Crazy lucky things that happened while trolling.

[rolmops]

Over the years some improbable lucky things happened to me

About 15 years ago was the first thing. While fishing with 10 color lead core off Olcot we got a hit, my partner took the rod, but before he even started to reel in, the leadcore broke off at  the backing connection. Ouch. 300 feet of leadcore, a nice flasher and lure all gone. I looked back and saw the the fish trashing and jumping on the surface trying to throw the lure. We turned the boat around got to the fish and netted it. It turned out to be a 16 pound steelhead. We got all our gear back as well.

Two summers ago, while trolling I had the otter boats out and also the dipsy rods. An otterboat line caught a dipsy rod guide and pulled it out of the rod holder and into the water. Ouch! I got so upset that I decided to stop fishing then and there. I grabbed the downrigger rod on the now lost dipsy side, pulled it loose out of the black and started reeling it in, only to feel some heavy pull. I carefully reeled it in and saw that the lure had caught the dipsy line. so after carefully reeling it in, I retrieved the dipsy rod with all the gear.

Just yesterday, Out of Oswego, I hooked into a decent salmon on a dipsy rod, but and after a good fight had it at about fifty foot behind the boat. The salmon saw the boat, went for a second run and doing so broke off the seven strand wire and escaped with flasher, fly and dipsy. ouch again. while reeling in, the leadcore went off and my buddy reeled it in. And he said, something like, darn it, Its caught in the other dipsy.So carefully he brought it in and we found out that the broken off fish had swam around the leadcore line and the dipsy had  with only one twist caught itself on the lead core. we brought the fish in and all the previously lost gear back into boat and celebrated the now twice caught fish.

Did you have any of these crazy lucky things happen to you?

Please tell your story.

[Gill-T]

Do you buy scratch offs or Lottery tickets?

Edited August 26 by Gill-T

[chowder]

Last week: 500 copper broke off at leader to copper (weighted steel), thinking quickly I slowed boat and could see that the Scotty release , which was deployed in the pulled out mode ( very tight position) was holding onto the copper with a 10” flasher and meat rig  on the end. I brought the planer line in gingerly, grabbed the copper and proceeded to put a good crimp end swivel connector to the backing. Sent it back out, 20 minutes later a 18lb king smashed that meat rig.

[Grayseve0406]

Last year while trolling for browns, had a fish hit an outside board, but after going aerial several times he came off. I was running a jailbreak smithwick. Went to check the boards and lo and behold, no stickbait as the leader broke. 
The day progressed on and we ended up limiting out shortly after that. 
We tried out deep for kings for a few hours with nothing, so I said “screw it, let’s go back in tight and pop a few more browns before the drive home” 

Shortly after setting up,  the middle board start pulling. I work the fish but it feels weird. The stick bait I was running got tangled up With the florocarbon on the fish I lost previously In the morning, and that chunky little brown had a jailbreak smithwick tattooed on his cheek. Got the fish, got the stickbait and a hell of a memory. 

 

 

[GAMBLER]

Last season on the one trip, I had my riggers go quiet.  I started pulling rods to make sure we weren't dragging a skip.  I popped the port rigger and hit the rigger coming up.  The rigger sounded like it was under a heavier load than normal.  As the rigger was coming up, I could see a green 11" paddle coming up that was wrapped around the cable.  When the rigger stopped at the surface, there was that green 11" paddle with an Atommik meat rig and a 15lb king on it.  Someone had broke this fish off and it happened to swim into the downrigger cable and got wrapped up enough to get hauled to the surface.  To this day, that paddle has been a producer on my boat!  

[Gill-T]

Unreal

[Pete Collin]

I was trolling Canandaigua Lake with a bottom bouncing rig.  Got a strike and reeled in.  When my lure got near the boat, I could see my colorful lure in the water, and feel the fight of the fish, but saw no fish!  Turns out I had snagged somebody's broken-off copper line.  A fish bit on the copper-line spoon after my rod gave it a yank, and I brought him all the way in!

[Sea Lion]

Amazing Pete!!

[Salty Nut]

Got offshore aways a few years ago and the waves got nasty, north wind, so headed back downwind and a full spread out. A small boat, 18ish, Carolina Skiff type with a full bimini went passed us headed out. I said to my son, not sure what those guys are thinking. They got just about out of sight and the bimini disappears. Next roller and through the binocs i see the prop and two orange bobbers. We get 911 on the line, do a 360, get the wires and stuff in and make our way to them. Maybe 15 minutes

We get the first guy fast, He was capable and maybe 225#s.. the other guy was full blown panic, whiite as a sheet, screaming etc. Took a bit but we got him.

Coast guard arived etc.

Tried but they wouldnt let us weigh either guy into the derby.

Biggest catch in LO for us

[minnowcatcher]

Fishing the St Lawrence for bass by a channel marker in 60 ft of water. I noticed my minnow bucket had come untied off the back of the boat and was drifting away. I took the anchor line off the cleat and went to the back of the boat paying out line to get close enough to grab the minnows. Just as I reached for it I felt the end of the line pull through my hand and flip out the front of the boat. I saw the line slowly sinking, grabbed a rigged pole with spoon, dropped it past the line and was bringing it up slowly trying to snag the rope.  I watched a 34 inch pike come up from below snatch the spoon and dive. My anchor line sank out of sight as I fought the pike which I landed. I dropped another anchor to the bottom and tried to pull it perpendicular to the lost line. First try I pulled up the lost line on that anchor tied off the boat and turned around to see everyone on about 6 other boats just looking at me like I was a crazy man.

[chowder]

Great stories! - one more I guess: Customer brings a very large steelhead in, breaks off just out of net range due to an unnoticed abrasion. The steely is done, barely flopping. Customers are very dismayed. Of course we got 2 board lines on either side and we need fish to get a box. I drop a way point and begin a wide turn, after the 180 I aim for just down wind of the waypoint. Yar matey, came right up on and netted that steelhead to great applause from the guys 

Edited August 28 by chowder

[steelhead'r]

This year fishing out of Sandy Creek the out down rigger releases and screams out. Obviously a king. I played the fish toward the boat and got it close to the boat.  It rips to the side and breaks off when it contacts the wire line of the dipsey.  I put the rigger pole in a rod holder and the dipsey rips the drag. obviously another king. I played it in and when we netted it we see two lures. The one that broke off and the one from the dipsey.  Unhooking the king to release it i noticed the rigger lure didn't snag the fish but the rigger hook caught in the swivel of the dipsey lure. One in a million.

[sherman brown]

a few years ago we were trolling along and saw a charter boat at a distance to our left. knowing a boat on the left is supposed to give way and thinking surely a charter boat would alter his course. then I looked up and he was right on top of us I had to make a hard right turn to miss him. As he goes by he started yelling at us until I yelled back we had the right of way and he had plenty of time to see us and alter his course. once he got by and we stopped and started to untangle all our lines we noticed the boat was filling with water fast. One of his large boards went under our boat hitting the bottom hard and we had to untangle his lead line. at first, I thought maybe he knocked a hole in the boat. but after some quick thinking, I said he had pulled our plug. luckily I always keep a couple of plugs in my boat. my oldest son took one and went overboard. after a couple of minutes, he got it in the hole. for some reason, it was very difficult to get the plug in. Then after a short time, our sump pump failed. we took 5 gallon buckets and 2 liter bottles and got it down where we could make it in.

[Crestliner]

Sh-t happens . While fishing Canandaigua Sunday morning , doing some jiggin. I had to drop my fishing buddy back at dock. On the way in at about full speed with the 350 chevy  48 MPH in a 6000 lb boat. All of a sudden we cavitated !! Could not figure out what happened , thought we hit something. Raised lower unit,nothing wrong . Went to dock boat running fine. Wifey and I went back out to do some south end trolling. After a bit I went to grab my new set up dipsey rod (out of rocket launcher) with brand new ocuma wire reel and brand new magnum dipsey , Only to discover wire all back lashed and missing mag dipsey. Figured it came unhooked flew back behind boat at speed and almost stopped the 6000 lb. 24 ft wellcraft tournament. when that new dipsey hit the water and dug in.. Holt sh-t. reel and rod pressure bent rocket launcher and frame. Rod survived Copper not so much. Dipsey gone to live with the fishes!!!

[Crestliner]

Oh ya buy Berkley dipsey rods!!!!!!

[LakerTaker]

On Lake Huron last summer while bottom bouncing a Gambler Rig in 100 FOW we caught a downrigger rod, Okuma reel, dodger, spoon, and a lake trout still attached to the spoon.  No other boats around at the time, although the fish was still very much alive.  

[Great_Laker]

Hand pulling copper in Seneca Lake for lakers and the solid copper broke in my hand, about 300’ of line lost with Pflueger. A week later was pulling down rigger ball in the mud for lakers and snagged my 300’ of copper, tied it back on the spool and was back in action!  
 

Dropped my sunglasses off the boat while trolling in Oswego, 30 mins later, checking down riggers and the sunglasses somehow looped around the Downrigger line so I got them back.

[zach]

Caught an old banana 🍌 peel on the downrigger this year out in 250', I thought it was a dreadful sign but we kept on catching fish 🐟 . 

[Silver Fox]

A month ago I had a client lose his wallet while leaning on the gunnel. We looked for 30 minutes with no luck. Let’s see how lucky you are to find that puppy while out fishing….

[sherman brown]

was trolling Erie for eyes when a rod started bouncing some. I started reeling it in and had some resistance but it just never felt right. when I got my harness back to the boat it had a wireline hooked on it. I started pulling the wire in by hand and was rewarded with a nice 4# or 5# eye on a small reef runner looking crankbait. that was a good surprise.

 

[Gill-T]

The boys around Erie, PA troll with small diameter monel wire. 

Edited September 18 by Gill-T

[Yankee Troller]

A handful of years ago we were trolling North up the Summerville Pier battling a double. Corner out and down gets smoked and we crack off the fish. We run 30lb flouro leaders off our j-plug harnesses and we got back about 10" of that leader. Landed the double and now were in 40' of water just North of the Genny piers. Diver gets smashed. We get that fish in and notice our j-plug harness across the back of this fish. He swam out to deeper water and ate a Moonshine. 

[Roys Boys]

Caught a brown on Ontario and had the same spoon we caught it on snapped off in its mouth

[Lunderdog]

On 9/20/2024 at 8:05 PM, Roys Boys said:

Caught a brown on Ontario and had the same spoon we caught it on snapped off in its mouth

Don't make me ask man.......................................

[LazyRiver585]

Sounds like he’s saying the fish liked that spoon pattern