Landed Fish

[CrustyMono]

What determines a landed fish? I know that a fish hooked in the mouth that is landed in a net on the boat is fair. But what about this:

While fishing a dock from a dock, after getting off a boat, I thought i had hooked the motor of the docked boat. Them it started moving. Once I realized that the fish was trulls massive, i yelled for my buddy to come back and grab the net too. He didn't believe me at first. Then the fish swam up shallow so we could see. This got me way excited. I freaked out. I rushed the playing of the fish. I gave the rod to my friend and told him to put on back reel so the line wouldn't break. I grabbed the line and had the fish out of the water. All the sudden, then tired bass shook  and broke my grip and 8 pound leader. I had it completely out of the water, but not on the dock yet. The fish flopped out of my hands and started to swim away. i jumped into the water but didn't recover the fish. Does this count as a landed fish? If so, I will say my PB is 8 pounds, as I can't be sure it was bigger, but it was very big compared to a 7 pounder the next day. 

lessons learned:

1. new partner

2. make sure to play fish

3. bring net

4. tie good knots

5. check line often when in cover

6. dont grab line tightly

7. persevere

8. don't jump off onto random docks, stay in the boat

[A-Jay]

23 minutes ago, CrustyMono said:

What determines a landed fish? I know that a fish hooked in the mouth that is landed in a net on the boat is fair. But what about this:

While fishing a dock from a dock, after getting off a boat, I thought i had hooked the motor of the docked boat. Them it started moving. Once I realized that the fish was trulls massive, i yelled for my buddy to come back and grab the net too. He didn't believe me at first. Then the fish swam up shallow so we could see. This got me way excited. I freaked out. I rushed the playing of the fish. I gave the rod to my friend and told him to put on back reel so the line wouldn't break. I grabbed the line and had the fish out of the water. All the sudden, then tired bass shook  and broke my grip and 8 pound leader. I had it completely out of the water, but not on the dock yet. The fish flopped out of my hands and started to swim away. i jumped into the water but didn't recover the fish. Does this count as a landed fish? If so, I will say my PB is 8 pounds, as I can't be sure it was bigger, but it was very big compared to a 7 pounder the next day. 

lessons learned:

1. Assume responsibility for my decisions & actions and learn to accept them.

2. make sure to play fish

3. bring net

4. tie good knots

5. check line often when in cover

6. dont grab line tightly

7. persevere

8. don't jump off onto random docks, stay in the boat

Too bad you lost a fish.

You may not really need a new partner.  Your account of this event reads like a calamity of errors.

I'd be looking in the mirror to help locate where they originated.

btw - I fixed Number 1 for you.

Better Luck next time.

A-Jay

[KDW96]

8 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

Too bad you lost a fish.

You may not really need a new partner.  Your account of this event reads like a calamity of errors.

I'd be looking in the mirror to help locate where they originated.

btw - I fixed Number 1 for you.

Better Luck next time.

A-Jay

Amen...?

How could you blame your partner?  

If you would have played the fish better, there would not be an issue.

Im thinking he needs to find a new partner!

[A-Jay]

Just now, KDW96 said:

Amen...?

How could you blame your partner?  

If you would have played the fish better, there would not be an issue.

Im thinking he needs to find a new partner!

Boom ~

A-Jay

[Scott F]

What difference does it make if you count the fish as landed or not? If you never weighed or measured it, you don't really know how much it weighed. The sad reality is that the only person that really cares is you. Because you have no proof of the fish, at least half the people you tell won't believe you even caught it. You know it's the biggest fish you ever got and you have a good story to go with it. Now go out and catch another one.

[OCdockskipper]

I blame the fish.  If she hadn't been so darn slippery, you never would have needed to jump in the water.  I would hire an attorney and sue the bass for loss of consortium.  Start wearing a neck collar when fishing to gain sympathy from the other bass.

[Bluebasser86]

Deadlifting a fish by the line is a huge no-no, especially if the fish's weight that you're lifting appears to be equal to the lb test you're using. 

To me, it's kind of like a catch in football. If you never had possession and control over the fish, it wasn't a catch. 

[brgbassmaster]

Bring net, camera and scale. Definitely not a caught fish. Did you get a picture of the 7 lbr that was caught the next day?

[TnRiver46]

Catch then fumble. Previous play is under further review. The was no indisputable video evidence, therefore the play stands as called on the field 

["hamma"]

Ummmm. did ya ever consider lipping it?

 And like mentioned above "catch then fumble" play stands as called on the field. 

 Sorry, "resson numba one grasshoppah",...never grab the line

[WIGuide]

Definitely not a caught fish. You never possessed it, or even touched it for that matter. No need to blame your partner for everything you did wrong. You're the one not in the boat, you were the one who handed your rod to your partner, you were the one who tried to take the fish to early, and you were the one who tried to dead lift the fish. Face the facts, you screwed up and lost what WOULD have been your PB because of it. On the bright side, you're potentially only one cast away from hooking into the same fish or another one that big, possibly bigger. You learned what not to do in your previous fiasco, and you can learn from that experience to try and not make the same mistakes over again. Better luck next time and good luck!

[A-Jay]

A Lot of Tough Love in this thread ~

But we respond because we care.

Really, if not, this one would remain unanswered.

And that's clearly not the case.

A-Jay

[Darren.]

I'm afraid a non-landed fish does not count in the PB
hunt--unless one wants to be *that guy* who caught
an x# bass that was *this long* -- but didn't really...

I've hooked bass and almost got them to my net but
they spit the hook and danced off. I'm sure at least
one was in the 8# range... But I only count the ones 
that I have weighed and/or measured.

Every time a person tells me "Dude, I caught an 8 pounder
over there at the bridge, but it got off..." I want to ask 
him how he knows it was 8# if he didn't weigh it.

We are not the greatest judges of fish size or weight when
using only our our eyes, or how heavy it felt on the line.

[Hog Basser]

Out of the water and under your full control for long enough to weigh & measure = landed

Flops off or breaks line/lure etc. while pulling out of the water and manages to escape = cannot be considered PB or even landed

Hard lesson we've all had to learn at some point or another.  You'll get 'em next time.  

[jr231]

Imma put you in the living room. Cuz you're gettin lit up like my Christmas tree.

You'll get another one bud. Lesson learned. 

 

[pawpaw]

20 hours ago, CrustyMono said:

 Does this count as a landed fish? If so, I will say my PB is 8 pounds, as I can't be sure it was bigger, but it was very big compared to a 7 pounder the next day. 

lessons learned:

1. new partner

 

 For me the old saying "When in doubt..... don't" has served me very well over the years.

As for you, I would suggest you do/say what your conscience will bear.

Is there more to the story to explain "lesson learned #1" or am I not getting something?

[fishinfiend]

no not landed

why blame your partner for your amateur mistakes?

how do you know the fish was 8 pounds if you did not land it? lol

[quanjig]

Sorry brother, that's a tough break, I think you know the answer, otherwise you wouldn't have posted "possible reasons" to why it didn't end the way you wanted it to!! 

[TnRiver46]

Really crusty mono I feel your pain. Had a similar experience. Way back when about 16-17 yrs ago, I'm on my annual fishing vacation in Alabama fishing a buzzbait. Blam. Get the fish into the boat and it's huge. We take several photos and discuss how big we think it may be and should i get it mounted. We think around 7-8 lbs and at the time I'm about 14 or so yrs old. I decide I want to mount it and my partner says to put it on the stringer and go through both lips (metal clamp giant swivel clasp looking stringer). I do that and ease it over the side of the boat and the fish shook its head and ripped itself right off the old rusty clanky stringer! We go to get the pictures developed and the film was double exposed! Luckily I have caught 2 more 8lb since then, I still get a lot of flack over that one hahaha

[CrustyMono]

I am not writing this because I am disappointed about a fish that even I did not think I landed, but simply because of a misinterpreted inside joke.

On 12/7/2016 at 6:30 PM, pawpaw said:

Is there more to the story to explain "lesson learned #1" or am I not getting something?

On 12/7/2016 at 6:45 PM, fishinfiend said:

why blame your partner for your amateur mistakes?

My fishing partner and I will never stop fishing together. We each go out of each other's way to catch fish, and help land them. I was only joking about getting a new partner to replace him. I told my friend to grab the net from the golf cart several times. he forgot. Then, when i told him i had a large fish on, he did not believe me and proceeded to boat away from me on the dock. Next time we won't forget it. He should have back reeled, when i tried to land the fish in case it thrashed around, but i can't hold that against him, because I'm not great at it either. I knew he would see this and we always joke about who's fault it was (mine). I never blamed my partner. We work very hard to find and catch a few fish in our pressured lake. We work together with everything, we share rods, tackle, food, boats, everything. We consider all fish that WE catch a result of teamwork. 

[jr231]

I never would have handed the rod over... play the fish. Tire it out. And grab it's jaw. Nets help wonders but are not a necessity! You could have got that fish all by yourself ! My PB just over 8 I landed with no net, and was by myself. I'm positive many men on this site have caught bass bigger than mine without a net. 

Again, I know the net is convenient but is not a necessity. 

[shimmy]

On 12/7/2016 at 5:45 PM, fishinfiend said:

no not landed

why blame your partner for your amateur mistakes?

how do you know the fish was 8 pounds if you did not land it? lol

Didn't you know that every missed fish is either 5, 8, or 10 pounds? 

[fishinfiend]

15 hours ago, shimmy said:

Didn't you know that every missed fish is either 5, 8, or 10 pounds? 

lol least 8 pounds 

[samwise2u]

Was frogging this year, early summer or so, had a blow up, set the hook, reeled it in. When I went to swing it into the boat I saw the largest bass ever on the end of my line. Just as it cleared the water the frog came out and the fish back into the water. I'm guessing it was 8 lbs.

[CrustyMono]

5 hours ago, samwise2u said:

Was frogging this year, early summer or so, had a blow up, set the hook, reeled it in. When I went to swing it into the boat I saw the largest bass ever on the end of my line. Just as it cleared the water the frog came out and the fish back into the water. I'm guessing it was 8 lbs.

I believe you. Losing a fish that big is heartbreaking. As you know, one can only guess how big a fish is. Its a shame when you get attacked because you can't prove something awesome happened, but theres only a few people who know the truth. You'll get her when she's grown to  9 lbs i hope!