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A friend was telling me the other day about how many Rods and Reels he caught at Willard last year and it got me thinking if any of you have lost one. Let me start it off by saying I lost one earlier this year but was lucky enough to catch it a few minutes later by dragging a heavy lure across the bottom. Then a few years back, a fish pulling my ice fishing R&R down a hole before I could get to it. How about you, any of you ever had this problem at Willard, either while ice fishing or soft water fishing?
WH2
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Only rod I have ever lost was out the back of my boat somewhere on Bear Lake. Of course it was my best mack rod and reel.[frown]
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[#0000FF]Never lost any myself but have witnessed a couple "donated to the deep".
Also, did manage to land one off Pelican Beach. But it was really "low end". Tried to clean up the reel and make it work...for the Fishing 101 donation program. But it was too far gone.
[/#0000FF]
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I donated a 6 ft Ugly Stik to Willard last April on an out of control Wiper bite. I was helping my son unhook his fish and watched my rod take off. I tried for a while to snag it with a big treble and weight but I think it got pulled quite a ways. We ended up catching 9 more using my son's ultralight Ugly Stik. Only rod I have ever lost in the water including ice fishing.
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I am on the other side of this game as I have dredged up 3 rods last fall.
I have been trying to figure out how to return them to the rightful owners. So perhaps one way would be if you lost, private message me and describe it. If it fits your description, we'll figure out how to get it to you. I'll keep everyone posted once their returned.
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Never lost a rod and reel rig anywhere. How 'bout a near miss? I keep my rods locked into a rod holder (most) anytime I have a line in the water anywhere. But 3 years ago on my birthday I had hooked up a nice Wiper on one rod and was bringing it to the boat and had just netted it when I heard the drag on my second rig singing out. Then I heard this crazy cracking sound. When I looked back at the second rig, the rod, reel, rod holder, and the wood mount I had the holder screwed into was just starting to come up and out of the boat. Fortunately I have a small boat...[:/] I did a diving left had grab and caught it all by the base of the rod holder. Then with the rod still in the holder, reeled in a big Carp. The Wiper when back in the water not to much worse for wear, but the Carp became Catfish bait.[sly]
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"OCD = Obsessive Catfish Disorder "
Or so it says on my license plate holder
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I once reeled in a rod and reel that still had a carp on it, but not at Willard. The really weird one though was when I thought I had a snag, right under the boat, and ended up reeling up a plastic bucket, and the bucket had a small carp in it.
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Not on Willard but oh we've learned our lesson and trolling rods now have rod leashes attached.
Enjoy the videos (hope links work) of lost gear finding its way back with pure luck:
https://youtu.be/2BREKhNxJ9I
https://youtu.be/i7CjN0wl7Gw
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Went fishing at Willard from the shore this last Wed. And all of a sudden I here honk!, honk!. It was my buddy from Smithfield. I was fishing with two poles, and was talking with my friend. And he yells your pole!. I look over and I see my pole being dragged into the lake. Now if you don't know. Fishing poles and reels cost a lot of dinar, well mine do. So I jumped up from my chair, and ran into the lake. Every time I bent down to grab the pole that stinking fish would pull it at just the right time. It was a cat and mouse game. Deeper and deeper I moved, step by step all the way up to my, you know what. Then I slowly watched it disappear into the murky deep. I was not going to loose that pole. I climbed out of the water and grabbed my other pole. I walked kitty corner and started reeling really slow. Turn by turn holding my breath. Only because I was freezing . And guess what I hooked the pole right on the reel. Pulled that puppy in, and wham! the fish (Wiper) was still on. Reeled him in and kept him for dragging my pole into the water as punishment. And no I didn't go home. That's not what fishermen do. I stayed and fished for four more hours. Ok! only because I was to cold to get out of the chair and my pants were frozen to the seat.
Old -pops out (Boatfisher)
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Dude, that is a killer story and I'll have to say, you are a die hard fisherman to stick it out another 4 hours after getting that wet[shocked]. Pound for pound, those wipers are some of the hardest fighting fish I've ever caught in Utah. Thanks for the story.
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Great story Forest, that was either one powerful carp or the wood you had your rod holder mounted to, was very weak. One thing I learned a long time ago, when it comes to wiper fishing or in your case carp[  ], always keep that drag loose. I think I need to follow my own advice[blush] but the one I lost about a month or two back was because I made the mistake of holding the rod in my hand, then dozed off[crazy]. The drag was set right but dozing with a rod and reel in your hand was just the chance that wiper needed to steal my R & R. Lucky for me, the boat driver, Wiperslayer, was awake and his fast thinking saved the day and we were able to retrieve it before it was gone.
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Wow, thats impressive, not only that you caught the bucket but there was a fish in it, amazing. Thanks for sharing that story with us.
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You should contact ZUKI_BLUE, he made a post right after yours about finding a R & R. Glad I'm not the only one that has problems with those wipers.
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my buddy rocky hooked a fish reeled it in and found that the wiper had a hook in its mouth , pull that line in to find a rod and reel still attached . i wouldn't have believed it if i had not happened in my boat.
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[quote TubeDude][#0000FF]
Also, did manage to land one off Pelican Beach. But it was really "low end". Tried to clean up the reel and make it work...for the Fishing 101 donation program. But it was too far gone.
[/#0000FF][/quote]
Too bad it could not be saved but sounds like you at least tried to give it a good home. By the way, is there actually a "Fishing 101 donation program"? If so, maybe this is a a good way to get some found R & R in the right hands.[  ]
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It would be fun to hear what weird things people have pulled in on their fishing rods, maybe in a new post. For example, I caught an 8-inch turtle that swallowed my hook while fishing in a river in Arkansas, and a big old live 6-inch clam or mussel or whatever that clamped down over my line in California. I almost hooked a water snake once that was grabbing at my rubber worm on the weeds. One time there were a bunch of seagulls around us, and when I cast out, my line went right around a seagull's neck and got entangled there, and I slowly reeled the bird in all the way to the boat, and it had the silliest expression on its face while it let me just reach down and get the line off.
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[#0000FF]The "Fishing 101" thing was something I loosely put together and administered. I would accept donated tackle from other anglers...fix it up if needed...and then give it back out to kids or other folks on a tight budget who needed gear.
As you may recall, I also used to conduct free classes in jig making, rod building and other tacklecraft. But a few bad experiences and the decreases in stamina and patience (of advancing years) kinda shut all that down.
Now that we have a strong and stable mod team it might be something you guys can do again. Not hard to set up a collection of donated gear and to encourage members to use it to help get their kids, neighbors or relatives to take advantage of it if money is tight.
[/#0000FF]
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I caught a fish net in freeway bay a few years back.
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Mine was early in my wiper fishing days and I had taken the ex wife out fishing and we were having a slow day, we had trolled for about four hours and the poles were in the rod holders as they should always be when fishing for wipers. Well she decided she was going to hold the Rod and I was ok with it, but told her do not set the rod down! it was dead and she was bored.
Well she decided to open a bag of sunflower seeds and I was driving the boat paying attention to the sonar, She set the pole on the seat between her legs and opened the bag, right at that moment the wiper slammed the bait and I heard that noise you don't want to hear, The pole and reel clattering out the back of the boat and her saying holy ****! and sunflower seeds flying through the air. LOL. I said very calmly that was your pole right. YES! Hunny I'm sorry! We tried the egg sinker and large treble for a while but never got it back. It was her brand new Pflueger setup I bought just for wiper fishing.
I rigged up another Rod I had and went back to trolling. The rod never left the rod holder again on the many fishing trips after that. Live and learn.
fnf[cool]
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One time me and a buddy were fishing Chesterfield. I was taking my boat to the upwind side and dragging the anchor to slow the boat down. We picked up two rods and two Shimano reels on the anchor while making a pass. I always wondered if a boat tipped over or how the two rods were together at that same spot on the lake.
I still use one of the reels.
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