My favourite fish story took place many years ago at Rock Bay, just north of Chatham Point in Johnstone Strait.
It was August 1st and the first day of a casual, family run derby held each year back then.
I woke early to cast my favourite buzz bomb off of the decrepit old government float, that had been abandoned to the elements, years before.
As I was making my first cast, a guy (old friend of the guy who ran the derby) came by the dock in his boat & said, you won't be needing this, & took my borrowed landing net. I was kinda pissed, but it was a beautiful morning & I figured he was probably right, so I fished on.
After just a few casts, I hooked into a really nice fish. With my light spinning gear it was a real challenge, but I finally got him to the float.
As soon as he saw me, he stood on his tail & openened his mouth wide. Wide enough for me to see one barb of my treble hook barely piercing the skin on the roof of his mouth.
As fast as I could, I loosened the drag & let him run. Once he was well away from the dock, I set the hook hard & had a great battle until he was tired enough to bring him home.
Problem was, I was still without a net! After chasing the fish around to keep him from going under the dock I found that one corner of the float was waterlogged and would sink if I stepped right out to the edge. So, standing there, teetering on the edge of the float, I swam him up onto the deck planks. Walking backwards a few steps, the dock slowly floated back up, leaving my prize high & dry.
For the remainder of the derby, the guy who "stole" my net insisted he was gonna beat my puny 26 pounder, but neither he, nor anyone else did. I ended up winning first prize, a really fine spinning outfit with a 10' rod & a skookum Shimano reel. After forty-six years, I finally retired that rod this season.
There are many other great fishing memories that stand out for me, but that was definitely one of the very best.
Great thread! Thanks for getting it started, Admin.