what are the odds!!? wow.

For me once in half a century or about one in 50,000 or so.

I once caught a pike on a worm, but never on a bare line.

I've seen veterans use a bare line at the lake behind the hospital. Some folks have no money. So someone would come up with a spool of line and hooks. No weight. So everyone that wanted to fish could.

You'd see a couple of gentlemen sling about 20 feet of line into the water. One guy would let it sit. Another would slowly drag it back.

One day in the early evening because they close the lake before dark. A friend had a few throw lines out. All of the sudden, you'd hear a smack on the water. At least a 3# big mouth on perch cutbait. Seen a couple of catfish caught too.


You'd figure the line would cut their hands but nope.

You're the man!

Bare hook yes... fishing lone NO.

I’ve caught gar with about 2 inches of rope tied on the end of fly line without a hook. Does that count?

No, having anything on the line doesn’t count for this technique.

nope never done that

Yes I have, when I was a kid.
Fishing with an earthworm in a small farm pond that had tons of algae on the surface. My bobber had not moved so I reeled in to cast again but there was resistance in the line. As I reeled in, I discovered a goggle-eye had swallowed a loop in my line and it had tangled in his gills. So, I had this small bream caught in the line between me and my bobber. It was really strange to see.

My Wife did the bare hook thing not long after we started dating at my family's ranch pond. Nice size crappie.


Now a semi-serious question: Is the line wrapping around the dorsal fin a 'legal means' of catching?

I always try to stay within the regulations.

TPWD defines legal means:
Game fish may be taken only by pole and line (which includes rod and reel), except as otherwise provided in this guide.
In fresh water, it is unlawful to fish with more than 100 hooks on all devices combined.

So since I used a pole and line with less than 100 hooks (zero is less than 100), the catch should be legal.