant season. Hunting was good. Suspension was well earned.

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Plastics...making better fishermen without bait! Good Fishing Guys! CrappieTom

muckbootsonline.com Pro Staff
Culprit Tackle Crappie Pro Staff
Catch-n Tackle Pro Staff
[email protected]

[LocalGuide]

LOL Thats a good Idea Crappie Tom! Some times a suspension is well worth it !

LOL some of these post are pretty funny!

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And keep those hooks sharp!

[The Grebe]

I was looking down an ice hole on Wayzata Bay a few years back, coat over my head, watching the Crappies inspect my minnow and watching the activity in the pretty darn clear water below. All of sudden a huge Muskie darts into the hole, about a foot under the ice...I thought Jaws was comming for me! I was up and on my feet so fast, I got light headed!

[Valv]

Many years ago I was farming in central Montana, I had a huge John Deere 4wd articulated tractor with a 24ft disk behind.
While disking back and forth I had coyotes walking right in front of tractor, and stand there looking at it.
This beast was huge, green and running at 2,000rpm full throttle, the moment I stopped, idled motor and opened door...they were GONE like rockets.
Next day same thing, third day I brought my 22 pistol and shot one right in front of tire. Later in season I had deer doing same thing, just walking right with or next to tractor.

It always bugged me to know why wild and very spooky animals, which are very tough to even see in a distance, weren't scared at all of this huge tractor running full throttle back and forth.

Now hunters, don't get weird ideas, you don't need a $ 100,000 tractor and carry your 30-06 to go hunting....

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Val Vignati

www.kvesurplus.com
[email protected]

[Long Gray Line]

My father-in-law has a place on a lake just north of Tampa where we stay sometimes. I was standing on the bank one day just throwing a spinner bait when 2 eyes and 2 nostrils better than a foot apart slowly rise up out of the water look right at me from about 10' feet away. Anyone want to guess how fast a spinner bait can actually come through the water? Did you know you can reel one in by simply running away from the shore?

[Ice-9]

Can't beat saltwater for big close encounters.
Big turtles--leatherbacks, loggerheads, I don't know, but they're about six feet across the shell and the head is the size of a two-foot section of telephone pole. They just sort of rise up out of the water and look at you. In Chincoteague Bay in Virginia one came up and breathed right next to the boat. So big you can't even grasp what it is.
On Cape Cod it's seals--they go 800 pounds sometimes, and I've seen them come up with a 30 pound striper and eat it like an ear of corn in about five seconds. Had them swim under the boat before--young ones especially are curious, but you ain't lived until one pops up beside the boat facing the wrong way, turns and sees you, then barks and blasts away.
Had a close encounter with a humpback off the coast of NC two falls ago...we watched from a distance but if that thing came up within a hundred yards...
Still my favorite was my first otter, on the Bigfork one July. Had four or five small walleyes on a string, drifting in my little raft and throwing jigs against the bank. The boat kept turning, which was weird. It'd turn, I'd scull it back with an oar. Finally I heard a little hiss and there's an otter looking at me from five feet away. Later when we caught another walleye I found out why the boat was turning--he was yanking fish off the stringer one by one and when he came up he'd finished them all and was demanding more.

ice

[weezeemn]

I was trout fishing early on morning in Elk Creek near Eau Claire, WI. It was very peaceful, when some really disfigured thing swam fast, right by my right hip and upstream. I got a huge case of the creeps, being waist-deep in the middle of the creek with my waders, and some who-knows-what buzzing me. Then a duck surfaced about 20 feet in front of me. ****, those things don't look anything like a fish or a bird when they swim under your elbow. The stupid duck then took off, spooking every trout in that stretch of water. That was it for me. I got out, hiked to the truck and went home for breakfast.

[zepman]

A friend and I were fishing on Round Lake in the Brainerd area about 3 years ago. We were fishing on one of the mid-lake humps when my buddy took off his sunglasses, stood up in the boat and told me to start the main motor. I asked why and he told me to stand up and look behind the boat. There in the middle of the lake was an adult black bear no more than 25 yards from our boat. Scared the you know what out me! Don't ever think the the bear would have messed with us but we weren't going to take any chances. I did start the main motor and we drove about 100 yds. or so away and watched that bear swim the entire lenght of the lake. If anybody is familiar with the lake he came off the N shore and swam just to the left of the main access. It was an incredible sight.

[upnorth]

I was out steelhead fishing on a North Shore stream just below a small falls shortly after a major rainfall. Sitting there minding my own business drifting my bait through the fast water chute and lo and behold a deer pops up in the middle of the current look kinda frantic and sorta swims to shore. Gets on shore looks totally bewildered and then takes off back up river. Must have tried crossing upstream aways and got carried away in the fast water. One of the strangest things I have ever seen.

[JP Z]

One day I was fishing Topwaters for bass just doing the standard twitch..pause...twitch. When I turned my head to look at the electronics. Then all of a sudden I hear an enormous SPLASH! I figure the Queen Smallie has just taken my topwater so I'm reeling up rearing back about to set into the beast when I look at my bait and a HUGE Osprey is taking off from Where my Torpedo was. Wow, that was a sight.

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Tight Lines,
JP Z

[CrappieJohn]

Only a few years ago an angler fishing in the LaCrosse area of the Mississippi River caught a prosthetic arm. Now wouldn't that be some kind of animal to have come to the boat!

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Plastics...making better fishermen without bait! Good Fishing Guys! CrappieTom

muckbootsonline.com Pro Staff
Culprit Tackle Crappie Pro Staff
Catch-n Tackle Pro Staff
[email protected]

[smartguy]

My Brother and I were fishing from a paddleboat early one morning on Loon Lake in Cohasset. All the sudden, we heard a bunch of snorting. I saw three animals, and at first, I actually thought theywere pigs because of their snorting! But in actuality, it as a momma bear and her two cubs wimming across the lake, over an area 60+ feet deep.

They went about 50 feet from us, and by brother, being the brilliant man he is, suggested we move closer to the cubs. I thought otherwise, and we just watched them swim ashore.

[Animal]

I was fishing on Basswood last June and was back trolling along a weed line in the Washington Island area. Both me and my partner had our attention directed to the back of the boat when, all of a sudden, we hear this loon go nuts. We turn around and it's running on top of the water and flapping its wings and coming right at us. It got about 5 feet from the boat and dove under water. Then it popped up about 10 feet of the boat and continued to holler. We backed away and it settled down. We must have gotten too close to the nest. That scared the hell out of me.

[abens1078]

I was sitting in a tree stand one morning when a small owl decided it was time for a rest or that I looked like a 250# piece of lunch. I was watching the trails below when I caught him coming towards me claws out. It's a blur after that but dad wondered who was down in the cow pasture screaming like a girl when I came back to the house.
To many squirrels to count have come up and chattered at me from a few feet away as they assumed I was a big nut.

One more,
When I was about 6 or 7 my dad and I were driving home after checking cows when we ran over a jack rarbit that was blinded by the head lights. I had never seen one up close so dad picked it up and put it in the cab of the truck for me to see and probaly to feed to the cats. As we drove along I was touching the long ears and looking at the huge feet when the road kill became very much alive. Dad had only stunned the little critter. It commenced to running laps arount the inside of the pick-up as we drove 55 mph down a gravel road. It bit us each a few times as it ran mach 1 upside down across the ceiling of the truck cab which was a blur of rabbit hair. Dad slammed on the brakes and we both jumped out to allow the rabbit to escape. no one was injurred beyond what a band-aid couldn't fix. We still laugh about it when ever we see a jack rabbit.

[pikehunter]

Great stories guys!
A couple years ago I was shore-fishing the Minnesota River when I heard a noise, turned around and saw an otter trying to STEAL his breakfast out of my minnow bucket. I'd chase him away for about five minutes and he kept coming back. Finally I chased him away and put the lid on the minnow bucket, but he returned and knocked over the whole thing! With no bait left, I was forced to surrender.

Another time I was ice fishing on a southern Minnesota lake in a bit of a blizzard. I'm kind of anal about keeping my ice hole-area clean, so I always toss the dead minnows out the door. Well, about mid-way through the day, I zip open the door to check out the scene and I get the begeebers scared out of me by a bald eagle standing right there next to the door, protected from the wind and enjoying a nice dead minnow snack. Probably the coolest thing I've even seen in the outdoors.

[The Yeti]

A couple years ago, we were in the flowage between big sandy and aitkin lake. I looked in front of the boat at something swimming in the water. I thought it was a couple beavers or loons. Turned out it was 2 does swimming across the channel. They got up on shore and away they went. Pretty cool. Got pictures of it too..

[deadeye]

My coolest encouter with an animal was when I worked at many point scout camp. I was at one of the beaches doing a little night fishing for walleyes when a skunk decided to take a stroll by. I was sitting on a bench watching my lighted bobber when he came hopping along. He kind of pounced around like a squirrel or like a cat chasing something. He ended up right at my feet looking for something to eat. I got lucky and he didn't get scared so there was no stink involved. It was crazy because I could have reached down and petted him. He sniffed my feet for a second and decided that I wasnt edible and hopped along his way, ending up down the beach eating some turtle eggs. Pretty crazy though, that is the closest I have ever been to being in a real mess. If he would have decided to try my feet for supper, there would have been a interesting scene to see.
><>deadeye

[jegerjack]

Me and a buddy were trolling on a channel between Little Pine and Dagget on the Whitefish Chain a couple years back, when we noticed a group of 7 or 8 ducklings fallowing in our wake, for about 45 mins they kept fallowing us. Later in the day we came back to the spot and they came swimming out and again the fallowed us, close enough that they could touch the transom. The next day we drove b y and we saw them again but this time they were with the hen...

JegerJack

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"What did the old man trade for these guys, a used puck bag?"

[This message has been edited by jegerjack (edited 09-13-2004).]