Fly Fishing

Pete · Location: New York, NY

Last week I was fishing in the 10,000 Islands. I had on the snook of a lifetime and lost it--another story altogether--but what made the trip still memorable is the number of nesting Osprey pairs I saw. I love watching those birds hunt--they are better at fishing than everyone on this board combined. It got me thinking about a great biproduct of the fishing habit, the upclose encounters with wildlife. The sitings I've had of whales, dolphin, turtles, giant sharks, ocean sunfish, manta rays...are sometimes more memorable than the fishing itself.

I'd love to hear peoples' stories of their favorite wildlife encounters while fishing. Mine is from one of my first ever fly fishing trips with some buddies on the Saranac River, when a bald eagle glided just overhead and perched on a riverside tree right near us for a full ten minutes.

MarshallD · Location: Naples, Fl

Hi pete,

I've seen lots of Osprey nesting, roosting and fishing behind Keywaydin Island Intercoastal water way Naples.

Up here in Maine we have Eagles and Osprey flying overhead on the Kennebec River most days of the summer. It's not uncommon to see an Eagle persued by an Osprey for his fish. All heads in the driftboat turn skyward for these scenes.... Smile

marshall
www.flyanglersguide.com

Fish_King_7 · Posted: Sat 05/28/05 7:16 am Post subject:

I have quite a few very cool wildlife enconters. A few were this year in Naples. I was fishing Gordons beach one day and I had a huge manitee swim with 20' of me! I had no idea that they came onto the beach. I also loved to see all th osprey nesting on the directional signs back in Rookery Bay, that was amazing. Last and probably favorite was watching a HUGE! spotted eagle ray free jump about 3 feet out of the water with 10' of the boat, It was the size of a kitchen table!

Caleb

jeremy · Location: Portland, Maine

when i lived in southeast alaska - i was traveling via the public ferry system. i had nothing but a mountain bike and back pack with tent. i was on the ferry going from juneau to some other island. i went into the coffee shop on the ship and there were a few books. one was entitled "bear maulings in alaska" -- or something like that. it told stories of national geographic photographers getting ripped apart by bears. needless to say it instilled a new fear deep in my soul.

so i got off the ferry - and rode about 50 miles to a spot by a prisitine river. i set up tent and went in to take a nap. then i heard some rustling. my whole body froze with fear. then a wet black nose pressed up against my tent....my eyes buldged and all my muscles tensed. i thought to myself.."i ain't going out like this..i gotta do something." so i ripped open the front of the tent and prepared to either battle or run for my life. i stuck my head out ready to throw the first punch.

there he was, in all his glory...a bassett hound that had lost his way. i gave him a can of creamed corn, which he inhaled. he then came into my tent and slept with me for a few hours. i awoke and decided i would help him find his home.....after several hours of him putting his nose down and guiding me in circles --- i took the bull by the horns and held a make shift rope leash while i rode my bike and lightly pulled him along. finally after countless hours we found a little run down shanty in the middle of nowhere...3 little kids and a tattered housewife came out yelling, "fred, it's you....you made it." i had returned their beloved fred who had put his nose down and wandered aimlessly into the great woods.

the mother said to me, "i would love to give you some money, but we have very little. however, my husband is a fisherman and we have lots of halibut." she offered me a bunch of halibut....i politely turned down the offer because it would have been difficult to cary halibut around with me.. not to mention i would be a bear magnet.

to this day...i often think of fred and find great satisfaction in reliving that story through telling it to others.

Austin · Posted: Sun 05/29/05 9:00 pm Post subject:

Howdy!
I saw alot of really cool things down in florida. One of them was when I was fishing a pass and a dolphins tail went up in the air not to far out, and once it went under hundreds of fish broke the surface, all of them scurrying away from the dolphin.
When I went to the kennebec I had never seen so many birds in one place in my life. They would fly under my rod tip and I was afraid of hooking one on my backcast
All throughout my time in florida I could almost pet all the pelicans and herons I was so close. But than again it is a shame that they mostly rely on fisherman for their food. They should be out hunting for themselfs
Tight lines

Austin