Someone Please Clear My Mind.

[IowaBass15]

Okay so while fishing today I lost I big fish and I'm hoping it wasn't a bass because it was huge and it's going to bug me for weeks haha. This pond here in iowa is public and as far as I know I've caught the biggest bass out of it at 5.2 pounds. I've to people who've fished ir for years and they always say their PB there is between 3-4 pounds. Anyways, I was throwing a swim jig and just got a dink at a pound maybe a little more and he was hanging in the hydrilla. I ripped a swim jig through it and bam. So I went to the main point and casted out and was reeling slow and trying to stay deep since it was windy the depth there was probably 8-14 feet. All of a sudden my line got extremely heavy and started pulling drag. I had my drag at max set not thinking about it. There was no initial bite just reeling and boom my line is heavy with drag being pulled. Before I could loosen my drag my line snapped. This pond holds bass, blue gill, crappie, big big snapping turtles, and really really big grass carp since it's just infested with hydrilla. I was using a 7'3 mh casting rod, abu garcia revo sx 7.1 reel and 17lb p line cxx. Is it even possible for a bass to snap 17lb copolymer in the matter of 5 seconds? I think I snagged a big ol carp because it just darted and snapped my line really really fast. I also got a mammoth snapping turtle there on 10lb copolymer. What's rhe odds it was a bass?

[Josh Smith]

Sounds like a turtle or carp.

Josh

[MidwestF1sh]

With how it bit and the sound of how it fought I would almost bet anything on a huge carp. Or 8lb bass......

[IowaBass15]

Don't do that to me midwestf1sh! It's unheard of hear in eastern central iowa to catch anything over 6 pounds but it does happen in a blue moon but never tiny little public ponds i was fisbing. d**n that would've been killer. I'm hoping it was a carp but you better believe I'm going back tomorrow night and the following nights casting a swim jig in the same location haha.

[IowaBass15]

There's also really big catfish in that little lake too so it could be been a big cat. I hate those things anyways.

[ClackerBuzz]

in my experience small public ponds don't have the forage necessary to support an 8lb bass

[Ski213]

A bass could easily break 17lb in an instant if there's a weak knot or the line has been stressed/damaged or it can quickly pull the line across a rock or sharp point on a laydown.

If you feel pretty confident that its none of those then I would guess turtle or big cat.

[IowaBass15]

I was using a Polomar knot I tied right before I caught the 1.25 pounds so I don't ge damaged it. The pond is only 18 acres so I mean it's tiny. That's why I said the biggest I've ever hears is my signature picture which weighed right over 5 pounds.

[Ski213]

I was using a Polomar knot I tied right before I caught the 1.25 pounds so I don't ge damaged it. The pond is only 18 acres so I mean it's tiny. That's why I said the biggest I've ever hears is my signature picture which weighed right over 5 pounds.

Then I would guess cat, only cause that's been my experience in smaller bodies of water in similar situations. You'll always wonder but that's okay. That's what keeps us all going back.

[Dogface]

A bass could easily break 17lb in an instant if there's a weak knot or the line has been stressed/damaged or it can quickly pull the line across a rock or sharp point on a laydown.

If you feel pretty confident that its none of those then I would guess turtle or big cat.

 

Or if your drag is too tight. The drag is there to protect the line.

[Bluebasser86]

Big catfish would about rip the rod out of your hands on the strike and a big carp would take off very fast. A big bass could very easily snap 17lb copolymer in heavy cover like that. The biggest bass I've caught in KS was in a public body of water they call a lake but it's only about 10 fishable acres. I've caught 7 pounders out of ponds that I could cast across. Lots of factors play into fish size, not just the size of the body of water.

 

It sounds like you lost a monster bass to me. Learn from this experience and get some braid on that rod when you're fishing heavy grass! I wouldn't go lighter than 50lb from the sounds of what you're describing. 

[Jar11591]

When my line snaps that quickly, its usually the result of a "bite-off" from a Northern Pike or Pickerel. 

[everythingthatswims]

I don't think you could snag a carp with a swim jig because of the weedguard. But I would definitely tell myself it was a carp

[scaleface]

I would only rule out turtle .  They are slow . 

[Mainebass1984]

You'll never know what is was. Might as well keep on fishing as if it was an 8 lb bass.

[IowaBass15]

That's exactly what it was like just swimming the jig then the line got super heavy and took the rod out of my hand. I was holding it one handed leaning towards the water trying to loosen my drag then snap. It was a strike king fine wire swim jig 5/16th ounce the weed guard itself I'd very brittle. In my head I'm saying it was a carp or cat but part me thinks it big momma bass of the pond.

[Josh Smith]

Carp have been known to bite artificials. Not often, but sometimes.

My biggest fish was a huge buffalo fish. It ran like you describe. Only difference was I had mono and had set the drag. It bent the hook on that old inline spinner I got from Grandpa.

Josh

[Sam]

Totally a bass.

Probably a 12 pound or more lady.

Keep trying to catch her.

[Senko lover]

I've caught carp, turtle, and catfish before while fishing for bass (well, I guess the carp was snagged), so I would guess it was one of those. 

[Raul]

That's exactly what it was like just swimming the jig then the line got super heavy and took the rod out of my hand. I was holding it one handed leaning towards the water trying to loosen my drag then snap. It was a strike king fine wire swim jig 5/16th ounce the weed guard itself I'd very brittle. In my head I'm saying it was a carp or cat but part me thinks it big momma bass of the pond.

 

There goes your personal best.

[IowaBass15]

The biggest bass ever got in iowa was a farm pound was just over 10 pounds so I'm assuming she was 12 but it could've been a big bass. Just spooled the revo up with 50lb braid and gonna fish the are until around 7 30. Changed the skirt and trailer to keep then guessing.

[IowaBass15]

In a farm pound*

[buzzed bait]

I would only rule out turtle .  They are slow . 

 

having had 2 recently chase down my spinnerbait i would not rule them out....  I had a MONSTER snapping turtle snag a spinnerbait about a month ago. Lucky for him and me, he came unbuttoned right at the bank!

Like MaineBass said, keep fishing as though it was a bass....  Try, try and try again!

[baxtervol]

This is similar to a huge turtle I hooked earlier this summer on twelve pound test. The line suddenly got heavy, moved away in a straight path, was impossible to turn, and snapped the line after a few seconds.

The reason I know mine was a turtle was that it was caught on a trot line a few days later by the pond owner with my rig still in its mouth. It weighed every bit of twenty pounds.

The fact you were using a jig makes me wonder if it may have been a big bass. Of course you will likely never know, but I would be excited about my next trip to the pond!

I guess I would try to convince myself that I lost a turtle, while simultaneously believing a new PB is definitely close at hand.

I hope the battle goes your way the next time. Good luck!

[scaleface]

I have caught lots of turtles and they have fought slowly but evidently others have had different experience with them .So I stand corrected .