Shaun Morey - Incredible Fishing Stories

By Shaun Morey

Illustrations by Jared Lee

WORKMAN PUBLISHING NEW YORK

Fish trivia from the International Game Fish Association, The Guinness Book of Animal Facts & Feats, Age of Fishes, The Life of Fishes, The Fishes, Ways of Fishes, A Natural History of Sharks, The Ocean World, the National Marine Fisheries Service, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Copyright 1994 by Shaun Morey All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced mechanically, electronically, or by any other means, including photocopyingwithout written permission of the publisher. Published simultaneously in Canada by Thomas Allen & Son Limited.

Incredible Fishing Stories: actual tales by real anglers / collected, personally verified and written by Shaun Morey.

eISBN: 9780761171119

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To my mother, Patti, who placed a fishing rod in my hands when I was two years old and who continues to be the most determined angler I have ever known.

To my father and favorite fishing buddy, Carter. Zings and dings, may it never end.

To my brother, Drake, to whom I owe so much. He is my traveling companion, my motivator, my first mate and my best friend. I could not have completed this book without him.

And, most important, to Alison. She believed in my dreams, encouraged my hopes and inspired me with immeasurable confidence.

My fishing life began in earnest as a teenager surf fishing the tidal flats of Rocky Point, Mexico. The sun had set when a large and mysterious fish yanked my fishing rod from its holder, hurled it down the beach and carried it into the surf. The next morning as I stalked the shoreline for schooling fish, I spotted the rod washed up on the sand. It was as if the fish was taunting me, daring me to try again

Incredible Fishing Stories is a collection of fishings most memorable events: Dave Romeos world record catch of 3,001 largemouth bass in three months; the standoff between a fishing boat and a naval destroyer that led to the first 1,000-pound blue marlin caught in the Pacific Ocean; Bob Smiths lifelong quest to catch every species of North American wild trout.

The collection includes remarkable catches like the two 12-pound largemouth bass landed with a single lure; the 1,600-pound hammerhead shark subdued with a handheld Hawaiian sling; and the marlin caught from a surfboard.

There are hard-fought battles that test both fisherman and fish, like Bob Ploegers 37-hour duel with a record salmon on Alaskas Kenai River. And there are harrowing tales of fish attacks, of anglers going overboard and of danger from other fishing creaturesa rattlesnake in pursuit of a boat, a brown bear hungry for hooked salmon, a notorious crocodile named Sweetheart.

Youll read about unusual hook-ups like the feeding bat caught on a fly and the vicious alley cat that prowled too close to the water. Youll learn how an anglers severed thumb was recovered from the gutted belly of a mackinaw trout and why a satchel of money was caught instead of a walleye.

This collection represents 10 years of interviewing captains and anglers, compiling photographs and videotapes, corroborating each incredible account. During that time I logged thousands of miles tracing stories from Alaska to Australia, from Mexico to the Caribbean, from the East Coast to the West. Along the way I met hundreds of fascinating people. It has been a remarkable experience.

Today, my search for stories continues. If you have an incredible fishing story, or know of one I should investigate, please drop me a line at incrediblefishingstories.com . Im also searching for fish trivia, fishing jokes, unique baits, and any other incredible fishing stuff for my next book or calendar.

And continue to help our sport grow. Include kids in your next fishing trip. Teach them a new knot. Tell them your favorite fishing stories. Without a new generation of fishermen, our sport is doomed.

Keep in touch, and fishermans luck always!

Shaun Morey

For more than 30 years Dr. John Craighead has studied bears. He is the worlds leading expert on bear behavior, and he is credited with pioneering the practice of capturing, color-marking and radio-tracking bears. Craighead is also an avid fisherman, so it was no surprise that this world-renowned bear expert caught a bear on rod and reel.

It was summertime in Alaska, 1980, and Craighead and his daughter Karen stood near a waterfall on the shore of the Brooks River. They were there to observe brown bears gathering at the falls to feed on migrating salmon. On this morning no bears were present, so the Craigheads spent the free time fishing for their daily dinner of sockeye salmon.

We were fishing a spot where the brown bears aggregate to catch salmon, Craighead said. The salmon move up the Brooks River and are temporarily stopped by a falls. This makes the salmon more readily available to the bears and provides many opportunities for us to observe them.

Craighead quickly caught two salmon and was playing a third when, on the opposite side of the river 100 yards down current, he saw a brown bear emerge from the timber. The bear entered the water and forded the river.

Over the years, Craighead said, the local bear population learned that the sound of a splashing fish or a screeching reel meant an easy meal. The bears would approach a fisherman, usually a tourist from another country, who would then drop his pole and retreat into the alders, leaving the fish he had caught lying on the bank.

As Craighead played his salmon, the bear exited the river and ambled toward him and his daughter. Concerned that the bear would smell the two fish lying at his feet, Craighead told Karen to wrap the fish in a plastic bag and place them inside his backpack.

At the spot where I was fishing, Craighead said, the water was about 20 feet deep. Behind me the vegetation of spruce and alder was impenetrable, so the only way out was along the bank toward the bear. I told Karen to stand behind me and get her camera ready because I thought she might get some interesting pictures.

Craigheads salmon had jumped a few times but remained well downstream. The bear continued along the bank, then suddenly plunged into the river 75 feet from where the Craigheads stood.

The bear swam after the hooked salmon, pawed it, and turned back toward shore. Craigheads rod bowed forward and line pulled from the reel.

I had the bear on for 30 seconds or more, Craighead said, but of course there was nothing I could do. When the bear reached the bank, I tightened the drag and broke the line.