If you're going to concoct an unbelievable fishing story, you'd best have the evidence to back it up.
Thankfully for Norman Dreger, his tale about a bald eagle stealing the fish he'd just hooked comes with video support, uploaded to YouTube on May 9. The video features compelling audio of the surprised fisherman yelling as his fly reel rapidly unspools.
"This Eagle stole a beautiful Dolly Varden Char right off of my hook," reads the YouTube description, "then took all my backing and stole my fly too!"
An inquiry sent from The Huffington Post to Dreger's email account bounced back with an automated "out of office" reply, which says Dreger is out on vacation in Canada's Yukon Territory, where this incident presumably took place.
A second video, also uploaded by Dreger on May 9, features an eagle attempting to take the fish from his line but narrowly missing. As the eagle flies away, Dreger yells in retort, "You missed, buddy!"
While the videos looks authentic, we hasten to note that an eagle recently featured prominently in a snatch-related hoax video. So take this one with a grain of salt.
UPDATE: Tuesday, May 14 -- In an email to The Huffington Post, Dreger confirmed the river is in Northern British Columbia, Canada, and stressed the video is not fake.
He also added he wants people to be aware of the importance of sustainable fishing: "Use barbless single hooks and practice catch and release," he wrote in the email, noting with a touch of humor, "Apart from the fish stolen by the eagle, all other fish caught that day were returned to the water unharmed."
WATCH the video, above.
(Hat tip, Reddit)