Share Your Heartbreak Stories!

[roadwarrior]

http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/68635-huge-disappointment/

[rockchalk06]

I remembered another one. About 20 years ago, dad and I were fishing for small mouth at Wilson Lake in Kansas. That year the record for smallmouth had been broken twice. People were catching monster smallies all day.

Dad and I were drifting off a small cove on the east end of the lake. Both of us were using our ultra lights and chartruce beetle spins. We had been catching 1/2-2 pound SM for a few hours when dad got the hit of a lifetime.

Water was super clear and about 20 feet deep. All we could see was something brown like a SM and about 30-35 inches long. Me being about 12 or so, I was going nuts yelling etc. Everytime the fish got close to the boat, she would rocket back down.

This went on for a good 20 minutes give or take. Dad finally tightened the drag and put the boat in neutral to wear her out as landing her wasn't going to happen.

She drug us about 10 feet back into shallow water and finally started to come up. I did the best Bass Master net and scoop you've ever seen and landed her.

What dad had been swearing was the record smallie, was nothing but one big arse brown carp!!!! I hadn't seen him that heart broken in a long time. After a quick smoke, he said "it may not have been the record SM, but I'll take that fight any day"

[Ratherbfishing]

My bittersweet heartbreak came when I was fishing the middle fork river for smallies. I was wading the river and had cast a Rebel crawdad into a falldown and hooked what I was sure was a giant smally. It pulled and took a lot of drag and I knew that if I caught it, I was going to be in the paper posing with a record-size smally. Turned out to be a 30 inch musky that must've washed over the Lake Mingo Dam and into the river. In retrospect, it was the perfect location to hold a musky but there are very few in the river (first I'd ever seen). I was both disappointed and elated.

[Basswhippa]

15 years old. Long cast. Lost what appeared to be a 7 lb bass at Reelfoot Lake. Fished all day for that bite. Woulda been my PB

Summer in late 80's. Setting Okeechobee. Set hook and fight a moment and 30 pound line snaps. Will never forgive that guide. Didn't get a good look at fish but it was big.

89. Okeechobee. First cousin looses what guide determined "9 - 10 lb class fish" right at boat. Not sure I'll ever understand that one, but cousin just put rod down and quit for the day.

Pickwick Dam. Riprap. Long cast. Felt bite. Set hook. Nothing. Kept reeling fast as I could. Feel tension. Set hook on monster smallmouth that is now 30 yards on the other side of boat. Lose fish.

Pickwick. Lose monster smallmouth on a point in Dry Creek.

Joe Wheeler. Get 1 ounce SP almost all the way in. Get bite in Milfoil. Set hook. Fishin in the 9 pound class roles directly to the surface not 10' away. Eyes protroding like one of Big O's pictures. Fish opens mouth and lets spinnerbait with trailer hook just simple come out. He had bit the head of the lure and so the hookset was moot.

These are just some of the ones I remember and of course I mentioned the big one I lost just this past Friday.

[jonathanevans1990]

Well this is easy, Fishing last weekend in one of my good day spots. had a few nice fish but my little brother hooked into a lunker atleast 5 lbs. got him to the bank and he fell on some grass in the water shook the hook and bye bye

[njbassx]

Well just yesterday a buddy and I were fishing in a pond on an old golf course 4 blocks from my house. The pond is about 3 acres and filled with amazing cover (fallen trees, concrete chunks, weedbeds). It was early in the morning and we were using 5in yamanoto senkos, the bass there love them, we need a two packs for every trip. I cast out to one of the weed beds while standing on and old drain and feel a heavy tug on my line. I set the hook and soon see a monster bass (well atleast for a small pond in north jersey) I get it right up to where I am standing and the bass shoots onder the drain I am standing on, which was all rough concrete. My line frayedand I was shocked to watch the fish swim away. We leave a short while later and go to sports authority to restock. I also upgrade from my 8lb line to 12lb, overkill but still I didnt want any repeats fromthat day.

That night we go fishing again. And in the same spot I cast and feel another heavy tug. I set the hook and jumb to the bank from the pipe, not wanting the fish to dive under. I eel it in after about 4min and it wasa monster, tipping the scales at almost 7lbs and seetting the record bass on the pond. (only me and three friends have ever fished there, and we keep our own records) I grab it by the lip and in its mouth is another hook, with blue line about 2ft long trailing it. It was clearly mine because iam the only one who uses blue line, the other two like white. Finally "the one that got away" is captured, and safely realesed with a good memory.

[paul25]

i was fishing a tournament with my bass club Sunday on the ohio river the fishing was very tough that day.on Wednesday of the week before me and my buddy pre fished it i caught 5 with 4 being keepers so my hopes where high going into sunday,but for some reason i couldn't get the one over 12inches to bite(thats the size limit on the river).about midday i missed one off a small tree i cast right back in there and its a solid 3 pounder and it gets off at the boat that was tough but i tried to forget about it and keep fishing two casts later i hook a good smallmouth and sure enough it gets off at the boat too. that just really hurt to hook two good fish when it had been tough anyway

[thehooligan]

About a month ago i lost a 6+lb bass on a sammy. Casted to the bank and bam, fish hit it hard. Had him 10ft off the boat and he jumps and spits the hook, almost cried. It was definitely a topwater day and lost a couple more 3-5lb bass all due to spitting the hook on the jump.

[Diggy]

I lost a 5+ fish in front of my lady the 1st time she went fishing with me, it broke my line and stole my red eyed shad. She was so excited when she noticed the fishing rod was bent into a J and then seeing the fish jump 3x. I have finally gotten over it.

[Bigbarge50]

Great thread fellas.....

My lady has been fishing with me a bunch in the last year and just two nights ago she was tossing a shakey head and lifted it out of the water and a "better" fish jumped at it. She cast right back out and a few hops later the line ran sideways for a few feet. She waited, felt the weight, set the hook, was reeling it in and poof..... got off.

She was none too happy and could not understand how this could possibly happen (we all know all too well it happens all too often). I told her this made her much more of a real fisherman than the ones she has caught...... she finally now has a "one that got away" story. We all remember those all too well.....

keep em coming.

[Mad Fisherman]

I was using a Pen rod, trying to beat the previous record of the biggest fish ever caught with it, a carp around 18 lbs,(not anymore) at a place in penn state that was loaded with carp. Very soon, I hooked into a 10-13 pounder, but I was using 4lb mono, and being that I usually use ultra-light tackle, I was able to fight the fish. I fought it for over 3 hours, and it pulled me over 30-40 yds upstream. Two hours in, it swam under a rock and I fought it there for the rest of the fight. Sweat was pouring off of me, and half an hour later, I was able to get some line in, and I saw the line was actually fraying back on itself. I quickly reeled that in, but didnt think much of it, considering it was only an inch long, but in a little while, I saw it again, a few feet long this time, line just fraying back on itself. I played it as carefully as I could, but then, the line went slack, my rod straight, and I lost the fish. That was the last time I ever really used mono. I have lost several hefty fish due to mono.