Wow that was another super lucky trip...

jadman69

Went to try out some trolling last week in CK.  Got 3 keepers and a bunch of smaller 22 - 23 inch to hit.  The problem that we ran into was that while trolling I unhooked the safety strap that attached to my reel so that I could fight a grouper hooked up on a XRap 30.  While that was happening I decided to put the rod back into the rigger so that I could move the rod that was in my way.  As soon as I did that the rod with the Grouper on it got yanked right out of the holder and gone to the bottom with the rest of my XRaps that I have lost, rod and reel gone.  Meanwhile after trying to get my emotions under control...cussing at myself and thinking about how stupid someone with my experience can be leaving the rod like that with a fish pulling....stupid.    Anyways after about 10 to 15 minutes of that my buddy that was fishing with me suggested we fish it out with something.   I was up to trying anything so he grabbed a XRap 40 and took off the hooks.  He said it would dive down and catch the line or something on the rod and hopefully pull it up.  So we tried that.  We went over the same track as we were headed when we lost it and after about 4 passes i hooked on something that was 35 feet down.  I started reeling up the line and started to see something coming up with it.  About half way we could see a fish upside down but it was hooked on something and when we got it up I had hooked the same thing that hooked my other line and pulled it out of the holder.  We managed to unhook the grouper but it had drowned from being hooked upside down, we got both XRaps and cut them out of the netting we were stuck on down there.  I also was able to pull the line in that had about 150 feet out by hand to the surprise of my rod and reel that we had just lost.  You talk about all of us looking at each other like how the heck did we just find that rod and reel and save both XRaps.  It was one of the luckiest days on the water for me.  I've had this happen twice to me with the same outcomes, once about 15 years ago inshore fishing and again last week.  Lucky I've been able to fish out the rods both times it has happened to me.  I better not push my luck for another 15 years. 

permit_me

about 5 yrs ago i had a tarpon rip my rod holder out, breaking it and we watched as a teramar w saragosa bubbling as it went off into the sea.  a few hrs later i see the green float. we hook the line pull in a couple hundred yds of braid and then comes the rod and reel. a few yrs ago i had similar situation where i forgot i had a crab out back drifting , trolled back to beach and got slammed and off went the another teramar and saragosa in tow by tarpon. While making a drift a while later about a mile from there i get caught on a line while trying to bring to cast to pod.,.i can tell the tarpon is still attached. I broke the line unintentionally, but had the main line in hand. got all the way past he braid and saw my cajun red mono and new it was mine. however, than mono snapped and i never recovered the rig. i must assume i wrapped the tip and did not know...

u were lucky, to say the least.

capt louie

Wow , that was lucky..

nick

Buy a lottery ticket!

plumber1969

That was the stuff that happens to lucky people! Good job on the recovery.

jadman69

Going again tomorrow wish me luck....LOL

Jack Hexter

The OP's story reminds me of a similar incident.  I had a couple friends fishing with me, in about 70'.  One of my friends had a 4/0 on a very old rod with a hickory butt and a solid glass blank that had a collet as part of the reel seat where the rod tip was attached to the butt.  Ernie was on the front of the boat and I in the stern.  I heard a crack and when I turned around, Ernie was standing there holding a wooden stick.  The butt broke, taking the rod tip and reel overboard.  He lamented, almost crying, that the rod and reel had been his fathers.  Not much he could do at that point so I handed him one of my spare rods and we continued to fish.  About an hour later we decided to move and I motored the boat to pick up our marker buoy.  as the weight came up, we found Ernie's line wrapped around the buoy line.  Still attached to the hook was an amberjack.  Then we pulled his rod and reel up by hand.  Made for a lot happier ending. 

jadman69

Love hearing the fish tales.  I could only imagine losing a rod that sentimental and having to sit there beating yourself up about it.  Then hours later pulling it in.  Man you want to talk about living right.   Thanks for sharing.

Michiman

I would post a true account of something that happened to me. Nobody believes .e except the guy who witnessed it. I'm not sure if believe it, either.

HammerheadTed

A bit different, but stranger. My parents lived at a place called Treasure Lake in PA where there were 2 lakes. I was bass fishing In one of the lakes and hooked a very good bass about 4 lb on an lure called an Arbogaster. After a jump the fish broke off and was gone with my lure. The next summer, I was fishing in the other lake working my way down the shoreline and there was a guy doing the same coming toward me. When he got close we exchanged pleasantries and I noticed he was fishing with an Arbogaster. I told him about my experience the year before. He clipped the lure off and pitched it into my boat and said he had found it floating in the other lake...... the year before.... chances of us meeting?.... Not impactful, but craziest thing that’s happened To me. 

Michiman

Ok, here goes...
Several years ago in Michigan, I was fishing s nearby lake. I decided to use my favorite lure, a small Rebel crankbait. It's the first lure I ever bought (30 yrs prior). On my first cast I got a heavy strike...looked like a 10 lb pike. He shook his head violently and cut the line. I was beside myself. After a few minutes I tied on a small spinner bait and cast to the same spot. Almost instantly I got another strike. After a few seconds the hook pulled free and I reeled in the line. There I saw my spinner bait hooked into the ring of my original lure! I lost the fish but got my favorite lure back. I let out a whoop, attracting the attention of some guy nearby. How took one look at my still-dripping lures and said "If I didn't see it I'd never believe it". Not many do.

Michiman

Alex from GA

Had a similar thing happen to me on an albacore trip out of Morro Bay in the 80s.  I hooked an albacore and the rod slipped out of my hand when I was going under another guy on a party boat.  A few minutes later my friend hooked another fish and my line was tangled with his.  We both landed our fish and my rod.  I still have the rod but the reel, a Penn 146, is long gone.

stc1993

Some good stories.  Some people are lucky.  

Sixth Generation

My buddy was tarpon fishing in Charlotte Harbor and hooked a fly line.  He reeled in another custom fly rod and reel that even had some special decorations on it near the reel.  It was a very nice rig and hadn't been in the water long.  About 6 months later we were fishing out of Clearwater with a guide.  My buddy told that story and the look on the guides face was priceless.  It turned out to be his rod and reel.  He described it to a tee then showed us pictures of it.  My buddy got it back to him.

Snook Spanker

Kind of similar stories but not really. Since my neck surgeries over 10 years ago, I've lost strength and feeling in my hands. Three times since then I've cast my rods into the water not realizing I wasn't holding on to them tight enough! Two spinning rods and one fly rod. The fly rod was easy cause I had a floating line on the reel and the drag was set tight but the sinning reels had the bails open when I cast them in the water. Hooked the line on both with another lure but had to pull all the line off the reels to finally get them in. Not complaining, line is a lot cheaper than two spinning outfits!!! Getting old sucks!!!!!!

Slacker

Getting old sucks!!!

beats the alternative!