It happened...

[RHuff]

I've read so many stories about guys who catch the bass of their life. Well it happened to me yesterday finally. I've been catching some solid fish this year in the 2-4lb range but have never caught a true mature 8lb or bigger bass. Yesterday evening I was out with my dad fishing a lake here in Southern WV. About an hour before dark we hit a large field of lilly pads that pretty much covered the entire north end of the lake. Neither one of us was having much luck so I decided to throw a Rapala jerkbait to slow down my presentation. Shortly after I caught a nice bass on the edge of the lillies in a break of the edge that weighed 3.2lbs. Big bodied bass pretty fish. Never got another bite so closer to dark I tied on a Castaic Boyd Duckett Walking Popper. I came to a long point in the lillies and made a perfect cast up into a corner and started walking the bait parallel to the lilly edge right down the line. On about the 4th twitch a big bass blew the bait up. It was the bite you dream of. I had my drag set tight and kept pressure on him because I knew if he went into the lilles I may not get him out (extremely thick). I got him almost to the boat and he darted back straight down to deep water again. I've been fishing for 25 years and I've never had a bass pull this hard. I got him up to the boat again and all I could see was his head and a tiny bit of hydrilla wrapped around his head. He was the by far the biggest fish I've ever hooked. My dad had the net and was going to help me get him up. When he got down to reach down the bass seen him and darted like a bat out of hell downward and snapped my line. I dropped the rod and went to my knees. Felt number for 15 minutes afterward. This bass was easily 7lbs and could have been larger. Not only did I lose my best fish, but I also lost my best lure..... Dad caught a bass 5lbs a couple of weeks ago and he said this bass was both longer and bigger around than his. I'm reallly struggling getting past this. I keep telling myself that I threw the right bait in the right situation to get hooked but it still doesn't make the what if feeling go away....

[Oregon Native]

You had the thrill and memories of this and the more you fish the more you will have.  Great you are fishing with your dad.....enjoy.  If you ever fish a tourney and have that happen ......ohhhhhhhhhhh........add a little pain.

Tight Lines

[TOXIC]

It's the ones we lose that keep us coming back for more!!  

[Jaderose]

Been there....done that....glad for the experience.  Eventually.  If it was easy, we would stop going.  I had one snap some 8 lb Seaguar Red label over the weekend that I never even got to see.  I just felt one helluva jolt and set the hook just as she was taking off.  She made it a couple of feet before *snap*.  All you can do is curse the Gods, retie, and go after her!

 

 

 

p.s.  Just as an FYI......I also adjusted my drag.  For some reason, I basically had it locked down.  No idea why....ESPECIALLY on my spinning (finesse) set up.  D'OH!

[islandbass]

Sorry you lost that battle. I felt your loss. On the bright side, you know where to go for a rematch. 

 

Did you look at the end of the broken line? Sometimes there are clues as to the cause of the break. 

 

I know now that I will personally examine the last 50-70' of line with my hand twice for line wear and ensure my knots are good. That would be the parallel equivalent of suiting up with your battle armor for combat. 

 

Good luck, and go get her. ? 

[RPreeb]

I happens to all of us.  I was fly fishing in the Swan River in Montana a long time back.  August is the Bull Trout (Dolly Varden) spawning run up there.  I was fishing a streamer on a 2x tapered leader when I hooked what had to be a monster.  I had already landed a 4# rainbow just a short time before, but this one I couldn't even move out of the current in the middle of the river.  I pulled, he pulled back - barely even seemed to realize that he had a hook in his mouth.  After about 45 seconds of this, he broke the surface and spit the fly back at me.  No idea just how big it was, but I assumed it was a big Dolly.   It was definitely a lot bigger than the rainbow I caught earlier.