Post by nsp295 on Jul 26, 2008 12:39:15 GMT -5
2 things happened while fishing lately that have me completely baffled:
1. While fishing with a ladyfish fillet right off the edge of the pier one night, (after a friend just caught a 4 foot shark doing the same thing) I decide to reel it back in after 2 hours in the water because I was getting ready to leave with daybreak. This bait was out for 2 hours without a click. I pull up the rig, feeling that there was nothing on the hook. When I see the hook, me and my friend just sat there slack jawed not saying a thing. My 10/0 J hook (not offset) now had a serious offset type bend in it, as if someone had put it in a vice and bent the shank about 30 - 35 degrees to the side. This rig was never stuck on anything and by god, when it went in the water it was straight. A 10/0 is so thick... I have no idea how this could have happened. We don't even have a guess. Any ideas? Can any fish bite a bend like that without a click? I NEVER forget to put my clicker on. makes NO sense.
2. One night while shark fishing, I put out a fillet of mackeral with just the ribs in it. I send it out past the artificial reefs and release the balloon so the mack sinks (5 oz weight). No problem. Great set up. I go over to my next rod to prep it and literally 2 minutes later I get a short peel off my reel. I run over, put my fingers on the line, and definitely feel a fish messing with the bait through about 100 yards of mono. I pick up the reel gently. After about 20 seconds of feeling something light on the other end, I put the reel in gear (hindsight, shouldve left it alone) and get ready to set the hook. My reel then peels off about 10 yards of line VERY quickly, and I pull back.
Nothing. Mustve not had the hook in its mouth and I yanked it out. I reel in the bait just for the hell of it out of curiousity and see that the fillet is gone except for the ribs and meat in between them! There was at least an inch or two of meat on each side! But whatever had been munching on it (bigger than 15 - 20 lb fish minimum by the strength of the pull against my preset drag) did not like ribs, and so ate around them as cleanly as if it used a knife. Id never seen or heard anything like it. I pulled way too hard for the fillet to be intact if in fact it was in a fishes mouth.
I float out another mack, but this time with the head, tail, and spine attached to the fillet. I also wired a treble hook to the j hook to hide in the fillet. Literally 30 seconds after putting down the pole another solid, but brief line peel, then another one about 5 mins later, and another one after another 5 minutes. I decided to leave it alone this time until something got serious. Only got a couple of pulls over the next 2 hours. After pulling it back in, there is nothing left but the head and spine of the mack (crabs), and a small catfish dead and hooked on the treble under the throat. I figure he came into play late in the game on this one, because he was less than a foot long, and I cant see him dragging the fish and a 5 oz weight enough to cause the initial runs.
This all happened around the baitshop on the south side. Ive never fished around there before. Any suggestions as to what initially hit it, and how it could so cleanly seperate ribs from a fillet? or what commonly strips a fillet without commiting to eating the whole thing under freespool pressure (none basically)? No dolphins sighted. Can rays do this? The rays were back some that night... 2 caught.
1. While fishing with a ladyfish fillet right off the edge of the pier one night, (after a friend just caught a 4 foot shark doing the same thing) I decide to reel it back in after 2 hours in the water because I was getting ready to leave with daybreak. This bait was out for 2 hours without a click. I pull up the rig, feeling that there was nothing on the hook. When I see the hook, me and my friend just sat there slack jawed not saying a thing. My 10/0 J hook (not offset) now had a serious offset type bend in it, as if someone had put it in a vice and bent the shank about 30 - 35 degrees to the side. This rig was never stuck on anything and by god, when it went in the water it was straight. A 10/0 is so thick... I have no idea how this could have happened. We don't even have a guess. Any ideas? Can any fish bite a bend like that without a click? I NEVER forget to put my clicker on. makes NO sense.
2. One night while shark fishing, I put out a fillet of mackeral with just the ribs in it. I send it out past the artificial reefs and release the balloon so the mack sinks (5 oz weight). No problem. Great set up. I go over to my next rod to prep it and literally 2 minutes later I get a short peel off my reel. I run over, put my fingers on the line, and definitely feel a fish messing with the bait through about 100 yards of mono. I pick up the reel gently. After about 20 seconds of feeling something light on the other end, I put the reel in gear (hindsight, shouldve left it alone) and get ready to set the hook. My reel then peels off about 10 yards of line VERY quickly, and I pull back.
Nothing. Mustve not had the hook in its mouth and I yanked it out. I reel in the bait just for the hell of it out of curiousity and see that the fillet is gone except for the ribs and meat in between them! There was at least an inch or two of meat on each side! But whatever had been munching on it (bigger than 15 - 20 lb fish minimum by the strength of the pull against my preset drag) did not like ribs, and so ate around them as cleanly as if it used a knife. Id never seen or heard anything like it. I pulled way too hard for the fillet to be intact if in fact it was in a fishes mouth.
I float out another mack, but this time with the head, tail, and spine attached to the fillet. I also wired a treble hook to the j hook to hide in the fillet. Literally 30 seconds after putting down the pole another solid, but brief line peel, then another one about 5 mins later, and another one after another 5 minutes. I decided to leave it alone this time until something got serious. Only got a couple of pulls over the next 2 hours. After pulling it back in, there is nothing left but the head and spine of the mack (crabs), and a small catfish dead and hooked on the treble under the throat. I figure he came into play late in the game on this one, because he was less than a foot long, and I cant see him dragging the fish and a 5 oz weight enough to cause the initial runs.
This all happened around the baitshop on the south side. Ive never fished around there before. Any suggestions as to what initially hit it, and how it could so cleanly seperate ribs from a fillet? or what commonly strips a fillet without commiting to eating the whole thing under freespool pressure (none basically)? No dolphins sighted. Can rays do this? The rays were back some that night... 2 caught.
