what's worse?

[Jermination]

losing a big fish on a jump and spit, break off, or lose them and never see them?

 

lost a smallie that was easily 7+ yesterday and still sick to my stomach over it. jumped and spat my ned right at me. my god what a whale ?

[A-Jay]

While I'm playing a 'big one', first I'm hoping it's actually a bass, then I always say, "Just let me see you".

But once I do, if I lose her, regardless of how, I'm usually just a little more bummed out.

Mostly because I had visual verification of what it was and it's approximate size.

So Jumping off's a bummer and a hook pull is not the greatest.

But when line breaks- THAT'S the worse, because I'll always feel like that's something I have control over.

So when it fails, I either; was using gear insufficient for the task, Tied a bad knot, did not re-tie in a timely manner, did not check for frays or nicks, applied too much pressure / or had drag set incorrectly, did not present the bait & set up my rig in a position to fight the fish away from anything that could part my line or perhaps the biggest mistake of all - Purchased Bad Line to start with.

So there's that.

A-Jay

 

 

[MN Fisher]

Losing it after you've seen it.

 

Had that happen to me last season. Got it near the boat, looked to be a bit over 2#...wanted to put it in the cooler. Just before I had it netted, it shook the hook and took off.

[J Francho]

I love how our scales become more accurate when we don't land them.  Reminds me of one I lost - a brown trout.  My PB brown is 22 lbs.  I was fishing a pod of browns making a push upstream to spawn.  There was one HUGE hen in the mix.  On a drift, I got bit and that monster rolled.  I panicked, locked down on the centrepin reel (your fingers are the drag, look it up) and with one flick of it's tail, my leader was toast.  This fish was bigger than my PB by a noticeable amount.

[Jermination]

4 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

While I'm playing a 'big one', first I'm hoping it's actually a bass, then I always say, "Just let me see you".

But once I do, if I lose her, regardless of how, I'm usually just a little more bummed out.

Mostly because I had visual verification of what it was and it's approximate size.

So Jumping off's a bummer and a hook pull is not the greatest.

But when line breaks- THAT'S the worse, because I'll always feel like that's something I have control over.

So when it fails, I either; was using gear insufficient for the task, Tied a bad knot, did not re-tie in a timely manner, did not check for frays or nicks, applied too much pressure / or had drag set incorrectly, did not present the bait & set up my rig in a position to fight the fish away for anything that could part my line or perhaps the biggest mistake of all - Purchased Bad Line to start with.

So there's that.

A-Jay

 

 

I knew it was a big smallie as soon as i set the hook, couldnt even budge her and once i did i was on her time. fought her for a good 3-4 minutes half way in on a 35 yard hookset..she jumped and spit it. quite the traumatic experience. Especially when i've caught well over 100 3+lb smallies the last 3 months up there then this hog shows up.

 

i guess the silver lining here is at least i know where her house is right?

1 minute ago, J Francho said:

I love how our scales become more accurate when we don't land them.  Reminds me of one I lost - a brown trout.  My PB brown is 22 lbs.  I was fishing a pod of browns making a push upstream to spawn.  There was one HUGE hen in the mix.  On a drift, I got bit and that monster rolled.  I panicked, locked down on the centrepin reel (your fingers are the drag, look it up) and with one flick of it's tail, my leader was toast.  This fish was bigger than my PB by a noticeable amount.

i've caught many a giant smallies over the years. ive caught two over 7 throughout my life, this one trumped my most recent 7.1 with ease. ughhh the agony!!!

[A-Jay]

9 minutes ago, Jermination said:

I knew it was a big smallie as soon as i set the hook, couldnt even budge her and once i did i was on her time. fought her for a good 3-4 minutes half way in on a 35 yard hookset..she jumped and spit it. quite the traumatic experience. Especially when i've caught well over 100 3+lb smallies the last 3 months up there then this hog shows up.

 

i guess the silver lining here is at least i know where her house is right?

No Doubt ~ 

Similar deal happened to me the season before I caught my PB Smallie - right in the same area.

So you never know . . . . 

However, there's plenty of non-bass mutants up here to make it a big time guessing game until I see it.

(all caught while bass fishing) 

#spoolplentyofbacking

A-Jay

[Jermination]

5 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

No Doubt ~ 

Similar deal happened to me the season before I caught my PB Smallie - right in the same area.

So you never know . . . . 

However, there's plenty of non-bass mutants up here to make it a big time guessing game until I see it.

(all caught while bass fishing) 

#spoolplentyofbacking

A-Jay

mutants indeed LOL i've caught some big cats and a drum or 2 nedding around up there but can usually tell pretty quickly what's what

[scaleface]

i think its worse when you dont see them . When they jump and  show themselves at least i get a good look at it and know I almost had a big one .  

[JustJames]

I think I might agree with this ^^^ if I saw the bass and lost it somehow at least I know it is a bass and can at least guesstimate the weight. I would think about it but not for long until I catch the next one.

 

Didnt see them but feel them, this is worse. Almost a week back I got a fish hit me hard on Huddleston 68 weedless, almost pull the rod out of my hand. Everything went wrong, I did set the hook but my hand wasn’t holding the rod/reel as usual, then the drag slip since I didn’t set it properly. Im still thinking about that one every single day. BTW, I switched back to top hook hudds since that day.

[GreenPig]

About 10 years ago I fought and lost a very large (PB++) LM on a long cast on wakebait. She just wallowed on the surface until my lure dislodged. I had her on for probably 30 seconds and got a good view of just how large she was. That scarred me. Break offs are so rare nowadays I just retie and keep fishing. I've had so many ok fish under and around or through grass that I thought were good fish I don't get excited til I see them.

[J._Bricker]

3 hours ago, Jermination said:

losing a big fish on a jump and spit, break off, or lose them and never see them?

 

I’m gonna say losing a big fish on the jump. You saw her, a denizen of the deep breaking water like a Polaris (Trident) missile as that big ole gaping mouth opens and your bait goes flying right back at you. The whole time your mind is screaming “don’t jump, don’t jump”....

 

Break em off, I’ll raise my ? to being guilty of the “ahh, that nick isn’t too bad, I’ll retry after the next one cause they’re small”. Then a little tick, the line starts to move and you set the hook and you know the rest. In this case, I’ve got only myself to blame when I see where the line broke ....

 

If you loose em and never see them, well THAT’S what makes a fishing story that can morph into legendary proportions over time ?....

 

Sorry @Jermination that you lost that big ole brown fish, but I think you will become a fixture in her living room until you meet again. Good luck sir!

 

 

[Hook2Jaw]

Seeing them is horrible, breaking them off is traumatic.

 

When I first got into bassing as an adult, the stick worm was the only bait worth throwing for me.  I caught bass everywhere with Yamamoto Senkos and then YUM Dingers.  One day after work, I walked to a pond I had no business being at and caught two small ones in quick succession.  The next hookup was in an open part in pads, and I'll never forget it.

 

When I set the hook on her, she did not move, I was entirely sure I was snagged. Then that zzzzzzt of sweet drag music started playing, and this behemoth made a move for deep water.  She had her way with my 2/0 EWG, 10# fluorocarbon leader, and 20# braid.

 

I was entirely sure there was no way she was a bass -- I was hopeful, but my biggest bass before that was a seven pound Ogeechee river fish I had caught with my grandfather when I was eleven.  I had no idea how powerful one of that magnitude could be.  She finally tired, and a I started to regain line.  I then saw a colossal white belly and the telltale lateral line and dark green.

 

This was no turtle, nor catfish, no.  This was a bass, and this is a personal best on an epic scale on the end of my line.  I became nervous and seconds turn into minutes.  I got her to the line where the pads begin, but she had regained strength and gave me a second run.

 

I've got her this far, as long as she tires herself, she's my fish.  I can land this fish.  Her second run was considerably shorter and I've got her belly up, coming to me over the pads.  Everything is going according to plan.  I've already thrown my phone and wallet out of my jeans, you know, in case I need to wade in for her.

 

I had that fish so close I was reaching down to get my thumb around her massive jawbone and she does one last thrash, my hook comes out and she turns and swims away.

 

I'm glad my "lost fish" scale is deadly accurate, because I am the reason the bass world record of 32 pounds is still held by a Georgian.

[TnRiver46]

Landed an 8 lb class largemouth as a 13-14 year old. Took pictures and put it on a metal clamp stringer for taxidermy. The fish shook it's head hard and ripped the stringer out and swam off. Oh not to worry they can do replicas from a picture........ Pictures were double exposed ...... That's worse........

[Jermination]

6 minutes ago, J._Bricker said:

I’m gonna say losing a big fish on the jump. You saw her, a denizen of the deep breaking water like a Polaris (Trident) missile as that big ole gaping mouth opens and your bait goes flying right back at you. The whole time your mind is screaming “don’t jump, don’t jump”....

 

Sorry @Jermination that you lost that big ole brown fish, but I think you will become a fixture in her living room until you meet again. Good luck sir!

 

 

"stay down baby, stay down come on. free willy jumping out of the water....sh**!!!!!"

 

shortly followed by a request to my partner asking how he feels about assisted suicide hitting me with the paddle

[roadwarrior]

 

[Jermination]

29 minutes ago, roadwarrior said:

 

both of my 7+'s come out of fort loudon on the tennessee river. This was on cherokee,  not technically the tennessee river--the holston is one of the headwater tributaries & runs down from it to merge with the french broad at forks of the river up above neyland stadium

 

great reference point, another heart breaking story

[Bird]

If you've fished long enough, the horror stories add up....unfortunately. 

 

Line breakage is definitely the worst feeling for me, especially due to ignorance. 

Lost some giants not taking the time to retie and no doubt a 10lb + in SC after I tightened drag trying to net fish.

 

I do however get over it quickly and move on.

 

 

 

[Sam]

Lose them and never see them is the worst.

 

Even if they get off after you see them at least you know what you hooked.

[A-Jay]

The heart break of losing a Giant is one of the ties that binds all us Bassheads.

 

And there is nothing more sudden & final, than broken line.

 

A-Jay

[Joe_w1234]

I’ll be the first to say it, accidentally killing a big fish is one of the worst feelings. I gut hooked my biggest creek/river smallie of about 17 inches with a ned rig, and didn’t bring my pliers. I had to cut the line, and I was devastated the rest of the day. 

[Bird]

1 hour ago, Sweet Tater Pie said:

I’ll be the first to say it, accidentally killing a big fish is one of the worst feelings. I gut hooked my biggest creek/river smallie of about 17 inches with a ned rig, and didn’t bring my pliers. I had to cut the line, and I was devastated the rest of the day. 

We think the same, my respect. 

[Bluebasser86]

I hate it when I set the hook, have a heavy fish for a headshake or two, then it's gone. No telling what, or how big they are when that happens. 

[Bankbeater]

I’m bummed out no matter how the fish gets off. 

[geo g]

It doesn't happen often, but it doesn't affect me much.  It's all part of the game.  Sometimes you're the bug, sometimes you're the windshield!  I know where she lives so I let it quiet down and then go back for more action.

[JediAmoeba]

This is a very hard question.  But I have 2 that really stick in my mind.  

 

The first was when I was 12 years old.  I wasnt a huge kid but I was pretty strong. We were fishing a large pond.  I was using nightcrawlers on 10# test and hooked into a snag - I was using a zebco and a pistol grip ugly stick.  This snag wouldn't budge but all of the sudden the drag started pulling and the rod, already bent from me tugging on it, completely arched.  I started screaming as this fish was pulling me into the water even with the drag burning.  My dad was running as fast as he could to get to me and he was yelling "trip the reel"...my mind didn't grasp that and just as my dad got to me the line made a horrific snap and the rod went limp.  I would reckon it was a very large catfish but I never saw it and we never caught any catfish there in all the years of fishing.  

 

The second would be the time I was Muskie fishing and got a the largest muskie i had ever seen right next to our little row boat.  I was using a large daredevil spoon and hooked something that felt pretty small.  I cranked this puppy into the boat at warp speed and there was almost no resistance.  Right as the fish got to the boat it surfaced and sat right next to the boat - This thing was as long as the boat.  My friend and I freaked out and before we could say boo, with one head shake and a turn snapped the 30# wire leader I was using and swam off.  I have never seen a fish this big in person since.