I am just wondering what is the most dangerous place any of us has fished before? I know the midwest seems a little tame compared to other venues but I would be interested to hear some stories.

Over here in Laos we have danger from mosquitos (dengue fever and malaria), cobras (of which I have only seen one which was enough), bandits (not so much an issue anymore here), police (never had any problems but I have heard horror stories), rabid dogs, and scorpians. Overall, in the last 2 years of fishing here I have been able to avoid all of the above.

What is your story?

Cast_and_Blast wrote:

QUOTE:
I am just wondering what is the most dangerous place any of us has fished before?

Out on the Mississippi River in lower Pool 4 on a busy weekend. Barge swamping mega-yachts that don't give a flying f about anything else and seem more at home out on the open ocean than on the river, obnoxious cigarette boaters trying to go nowhere faster than everyone else, rocket-powered ironing boards roaring through the crowd, all ripping around in one big huge uncontrolled intersection. Almost as dangerous as a Sprawl-Mart parking lot on Sunday afternoon.

For a nice touch of danger and adrenaline on a fishing adventure, nothing beats running a river with intermittent rapids. I have come to love trips like this, kayaking through bouldery class III rips which scare the crap out of you then setting up to fish a while between rapids. You also get a workout while you fish. I hate to admit it, but I often take kayaking trips where I don't even fish.....too much fun!

Boy fiddle, pool 4 sounds much like the St. Croix during early sturgeon season. Only one word comes to mind when I think of it..IDIOTS. Exactly how you described it to a T.

One time I tried to fish the warm water discharge of the nuclear plant up in Monticello. Big mistake. I got about half way back on the trail in my van, then was instantly cut off by a ford truck with a AR15 toting security guard who pointed that thing at me as he approached the van. Long story short, he searched the van, gave us a stern warning and sent us on our way. I guess it wasnt to dangerous, but it sure scared the hell out of me.

The most dangerous fishing I think is early season ice fishing. Those who know me probably know I fell thru the ice while inside of an ice house and just about died. I will not elaborate, but stay off ice under 3 inches thick. Its just not safe. I learned the hard way that risking your life for stupid walleyes just isn't worth it. Now roughfish thru the ice, that might be worth it...lol

Ice fishing on Lake Superior in front of the French river on sheets of ice held in place by a south wind. I have only been able to do this twice in my life. Both times were fantastic. Just watching the trout swim in that clear water is a hoot.

I try to stay pretty tame, even in my rough fishing ventures, however....

In my early teens, (you remember, fearless?) my best buddy and I would go to where the Creek meets the Mississippi just below scumfoot. As is prone to happen in the spring, the water level is high and moving good. We would scale the outside of the culvert wall to sit on top of a 6" wide piece of concrete. Looking back, not the best of plans.

Brother Woochi (and many others I might add) do something every winter that I consider just a tick below complete insanity. On the downside of the Lake Byllesby dam (Cannon Falls) there is a very steep hill (near vertical) that leads to the spill pool. In the winter it is glare ice. Apparently, they decide it's a great idea to fish the open water by essentially repelling down this ice cliff on a rope that has been tied to a tree. No thanks.

Ice fishing on Lake Superior, for me too. My buddy and I were out on a ledge of 15" thick ice off 21st Ave in Duluth. We were about 50 yards out on a sheet of ice about 100 yards wide. Fished in the shack mesmerized looking down the whole in the clear water for 45 minutes, then looked out and we were maybe 20 yards from open water. We immediately pulled up our gear and got off the ice. By the time we had everything loaded in the truck the ice we had been fishing off was floating free out into the lake. Pretty scary "what-if" scenario...

Edit* AND LIGHTNING! I have so many memories of paddling through white caps in bad lightning storms, walking on elevated railroads through lowland bottoms in bad lightning storms, and of course Joy's and my Deathmarch last summer for those of you that remember that story...

hmmm, i'd have to go with a stretch of river near home. there's little animal holes all over the place, about as big around as a dinner plate, just big enough to fit your leg into. on top of that, they are practically invisible until you're right on top of one. i'm surprised nobody i know hasn't busted a leg or ankle back there.

For me, I consistently worry about bears and moose. In fact, just this week I ran into a cow and calf moose while fishing in a willow swamp...and I mean really close. I have been fishing rivers and have been really focused on what I was doing, and then looked up to see a moose barreling straight at me.

That can make your adrenaline spike.
Grizzly bears are the other real fear, but honestly I think that they are less of a problem. As long as you make a point to be loud and noisy in known bear holes...they will move away. I have yet to see one that didn't run...I hope that this continues, I do carry a .44 or bear spray, sometimes both. We still frequently run into tracks.

Hmmm This is a fun one.

Well I remember a time when I was trout fishing in water WAY faster then I should have been.
I got a boot stuck in a spring (Quicksand) and started going down. The more I tugged the worse it go (Obviously)
The water was mid chest and pushing hard. So I pivoted my foot and swung around and held my arms out with the current and it pulled be out and down stream (Sans the boot)
Long walk home barefooted and lucky.

Another was not "Dangerous" but unknown.
We were in mexico and exploring around our hotel. The hotel was in the country in Taninul in the state of San Luis Potosí.
As we walked around fishing the small spooky cloudy creek we spotted many things moving in the water. Every evening we say this same movement. I only caught Mexican tetras and Cichlids in the river, but we were seeing larger fish. As we are hopping over the stones we spot a LARGE snake. Then we realized the creek was FULL of snakes. Thousands and thousands of watersnakes churning in the water.
We had NO Idea what they were, but we were warned about deadly vipers near the hotel. We also spotted Rattlesnakes and large black scorpions right outside of our room.

The next day while carefully fishing I was approached by a man in a military uniform (Rifle included) He kept asking me questions and I knew NO spanish. I looked up and saw the hotel was crawling with soldiers.
I pointed at the water and said "pescar!" He looked confused and grinned. I now know that look and have seen it many times fishing in ditches across America for species nobody cares about.
He eventually walked away, but to this day we still have no idea what was going on.

I found a picture of the river online. Spooky!





Fishing in HUGE waves out of lake michigan at night.
Being sent to the wheelhouse on a small boat and hearing our "Captain" say You steer while I set up. Oh and go between the tankers! As he stumbled off whistling "The wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" as I point a wild boat in between the two HUGE towering ships.
Ahh fishing with Quint. The crazy bastard.

And over the last few years fishing florida.
Wading out and casting while sharks cruised past me.
Unhooking 6' nurse sharks in the slippery rocks while 8-10' lemon sharks are feeding 8' from me getting me wet from their splashing tails.

And most recently running away from alligators in the everglades (And peoples backyards)

Dang the stupid things we do for a fish....

Venomous crittera, big waves on big lakes, rude boaters, even icy cold creeks in midwinter and high current...been there, done that, no problem.

It's that friggin' chunk limestone, y'know the kind with crinoids and pretty shell fossils that always owns my ass! Some of the meanest stuff to stumble around on when dry, wickedly dangerous when wet in the misty morning.

I kid you not, rock of that nature is the only thing that has ever injured me while fishing. Last event took over two years and alot of self rehab to get back to normal. I don't think my right knee will ever be the same, but it still works OK. Sometimes I wonder if the real dangers are actually kinda sneaky like that, one never considers them until they feel the pain.

Good place to fish anywhere it's found, that's for sure. One of these days, I'll be taking the final unconscious swim in the river and it'll be on account of trying to climb down a big chunkrock bank.

Be careful guys, the bad stuff usually comes out of left field.

Great stuff – Doc that Monticello story gives me that spooky feeling and brings back memories too. I fished that discharge regularly many moons ago when they would let you drive right through the plant grounds to the discharge channel if you stopped and signed in at the guard shack first. (I guess it was good PR to allow it). But even back then I got the definite impression that you would want to play by the rules when you were back there. Definitely worth it though - killer channel cats, muskies, the whole nine yards.

I think the real “danger” in fishing comes in primarily when other humans are involved. If you are in the natural world danger doesn’t really come into play. If you are totally focused on fishing – you have license to be oblivious to it. I think it’s like rock climbing- as long as you don’t look down, you’ll be fine.

I can remember a couple of situations where passerbys were convinced that I was in mortal danger, and once even had to cut some good fishing short as I heard the fire department coming to “rescue” me from a perch in the midst a rushing river.

The one time where I pushed it too far though was when brother #2 and I decided to troll for lakers off the north shore of Lake Superior from the ever trusty 17 foot aluminum canoe. It started out pretty ridiculously rough but we decided to chance it anyway. Of course there was no action in the bay out from the launch so we strayed out further and further. All of a sudden we had crossed an unseen line and lost the protection of the point that jutted out a few miles upwind. Within an instant the seas turned extremely serious and suddenly there was no hope of turning around. We were caught. We had to quarter into the waves, and by doing so were on a course that was veering us away from land and into the gray, blank horizon.

One of our favorite pastimes had been to take the canoe down to Park Point and play in the four and five footers when the lake was angry, but the waves we were in now were hardly in the same league. I’m not going to say how many feet tall they were as it really doesn’t matter. All I remember is the sick feeling in my stomach when I realized we were running out of options and when we would get on top of a crest and I looked down into the trough and thought to myself “ we’re not really going down there are we?”

Luckily it was big swell and we able to keep from getting foamed and swamped, but we teetered precariously several times on top of watery mountains where I thought we weren’t going to be able to keep it right side up. My hope was to hit that point that still loomed to our left but after a half hour of complete concentration in dancing among the swells, I looked over and saw we were in the process of passing the tip of it and were still at least a mile out. We were now headed for Canada or more likely 300 feet down to the bottom of the lake unless something good happened fast.

Fortunately, something did. After we had crested two truly monster waves it appeared that they had momentarily sapped some of the energy from the surrounding water and I saw a set of 4 or 5 relative dinks coming in. I yelled out that we were going to make a turn down wind and in between the two smallest waves we were able to make the maneuver with only a small slap of water coming over the side.

We had become somewhat adept at scaling the big boys coming at us but riding with them now was a totally different skill. We had to harness all of our adrenaline to keep enough speed to ride slightly downhill into the trough. Even at that the back end would get irresistibly tugged to the left or right, and with too much speed the nose of the canoe would nearly submarine into the bottom of the wave – the angles were not good.

When we couldn’t match speed I would feel the stern lifting up and feel the water rising around the canoe as the wave swept up from behind. I could hear the mounting rush of an impending breaker lifting up just behind my ears, that was the worst part. No looking back!

At least we were heading towards shore and if we did swamp the wind could actually assist in getting there – unless we blew past the point to the south of the bay we had launched from. That wasn’t going to happen though as we had crossed back into the relative protection of the bay. It was still plenty rough and we actually came very close to capsizing from the water we had taken on the downwind run. There was quiet celebration when we reached terra firma. We were no longer brash enough to raise a cheer over our “exploits” in somehow staying alive.

However, after an hour of hugging the earth it seemed we were looking out over the lake and back to square one:

Brother: “Hey it doesn’t look so bad out there anymore.”

My reply: “Yeah I wonder if we rode some crocodile spoons up top we could run into a king salmon.”

2 minutes of silence and staring out into the lake.

Brother: “Actually, I think the northerns should be biting out on Wild Rice Lake.”


(sorry for the novel : and as always the bottom line is you had to have been there!)

well ive been in very close proximity to bears while fishing and that is always dangerous but the one time that scared the crap out of me was one time while fishing a very rural area on a creek thats in the middle of nowhere the closest town has a population of like 50 or something like that. i was catching monster redhorse carp and sucker one day out there and wanted to just keep fishing even though it was getting dark. the whole time i was hearing what i thought were deer or raccoon in the brush behind me (both are very common sights there)so i ignored it. the sound started seeming very close and like a very large animal so i started getting freaked out, by this point its pitch black out. cloudy and no sun or moon to brighten anything up. i couldnt even see where i cast. so i decide to leave. i ran out of the woods pretty quick because i just wasnt liking the feeling of something big being around. i get up to my car and drive back over the small bridge over the creek and look down at my spot to see what looked like a man standing in the water no more than 30 feet up from where i was fishing. now if that had happened at a river with more civilization around i wouldnt be as freaked out by it but around here there is NOTHING and to get to where he was without walking around me wich i doubt he did he would have had about a 5 mile walk in from the next road up. ive made that entire hike and it is tough. also there is not a house for at least 2 or 3 miles so i am very perplexed at why this guy was out in the woods at 10 at night.

I don't think any of my stories can compare to the previous posts but I would have to say the most dangerous situation while I've been fishing is walking behind another fisherman/fisherwoman at a populous spot and avoiding many casts that don't hook me in the mouth; however, I do have the experience of getting hooked from inattentive casting in the lip and ear by a Rapala minnow and Rooster Tail.

Good stories guys! Jknuth said it best...the things we do for fish...LOL!

Muskie fishing with greenhorns always puts me on edge. I've had to cut and extract 2 5/O Musky trebles; one out of my back and the other out of my forearm.

Fishing parts of the river bottoms can be hairy. We had a wierd guy walk out of the woods on us wearing a onesy and wanting to do sick non-mentionables to us.

Bear country is scarry, although I've only done it once, there was a warning sign posted on the trail: Mother Grizzly and 2 cubs spotted.....the same day we were there and we got there in the morning......so it wasn't so long before we got there.

Trolling for Walleyes on Mille Lacs in six foot rollers with my first boat (a flat bottomed Bass Tracker) in October. The bilge pump was running all night as we'd take wave after wave over the bow.

In AK we went on a Halibut charter out of Homer. We were on a small ship with 6 other fishers and the Captain (a young punk kid that just inherited his dads boat). Before we left he had told us about a 200-400 foot deep troff loaded with Halibut so we all decided to go for it even though it was a 2 hour boat ride. We got to the spot nestled between some beautiful high cliffs (view Yellow eyed Rockfish pic to see cliffs), and the fishing was calm and awesome. On the way home though, we came around the horn only to see "Deadliest Catch" type waves crashing into the other cliff faces. Capt. kid called us all into the cabin, we locked the doors, flipped on the windshield wipers and he was white-knuckling it 3.5 hours back. We all got worried when one of the other fishers tapped the kid on the shoulder and asked if this was normal for the coast. Capt. Kid turned to all of us eyes as big as coke bottles and face as pale as a sheet of paper and said "No, its not normal, sit down and shut up". Probably one of the scarriest times I've ever had fishing.

Just to name a few.......

Wow, I've never been in situations as crazy as some of you guys. Just a few ill-advised cattle-pasture crossings with a five gallon bucket in one hand and three rods in the other. I think I ran my fastest 40 time as an 8 year-old.

Hello group..i have not done any posting since winter and very little fishing but this post is too good to turn down..danger?
i grew up in a little town just down river from Niagara Falls.in the late 50's or so i would go down,alone,into the gorge to fish.
casting out into the swirling water just below the rapids.lots of White Bass and the older kids,18-19 would spear for the Sturgeon that were still found there before they starting blasting away the gorge walls for a new power plant.i still have that fishing rod and you can see the marks where i held it across the handlebars of my bike.it's one of those "i can believe i did that" things.

The same as others, bear in Alaska (Black bear within 50' Brown Bear 50 yards & on the other side of the river.) Moose in Canada, we had to paddle past these two in a foot of water, rough water on Lake Michigan, and late night perch fishing in bad areas on Indianas - Lake Michigan's shoreline. (I always pack a gun there, more afread of people the animals.)

Boating to the East Arm of Great Slave Lake, particularly in the tail ends of the season. Waves shoot down the Hearne Channel like a rocket. A guy drowned on the lake last week after the boat he was travelling in overturned in rough seas. Another guy I know heading out last weekend in a 28 foot West Coast Cruiser got caught in eight-foot seas and while heading towards shelter, lost steering. Fortunately, the coast guard rescued him.

Last year I did a trip to the East Arm that was both exhilarating, scary and frustrating as all hell. My best friend Jeff and I (the dude in most of those inconnu pics) had arranged to depart June 12. Trouble was the ice was still filling half of Yellowknife Bay outside of town. We decided to head out anyway. We snuck behind islands and miles-wide sheets of ice, we got trapped against the shore our third day out and furiously had to chip a path through the ice with a mall or risk getting crushed against the rocks. The next day the ice opened up and we made it to the edge of the East Arm only to be trapped in a bay by a thin sheet of ice blocking our way out. We camped on a very sheltered island close to the mainland and watched in amazement as the whole bay (three miles across and five miles deep) filled with ice pans overnight. It crept right up to the boat we had parked in a tiny cove. We were trapped for five days on a half-mile long island with a black bear (we never saw it but it kept crapping on the little hill behind our camp every night). We couldn't move, couldn't fish. Finally the ice broke open on the day before I had to return to work, and we managed to creep our way back home, worried constantly that the ice would trap us again. I'll have to dig up the photos, it was unreal.

I gotta say I'm happy I wasn't along on that Superior lake trout trip. Don't know if I would have handled that well. Huge waves freak me out. Being out in huge waves in a canoe where you're inches from the water really freaks me out. Only once or twice I've really felt like we were in a bad situation- on the Mississippi, in the main channel getting constantly thrashed by weekend monster yacht wakes Also the St. Croix in a similar situation. Although I'm sure those experiences were like Disney World compared to Lake Superior that one time.