With the holidays and family / friends the rehashing of things is a tradition as is most things the most embarrassing things one has done ALWAYS seem to relived so from my neighbor always I get to relive this.

Living on the river in the fall on a nice day I will run a k fish and wrap out on a side planer and lock it securely into a holder. Fire up the out door speakers, grab a book, relax, enjoy nature just everything really.

Then this day came around. It was a great fall day so I went through my routine and added to it a few shots of Patron. Really great so far. Then much like a big fat Sea Lion Bull on a rock I fell asleep sunning myself in my favorite deck chair. Sometime later ( not a clue how long ) I woke up and figured better check my rod and ambled off the deck to check.

Gone! My Lami, Curado, pole holder, whatever fish was on ( it had to be huge ) everything. As luck would have it along comes Jim who drives in and upon walking over asks me whats up as I am carrying on a rather .......lively?.........conversation with myself. So not thinking I told him ( big mistake! ) After finally gaining control off himself as he nearly stopped breathing as he was laughing so hard he had tears running down his cheeks he asked, " what part of stupid don't I get? ".

That particular day, not much I think. One has to wonder at times what one was thinking, or if thought even entered the picture. Don't know but I did not impress myself that day.

So anyone else done in your favorite rod in a manner that you would not want to admit to? Fess up and cleanse your fishing soul!

May not have been a fish.

I've never lost a pole, but lost a fly line some years back on a huge B-run...caught some major razzing sitting around the camp fire that evening.

Mf

Many moons ago a friend and I were fishing for summer kings off a break wall at night. He had some lighted floats out with alewives on them. One of the rods was a custom built sage float rod and a hanson float reel, that combined was worth around a grand. We were off netting alewives when we look down the pier a bit to see one of his floats are gone...After running to the spot where the rod was, it was nowhere to be found. Both of us looked for a long time, and dredged the bottom with spoons to no avail...... Thought he was gonna throw up

Same spot 2 years later I had one of vedders' lamiglas rods and a morrum that was used for fishing bait on the bottom. I had a Chinook on and fought it to the point where it was almost ready to land. My hands were soaking wet and I was in the process of changing the grip on the rod when it bolted off again and tore the rod from my hand. All we saw in the spot light was a rod skipping across the rocks and into the dark abyss hahahaha.

This is a true story about a guy that lived on a river, the Wynooche, and he always had a rod fishing from his bank. So one day along came little ol me, and yup he had a rig set up out there. Pulled into the bank, pulled his hook and line and hauled it back up the river about 75 yds where it turned a little, waded out and hooked him up on a log. Went back down to his rod, cranked it down pretty good, and the current made the rod tip move some. Hauled butt out of there before I got shot or something, never did hear anything about that one though.

Just telling my kids to put the rods in the back and shut the tailgate in the wrong order is my only loss.

I had left two rods on the bed cover of my truck and drove off. Talk about Stupid.

Sure glad when I returned to the launch after dark two or three hours later, they were still there laying in the grass.

As far as loosing a rod to a fish,... not yet.

\


So, your the guy....

Our family used to fish a lake up near Kamloops, B.C. every summer. You could fish two poles at one time, but you had to be careful about it, because those big Kamloops trout would slam a trolled lure or fly. So when I was 11 years old, I was trolling a Mepps and snagged into what I thought were weeds. Kept cranking and cranking on the real and out of the water comes the tip of a fly rod. Looked like it had been down there for a couple of years. We took it home and my dad helped me clean it up and lube the real. This was my first ever fly rod, what fun learning how to cast it and tie flies. Three year later, on the same lake, I was trolling a flatfish on my spinning rod and a fly with the fly rod. A big fish hit the flat fish, and as I started reeling it in, wham! That's right, another fish hit the fly and took the fly rod over before I could grab it. We dredged that part of the lake to no avail, and I had to get a paper route to buy a new one later.

I once lost a rod..... putting it on an Alaska Airlines jet. Got home and GL2 STR1265 was missing from the tube. Inspectors also manhandled another tube full of rods on the same flight and damaged a vintage Fenwick HMG that I wrapped back in high school. Went to string it up for silvers last fall, and as I put a little bend in the rod to tension the line to the reel.... SNAP!

GDITMMM!

That rod went 29 seasons without a mishap. A wife, 4 daughters, 3 nephews, a niece, and countless friends were introduced to 100's of salmon along the way. And there's no way I'll ever replace it. My classic silver Shimano Bantam 200 is gonna feel awfully lonely without that rod.

I got one of those stories...

Fishing the Bogachiel from my boat with Brad_tgl and Phil Maraude, I reared back to make a LONG cast and snap! as I made the cast my main line broke inside the guides of my Loomis. I was pissed off and not thinking right so I pulled off a few feet of line and started angrily whipping it to get the line out the rod to a managable length to re-tie. As I was whipping the line out, plop, the top half falls in to the river which had about a foot and half of visability! Couldn't beleive what had happened!

We walked around below the boat a few times trying to find the top half with our feet since it was too deep and not enough vis to see it, but came up empty. Ruined a decent day of fishing for me, I lost my favorite rod...I was very thankful for the expeditor program

Well, I have new rules over the years.

10 I double check my lights, after doing mechanical work.

9 I set two alarms.

8 I make sure, I have my license and TP

7 I make sure the rods go together and the colors match, at the house.

6 I dont set my rods down anywhere except the boat and the truck.

5 I get out of the car and I take my keys.

4 I dont throw my wallet into the tackle box, cause they bounce.

3 I dont stand in the water, talking on my phone.

2 The two coffee thermos, go in first!

1 I will never eat oatmeal and load up on coffee, again.



The day I have to carry this list is my last day of fishin.

OK, more along the lines of STUPID (OK maybe not stupid, but greedy.... OK maybe stupid AND greedy. You be the judge). Didn't lose the rod, but did lose something almost as valuable.

How often do you put a new plug into the rotation and just have it light the whole boat on fire? One that catches so many fish on its maiden voyage that its bill is indelibly marked by the snap with a permanent "Ring of Life"... the most obvious hallmark of a true swimmer! Well, at least beyond the teeth marks and chipped paint.

This garish K13 was certainly one of those plugs.... chrome base, chartreuse hot tail, metallic green back, chartreuse on fluo orange puddle dots. KILLER!

But ALAS all good things must come to an end.

After a glory day on the Kenai with the kids "somebody" got a little greedy when we got back to camp and decided to send the magic plug swimming off the back of the moored boat. There it sat doing its death dance UNATTENDED while I was busily preparing dinner.

Strolled briefly down to the boat to check the rod in between flipping pork steaks.... and ..... ....

The rod is buried and ALL the line has been stripped from the reel, right down to the arbor knot.

A buddy and I untie the boat to give chase to whatever took my plug and emptied my 1970's vintage ABU baitcaster. Scrambled eggs like mad to regain line only to find the mystery fish had run the line into a submerged tree. Finally had to break the 15# Maxima UG to get it free. Sayonara Mr Kwikfish. Another one bites the dust!

HMMMM.... lessons learned the hard way.

AFTER-THOUGHT: Hey Rivrguy, I'm sure that rod would have suffered the same fate as yours.... BUT.... at least I had the good sense to place it securely in a FOLBE rodholder.

Never personally lost a rod, but last year while fishing with a guide on the OP, I hooked up with a nice steelie. In the excitement, my boatmate went to set his rod down, but neglected to place the rod INSIDE the boat. Brand new IMX rod and Stradic donated to the river gods. Needless to say, the guide was NOT happy.

Names withheld to protect the guilty

1986.

I'm a poor,starving college student off on summer break. G.Loomis had just introduced their IM6 line and the 1141. Starving or not and with terminal fish sickness....I purchased the rod as a kit to build as a baitcaster. Any of you old-school Loomis guys remember when they sold kits? The good old days.

Anyways, I get the rod built and head to the Kalama to do some summer run damage. Fishing was good. I hadn't had the rod a week and one morning I started at the Red Barn at first light. Landed a fish in short order, bonked it, laid the rod down next to it, stepped away to get my punch card, took one step back and "c-r-u-n-c-h" my left foot did a perfect landing on the tip section. I hadn't set it down but 30 seconds earlier and my absent mindedness already kicked in.

I was beside myself and felt like throwing myself in the river and had I been able to give myself a swift kick in the ass, I would have.

It had a happy ending though. The same day I ran on down to Woodland when Gary still had his little shop up the Lewis. They were open so I go in to explain my lame-ness and none other than Gary himself steps in, takes the bottom half and says "I'll be right back" and returned with a new perfectly matched tip section. On my way out, he gave me wink and says "I feel your pain....I've had a few of those myself."

My ol' friend Tom and I were anchored up in my DB on the Willamette at OC fishin' for shad.
Tom had a brand-new drift rod and Daiwa baitcaster that replaced an outfit that he had previously left in a campground somewhere.

I was jiggin' and Tom was fishin' out of the rodholder. He had a habit of not seating the rod all the way down into the rod holder.
All of a sudden, Tom's new outfit shot out of the rodholder like a rocket.

Tom turns around and with this matter-of-fact look says "Did you see that ?"


I never let my mentor forget that a lowly shad took his rod

Sounds like you ought not go fishing with Dan S....

'Nuf sed.

Fish on...

Todd

1973

Pulling my old 14 foot wood Eastside out of the rough launch at Gold Bar (for those that remember it)
I got home and found one of my Lamiglass rods and ABU 2500 reel missing, drove all the way back up just to find the line hooked on a tree right by the launch and line going all the way down the road, but no rod or reel to be found. That rod must have catapulted out of the boat when it came to the end!
I still look at peoples set-ups trying to find that custom tied rod. Those old original Lamiglass with the reverse farrels were sure good rods, I still fish 2 to this day!

1977

Probably to much hooch, but out off Sekiu one day fishing for silvers in September, went to take the custom Lamiglass rod out of the holder to check the cut plug when a huge silver slammed that rod right out of my hand, I can still see that rod slidding away from the boat and watching the silver jump for 10 minutes. We circled with other rods out trying to catch the line but after awhile, it was over, back to the dock!

You will also notice the years of my stupid acts, both in the 70's!

Both stupid and knowing better than Dad! YEAH RIGHT!!

Im 10ish fishing Halibut off of Ninilchik out of my fathers 20' open Kenai boat. I was the youngster (weakest) and was allowed to fish over the stern but I had to set on my dads tackle box which just happened to be the exact height as the top of the splash tray. The tide hadn't slowed and the fish really weren't biting yet. I decided that I didn't need to keep a hand on my rod as the Hali's just were not biting yet. After several of the tug tug tug treatments and "keep a hand on that rod" from dad and no fish I was convinced that there was no need to keep a hand on that rod. I realized that was a mistake when I turn to look and I can see the ass end of a air born Halibut rod 3 feet off the water and 10 feet behind the boat. SPLASH!! OH CHIT!! Something ripped it right out from under me and over the splash tray. All my father said was, You're telling Grandpa.

3 hours later the tide was headed the other way and one of the other guys caught the line and I was off the hook. One of the best lessons I can remember!!

Early 80's, fishing Possession Bar with the old man. For proper perspective, the guy was a very dangerous to salmon in the salt from Alaska to Puget sound and not prone to "ah [censored]" moments on or off the water. Down rigger pops on his rod. In a second or two, he pulls the rod out of the holder and cranks down on the fish. For some unknown reason, he places his right hand below the reel seat and uses his left to crank up the DR while setting the hook hard. Crack! He's left with the rod butt in his hand and the fish takes everything else over the stern and into the briny deep. It was one of those rare occasions when I asked him what prompted him to do such a (stupid) thing. He didn't have a very good response other than to try to remedy the matter at hand. We troll around for several minutes hoping to pick up the line on the DR cables. Nothing. Then I notice a guy doing an overhead hand-over-hand a couple hundred yards away until he pulls in a nice 'nookie about 15 lbs and then a rod, sans butt. We pull up next to them and ask if we can have the rod back to go with the butt. He goes, "Sure, you want your fish too?" After a bit, we had both the rod, the fish and the guys phone number. Dad fished with this particular sportsman for many years after that. Maybe he wasn't momentarily stupid after all....