New one for me

[ChrisS]

I wasn’t sure where to put this but it’s a report I guess. 
 

has anyone else caught a bird on a dipsey?

 

This was on a meat rig behind a 124mm deeper diver about 80 feet down. It didn’t trip the dipsey and it definitely ate the meat and was hooked in the beak. Deader then dead when I reeled it in, felt like reeling in a wet blanket. The dipsey rod tip was acting a little weird and I wanted to check the bait so I reeled, it tripped and I couldn’t figure out what the weight was.  It wasn’t pulling like a fish and I thought it was tangled in something else. 
 

[rswanson330]

Ewww.
I've caught birds before, but always on or slightly beneath the surface.

The last one was an ospray on a Danny while plugging for stripers in the CT River.

I was glad that one dropped the plug after a somewhat long struggle.

Getting birds off the line IS a royal pain in the butt.
They're never happy.

So, you making soup?

[Dipsey]

That's crazy! Never heard of it happening at depth.

[leadcore troller]

Friend of mine caught an Cormorant 24 ft down on leadcore, but never as deep as yours.

[chinook35]

One less cormorant. Yay 😀 

[tim]

Caught a few on streamers year’s ago trolling for rainbows 

[muskiedreams]

Probably grabbed it on the way down.

[rod hog]

I caught a muskrat ice fishing once

[rolmops]

I netted a hooked seagull and when trying to remove the hook, I found out the hard way, that they can turn their heads 180 degrees.

My wildest bird catch  was a duck that stole a hooked worm from right behind me at the Russel power station. It flew away with a hook in its beak and I was fighting it  while it was flying in circles and spooling my reel. If you think that a salmon is a big fighter, you should try a panicked flying duck.

Edited September 4, 2025 by rolmops

[muskiedreams]

Many years ago while casting for salmon from the Summerville Pier, I hooked a seagull in midair. Reeling it in wasn't too hard. I was lucky that another fisherman with bird release experience, was able to throw his jacket over the bird to subdue it and it flew away after we released it.