VIRGINIA: April 27, 2008 Ron, I have been fishing with your bird lure for several years now. Let me tell you It works very well. I have caught dozens of largemouth bass between 4 and 8 pounds with it. Last summer I was fishing in around 5 feet of water and I threw the bird on top of a submerged red oak tree that had been down since hurricane Isabelle. I gave it my usual quick jerk of the rod tip so that it would make some noise and wake. I try to make it look as if it is trying to fly, but it can't. Next thing I know a 6+ pound bass is 2.5 feet out of the water with the bird in her mouth, she came up underneath it expecting it to fly away. I set the hook with that fish in the air. It was the most spectacular attack I have ever seen. It is by far my most memorable topwater catch. I landed the fish and let it go. I was by myself and took no pictures with no witnesses to this incredible act, but I still have that memory like it was yesterday. I use the bird from April to November and always have a bird on one rod in the boat. It is an easy lure to fish. I like to work it slow around any shoreline, log, brushpile or hanging tree limb. If the topwater bite is on, the bird is all I use. Now that I have all of your bird flavors the hard part will be figuring out which one to use. I don't think it will matter. Thanks again I will send you some better pictures this summer. Bruce D. Virginia

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CENTRAL FLORIDA: During a recent trip with a client, a well known bass guide reported witnessing 'a monster bass' explode on a red wing blackbird that had been hopping from lily pad to lily pad in search of insects.

NORTHERN NEW JERSEY: A bass fisherman, while working a rocky shoreline with overlaying limbs, observed a barn swallow swooping back and forth beneath the branches. Thinking nothing of it, he continued to fish until a bass, with precision timing, caught the swallow in mid-flight and then disappeared beneath the surface—all in a blink of an eye.

SOUTHERN ENGLAND: On a routine weekend outing, a group of devoted bird watchers happened upon a species then thought to be near extinct. Excitedly they followed the bird from tree to tree until it worked its way down to a nearby lake. To their horror and grief a predatory fish of unknown specie attacked and devoured the bird.

ONTARIO, CANADA: A large northern pike was found in 1992 floating belly up with an adult goose stuck halfway down its throat.

LAKE MAHOPAC, NEW YORK 1996: A local club fisherman takes Lunker (largest fish caught during the tournament) on a bird lure and pockets $125.

If you have a 'fish eats bird' story and would like to see it printed on this site, please send it to: ron@thornwoodlures.com  Name and/or location will be withheld upon request.