# Unusual catches that have happened over the years?



## GSH1976 (Jan 1, 2008)

The topic here about what people have snagged with lures got me thinking. The oceans are so large and diverse that you never know what might be out there. 

My question for the board is what are some unusual catches you have either experienced yourself/witnessed or have heard about from reliable sources? 

About 15 years ago I was fishing for tautog out of Ocean City, MD and the captain told me somebody once caught a swordfish from the beach there. They had a fish on (which turned out to be a bluefish) and while they were reeling it in the swordfish hit. The swordfish was only 70 - 80 lbs but I can only imagine what was going through the fisherman's mind at the time.

I also seem to remember hearing about dolphin being caught from the point in Hatteras. I am sure sailfish have been caught from shore but I have never heard about it. This isn't limited to fish that are usually only caught in deep water being caught from shore but also catches of species in an area they are never expected to be (catching a snook in Maine). 

This is why I have always preferred saltwater fishing because you never know what you might catch.


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## steve grossman (Feb 1, 2008)

That Captain in Ocean City was putting you on. That story is 102% impossible, on a million dollar bet, paid in $10.000 bills...


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## CrappieKid (Jan 21, 2008)

hey i saw the newspaper from 1 old guy about 10 years ago saw it with my own eyes. But I couldn't believe it Steve.


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## saltandsand (Nov 29, 2007)

Stargazer in Delaware Bay... strangest danged thing... ugly yet beautiful. 

The 52 inch rock I caught last year in the upper (*** river) was incredible... catch and release of course.


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## steve grossman (Feb 1, 2008)

Crappie Kid--You have told me many times that you cant read, so????????

And I once caught an 8 foot chicken surf fishing next to that pier in 1974.....


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## saltandsand (Nov 29, 2007)

steve grossman said:


> Crappie Kid--You have told me many times that you cant read, so????????
> 
> And I once caught an 8 foot chicken surf fishing next to that pier in 1974.....


Was it already fried and in a bucket with red and white stripes, and did it come with cornbread and pinto beans?? Must have been one heck of a drumstick on that one...


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## basstardo (Jun 5, 2006)

Caught a couple of ribbonfish near the HRBT a month or so ago. Very weird fish. Caught a stargazer a few years back on a glass minnow in Ocean View. Definitely a strange critter.


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

How bout:
Blowtoad,seamullet,croaker,spot,pinfish all caught on a speck jig?
Cobia over 50lb caught mid Nov off bouys in OI?
Dolphin caught on stingsilvers, within 200yrds of the beach in Hatteras?
Octopus caught on bloodworms?
Squid caught with a gotcha?
Grouper caught in Pamlico,as well as tripletails,and snook?
38lb king caught in the middle of a drumblitz,caught on a menhaden head with mono leader and drumrig?
Bunches of different fish in cast nets varying from tarpon,ladyfish,permit,snook,cuda,triggerfish,and many others..

Put a line in the water when you're saltwater fishing it's like a "box of chocolates"...


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## Jesse Lockowitz (Feb 13, 2006)

Drumdum said:


> How bout:
> Blowtoad,seamullet,croaker,spot,pinfish all caught on a speck jig?
> Cobia over 50lb caught mid Nov off bouys in OI?
> Dolphin caught on stingsilvers, within 200yrds of the beach in Hatteras?
> ...



id have to say my coolest in the cast net was a baby baracuda, they are coool lookin when tiny!

also caught a spanish mack that was like 4" long, man he looked cool


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## bcssux (May 23, 2005)

this spring i caught a HUGE remora on a pomp jig in the surf, spade in the surf (no structure for miles around), stargazer in the surf, and squid on a gotcha


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## Anthony (Jul 3, 2002)

Squid in ocean city off a dock in sept two years ago, cob mullet at pax nas two days ago, spadefish at plo I am sure there are others I am forgetting.


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## emanuel (Apr 2, 2002)

Dolphin off the pier here in the Panhandle aren't uncommon. Sailfish have been caught from time to time. I caught a 26" amberjack off the pier last summer and I have the pictures to prove it.

Caught a king in mid-January a couple years back offshore from Homosassa and I've seen snook in Savannah.

You just never know.


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## Ryan Y (Dec 1, 2005)

*Right on Kenny*



Drumdum said:


> How bout:
> Blowtoad,seamullet,croaker,spot,pinfish all caught on a speck jig?
> Cobia over 50lb caught mid Nov off bouys in OI?
> Dolphin caught on stingsilvers, within 200yrds of the beach in Hatteras?
> ...


My pops has a knack for catching octopus on Jigging spoons when fishing for grey trout. He's done that several times.
Ive caught a ton of stuff in Cast Nets including Lady's, Cudas, Sheepsheads, Flounder, trout, and a-27 pound drum.

I caught a huge striped mullet this winter; January 2 on a white gulp shrimp. Small (Baby) gags are about everywhere this year in the ICW on Oysters rocks and hard structures. and a strawberry grouper in Snowscut.


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## kingfisherman23 (Dec 14, 2003)

Pacific Lionfish, a creature with poisoned spines native to the seas around China, caught off Cherry Grove pier, SC.

Fish was positively IDed by my uncle, a marine biologist. This fish had to have crossed the ocean and come through the Panama Canal in order to make it here. 

Evan


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## emanuel (Apr 2, 2002)

kingfisherman23 said:


> This fish had to have crossed the ocean and come through the Panama Canal in order to make it here.


Actually, Google lionfish and check out the stories about them being dumped in saltwater or escaping.

Speaking of fish coming through the Panama Canal, they now have tarpon in the Pacific and there's bonefish in San Diego Bay.

Even crazier, I saw a roosterfish off Ponce Inlet once, about 10 miles out during a king tournament.


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## outfishin28 (Jul 15, 2005)

caught a bunch of baby squid in the cast net one time, pretty cool to see them changing colors and spitting ink. I also had a seagull grab a mullet in mud flight year before last, that was kinda weird, and fun.ooh, I also caught an albino channel cat in Lake Wylie three years ago, probably a release from a fish tank, and a buddy of mine caught a piranha in Smith Mountain Lake Virginia.


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## waterone (Oct 25, 2005)

*Odd catches*

One of the oddest was some 12 years ago, when I was in Morehead City NC for business, I went out to the Fort Macon rock jetty @ Atlantic Beach and was throwing a Kastmaster and along with some small blues and a Spanish or two I pulled in a 21" striped bass! This was May 15, so I thought that was pretty odd, went over to the Marine Fisheries head offices in Morehead and asked what the population was in the ocean there and was told that I must have been mistaken! (Really they acted like I was a loon) I had taken a pic, developed it at one of those one hour places and showed the pic to them, they were reallly surprised. They had told me that there was NO chance that there was a striper in the surf that time of year and that what few stipers that were within 100 miles were WAY upstream from there on the Neuse River. Oh yeah, I released the fish.

Also about the lionfish - http://www.publicaffairs.noaa.gov/releases2002/jan02/noaa02r105.html - this was back in 2002


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## Entropy (Mar 9, 2008)

cast netted many odd things and things i thought id never net in va; oyster toads, squid, mangrove snapper (juevenile), pin fish, and the kicker was a power plant mullet? what is a power plant mullet you ask? imagine your regular finger mullet growing to somewhere around 2 feet. at chix beach one time we could see schools of large fish that simply WOULD NOT bite anything. so i waded out there with a cast net and threw it. that was the first time ive ever had a net fight BACK. my buddy josh and an intoxicated regular o the beach can confirm this story, there was more than one litteraly too fat to wrap my hands around. and ive got pretty big hands. lol.

ive also snagged squid, a sea horse, snagged a crab in the face with a gotcha. he wasnt too happy. reeled up others rigs plenty of times. i also managed to pick up a juvenile amberjack off of chix beach. again, i have a friend who can confirm this.

saltwater is so odd, but thats what makes it fun.


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## basstardo (Jun 5, 2006)

Didn't think about cast nets, but I've caught tons of crazy stuff in them. The most surprising was when I was castnetting shiners for catfishing and pulled up an 11 lb 4 oz largemouth. I'd never seen a bass that big. This was in a drainage pond off of Lynnhaven near Holland Rd in Va Beach. I've caught longnose gar, catfish, huge carp, hogchokers, stripers, jellyfish, and misc other junk. 

Entropy, be careful talking about mullet that big. You gonna get them Carolina boys hungry!!


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## redneckranger (Jan 19, 2006)

Reef fishing down in Key West when i was 14 i brought in a Man of War with my gray snapper


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## Al Kai (Jan 8, 2007)

I caught a Spiny Lobster on a fishing rod in the Philippines.


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## JeepMike (Feb 4, 2008)

I caught a channel catfish on a Zara Spook...
Largemouth bass from trout stream...
Rainbow trout from a bass lake...
Big catfish in cast nets..
Big flounder in cast nets...
I've caught turtles, snakes, gulls, ducks, muskrat.

Really nothing too crazy yet though. I'd love to hook a mahi from one of the piers down here though!!!


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## basstardo (Jun 5, 2006)

JeepMike said:


> I caught a channel catfish on a Zara Spook...


I've picked them up on crappie jigs in the past. Thought I had the slab to rule them all on the line til I saw those whiskers. Heck of a fight on a lightweight crappie rod.


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## bcssux (May 23, 2005)

basstardo said:


> I've picked them up on crappie jigs in the past. Thought I had the slab to rule them all on the line til I saw those whiskers. Heck of a fight on a lightweight crappie rod.


haha yeah i had a real big cat grap my x-rap bass fishin one day, and man i thought i had the state record


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## Entropy (Mar 9, 2008)

basstardo said:


> Entropy, be careful talking about mullet that big. You gonna get them Carolina boys hungry!!


lol. the thing was so big i could have named it joe dirt. ive heard stories of people catching herpes in ocean view. seems to be a common thing...


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## N topsail fisher (Feb 13, 2005)

A few years back me and a friend caught a bat under a street light on a grasshopper lure.

Who says you can't fish in the city?


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## Too Busy (Sep 7, 2007)

I caught a seagull when it decided to eat a finger mullet.
Also caught a goose on a Rapala broken back minnow when I was a kid.


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## Oyster (Jun 28, 2000)

About 25 years ago, I was fishing in a billfish tournament out of Hatteras. We were dragging a Moldcraft softhead when a white ate it and took off gray hounding toward the starboard. The lure slid up the 15’ leader and was laying on the swivel and being pulled backwards behind the fish, which is normal. I picked the rod up out of the holder, placed it into the chair gimbal and noticed that the line coming off the rod tip was now pointing to the right when I had seen the fish going left. At the same time, the fight got down and dirty more like a tuna instead of the marlin we had seen hit the lure. We were all completely baffled and could not figure out what was going on. About 30 minutes later, we are straight over the fish when I see color and get ready to wire it. However, before the swivel ever comes out of the water, up pops a tail all wrapped in the running line. I grab it and slide a worn out runt blue one of about 125# over the transom and into the cockpit. I turned to the captain and told him the fish was tail wrapped and that is why the fight was so tough. I start unwrapping the line from around the fish when I notice it’s just running line spiraled around the fish up to the bill. I keep following the line back across the transom and into the water where I see some more color below the surface. I start bringing in the line hand over hand when up pops the bill of the original white with the hooks in its mouth. The blue marlin had hit the hookless lure that was dragging behind the white marlin, got tail wrapped in the line, and we landed both. Landing both a white marlin and a blue marlin at the same time on one rod got us a write up in Marlin Magazine in the strange catch section.


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## 1fishinmusician (Jun 8, 2005)

N topsail fisher said:


> A few years back me and a friend caught a bat under a street light on a grasshopper lure.
> 
> Who says you can't fish in the city?


Reminds me of folks ratfishin in Baltimore, they even used to have a tournament


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## Rockstar (Jun 23, 2004)

I have caught weird stuff in a cast net.... caught a cuttlefish at Lynnhaven, small sheepshead at The Wall, big shrimp in Rudee, along with a juvenille snowy grouper.

Weirdest hook and line... banded rudderfish in Rudee Inlet, and a HUGE stargazer that ate a 6" storm shad while striper fishing Lesner Bridge.


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## Carbonmarine (Sep 4, 2008)

I thought this was a pretty weird catch!





































He fought hard for not having a tail 
He was released I watched him swim right back under the same mangrove I caught him under.
what hardy fish.


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## Too Busy (Sep 7, 2007)

That red was very lucky early in his life.


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## drag-on (Mar 5, 2005)

that catch is very cool, that red is a FIGHTER. Thanks for sharing.


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## SPECKS (May 14, 2007)

My son caught a 29 inch drum with no spots 2 days ago... resembled a record croaker. It had me scratching my head just to ID it correctly before releasing it. Did some searching online and all sources claimed it to be extremely rare. I have a picture as well, but will post it later as Hannah is knocking at the door as i type.


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## huckfinn38 (Jun 13, 2006)

8 lb channel cat on a hairs ear nymph
2 lb sucker on a telico nymph
5 lb spanish in cast net
8 inch cuda in cast net


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## Puppy Mullet (Dec 5, 2003)

A cast net full of sea horses on the point.

Citation Drum from the surf, December AND August.

A Bass on a chicken liver and a Catfish on a spinner bait. 10 minutes apart!

Sometimes you can take everything you know about fishing and throw it out the window..


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## Carolina Rebel (Aug 25, 2005)

When I was 13 or 14 I carp fished alot at a local park pond. One day I hooked a good sized largemouth on a doughball, this fish was a good 4-5lbs, but what really stuck out was its total lack of coloration, and its oddly prevalent teeth. Largemouth have tiny teeth, but this one was strange, it was as if its gums were recessed as its teeth were easily twice the size of a typical largemouth's. 
Caught a small barracuda in a cast net behind Portsmouth Island. 
Caught a 5lb channel catfish on a Floating Rapala in a small pond. 
Finally, saw Dad catch a 4lb flounder ~40 miles offshore on a headboat.


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## Danman (Dec 13, 2007)

sharptail eel on a hook off the end of the pier....castnet..aquarium size (1") pompeno,ribbon fish, mackerel...these were caught in the surf at the shoreline.:fishing:


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## kapoc (Oct 3, 2003)

I don't have the time to go into the long list of things but one of the more memorable it a friggin owl that decided to grab a zara spook on a small lake


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## Sea2aeS (Jan 7, 2005)

seen a 70-90lb bluefin tuna in a castnet.
got 2 3+lb speckled trout in one throw while tryna catch cob mullet 4 falls ago.
catchin spanish macks on sabiki rigs.
5lb largemouth bass eat a bare worm hook jiggled in its face.


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## sand flea (Oct 24, 1999)

Sea2aeS, are you talking about Lou's (Heaver) bluefin tuna back in 2000?

I hope somebody has those pictures. Dude castnetted it off the Sandbridge Pier in Virginia Beach back in the late 90's. Nobody believed him until he put the pictures up.

That was a hell of a year. Giant bluefin tuna were within a mile or two of shore, crashing schools of chopper blues and bunker.


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## basstardo (Jun 5, 2006)

I just read that thread Flea. I really want to see those pics now. That's a crazy story.


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## chris storrs (Aug 25, 2005)

Drumdum said:


> 38lb king caught in the middle of a drumblitz,caught on a menhaden head with mono leader and drumrig?


corky?


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## Rick (Feb 10, 2005)

How bout a mocking bird on a flyrod and a green ruber spider!
The bird was grabing grass hoppers off the driveway after I cut the grass, I had an Idea that he just might take that bream lure and the flyrod was in the garage, So you know what hapened next! That bird was pissed off. I think he still hangs out in the yard, eating all my blueberrys.


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## Rick (Feb 10, 2005)

I forgot about the 3' gator on a devils horse, looked like a 30lb largemouth when he grabed that plug!


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## TideJones (Aug 29, 2008)

I too have been a victim of a bird. I was fishing a top water popping lure (not watching the lure) when all of a sudden line started ripping off my real. When I looked out at the lake I noticed my line was going up instead of down. I finally saw a hawk at the end of my line. As the line hit the end of the spool, the line snapped.


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## cannotlogin (Sep 1, 2008)

I got a gag in a canal on oak island on a live mullet for flounder under a dock from a yak.In the same canal the same day i got a 1" permit and a "1 blue runner or hard tail as some call them i have seen ribbon fish got of the ocean crest and 1 night a guy had out a ribbon fish and i had a huge shark on and we hooked the shark with 2 rods i got a bass on corn for brem for flathead bait a 35lb flathead on cut bait in the day a white tip shark at first landing state park in va a porgy on the ocean crest with shrimp.


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## emanuel (Apr 2, 2002)

Almost forgot:

Baby permit in my castnet at Tybee Island.

24" striper off Duck, NC on a touron rig with cut squid. In August. August 1997 to be exact, my first time saltwater fishing.


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## 05 grand slam (Nov 7, 2007)

sand flea said:


> Sea2aeS, are you talking about Lou's (Heaver) bluefin tuna back in 2000?
> 
> I hope somebody has those pictures. Dude castnetted it off the Sandbridge Pier in Virginia Beach back in the late 90's. Nobody believed him until he put the pictures up.
> 
> That was a hell of a year. Giant bluefin tuna were within a mile or two of shore, crashing schools of chopper blues and bunker.


can someone post the eb address please


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## Pho Real? (May 3, 2008)

I keep catching these weird fish at pointlook, When there was no spot these small fish, kinda looking like croaker but they weren't. And everbody was catching this fish and nobody knew what it was. Also i once caught a puffer fish looking ting. it was fat i didn;t seem to have a spiky body. And its tail looked like a but. So the fish looked like a heart shape with the tail sticking out between the but. I took the hook out and in the process killed it and it floated on the top of the ocean.


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## fishingeek (Aug 30, 2004)

Caught a kite at Corolla this past weekend. It was still in the air, like 500' up, I guess was attached to someones deck and broke loose. Line must of been dragging through the water and some how got caught up with my shock knot. It was really strange to realize this other line was not coming from the beach or the water, but from the SKY?!


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## Sendah (Mar 16, 2005)

*Strange stuff @ Rudee's*

Baby octopus in a castnet, school of ladyfish in the castnet this past weekend @ Lynnhaven this past weekend, but the weirdest was a sturgeon @ Rudee's on a bottom rig. My buddy and I thought he had caught a small shark when closer inspection revealed it to be a sturgeon. I always saw sturgeon listed in the saltwater regs, but had never seen one until that day.


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## jhook (Jul 27, 2008)

Last month at St. Simons Island Ga.I caught a small blacktip shark in my cast net which took away all the guesswork of what the bait was and what was eating it.Several years ago at the trestle in Boca Grande Fl. I saw a guy catch a lawn chair.


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## cannotlogin (Sep 1, 2008)

I was eeling for striper at the seagull pier and a got a seagull.


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## bluefish1928 (Jun 9, 2007)

snakeman said:


> I was eeling for striper at the seagull pier and a got a seagull.


of couse it is called seagull pier. as for wired species, i have seen someone catching a small 20 inch sailfish from a cast net off a pier, read about someone having a yellowfin tuna run up the surf and beached itself after trying to steal the guy's croaker, the lucky guy grabbed the tuna and pulled it up onto the beach and it became dinner.


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