Craziest fishing story.

[GeoFisher]

Have a lot of crazy stories being on the water so much...but since this happened today, I thought I would post it...had a 3 foot Cottonmouth climb up my lower unit today...made for some excitement.

WOW.

And they say they don't exist down there

[Dave Stewart]

They are here and this time of year you better watch out for them when you are fishing shallow...this is the time of the year they are nesting and the females get very aggressive when you get near their nests....this makes the 4th one I have had crawl up my lower unit in the 20 years I have been down here...I have left fish before because they keep trying to come at you...they don't give up either...if you chase her away she will come back. By the way, I do know what a Cottonmouth looks like...got bite by one back in the 70's and they do make you sick.

[Shellkat]

Was wading Elk horn one summer with my buddy in waist deep water. I was wearing a pair of cutoff blue jeans going commando style. I felt something hit my leg, thinking it was a stick I just kept going. After two or three more steps I realized what hit me had still had me,then I found out it was in my shorts. I couldn't see it and wasn't real sure what to do. After throwing my rod to my hysterical buddy, I decided to take my shorts off and hope for the best. I got my shorts undone and decided to reach in and grab this invader. Hoping it would bite my hand instead of the other contents of my shorts. I reached in and laying right by my junk was a 12 inch largemouth. I was never so glad to get it out and it not to be a snake. That was 25 years ago and my buddy still tells that story when we get together. He was laughing so hard he fell down in the water and got a lung full of water. I admit it was funny after I got it out. When the foreign critter is in your pants it becomes a serious issue.

[Bandit1]

When the foreign critter is in your pants it becomes a serious issue.

This needs to be on a T-shirt...............

[Shellkat]

Bandit 1 , I remember that day well. There was nothing between us and my worm had done gone into hiding. I knew that critter needed to come out and there wasn't time to think about it

[Tim_T]

They are here and this time of year you better watch out for them when you are fishing shallow...this is the time of the year they are nesting and the females get very aggressive when you get near their nests....this makes the 4th one I have had crawl up my lower unit in the 20 years I have been down here...I have left fish before because they keep trying to come at you...they don't give up either...if you chase her away she will come back. By the way, I do know what a Cottonmouth looks like...got bite by one back in the 70's and they do make you sick.

Western Ky is where the biologists say they are. As a press observer during the Red Man All-American on the Arkansas River, they were nesting and were very aggressive like you describe!

[Tim_T]

Fly fishing the Rapidan River in Virginia I got ran out of the water by a sow black bear with cubs. She was within 25 yards of me standing on her hind legs popping her teeth. Thought I was going to need new waders by the time I got back to my truck!