Unusual Things found when fishing.

or however that dang word is written! : ) Use this forum to discuss those things that are related to, directly, or indirectly, fly fishing, i.e., tackle, catalogs, single malt scotch, cigar preferences, pipes, camera gear, etc. This is sort of an off topic area but one related to bamboo and fly fishing.

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crowebeetle
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Unusual Things found when fishing.

#1

Post by crowebeetle »

This was an interesting thread a few years ago and was quite interesting.

My Unusual Find was my Abel Tool. I lost it fishing on Spring Cr (heavily fished year round) near State College PA one October and found it a year later a little rusted buy still good.

PYochim
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Re: Unusual Things found when fishing.

#2

Post by PYochim »

Maybe there's hope for me. I lost a pair of Abel nippers in the Bighorn this spring. Earlier this year I lost a Ketchum Release on the North Tongue and found it a week later.

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Silver Doctor
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Re: Unusual Things found when fishing.

#3

Post by Silver Doctor »

Certainly found my share of knives, either on the ground or stuck in trees, couple of coal oil lamps. Last fall I found a Winchester rifle. Looked to be out of the 30'sor 40's. Bunch of Pines had grown into it so couldn't remove it very little rust. Will go out this spring with a saw an axe.

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kimk
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Re: Unusual Things found when fishing.

#4

Post by kimk »

Every year, first week of June, Arlington Vt. celebrates "Battenkill days".
At one time they would hold a "duck derby" on the river. "Buy" a duck and it with all the other ducks would be dumped into the river. First duck to reach a certain point wins and its buyer gets a prize.
One late April, I was fishing the Battenkill in NY near Shushan and I found a little yellow duck swirling around in some stream side brush. Almost 11 months after the previous derby. Still had it's race number sticker on the base.
It sits on display with my reels.
AgMD

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thegubster
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Re: Unusual Things found when fishing.

#5

Post by thegubster »

I began fly fishing around 1999 with graphites. Took me - guessing now - around a decade to cast my first cane rod...

I lost some marbles that same year, never to recover sad to say...

Happy Sunday ladies...

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Mahseer
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Re: Unusual Things found when fishing.

#6

Post by Mahseer »

Once landed a Second World War gas mask. More recently a full cup of hot coffee, floating down the river in an insulated metal cup with a sealed rubber lid, and a mountain bike that had washed down in a spate and stuck on a bend. Lost count of the lures, flies, knives and pliers etc.

bassman
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Re: Unusual Things found when fishing.

#7

Post by bassman »

Silver Doctor wrote:
11/22/20 10:34
Last fall I found a Winchester rifle. Looked to be out of the 30'sor 40's. Bunch of Pines had grown into it so couldn't remove it very little rust. Will go out this spring with a saw an axe.
Ya' wanna send the coordinates on that rifle so I can see it's properly protected from vandals. :lol

I told the wife I was going to run up to the culvert on Baptism River and get a few trout for dinner. Got there and could not find a fish. Used my Buck knife for something (can't remember what) and took off. Got down the road aways and realized I'd left the knife. Went back and got knife, decided to do a few more drifts. Caught the trout I wanted, then got snagged on something on bottom. Pulled steady to break off and it started coming in. Saw it was a big yellow stick. Got it up to side of current and it was a top of the line Garcia spin rod. It was the heavy duty job, had a Eagle Claw saltwater spin reel on it with maybe 20# test, a 6" wire leader and maybe a size 2 hook. I don't know if it was lost or thrown in when they couldn't get a bite but I still have the outfit and have used it for trolling Lake Superior and catfishing.

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gt05254
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Re: Unusual Things found when fishing.

#8

Post by gt05254 »

I found this Rapala in a Canada goose. It had his head pinned to his leg. I was able to get to him and get it out. He flew off with a healthy honk. On the Batten Kill. Not a fan of multi-hooked and barbed lures.
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Gary

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flyfishingpastor
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Re: Unusual Things found when fishing.

#9

Post by flyfishingpastor »

There is almost a tradition of finding unusual things on a certain little stream I fish in the back country. The first time I found something on this stream, it was a sandwich, in a ziplock bag, lying on a napkin. It was on a rock that was a perfect place to eat lunch. I just assumed a person had simply forgotten it. I took it out of the ziplock bag and left it for the animals. A few weeks later I found a thermos cup full of still-warm black coffee sitting on that same rock. I emptied the coffee and carried the cup back to where I parked at the end of the day and hung it up in a tree. Since, then, almost every time I'd go back, there is something left there. Once a pocket knife. A candy bar. a fly box filled with flies tied with a shaky hand - or by a beginner. And, a whiskey glass, half filled with what smelled very much like expensive scotch.

I have never seen another car parked there. Nor have I ever seen another human being fishing there. Some boot tracks, a fly stuck in a bush now and then (it IS thick in there) and an inexpensive pair of sunglasses that look to have been accidentally dropped along the trail going in. Nor have I seen any trash there.

So, I have no idea what is going on. I don't know if it's someone who is just forgetful and leaves something behind - but on the same rock? Seems strange. When it's food, I take the wrapping off and leave it for what finds it and take the wrappers off and throw them away at home. The other stuff, the pocket knife, thermos lid, fly box and glass, I carry with me back to the place I park and leave it in an obvious place where it can be found. I do this for two reasons. First, if he/she is just forgetful, I leave it where they can reclaim it. Secondly, if this is an "offering" of some spiritual or communal kind, I want them to know that it was found - and treated respectfully. Nothing has ever been still there when I come back next time. This went on for a couple of years I'd guess. I usually fish that little stream 4-6 times in a season. It stopped happening about a year ago. Maybe they had decided that it was time to quit. Maybe they are no longer in the area - perhaps even passed away. I often wondered if the "offering" was left just to tell another human being that they loved this little stream, too. Dunno. Unusual? Perhaps. But, for some reason I didn't find it weird. Just unusual.

Pat

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Stomias
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Re: Unusual Things found when fishing.

#10

Post by Stomias »

Dead Blujay attached to a Horner fly and piece of leader. Took it down (wasn't that hard) and gave the poor bird a proper burial. I can't imagine the suffering struggle after he hooked himself thinking of an easy meal. Kept the fly. Retrieve your lost flies if possible! This shot is really old (film scan) Prairie River near Merrill WI....... https://photos.app.goo.gl/gsqPDTXF3yzxSMd99

Cimarron
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Re: Unusual Things found when fishing.

#11

Post by Cimarron »

I’m jealous of all the interesting finds. My only one was a new spool of useable Rio 6x tippet along the San Juan. I love the story of the offerings. Clearly a sacred site. I hope the spirit that dwells there was happy with them.

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Shrimpman
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Re: Unusual Things found when fishing.

#12

Post by Shrimpman »

I have a history of turning "finds" into wall art and this cast iron stove door that I found sticking out of a river bed looked to me like an elephant... or the giant space suit at the beginning of the movie The Fifth Element. :D
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cregb
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Re: Unusual Things found when fishing.

#13

Post by cregb »

That’s really cool and I like the Fifth Element reference as it is spot on. Nice job!

PT48
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Re: Unusual Things found when fishing.

#14

Post by PT48 »

Gosh, there have been so many dating right back to the 1960's. In NZ, I have rescued sheep which fallen down the banks into the rivers without any notion of how to get out. In the 1970's I was fishing up an Australian stream when I blundered onto a huge dead horse right in the middle of a promising run - boy did it stink. In the early noughties I came across what, at a distance, looked to be a human body in a very remote stream. Turns out it was an old guy in a wet suit sluicing for gold. He told me to drop back and fish behind him and, sure enough, I hooked up (the fish were feeding on nymphs dislodged by his sluicing). Goes to show that wading a stream can be about a lot more than just fishing.
Last edited by PT48 on 11/23/20 04:11, edited 1 time in total.

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Holdover
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Re: Unusual Things found when fishing.

#15

Post by Holdover »

Found this kind of humorous..
Image

And this one now resides in my yard with some other rustic funky stuff.
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DUCKMANNM
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Re: Unusual Things found when fishing.

#16

Post by DUCKMANNM »

My most unusual find was on the Pecos River in New Mexico. I saw a trout about 15 feet in front, and to the right of me, so I started drifting my fly over him. He didn't rise, nor did he spook and disappear. So I thought if he won't rise, the let's see if I can spook him. I slapped the line on top of the water right above him, and he stayed in place. Then I stuck the tip of my wading staff in the water to nudge him and he still didn't move. So I waded in and netted him. Turns out he had a fish hook in his mouth with about 15 inches of leader on it, and the barrel swivel at the top of the leader was caught between two rocks. So I got the hook out and revived him for few minutes before I let him swim free.

The only other weird thing is one time losing the tip off of my wading staff, and finding it on the side of the stream bed the following week! I bought Powerball tickets on the way home, but didn't win. Go Figure!

ctwhite
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Re: Unusual Things found when fishing.

#17

Post by ctwhite »

Lotsa rusty logging-era iron, including boom chains, picks, peaveys, camp wares, steel beer cans, railway spikes and so on...

ImageVersion 2 by Craig White, on Flickr

ImageIMG_9315 by Craig White, on Flickr

mlarocco
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Re: Unusual Things found when fishing.

#18

Post by mlarocco »

First person at the Fall River parking lot near Sunriver Or and their was an Orvis graphite rod and reel leaning against one of the fence posts. Tracked it to a fly shop guide who had been giving a casting class the previous day. Not even a Thank You....

headwaters
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Re: Unusual Things found when fishing.

#19

Post by headwaters »

Pat--

Sounds to me like someone was communing regularly with a lost and sadly missed fishing buddy . . . maybe at a favorite lunch site!

6tUc05
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Re: Unusual Things found when fishing.

#20

Post by 6tUc05 »

Once found a couple of pairs of blue jeans and some shirts in the Pecos River. A game warden drove up just as I was coming out of the river with my "haul", and he came over to see what I had. He looked at them, and chuckled and said "keep them if they fit". He commented that there had been some heavy rain a day or so earlier much farther upstream and that some unlucky camper apparently had their campsite flooded! Thankfully, there were no bodies in them! I left them over a cable stretched between heavy posts marking the boundary of the parking area just in case the rightful owner might have the presence of mind to come downriver looking for them.

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