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Cermele: Fish Eat Weird Stuff

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February 19, 2009

Cermele: Fish Eat Weird Stuff

By Joe Cermele

Pop quiz. Guide Lonnie Osterholm has during his career caught a lake trout on which of the following: a socket wrench, Batman action figure, or Kit-Kat bar? Give up? The answer is a Batman action figure. As the story goes, Osterholm told a client he could catch a laker on anything, so he was handed the Batman and asked to produce. They even put some cash on it. "I rigged it on a hook, dropped it to the bottom and a fish slammed it," said Osterholm. "I got it to the boat and won $1,000. Then I dropped Batman down again and the second strike was so hard it broke the line."

I know all this because Osterholm is one of a ton of guides I interviewed for story on lures in the March issue of F&S. I asked most of these guys what the most bizarre thing they ever caught their target species on happened to be. The answers were great. Jeff Sundin once used a strip of black garbage bag to imitate a leech. A walleye nailed it. Striper guide Gene Quigley hooked into a bass on a cigarette filter, which won him a $20 bet. During a cold New Year's Day trout outing, Ernie Calandrelli tossed out a leftover cocktail shrimp from the prior night's party and bagged a fat steelhead. Though it wasn't his personal catch, guide Bobby Liedberg told me about seeing muskies caught on certain, well, uhh, "adult" toys.

While my old G.I. Joe collection will not soon become part of my tackle collection, I have successfully used orange Play-Doh to catch some big flounder. I've also tied scud flies with pink heating insulation and shag carpet fibers. The trout gulped them up with delight. So what's the weirdest, wildest, or wackiest bait or lure you've ever hooked up on?

JC

 

Comments (30)

Top Rated
All Comments
from Charley wrote 3 years 13 weeks ago

Play doh was the origional power bait- I saw it all over when I was a kid.
A couple of years ago I met a guy on Henry's Fork that was hooking cutthroat on cigarette but imitating fly. Maybe Idaho fishermen toss enough butts to make cutthroat nicotine addicts. Weekends in summer can bring on a Marlboro hatch.
I once saw a good size bass holding under a log while looking for perch. I didn't have any bass bait with me. I pulled a supple cat-tail shoot and put it on a bait holder and tossed on the fish's nose. He inhaled it. But, my ultralight tackle wasn't strong e ough to pull him from the log- he wrapped up and broke off.

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from idduckhntr wrote 3 years 13 weeks ago

Used cinnamon flavored Trident once on the Kasiloff in Alaska and pounded the steelhead. Oh and Charlie everybody in Idaho is not a litter bug.

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from Jim in Mo wrote 3 years 13 weeks ago

Makes you wonder why some of these bass lures are so expensive. Do they look as good to the fish as they do to us?

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from streack wrote 3 years 13 weeks ago

In Canada I watched my dad catch numerous walleye on a jig and tail tipped with rasins that were soaked in Captain Morgan.

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from peter wrote 3 years 13 weeks ago

thats pretty weird

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from silsbyj wrote 3 years 13 weeks ago

Catfish are notorious for eating wierd stuff. I have caught them on Cheese Puff's and a cigarette butt sprayed with WD-40.

-1 Good Comment? | | Report
from Alex Pernice th... wrote 3 years 13 weeks ago

Play dough catches some big salmon and steeles around here on lake Micigan, and I have used every materieal for flys i can find, rope insides, cigarette butts (That fly KILLED smallies) pen parts, wires from small eletronics, plastic wrap, cast net mesh, and even parts of gatoraid bottles, if you can shape it and learn how to tie it in, you can fish it.

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from Jim in Mo wrote 3 years 13 weeks ago

silsby,
Strange I've caught them on cheese puffs too, the balls.

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from Jim in Mo wrote 3 years 13 weeks ago

Does that Play dough stay on the hook? I can see how the smell would attract fish, I still love it.

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from outdoordb wrote 3 years 13 weeks ago

hey silsbyj wd40???? think about pollution idiot

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from Joe_Cermele wrote 3 years 13 weeks ago

Jim, Play-Doh dissolves pretty fast, but it stays on well enough for a while. Idduckhntr, did you chew the Trident and make a ball out of it? Wonder if it just looked like an egg or the cinnamon smell really had something to do with it.

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from idduckhntr wrote 3 years 13 weeks ago

chewed it for about 30 seconds. works good when drifting shrimp for dollys.

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from jlfreeborn wrote 3 years 13 weeks ago

Bream on a dandelion.

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from BamaCreekBum wrote 3 years 13 weeks ago

When you an find a high concentration of bream in an area, you can catch them on some weird stuff. I've caught them on canned corn, gum, lint, and a bare hook. They will eat anything.

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from buckhunter wrote 3 years 13 weeks ago

I caught walleye off of dry flies in Northern Manitoba in the middle of the day.

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from 60256 wrote 3 years 13 weeks ago

AWWW man, why use all of this fancy weird stuff? I go old school get a worm hook it on an catch fish.

Nate

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from rjw wrote 3 years 13 weeks ago

Rig a dime, throw it around wooden structure. Bass love shiny things. Use a light hook so the dime flutters nicely.

0 Good Comment? | | Report
from fishjay40 wrote 3 years 13 weeks ago

This post is awesome, it is pretty neat to hear all the different things anglers have used to fool fish. Although, it makes fishing sound a little too easy! One day a buddy and I were tearing the mackerel up, and he said he could catch one with nothing but a hook, and sure enough he did. The story that really hit home though, was the cocktail shrimp. I too have done the samething and it does work!

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from Wags wrote 3 years 13 weeks ago

I once caught a fish on one of the early Kaufmann stimulators that I tried to tie. Let me tell you, no one has taken a fish on ANYTHING stranger than that concoction!

+2 Good Comment? | | Report
from dwaynez wrote 3 years 13 weeks ago

I have caught bass and crappie on old windchime pieces,I attached a single hook with a swivel and made a simple lure that caught several fish.

I have also caught catfish on chewed bubble gum, juicy fruit flavor, it was a channel cat in the 5lb range.

It's amazing what fish will eat and what they will go after

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from tourneyking734 wrote 3 years 13 weeks ago

I caught a 15 inch brook trout on a strawberry in northern maine

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from evspence wrote 3 years 13 weeks ago

i've caught sunfish by twitching small twigs on the surface, its amazing what some fish will strike at

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from Barbra Frisbie Reed wrote 3 years 13 weeks ago

Thanks, Wayne, for leading me to this site. Great learning stuff.

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from Fisher Boy wrote 3 years 12 weeks ago

i must tell you, play-doh smells good, but I know from experience that it doesn't taste good at all

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from wheeler wrote 3 years 12 weeks ago

i caught a big bream on a part of burrito in lake lanier

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from flyrod04 wrote 3 years 12 weeks ago

i got a 3 pound large mouth on a chicken wing bone off a dock a few years back

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from duckcommander11 wrote 3 years 12 weeks ago

cut up a piece of sponge and dipped it in barbacue and got catfish, works pretty good but comes off fast

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from Alex Williams wrote 3 years 11 weeks ago

i was fly fishing with my dad and he walked into my back cast and my hook caught his croakies of his sunglasses. before i could reel it back in to take them off the water exploded! a 3 lb bass that broke the line but it was crazy!

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from Del in KS wrote 3 years 11 weeks ago

When I was in the Autralian outback (training with the Aussie Army) rigged a bent safety pin on a piece of string. Tied it to a small pole cut from the bank. Baited up with C ration cheese and caught a black fish that looked kind of like a huge Florida Warmouth. cooked over an open fire he was absolutely delicious!

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from makikal000 wrote 3 years 11 weeks ago

When i was fishing with a bunch of fish i ran out of worms everyone was diggin em up but i had some cheese sticks so i used chunks of that and slaughtered them they kept askin what i was usin i just said same as you and another time i rigged up pieces from a coke can!

+2 Good Comment? | | Report

Post a Comment

from Wags wrote 3 years 13 weeks ago

I once caught a fish on one of the early Kaufmann stimulators that I tried to tie. Let me tell you, no one has taken a fish on ANYTHING stranger than that concoction!

+2 Good Comment? | | Report
from makikal000 wrote 3 years 11 weeks ago

When i was fishing with a bunch of fish i ran out of worms everyone was diggin em up but i had some cheese sticks so i used chunks of that and slaughtered them they kept askin what i was usin i just said same as you and another time i rigged up pieces from a coke can!

+2 Good Comment? | | Report
from Charley wrote 3 years 13 weeks ago

Play doh was the origional power bait- I saw it all over when I was a kid.
A couple of years ago I met a guy on Henry's Fork that was hooking cutthroat on cigarette but imitating fly. Maybe Idaho fishermen toss enough butts to make cutthroat nicotine addicts. Weekends in summer can bring on a Marlboro hatch.
I once saw a good size bass holding under a log while looking for perch. I didn't have any bass bait with me. I pulled a supple cat-tail shoot and put it on a bait holder and tossed on the fish's nose. He inhaled it. But, my ultralight tackle wasn't strong e ough to pull him from the log- he wrapped up and broke off.

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from idduckhntr wrote 3 years 13 weeks ago

Used cinnamon flavored Trident once on the Kasiloff in Alaska and pounded the steelhead. Oh and Charlie everybody in Idaho is not a litter bug.

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from Jim in Mo wrote 3 years 13 weeks ago

Makes you wonder why some of these bass lures are so expensive. Do they look as good to the fish as they do to us?

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from streack wrote 3 years 13 weeks ago

In Canada I watched my dad catch numerous walleye on a jig and tail tipped with rasins that were soaked in Captain Morgan.

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from peter wrote 3 years 13 weeks ago

thats pretty weird

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from Alex Pernice th... wrote 3 years 13 weeks ago

Play dough catches some big salmon and steeles around here on lake Micigan, and I have used every materieal for flys i can find, rope insides, cigarette butts (That fly KILLED smallies) pen parts, wires from small eletronics, plastic wrap, cast net mesh, and even parts of gatoraid bottles, if you can shape it and learn how to tie it in, you can fish it.

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from Jim in Mo wrote 3 years 13 weeks ago

silsby,
Strange I've caught them on cheese puffs too, the balls.

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from Jim in Mo wrote 3 years 13 weeks ago

Does that Play dough stay on the hook? I can see how the smell would attract fish, I still love it.

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from outdoordb wrote 3 years 13 weeks ago

hey silsbyj wd40???? think about pollution idiot

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from Joe_Cermele wrote 3 years 13 weeks ago

Jim, Play-Doh dissolves pretty fast, but it stays on well enough for a while. Idduckhntr, did you chew the Trident and make a ball out of it? Wonder if it just looked like an egg or the cinnamon smell really had something to do with it.

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from idduckhntr wrote 3 years 13 weeks ago

chewed it for about 30 seconds. works good when drifting shrimp for dollys.

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from jlfreeborn wrote 3 years 13 weeks ago

Bream on a dandelion.

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from BamaCreekBum wrote 3 years 13 weeks ago

When you an find a high concentration of bream in an area, you can catch them on some weird stuff. I've caught them on canned corn, gum, lint, and a bare hook. They will eat anything.

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from buckhunter wrote 3 years 13 weeks ago

I caught walleye off of dry flies in Northern Manitoba in the middle of the day.

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from 60256 wrote 3 years 13 weeks ago

AWWW man, why use all of this fancy weird stuff? I go old school get a worm hook it on an catch fish.

Nate

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from fishjay40 wrote 3 years 13 weeks ago

This post is awesome, it is pretty neat to hear all the different things anglers have used to fool fish. Although, it makes fishing sound a little too easy! One day a buddy and I were tearing the mackerel up, and he said he could catch one with nothing but a hook, and sure enough he did. The story that really hit home though, was the cocktail shrimp. I too have done the samething and it does work!

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from dwaynez wrote 3 years 13 weeks ago

I have caught bass and crappie on old windchime pieces,I attached a single hook with a swivel and made a simple lure that caught several fish.

I have also caught catfish on chewed bubble gum, juicy fruit flavor, it was a channel cat in the 5lb range.

It's amazing what fish will eat and what they will go after

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from tourneyking734 wrote 3 years 13 weeks ago

I caught a 15 inch brook trout on a strawberry in northern maine

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from evspence wrote 3 years 13 weeks ago

i've caught sunfish by twitching small twigs on the surface, its amazing what some fish will strike at

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from Barbra Frisbie Reed wrote 3 years 13 weeks ago

Thanks, Wayne, for leading me to this site. Great learning stuff.

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from Fisher Boy wrote 3 years 12 weeks ago

i must tell you, play-doh smells good, but I know from experience that it doesn't taste good at all

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from wheeler wrote 3 years 12 weeks ago

i caught a big bream on a part of burrito in lake lanier

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from flyrod04 wrote 3 years 12 weeks ago

i got a 3 pound large mouth on a chicken wing bone off a dock a few years back

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from duckcommander11 wrote 3 years 12 weeks ago

cut up a piece of sponge and dipped it in barbacue and got catfish, works pretty good but comes off fast

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from Alex Williams wrote 3 years 11 weeks ago

i was fly fishing with my dad and he walked into my back cast and my hook caught his croakies of his sunglasses. before i could reel it back in to take them off the water exploded! a 3 lb bass that broke the line but it was crazy!

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from Del in KS wrote 3 years 11 weeks ago

When I was in the Autralian outback (training with the Aussie Army) rigged a bent safety pin on a piece of string. Tied it to a small pole cut from the bank. Baited up with C ration cheese and caught a black fish that looked kind of like a huge Florida Warmouth. cooked over an open fire he was absolutely delicious!

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from rjw wrote 3 years 13 weeks ago

Rig a dime, throw it around wooden structure. Bass love shiny things. Use a light hook so the dime flutters nicely.

0 Good Comment? | | Report
from silsbyj wrote 3 years 13 weeks ago

Catfish are notorious for eating wierd stuff. I have caught them on Cheese Puff's and a cigarette butt sprayed with WD-40.

-1 Good Comment? | | Report

Post a Comment