Search the Community

What up y'all - I live in MA been fishing for 25 years and can't wait until my 2.5 year old daughter is old enough to handle waiting for a fish to bite so I can get a combo in her hands - I already bought it for her haha. This is the worst part of the country to fish and it breaks my heart that I let my once in a lifetime fish get away in Maine. I guess I'll keep trying, although I often feel like why bother because of that. Much love yall, peace

Everybody; share your heartbreak story of the one that got away, lets learn from each other's mistakes. I casted a small red crankbait out behind my kayak on a very clear water (30ft+) good size lake in Maine, let a bunch of line out, and started paddling. It was on a spinning reel and I got snagged on something while I was paddling - at top speed to catch up to me then girlfriend now wife - and so I had to yell to her to stop cuz I got stuck. I think it was on a dock rope or an old buoy line or something, but as I'm pulling nothing is happening at all, it won't budge and I'm still drifting forward coming to a stop. Then all of a sudden my reel starts screaming at me and my line goes darting away from me almost as fast as I was kayaking. Immediately my heart starts pounding, and as I'm reeling it in from about 40 yards, because I let line out for the cast to troll, I see it jump out of the water. She was far, but I could see the girth well enough to know she was a fatty. Now my heart isn't pounding anymore, because it's in my stomach, and I am reeling as fast as I could and yelling for my girlfriend to come back and see this thing because I'm pulling in a monster. She comes up about 10 feet away from me and I feel the fish starting to head in between us. I can tell by the way that the line is moving that it is going to jump again and only be a few feet in front of her kayak, so I think it would be really cool to let her see it jump right in front of her eyes. As the fish leaps towards the clouds my heart absolutely stops - has to be double digits, an absolutely majestic beauty - the fish flips me the bird ,spits water in my eye, and my line goes limp, and then my crankbait ends up floating gently all by its lonesome on the water. I once heard an old timer in NH who ran a tackle shop out of his house say it took him almost 60 years to catch a fish over 8 pounds, and when I lost that fish that came to mind and I thought - I don't think I have another 60 years in me to get a second chance at the fish of a lifetime. Completely heartbreaking, it still hurts like 5 years later, and it genuinely causes me to struggle with the thought of even bothering to continue fishing or not. Around here (MA) a 3 pound fish makes your day, a 4 pound fish gets you worked up for weeks, and a 5+ pound fish will be your PB for a long time (I’ve only caught 4 fish over 5 pounds in 20 years) - that’s the icing on this heartbreak cake. It can be a battle for me to do this thing I love now, because I know my potential for worthwhile fish is so low. But most of the time, if I have time, I’ll still try to get out there and appreciate what God gives me, from tiny feisty sunfish to big ol’ logs I pull in - I’m just trying to be more grateful, and I'll never let another fish jump again! That was for you @ol'crickety Much love

We've all got a story, let's hear them. Mine was about 3 years ago. it was a typical saturday and i was at my favorite spot. i'd seen the dark figure of a huge fish several times that morning, but no luck getting a strike. i made a long cast, cranked the reel handle a few times and suddenly the lure stopped. i assumed it was hung up, so i raised my rod tip high and pulled back hard, hoping to free it. then i saw it, that dark shadow at the end of my line rising slowly. i managed to see the top fin break the surface, then a twitch of the head snapped my line. since that day i've been obsessed with the thought of landing that fish.