So, talking about close calls, how about your eyes playing tricks on you.... - Striper Talk Striped Bass Fishing, Surfcasting, Boating

RIROCKHOUND · 02-15-2005, 07:28 AM

Here is one of my funnier nights from last year....

a very dark night with HUGE surf we (Piemma and I) were fishing a sandy outflow, and thought we had company.... as I'm fishing on the outer bar (wetsuit) I notice that thet guy between us was in trouble, floundering in the trough, I start sliding over towards him (sic) only to realize it was a giant poly ball that had drifted in... looked like a fat guy stuck on the bar in big surf... thats what fog and no sleep can do to your mind...

Anyone else have those nights.... I'll be the first to admit I'm no wus, but there are certain places I dont like to fish alone on dark nights, just cause they have a creepy vibe....

Anyone else have their mind play games at night?

ReelChitty · 02-15-2005, 09:39 AM

Oh yeah I scare myself out of the water all the time. Nothing like wading in the water, looking out into the surf and then all of a sudden you here it. The JAWS theme start in my mind, you here it start off slow and start to go faster. I find myself slowly back pedaling to the shore.

Never had my eyes play tricks on me fishing but, this winter in that blizzard we got, after snow plowing for 21 hours straight and very little sleep after the snow stopped all I could see was white flakes, like it was still snowing out. Wow that was a long day of clearing parking lots and driveways.

RIJIMMY · 02-15-2005, 09:49 AM

Oak, I think I was fishing that same spot and saw the same ball. In the dark, I thought it was another guy fishing and I was keeping an eye on him. I walked over to see if there was any action and noticed it was a ball.

rwilhelm · 02-15-2005, 10:10 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by RIJIMMY
Oak, I think I was fishing that same spot and saw the same ball. In the dark, I thought it was another guy fishing and I was keeping an eye on him. I walked over to see if there was any action and noticed it was a ball.

Same here in fact I think I was with you Jimmy and I thought it was a person and then on my way back to my car I looked again and realized it was big orange buoy.

RIROCKHOUND · 02-15-2005, 10:12 AM

Yeah it was there for a while... the fish werent there in force that night though....

zacs · 02-15-2005, 10:30 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by RIROCKHOUND
.... I'll be the first to admit I'm no wus, but there are certain places I dont like to fish alone on dark nights, just cause they have a creepy vibe....

Deep hole gives me that feeling some nights.

RIJIMMY · 02-15-2005, 10:33 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by zacs
Deep hole gives me that feeling some nights.

I agree once I get way out there on the bar, the waves criss cross and break behind me, its always pretty freaky.
I miss that place, I cant wait to get out there, few more months...

RIROCKHOUND · 02-15-2005, 10:37 AM

See... that spot doesnt bother me one bit... there are certain out of the way spots on the south shore though that creep me out, I wont name names, but they are generally pitch dark, and either have a creepy walk out and back, or just an odd vibe...

reelecstasy · 02-15-2005, 11:01 AM

I have a spot up here in MA on the south shore that I love to fish but I will admit I have had a few nights where I just had that "feeling" and unable to shake it I have left. The walk back gets even worse because I feel like I got beat by something...High cliff walls behind ya, and good size swells, combine that with pitch black and a little fog makes it hard to stay on top of the rocks, my legs feel weak. At the same time you gotta love it, your senses intensely tuned, feeling everything, not just seeing it or hearing it. I can't wait to get back out there......

Pt.JudeJoe · 02-15-2005, 11:55 AM

On a new moon fishing at a spot far from the lights on Aquidnick Island ,alone it can get pretty spooky out there. Even though i know the place like the back of my hand....when ALL the lights go out and all you hear is the surf ,it is both wonderful and a little creepy. Usually I am fine until I hear the first monster in the rocks behind me , then I start looking over my shoulder.One night I heard a little noise and thought it was the striper I had just caught, splashing in the puddle.....well it was a RACCOON trying to drag him out of the puddle! Sure gets the adrenaline going.

FishermanTim · 02-15-2005, 12:18 PM

Last year I had 2 instances of the willies while fishing down the east end.
1) One night I kept hearing a scratching noise coming from the jetty.
after every cast I'd hear this noise ounding like someone with korkers on walking on the rocks behind me. After a while it just got to me, so I stopped fishing, turned towards the rocks (no surf to watch out for) and listened. When I heard where it was coming from, I aimed my headlamp over and saw a raccoon crawling around the rocks, looking for shellfish. I had a laugh at that one.
2) Later last year during my final fall days, while fishing a full moon easterly flow I thought I saw what looked like a good sized dorsal fin cruising out towards Cape Cod Bay. This was after the reports of sharks at the west end earlier that same week. Needless to say, I'm standing waist deep in the canal, at night, with no dry ground to retreat to within 50 feet (unless climbing slime covered rocks qualifies).
They were certainly weird occurances, but at least the fish were cooperative.

Ed B · 02-15-2005, 12:22 PM

PJ Joe, you must have come across some deer out there as well. I was walking a trail not far from where you like to go and you know how you can't really see too far because of the thick brush. Well it was late evening in Nov and there must have been a buck rubbing a small tree or something because I hear all this banging and what sounded like branches breaking. Kind of spooky when your out there by your lonesome.

I also turned a corner on one of the trails and caught a couple of Lesbians

aw never mind, family site sensitivity violation. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Ed

DZ · 02-15-2005, 12:36 PM

"I like night fishing, even though there is a molecule of terror in it. Maybe it is that tiny bit of terror that I relish, that going "mano a mano" with another predator in the dark. I know it is not entirely civilized, but there is nothing to compare to the sizzle of fear..."
Previous quote by Dr. Paul Quinnett

I live for "Black as Coal" nights in the surf.

DZ

Nebe · 02-15-2005, 12:45 PM

Black rock on a new moon...

i get shivers just thinking about it

spence · 02-15-2005, 12:50 PM

What a place to throw pink danny's

-spence

MakoMike · 02-15-2005, 01:52 PM

Quote:

I'll be the first to admit I'm no wus, but there are certain places I dont like to fish alone on dark nights, just cause they have a creepy vibe....

You should try Fort Hero at Montauk on a moonless night. Every hear of all the weird stories about that place? I think there's a thread in the scuppers about it.

Rob Rockcrawler · 02-15-2005, 01:55 PM

Not a mind playing tricks story, i wish it was. Still have to tell it.

I was fishing the mouth of the jetty at falmouth harbor when i was 17. Mind you my favorite movie is and was jaws, seen it prolly a hundred times... Was sitting there with my rods spiked with my girlfriend at the time during a full moon, catching dogs as usualy from that spot and i see something that doesnt look right. Ya know the scene in jaws when the shark goes in the pond, right before it attacks the dude trying to help the cheifs kid in the sailboat. Well i can see two fins about 10 feet or so apart heading into the harbor, only about 15 feet from me and its moving pretty slow. I yell something inappropriate for this site about that shark. Sure enough its the dorsal and tail of a huge friggin shark. The shark swims into the harbor, i watched it for aobut a minute or so untill the fins went under. I kick myself for not throwing a chunk at it. The full moon gave me a really good view of it, and it wasnt ducks or anyhting like that, the fins stayed the same distance from eachother the whole time. If i was wading and i saw that i woulda filled the waders with a couple different substances.

Van · 02-15-2005, 06:23 PM

Though I hardly shore fish anymore (boat guy), i still hit a favorite old spot for schoolies in the spring. its an outflow, and we fish it on the outgoing.

One time I standing there pitch dark, in waist deep water pluggin away and something bumps into me hard right at the water level.

I nearly shat myself, screamed like a littel girl, and almost fell in heading for the beach.

When i calmed down and realized I was not bitten in half, I found it was a limb from a tree that was being carried out to sea.

Wrong place at wrong time.

tynan19 · 02-15-2005, 08:01 PM

I don't like the rats at the ditch.

Crawling around your feet.

Peter Lajoie · 02-15-2005, 08:06 PM

One night this spring on a rhody death march, I heard a bunch of giggles up in the dunes, I finally realized it was some kids up there partying, but for a good 10 minutes it was pretty weird when you think of what happened there some decades ago...

Slingah · 02-15-2005, 08:11 PM

me and redlite were walking out to a local spot and thought we saw what was something big in the surf kinda rolling around...we start casting at it after looking at it for a while...we are going

wtf is it???then he starts throwing rocks at it and we realize...a DUH...thats what it is just a rock that we have walked by a zillion times
Just one of those stupid late nite mind playin tricks on ya moments

Goose · 02-15-2005, 10:10 PM

I had just gotten my license so it was when I very firts started fishing alone. I got up earier to be on the beach before sunrise. From where I'ld park I'ld walk aways on a beach and fish in front of some water front homes. I new exactly where I'ld always set up. I noticed that ALL the lights where on in the next house down from where I was. I got set up and kept looking back at the the house. In front of the house there was this huge rock that sits by itself where the water meets land, as the suns coming up I start seeing what looks like 4 dead bodys covered with a white sheet, its getting brighter and its clear to me that the bodys laying under that sheet are not moveing....my heart was racing and I was scared out my wits, I thought for sure it was a mass murder...just as I'm ready to get the *&^$ outa dodge one of the bodies moved and the next thing you know their all heading back in the house.......

ThrowingTimber · 02-16-2005, 07:03 AM

Im waist deep in the canal, just finished a cast upcurrent, when I hear all this splashing, splash splash splash SPLASH! I quickly turn and look I see a friggin fin

I'll admit it.. I dont think my jig even hit the water, 2.5 seconds later Im up on the service road looking down at the cloud of dust shaped like me, where I was just standing. From the service road I realized it was an ocean sun fish

friggin fin was flopping back and forth

kippy · 02-16-2005, 07:41 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by RIROCKHOUND
Here is one of my funnier nights from last year....

a very dark night with HUGE surf we (Piemma and I) were fishing a sandy outflow, and thought we had company.... as I'm fishing on the outer bar (wetsuit) I notice that thet guy between us was in trouble, floundering in the trough, I start sliding over towards him (sic) only to realize it was a giant poly ball that had drifted in... looked like a fat guy stuck on the bar in big surf... thats what fog and no sleep can do to your mind...

Anyone else have those nights.... I'll be the first to admit I'm no wus, but there are certain places I dont like to fish alone on dark nights, just cause they have a creepy vibe....

Anyone else have their mind play games at night?

Bryan I saw that that huge poly ball last year too when I was walking up to that spot. Its amazing how your eyes can play tricks on you.

piemma · 02-16-2005, 08:03 AM

Here a great story. I'm fishing the Matunck Beach side of Deep Hole. Warm humid night about 2:00 AM. All of a sudden I see a head pop up in the surf to my left. Out of the water walks a young lady, mid 20's and absolutely start friggin' naked. Walks over to me and asks if I have caught anything yet. I told her just my breath as she walked over to me. She laughed and walked down the beach.

Man if I was 20 years younger......

tynan19 · 02-16-2005, 08:08 AM

Mermaid. Were you drinking?

piemma · 02-16-2005, 08:36 AM

You would think so but I quit drinking in 99 and even when I did drink I never drank and fished.

RIROCKHOUND and I tend to fish places where you don't want to be impared. If you are...you either get injured or you die.

Steve K · 02-16-2005, 09:42 AM

The foggy moonless nights are the worst for me. I have had many occasions where I thought I saw something or someone and it turns out to be a rock or a log.

rwilhelm · 02-16-2005, 10:50 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by piemma
Here a great story. I'm fishing the Matunck Beach side of Deep Hole. Warm humid night about 2:00 AM. All of a sudden I see a head pop up in the surf to my left. Out of the water walks a young lady, mid 20's and absolutely start friggin' naked. Walks over to me and asks if I have caught anything yet. I told her just my breath as she walked over to me. She laughed and walked down the beach.

Man if I was 20 years younger......

I need to fish there more often.

redlite · 02-16-2005, 01:21 PM

Eyes and mind always playin tricks on me all juiced up on Skoal and Bull and no sleep. Swear I see people standin on the beach all the time. Swear I see seals following me up and down the beach.
The thing with Slingah was wierd, but had one last year that almost made me fill my waders from laughing so hard.
T. Orlando, Riverrat and I were down in Narragansett tryin to take a new apporach to a spot we fish at;
well, we were walking down this overgrown trail for quite a while not knowin where we were or goin, just where we hoped we'd end up.
I'm leading with Riverrat behind me and shortlegged T trailing. All of sudden there is a BIG motion in the %$%$%$%$es to our right. River rat screams like a little girl and jumps on my back almost face plantin me as the crashin has now moved over to our left.

T comes up and goes "What the hell was that?"

Apparently a BIG deer had sprung across us high in the air so close it almost stomped Riverrat in the head.
He needed new waders and I couldn't stop laughin.