Lost A Monster Today

[tugsandpulls]

was fishing a shallow weedy local pond, and no bite for an hour then wam hooked what would of been my alltime pb was so mad i seen him then he got tangled in lilly pads and lost him for a halfhour i was still shaken two hours later was still mad as heck i lost him going back tom try again

[NCbassmaster4Life]

Happens to the best of us.

[tugsandpulls]

dont think neighbors were happy if they heard my truck driver language boy was i mad

[Big-O]

Don't get too upset at missing a biggun! Just be happy you had the bite and experience... then go back after her now that you have her number It's not like she going to change her address and she's definitely going to continue to eat

[hookset on 3]

The monsters have a way of exploiting everything about the way you hooked and fought them. If your hook isn't needle sharp or you couldn't stick her hard enough on the set, it's bye bye.

I hooked a giant last month in a golf course pond on a jig. She hit in one corner of the pond and swam as fast as possible over to a culvert pipe that was nowhere near her, just so she could get inside of that thing to run my line across the sharp edge and snap me off.

They get big by being really clever.

hookset on 3

[Bluebasser86]

It sucks but it's part of the game. I hooked a monster several years ago fishing with a friend in his 16' johnboat. I thought it was a big muskie because after the light "tap, tap" bite that felt like the muskie that had cut me off earlier, she spun the whole boat around and started dragging us to deeper water. Saw that huge green side and knew I had a monster but right then she dove and and my now straighted hook blew past my head. She was probably in the 12-13lb range and was certianly bigger than my 10.2lb PB. It's what makes you get on the water before the sun comes up

[brushhoggin]

lily pads are our friends and enemys in bass fishing. one of the few times i will "ski" a bass to the boat is when i catch a fish in the pads. they know exactly what their doing down there. they know how to get leverage on a pad stem and escape without putting slack back in your line. cant tell you how many times i've kept tension on the line thinking the fish was still buttoned, only to troll up to it and find my hook wrapped and buried deep in the pith of a pad stem. get you a broom stick and some 80 lb braid. As David P said a while back, every "next fish" could be your next personal best so make everything in your favor. (or something like that)

[grayAG]

same thing happened to me the other day. i hooked a fish at a local pond with a gambler giggy stick on a shaky head. i had it for about 20 seconds and then my brand-new 10 pound line broke off. i know there are a couple 12 pounders in there, and it definitely would have been my PB.