# "Old Spooly"



## HOUSE (Apr 29, 2010)

I've been saving this story for a rainy day, and with the flooded rivers, I thought this would be a good time to share it:








-I woke up early last week to chase an elusive fish my friends and I have encountered that I have nicknamed "Old Spooly". It is a big fish...a really big...and it has broken fishing line, fishing rods, fishing lures and fishing spirits.

My first encounter with Old Spooly was little over a month ago. I posted about hooking into a suspected true striper that nearly spooled 150 yards of line before breaking off 14 pound Fireline after a long fight. The following day, I went back and hooked into another monster fish that I was never able to even stop. I think it was the same fish, as he pulled and thrashed just as hard as the first one, while yard by yard I watched my line slowly disappear. I fought him as best as I could, keeping a nice bend in the rod and working my drag to try and wear him out. It never happened...and after a 20 minute battle, my 150yards of Fireline and the 50 yards of backing are now floating down the Ohio River attached to this beast. I have been using a 7foot MH rod and a Pfluegger reel and he has been just embarrassing them. I fished for him at least a dozen times since that encounter and he has been nowhere to be seen until just this last week. I upgraded my gear to 20pound braided line and a little bit larger Abu Garcia reel and I had probably made 100 casts that day without catching anything decent when an ominous fog moved in on the river forcing me to change lures:








I changed to a large 2/3ounce spoon and after another many casts without any fish, I ripped back into what felt like a tree stump. BOOM! I thought at first I was snagged but the tree stump on the other end started ripping line out while thrashing about to escape out into the main river channel. Was this Old Spooly yet again? I pulled back hard and knew I had him hooked well and he pulled back equally as hard, trying to drag me out to the river depths. 5 minutes transpired and I'd lost 50 yards. 10 minutes and I'm now down 100 yards of line...something had to change. Somewhere towards the final third of my spool, I decided to go for a swim just like Jeremy Wade and went downstream as far as I could to try and regain some line. Covered in mud and soaking wet, I finally got him to stop pulling line and we had a sudden stalemate. I stood there with my rod bent over in a "C" with a smirk on my face, while he sat out in the main river channel laughing at me. I kind of laughed at the situation myself, thinking "I've got to call someone and let them see this so they actually believe me". I FaceTime'd my friend to show him the battle and at first he thought I was just joking around snagged on the river bottom, but Old Spooly made a few more pulls to let me know that he was getting bored of our tug-of-war. I don't know what got into him, but he started moving again as if he had caught a second wind and this time he pulled hard. I had my drag very tight and with my buddy still on the phone hanging from my neck, Old Spooly made 3 drag-screaming runs and then suddenly I felt my line "pop". Had he thrown the hook yet again? I shouted some not-nice words and began to reel in my line and then something weird happened. I could still feel the fish pulling, but after the initial jump in my line, I immediately felt it make three more "pops"...very similar to when you snag someone's fishing line and pull it free, and then the fish was just gone. I reeled all of my line in as fast as I could, and to my surprise, I had 3 other fishing lines, hooks, and lures tangled around my spoon. Old Spooly had broken off so many people that I actually pulled their lost gear out of his mouth! There were 2 rusty hooks and an interesting jig in his mouth seen below. Perhaps one of you recognize it as your own and Old Spooly has made a fool out of you too? Here's the jig, ironically rigged upside-down!:









I called co-angler later that day and told him about my encounter and he pretty much just laughed at me, so I set up a trip for him to see for himself just what I was dealing with. Well, it took two trips to finally make it happen, but to keep this story short, CO finally got hooked into Old Spooly himself and I was able to record his long battle with the fish. Here's a picture with one of the 2 rare moments we saw the fish actually come to the surface:








Both times it jumped half-way out of the water, we both commented on how long it was and how big its mouth was. It didn't look like a striper, but it didn't look like a sucker.  It was white in color when I saw its belly, and it was pretty long like the body of a huge gar. At one point we both looked at each other funny and said "Is that a freaking sturgeon?!?" There's no freaking way...but stranger things have happened to me like catching an Asian Carp on a spinner bait and a paddlefish on a crank...so we'll just have to wait and see. 

Blake lost his battle with Old Spooly after a very respectable fight. He played the fish like a pro, and the fish just came loose like all of the previous battles. No bent hooks, no broken line...just a sudden "pop" and he's gone. Perhaps we are tearing his mouth or he's turning and throwing the hook. I'd like to think Old Spooly is just an experienced old river veteran that knows how to fish better than myself or any of my friends.

You WILL see me with a picture of this fish one day, and he'd better be 20 feet long with blood red eyes and have a horn like a unicorn or I'm going to be very disappointed. 

...until the next adventure!

-House


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## kingofamberley (Jul 11, 2012)

Its the Loveland Frogman!


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## deltaoscar (Apr 4, 2009)

Great story. If anybody's gonna catch a giant sturgeon around here my money's on you House.

That picture of the sky is pretty awesome too.


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## SMBHooker (Jan 3, 2008)

House, when you gonna learn . . . you just sat there and made a phone call while the fish "rested?" I think you seriously underestimate this fish, it was clearly untying your knot and then retying it to all the other lines it collected from angler's its made fools of.  

Keep at it, it's about time you stop takin lessons from this fish and teach it a lesson of your own. 


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## sammerguy (Jun 7, 2011)

Awesome story, I hope you get him.


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## Crawdude (Feb 6, 2013)

That was a great read, I'm looking forward to part two.


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## Riverbum (Jan 27, 2013)

I'll follow him around the Horn, and around the Norway maelstrom, and around perdition's flames before I give him up.
Good luck : )



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## co-angler (Jan 3, 2010)

HOUSE said:


> I've been saving this story for a rainy day, and with the flooded rivers, I thought this would be a good time to share it:
> 
> 
> ...until the next adventure!
> ...


Dammit House!
I was nearly over that agony. 
That was a tank indeed. Three big jumps and like you said and we pondered, it sure looked like a sturgeon!
Carp don't typically jump like "old spooly" did and it's shape (the 18 to 24 inches of it we saw) certainly hinted of sturgeon.
Why did you call me fish your spot? If it were a bit closer to me, I'd be there every morning! 
Dam you!


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## oldstinkyguy (Mar 28, 2010)

I love a good fish story. Thanks


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## E_Lin (Jun 30, 2011)

HOUSE said:


> You WILL see me with a picture of this fish one day, and he'd better be 20 feet long with blood red eyes and have a horn like a unicorn or I'm going to be very disappointed.


If it looks like that I don't know if I want to see a picture of it


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## Cat Mangler (Mar 25, 2012)

Incredible story indeed. Oh the heartbreak. Lol

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## SeanStone (Sep 8, 2010)

Ive yet to have one of these experiences...."really big fish tales". I kinda want to get my butt really whooped once or twice. I love the rush of a good battle, and 90 percent of the fish I catch only give me a 30 to 90 second rush. I hooked and lost something last week that felt like dead weight, It moved up and downstream but didnt ever strip drag. It was big, but the fight was somewhat boring....kinda like your tug a war feeling. 



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## Bazzin05 (Feb 2, 2011)

I bet it's a white snapping turtle you are hooking... He has to be at least as big as a car!


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## Dolomieu (Aug 19, 2008)

"Nessie", I suspect.

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## FishDoctor (Aug 9, 2012)

Epic story dude. I'm pinching my ass off in angst to see some picks of this freaking thing!


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## imalt (Apr 17, 2008)

kingofamberley said:


> Its the Loveland Frogman!


I am going to guess too far south for loveland frogman. I go with underwater sasquatch or mermaid. 

If you guys would quit using those scooby doo poles those sunfish wouldn't feel so heavy.


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## Boxingref_rick (Feb 8, 2005)

Its a damn "land shark! You guys should get no where near that water hole without 
Homeland Secuirity to provide protection. That thing could get seriously
pissed!


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## RNeiswander (Jul 6, 2008)

You need to go out and get a surf casting setup and a kayak, hook it and hop in and let him tow you around! And a backup boat with a few guys to net the thing. We all want to see what it is!


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## imalt (Apr 17, 2008)

montagc said:


> I am headed out tomorrow, and I actually switched one rod out to a heavy rod and stuck a giant octopus hook on the 30lb line because of this thread. I've been outmatched before, and it SUCKS.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That's awesome I look forward to that post while I am sitting at work

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## HOUSE (Apr 29, 2010)

No luck going after Old Spooly today  I took the liberty of sketching how I imagine the battle with the legendary fish will go down, though. I think co-angler's using a double-pterodactyl rig in this one:


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## co-angler (Jan 3, 2010)

HOUSE said:


> No luck going after Old Spooly today  I took the liberty of sketching how I imagine the battle with the legendary fish will go down, though. I think co-angler's using a double-pterodactyl rig in this one:


Uh House, you mind editing out the background please. I don't want folks seeing where I tied into that toad.
Also, I suppose the pinky promise we made about my top secret donkey rig is debunked?


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## SMBHooker (Jan 3, 2008)

Lots of good info in that pic. I've downloaded it for further study . . . 


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## RNeiswander (Jul 6, 2008)

How goes the hunt?


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## gibson330usa (May 15, 2012)

The secret is out. My tackle has been way too small.

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## 9Left (Jun 23, 2012)

Sounds like a beast! Happy hunting!


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## Crawdude (Feb 6, 2013)

My guess is bull shark. 

http://www.fox19.com/Global/story.asp?S=12476977


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