Nearly every angler I know loves to tell and hear a good fishing story.
I’m not talking about a story for publication. I’m talking about telling one to a family member, a buddy or to another angler – to the guy next to you at the bar or at a party.
Years of experiences and listening to others have taught me that the best fishing stories – the ones that fascinate and amuse anglers and non-anglers alike — contain at least one of following elements.
(Reader alert: The stories below are all semi-true.)
A good picture of the fish: I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve started talking to someone about fishing and suddenly they whip out their smart phone and say something like, “Hey, check out the big one I caught just last weekend.” The picture is proof that they caught it and a great entry to any fish tale. A few tips, though, on fish photos. It helps to have the angler who caught the fish (particularly if it’s you) in the photo. Avoid excessive blood or gore. Finally, when having a picture taken of your fish, a way to make it look bigger is to hold it out straight toward the camera away from you. Anglers call this “straight-arming” it. (See above photo of my brother-in-law.)
A little exaggeration: Heck, you’re not under oath. It’s a fish story. You’re allowed to stretch the truth “just a little,” when describing how big a fish was, how many you caught that day or how hard and long the big one fought. Examples:
1. “Right before the sun set, the trout were rising everywhere in the stream. I was catching one after another on my caddis dry fly. Fish after fish. And just before it got dark, when I could hardly see the fly floating, I saw this big splash. I quickly lifted my pole, tightened the line and hooked a big guy. He ran underneath a fallen tree and I was lucky to keep him on. I finally got him close enough to net. Biggest brown trout I’ve ever caught. Had to be at least 25 inches. It had a massive, hooked jaw. What a monster.”
2. “I couldn’t believe my luck yesterday while fishing on the lake. I caught this lunker smallmouth bass. It was nearly 23 inches. Got it jigging for perch in about 20 feet of water. What was even more exciting was that an even bigger one was following it as I reeled it in.”
3. “We were just messing around in my boat, fishing for panfish. And then this bluegill nailed my worm. It was huge. As big as a pie plate. We weren’t keeping any and I left my iPhone back on shore. Otherwise, I would have at least snapped a picture to show you. Frankly, I have never seen a bluegill that big. Could have been a state record.”
Describing the one that got away: Every angler who has put any time on the water has missed a big one, the so-called “the fish of a lifetime.” In most cases, you’re the only one who saw it or felt its tug, so you have a lot of leeway in telling the story. Examples:
1. “I had this huge rainbow trout take my fly and it immediately ran upstream and into the current, nearly taking all the line off my fly rod reel. It jumped three times. I was getting really excited. I thought my 5-weight fly rod was going to snap. And then the fish got wrapped around an underwater rock on the far side of the stream. Suddenly, my line went slack and it was off. It had to be at least 24-25 inches. No, bigger.”
2. “I knew it was huge when I hooked it. I was fishing with a jig tipped with an emerald shiner. I felt two big jerks, I set the hook and then it was off to the races. Never saw what it was. It must have been a huge northern pike or even a sturgeon the way It dove right under the boat. Felt like I had a fast-moving, cinder block on myline. Then suddenly the line went slack. When I reeled in I noticed my hook was bent, almost completely straightened out.”
Emphasizing the first or the last cast: These stories feed into an angler’s optimism that sometimes things happened fast, or that it’s never over until it’s over. It doesn’t always have to exactly be the first or last cast — just close to. Examples:
1. “We had just gotten out on the lake. It was early morning and mist covered the water. I knew where I wanted to start fishing. My son was driving the boat and I pointed over to the stretch beyond the dock on the lake’s other side. The guy in the bait shop had told me yesterday he had caught a few there last weekend. First cast and WHAM! A massive largemouth bass surfaced and just inhaled my surface plug. I couldn’t believe it when I got it in the net. It was 23 3/4 inches, my personal best.”
2. *My wife was sitting in the boat reading as I was fishing. The sun was going down and the temperature was starting to drop. She said it was time to get back to the boat launch. I replied: ‘OK, just one more cast.’ I threw out five more times. “C’mon,” my wife groused. “It’s getting cold. It’s time to stop fishing.” Diehard that I am, I threw out my stickbait one more time about 25-30 yards from shore. Then I felt this tug. I set the hook. Unbelievable. I reeled in a 32-inch walleye.”
First fish stories: These stories reinforce the fact that anyone can catch a fish. Examples:
1. “My 8-year-old niece had never been fishing before. She had trouble casting one of my poles, so I gave her this little, cheap Scoobie Do, push-button reel and pole that I bought at Walmart for $19.95. I put on a single hook, a sinker and a big old night crawler on the hook. I threw it over the side of the boat, watched the line sink to the bottom, reeled in the slack and handed it to her. I turned to get my pole rigged up. She suddenly screamed: ‘Uncle Dave, I got something on. Help me. It’s huge!’ The pole was bent clear into the water. She struggled and I kept coaching her to keep the tip of her rod up high and to just keep reeling. She finally managed to bring it in and I netted it. It was a 30-inch catfish.”
2. “My buddy Jim said he didn’t like fishing because he had tried several times and never caught anything. So I took him out in my boat, set him up with a rod and reel with a silvery, plastic swimbait on the end of his line and told him to cast toward shore. Within 15 minutes he had something on. The way his line was bending I knew it was a big one. He had this big smile on his face. He fought it for a good 10 minutes. It jumped twice. He landed a beefy, 18-inch smallmouth bass. That was the first of eight fish he caught that day.”
Weaving in some drama, ironic twists: These tales test your story-telling ability. Experience has taught me that the more animated and excited you get telling these tales, the more they’re appreciated by the listener. An example:
1. “I was using a small, ultra-light pole and line to fish for perch on one of the local rivers out of a canoe with a buddy. As I reeled a small perch in, this huge fish came out of nowhere and grabbed the perch right by the canoe. It then ran about 50 yards with the perch in its mouth. My line was just zinging out. And then it stopped. And then it started running again. I was determined not to lose this fish. Some 15 minutes later I tired it out and got it near the side of the canoe. I could see my hook was just barely fastened to the side of its mouth. My buddy grabbed my old, small trout fishing net. I yelled at him to take it easy, that the fish wasn’t hooked very well. He got the net into the water, got the fish in it and started to lift. Then the handle on the net broke. The fish fell back into the water. I quickly reached into the river. Heck, my entire right arm was in water right up to my shoulder. I grabbed the fish by the tail and pulled it into the canoe. It was a 43-inch northern pike.”
The use of a unique bait: This feeds into the “you never know” aspect of fishing. There’s always the possibility of the unexpected. Examples:
1.”I had been fishing for hours, catching nothing. I tried nearly every lure and spinner in my tackle box. It was getting late and my buddy Frank said he was getting hungry. I looked in my tackle box and saw a small bag of white marshmallows that I had brought along for my kids to snack on. Hmm. I thought. I put a few bits of marshmallow on my hook and tossed it over the side. We were in about 30 feet of water. I let it sink to the bottom and just started jigging it. Within a minute I felt something on my line. I jerked and set the hook. I couldn’t believe it. I reeled in a 27-inch, Atlantic salmon. Had it for supper that night.”
2.”My 10-year-old nephew is a fishing nut, loves to wet his line whenever he can. We were having a barbecue at my friend’s cottage on the lake and my nephew asked if he could fish off the dock. My friend said sure. Problem was, the kid forgot to bring his tackle box and didn’t have bait. All he had was his pole and line with single hook on it. ‘Here,’ I said. ‘Take a piece of my hot dog, and put that on your hook.” Ten minutes later he started yelling from the dock: ‘I got a big one on! It’s a lunker! Get the net!’ He wasn’t kidding. it was a big fish. Unfortunately I didn’t have a net. He fought it for at least 15 minutes and ended up beaching it right next to the dock. It was a carp that had to weigh more than 30 pounds.”
*******
One final thing.
You have to actually get out and fish to be able to tell a good fish story. It really helps to fish a lot.
Otherwise, who is going to believe you?
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