We got this idea launched, to ask you guys some contribution for making this series complete, we’d like to get fishing stories from all over the world.
Just take some time to tell us an unusual event, a funny story, or whatever seems interesting to you, as long as it’s about fly fishing. Don’t hesitate to give us your funny and crazy stories !
You’ll get a chance that we publish your story on our website, as it is intended to be read by our followers.
Off course, we’ll start this series by a most incredible story.
This story happened to me a about 2 years ago, on a small river in our region. The day is coming to an end, and we only got some minutes left to fish. It was a nice day with numerous fish caught.
I think it was my last cast before packing in and watch the others end their day, because on cold days like this, as I am the chilly guy of our team, and always give up a little earlier than my buddies. I decided to aim my last cast to a small submerged tree, right next to it. After two strips, I notice a nice swirl behind my streamer but nothing happens, the fish didn’t connect with my fly. I recast immediately, and again a nice swirl, but nothing …
I change my fly and recast in the same spot, but this time I don’t strip, but give a slow figure of eight. This time, there’s that swirl again, and that heart-warming thug, fish on ! I strike hard, perhaps too hard, because a couple of seconds later, the pike is landed, without giving the least defence.
A little surprised, I put him in the water to see how he reacts, but lays motionless in the shallow weeds. Whilst waiting, I start packing up, being happy to have caught that fish on my last cast of that day.
While the others are giving the fish some more casts, I start trying to reanimate the fish, but he doesn’t move a fin, doesn’t breath, so he seems to be dead.
Damn, what to do ? Leave him there for the rats, or take him home to eat it. Anyway he’s dead, but still, it’s a hard choice because the older I get, the more I realize how hard a pike’s life is.
The rest of the team looks amazed to the fish, and agree, Johan will cook it tonight.
As part of a tradition, when we get back home, we’ll have a beer or two and talk about how our day was, and do some planning for the next day. So, only after a while and some beers and fun, we remember that this poor pike is still in the trunk of the car. So, two hours passed by when Johan asks us to go get the fish to prepare it.
I decide to obey our oldest team mate’s request, because I’m so nice, and I can’t refuse him a favour ! So I put the pike in the sink and fill it with water. Just as we wanted to start to clean it, we hear ‘flip-flop’ in the sink !?? We look to it and again, ‘flip flop’ does the pike. We all look amazed to each other and think it must be some contractions of its nerves. But as Johan wants to grab it to start cleaning, the unthinkable happens, the pike turns itself, and opens its jaws trying to bite our Flemish guy’s hand !
We start to think that those couple of beers contain some strange ingredients, cause we must be hallucinating, or does it really by some kind of miracle came back to consciousness ?
We decide to take it to a small river, just out of the lodge we’re staying, and unbelievable but true, it swims off gently. As it’s already dark outside, we couldn’t follow it, and still wonder if it’s still alive, or died.
The next morning, we get up early, and go to the small river to check if it’s lying dead or not. The water is really clear, and we check the water for more than 100 meters, seeing stones, dead leafs, baitfish, but to our surprise we didn’t see the pike … So we could not else but conclude that the pike survived and is still hunting the bait fish in that small river.
If I wasn’t there I would have never believed it, but as some more strange things can happen when we’re out on the water, myself, and the rest of our crew, Mathias, Jeremy, Gino and Johan were all witnesses of this incredible but very true story !
Romain.