This is not the first time I have heard stories of a fish that stayed put without knowing it was hooked. Joan Wulff tells a story about catching Atlantic salmon. Her husband, Lee, was doing a story for National Geographic and they were having trouble hooking a trophy fish for the shoot. They decided to separate and see if together they could find the right fish somewhere on the river for their story. Joan wandered down the river with one of the crew and sure enough she hooked up. The problem was that the whole camera crew and Lee were a few miles away.

She decided to test a theory she had that if fish are given slack they will be unaware that they are still hooked and they will return to their previous location. This gives the fly fisherman the option of moving to a better location to fight or land his fish, especially if the fish is in an area where he could bolt upstream. So she gave the fish line and told the crew member to go get the camera men and Lee. Sure enough they arrived some time later and Joan handed Lee the rod. As soon as he reeled up the slack and the fish felt the pressure, they were off to the races. He landed the fish and the story ended with a great fish battle.

So you might want to keep this in mind. If you have set the hook properly, you can buy some time for yourself buy letting the fish settle back down, then you can pick the place to engage in battle with the advantage on your side. It's a risk, but what about fishing isn't. Just don't geek the netting.

Tales Of Suicidal Fish - Or - Fish Climbs Tree?

Once again Dan was fishing the lower Smith River with a boatful of clients. There had been many hook ups that day with fish well over 55-60 pounds but no one seemed to be able to land one. The hole had a lot of underwater debris and fallen trees with root wads. One of Dan's clients hooked up and the salmon immediately became airborne. It was at least a 35 pounder and chrome. It dashed every direction in the hole and well into the fight it made a bee line for the shore and a large overhanging tree. Not only did it dive under the roots, but it flew upward into the lower tree branches. As Dan shouted instructions to his client, the fish, still airborne, spit the hook. Dang it!

But as the fish fell downward he somehow managed to hook himself in the side, not only reattaching himself to the rod, but freeing himself of the entanglement. When they finally boated the fish, they had to let it go as it was now foul hooked, but there were witnesses to this tall tale and the client could call them for testimony in the future if need be. This is not the first time a fish has thrown a hook and re-hooked itself, but this was the first tree hopping one.

Here is a story told to me by a 'reliable source' who swore on the bible that it happened.

This person's father was fishing on shore with his son. The son hooked up but had a line break into the battle and lost the fish. A short time later the father hooked up and while fighting his fish the son cried, "fish on". Now they had a double happening, but upon reeling in, the father realized they both had hooked the same fish! The son let out line as the father landed the fish. Sure enough there were 3 hooks in the fish's jaw, the son's first hookup, the father's and then the son's second hook.

A version of this also happened to Dan. They were fighting a fish and it broke off on someone else's anchor rope. A while later they re-hooked this same fish and finally landed it. It was 43 pounds and still had Dan's hook and 30 feet of line attached to it.

So obviously salmon don't learn from their mistakes or when their number is up it's up. We have had suicidal fish jump right into the boat! Some can't even wait to get hooked!

Columnist Joan Carter co-owns, with her husband, Dan Carter's Guide Service.