02-10-2010, 04:18 AM
Both weird catches of mine were birds. While fishing of a pier in NC, I hooked a Seagull as it flew by. These seagulls are not like the ones here, they have a wingspan of about 3'. It was a heck of a fight with 40lb test. Only reason I got that one in was because the seagull ended up tangling it self up even more in the line once it tried to land on the water. Once I got it on the pier, it was like, 'Now what'? That was one upset bird. It took 3 of us to hold it down and remove all the line.
The second bird was a few years ago just below Pali
es dam. I was fishing with a Rapala and there were quite a few Pelicans hanging around. I ended up casting out in the middle and the Pelican decided it was hungry. I then learned that you can not stop a Pelican trying to take off and fly even with 20lb line. He peeled line off my reel faster than any fish I have ever hooked. About half of my line was off the spool when I decided it was a no win situation. I cranked the drag down and finally broke the line and watched the Pelican fly off with a $9 Rapala. Not really a catch I guess, but it is something I would not want to do again. Those birds are big and powerful.
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The second bird was a few years ago just below Pali
es dam. I was fishing with a Rapala and there were quite a few Pelicans hanging around. I ended up casting out in the middle and the Pelican decided it was hungry. I then learned that you can not stop a Pelican trying to take off and fly even with 20lb line. He peeled line off my reel faster than any fish I have ever hooked. About half of my line was off the spool when I decided it was a no win situation. I cranked the drag down and finally broke the line and watched the Pelican fly off with a $9 Rapala. Not really a catch I guess, but it is something I would not want to do again. Those birds are big and powerful.[signature]