I was out on a reservoir at sunset tossing some poppers (no action) and then some hopper/droppers upon which we caught a few bluegills. I wanted to get a bass bite going and so started using a tube on a 1/4 oz jig and a quick retrieve which usually works pretty well there so that I could get a location pattern for the bass figured out.
About the time I tossed one out, I had something come up with the trolling motor. So I set the rod down and diddled with the trolling motor and then picked the rod up.
Dang thing was snagged on a rock. I gave it a couple of good pops and nothing. So I gave it tension and then released. Nothing but a small bird’s nest on the reel from that (Not to self: Spinning reel strategies do not work on conventional tackle very well). So then I decided to break it off and started putting on steady pressure. It was then that the rock started to swim off. I did a couple quick attempts at a hook set, but the rock spit the lure. I wonder what it was. I’ve taken some smallish catfish from this reservoir, and also my current best largemouth bass. There are also muskies in it, and I have no idea how a musky would feel. I’m guessing a big bubba bass as it was in a bassy location.
....... it felt like a dead weight but moving . I didn't know it wasn't a fish though until I brought it boat side , but I had no clue from it's feel what type of fish it could be ... it was just heavy and different .
The only reason I'm thinking it may not have been a turtle is D wasn't using a live bait ... my turtle ate a large live minnow .
Fairly confident it was a big bass They’re in the reservoir, and this was a good bassy spot. They also have the habit of holding a tube in the mouth and not fully taking it, especially if there isn’t enough slack line. I’ve had good fights with jumps only to get the fish to boat side and have it open its mouth and drop the tube. It was just holding the bait and was trying to keep me from taking its snack away.
...... falling tube twice . One , one day and then the 2nd the next day . Both fish were in the upper Potomac river .
Have had Muskies pick up imitaion crawdads (Yum Crawbugs) while dragging them across the bottom of this same river at least a half dozen times .
Seems I run across more Muskies unexpectedly than when exclusively fishing for them in this river . Can't tell you how many lures (but many) , spinners , tubes , etc. I've lost to them by a surprise attack when not using a stealon leader .
Only twice have I been lucky enough to actually keep a Muskie on w/o a stealon leader . One was small in the 24" range , the other was large in the 43" range .
The usual outcome of a surprise Muskie attack (w/o a stealon) is a very fast and hard strike , a lightning run for about 2-3 seconds and snap all gone . It's those teeth !!
The 43" Muskie that was caught on a falling tube (no stealon) was a battle for the record books . This fish even found himself a log to slip under quite a ways upstream and it was a touch and go , wait and see type thing at that point . Eventually he saw it my way and back out from under that log he came ... 8 lb. test believe or not !! I got that fish boatside right next to me in the canoe , he was plumb tuckered out . He sorta rolled on his side a little and looked me straight in the eye , stared at me for maybe 10 seconds , then arched and sank into the river again . I never did see his tail as he was slipping down into the blackness below .
Good story. I had a musky follow a Bomber Fat A I was using as a search bait last Friday on the Shenandoah. First time I’ve seen one in the wild. Its eyes were as far apart as the full length of most of the fish we were catching. Big fish. It didn’t take. It just watched. It stayed deep in the deepest water we had been in that day. Only the extreme tap-water like clarity of the water gave me the chance to see it at all, and that was just its head. The rest of it was directly beneath my canoe, using the shade of the canoe as an ambush spot. They are crafty fish.