@WRB - in defence for the braid/heavier line crowd, was your bass over 15, caught in open water or around structure?
For those who fish structure, (when I say structure in my mind I'm thinking river current, log jams, stumps, root balls) wouldn't you at least recommend braid? Fishing where I do bass head straight for the closet log they can find. If it's a big lake, sure turn down the drag and let em run