thread about finding a rod at the ramp reminded me of a couple of lost rod stories....like all fishermen,some lost rod stories turn out well and some don't...these two stories turned really well...

...several years ago was fishing a Redman(BFL) tourney on Lake Sinclair(Ga.)..was fishing around docks and came up on one with couple little boys bream fishing off it..one was probably 6 years old and other one couple years older........did the usual "catching anything" greeting and both of them started telling me about a giant catfish had pulled their fishing rod out of the holder and swam off the night before and it was the older boys brand new rod and reel....both of the boys were kinda dejected over losing the rod and we told them we were sorry and continued fishing down the bank...
probably about two docks down,I saw a bobber in water at edge of a boat house with no rods on nearby docks...just on a hunch,I raised the bobber up with my rod tip and pulled the bobber to the boat and pulled in the line....no giant catfish but there was a brand new rod and push button reel....

I turned around and headed back where the boys were on the dock....as I got with within earshot I told them I had found a rod and reel that I might sell cheap...the older boy asked how much and I replied probably a dollar would be enough....older boy told the younger one to run up to the house and get a "dollar from Daddy"...and younger started to the house and I told him to hold on a minute til they saw the rod because it might not be worth a dollar....I can tell you,it was worth a hundred dollars to see the look on their faces when they saw the rod lying on my deck,recognized it as theirs and both of them trying to tell me at same time that was the rod the catfish had swam away with...I told them that if that was their rod,I just couldn't charge them anything......and it was worth another hundred dollars to have seen them running up to the cabin hollering out to their Dad they had got their rod back.......

other story was when I was fishing a Stren or Everstart series(can't recall which)series on Eufaula (al)...was fishing a cove way upriver...I hooked a small bass and when my co-angler grabbed the net,he somehow kicked his rod overboard...he had mentioned earlier that it was a brand new rod/reel and he really liked it....
water was 8-10 feet deep and we both stopped/put on a jigging spoon to try to retrieve it....I thought it would be easy to locate and retrieve but for some reason we were not having any luck...
probably 15-20 minutes elapsed and he said something to the effect "you are hurting your chances of doing well in this tournament hunting for this rod,we need to get back to fishing....reluctantly I agreed and we contined on around this large cove fishing....he lived in another part of the state and asked me if I would look for his rod if I came to this area anytime in the near future and I readily agreed to do that...this was a young guy and like most of us at that age,this rod/reel represented a sizeable amount of money to him....
probably took another hour to fish around the cove and I was getting ready to leave the area and head back down river....something just told me to give finding his rod another chance and as I idled by that area on the way out,I told him "let's take another shot at finding your rod"....
first drop with my spoon,I snagged his rod and brought it to the top....that might have been the closest I ever came to getting a hug around the neck from a co-angler...

Good ones. River Bend on Eufaula? I grew up in Lumpkin.

Great stories

it was river bend area....cove on left side just above the "sawdust pile"....

I was fishing with a friend in a small cove and he laid his rod down near the edge of my boat. He looked for it, and it was gone! We started dragging spoons with a single treble hook on it, for about 15 minutes to no avail. He said, let's go on, I said let's try one more time. I cast out, started reeling it in, and sure enough, it was on a line. I pulled it in and there was his rod, and a bass was on the spinner bait, he had left dangling in the water.

Enjoyed reading those stories when there is a good ending, thanks for sharing.

I was fishing a 3 day tournament on Grand and on day 2 , caught a lawn chair from under a big dock. In 2 days I had caught 8 of my 10 keepers off of this particular dock. The chair was in good shape, I set it back up right above where I found it and put a note on it. " I found your chair, I'll be back tomorrow and a cup of coffee would be nice." I came flying in there first thing the next morning, there's a guy sitting in the chair with a thermos of hot coffee. I got hot coffee and 2 more fish off of the dock, it was a good day lol.

Only 2? Should have left the chair as a brush pile until the tournament was over. Well done.

Love reading these kind of stories

My supervisor bought a pretty expensive rod and real and his wife was not happy when she saw what he paid for it. Fast foward one week he pulls up to me on the lake and said my new rig is on the bottom of the lake. I say let's go look for it,so I follow him to the scene of the crime. He stops in the middle of a cove in 15' water and says it's here somewhere. I pick up my C rig and cast as far as I can,as I'm dragging I feel a tink and slowly reel in. Well look what I found 1 cast boy did I get lucky and my super was grinning from ear to ear.

When my son was just shy of 2 years old he dropped his spider man fishing pole in the drink deep in the Atchafalaya Basin.

Tried dropping lures down with treble hooks but we hooked onto everything down there but his rod and reel.

We had been watching a 9-10' gator most of the morning about 50-60 yards from the camp, and my mom, sister, and wife were adamant that I didn't go into the water. To say my son was distraught was an understatement. So I had no choice but to dive in.

Wasn't really worried about the gator, but I hate sticking my feet and hands in places I cannot see. Looking for a $10 rod/reel in 15' of water with zero visibility wasn't fun, but worth it when the tears dried up and the smile returned when I came up with that rod.

I've been fortunate enough to not lose a combo over the side, but I'm sure my day is coming.

Little story southern fisherman most likely can't relate to, but before I moved to Texas my Dad and I were out ice fishing for the day in Wisconsin and we had found a spot we have fished before so we got ready to drill some holes where we wanted the shack. It was early winter and the ice was maybe 8-10 inches deep so we were each using our hand augers. I was clearing all the slush out of my hole when i heard DA&$ IT! I looked over and my Dad was no longer holding his auger. When he lowered it below the auger part to help clean out the hole it slipped out of his hands and quickly made it's way perfectly down through his freshly cut 8" hole. The look on his face was priceless. WE figured well guess we didn't need that auger anymore. We decided to come back the next day with our underwater camera and 20' of make shift pole with a hook thinking just maybe. WE marked the hole to return the next next with the 10" power auger. We returned the next day, drilled the hole and lowered the camera and sure enough there was Dads auger laying flat on the bottom. We grabbed the make shift pole hook and started fishing around the bottom. After a few minutes i hooked it and started to gently pull upwards. Once it got close and we could see the handle we reached in and pulled it back out. Lets just say it didn't come out through the hole as easy as it happened to fall in.