Super User Mobasser Posted July 8, 2020 Super User Posted July 8, 2020 I checked my watch and noted the time. 11:45 pm. My partner and I had caught six bass on spinnerbaits, with pork chunk trailers, none over two pounds. We slowly trolled to reach our target area, a mossy shoreline that extended ten feet from the bank, and layed over a dropoff which created a shelf, and fell off into deeper water. My outfit that night was a 6ft Berkeley Lightning rod, med/hvy action,my reel an ABU 4600C, spooled with fresh 14lb Stren mono. The lure, a black skirted Harkins Lunker Lure buzzbait. I had sharpened the hook to a needle sharpness that afternoon. My first cast was off target, landing in the moss. D###m! I slowly reeled in the lure, layed it on the bottom of the Jon boat, flicked on my headlamp, and picked the moss off the bait. The next cast was on target, landing one ft from the moss edge. The buzzer went roughly three feet, when the bass hit. I felt like I got a good hookset. The huge bass thrashed on the surface for a few seconds, then, I got a glimpse of her white belly in the moonlight, before she dove into the weeds, and was gone. I've been haunted by this fish ever since. Over the course of our lifetimes as fisherman, we probably catch hundreds, and for some thousands of bass , that we forget about. Certain fish, for whatever reason, seem to stay with you, and, are hard to forget about. I daydream about this fish, and a couple of others that I've lost over the years, quite a bit. I'm sure I'm not the only one. Tell me about a big bass that haunts you. 5 Quote
Global Moderator TnRiver46 Posted July 8, 2020 Global Moderator Posted July 8, 2020 8 lb that broke a stringer and the roll of film was double exposed . Remember rolls of film?? I wish I didn't..... 2 3 Quote
Born 2 fish Posted July 8, 2020 Posted July 8, 2020 About 25 years ago I went to a farm pond in southern Illinois. My first cast with a buzzbait on a cold spring morning I got a huge blowup. I set the hook as hard as I could but my drag was backed off from winter. The fish came up and threw the lure that bass was every bit of 10 lbs. I can still play it back in my head like it was yesterday. 2 Quote
Hewhospeaksmuchbull Posted July 8, 2020 Posted July 8, 2020 14 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said: 8 lb that broke a stringer and the roll of film was double exposed . Remember rolls of film?? I wish I didn't..... Fotomat. Quote
Finessegenics Posted July 8, 2020 Posted July 8, 2020 Also involves a black spinnerbait and it was only about a year ago. Got to a spot on the St Lawrence I hadn’t fished in a while. It was a small bay with some man made rock piles sunk in about 6-8 feet of water. Visibility was maybe about 2 feet, so not super clear. I was looking for active fish because the bass season had just opened and I figured some fish would still be pre-spawn. Was casting a black skirted 1/2oz booyah spinnerbait to the rock piles. On my third cast at the spot, I see a huge smallmouth following the spinnerbait. I’d say it was definitely over 20inches but I can’t be definitive. It was approaching the bait fast and it felt like time stopped. Before I knew it, it had engulfed the whole spinnerbait. I felt the weight and I knew the hook had been buried without much of a hook set on my part. After maybe five seconds, my knot slips and the fish is still thrashing everywhere with the spinnerbait in its mouth. I felt so guilty that I left a fish with a huge lure hanging outside it’s mouth but hopefully she was able to shake it off...I have no idea what was wrong with my knot, as I had just tied it. Ever since that day I triple check my knots. 2 Quote
garroyo130 Posted July 8, 2020 Posted July 8, 2020 White storm Wildeye Swim Shad. I threw it out just for the heck of it before leaving the lake since I didn't have much confidence in it. Immediately something snatched it up and began peeling line. Whatever it was I couldn't gain an inch on it. It took me to rocks where I broke off. It was most likely a turtle that went to bottom but I can't help but wonder ... 2 Quote
Hook2Jaw Posted July 8, 2020 Posted July 8, 2020 My stump. My pads. My domain. A soft splash occurs above my massive head, the same one I've used to engulf bluegill for as long as time itself. A flick of my powerful tail pushes me through the depths, and my keen eyes investigate. It is long. A snake? An eel? It quivers. KILL! I pull the little dying thing toward my massive crushers as my thick jaws close around it, and something between those doorways registers. It matters not, the food is mine. Everything is mine. I rule here. Pain. Fear? No! FURY! The insignificant thing between my jaws has tightened, and the tiny creature has somehow slipped past my crushers. The little demon has slipped a spine into the apex of my jaws. Somehow, it pulls me. I pull back towards deeper water. I pull and thrash, baring the rough inner edges of my jaws as I fight. This weak thing has lied to me! It is strong. I cannot pull away. I rush for the surface, breaching it with barely half of my massive length and girth. I am thrashing now, my world of naught but red filling me with the energy of anger. It pulls me across the surface, my tail can push me no longer and my eyes gaze upon a tall thing of many colors with a stick in it's grasp. You lied. Neither small nor insignificant... I hate you, trickster. The tall thing reaches for my jaw, five tentacles seeking to wrap around it and do Poseidon knows what. I must fight to the bitter end. The thing reaches as I gather the last spark of power inside me, one ignited by my fury and indomitable will to live. A final thrash, and the spine of the trickster leaves my maw. I will never forget the insignificant thing emulating my prey. I will never forget the day I battled to evade the grasp of the trickster. I will never forget that haunting moment when I was not the queen of the water. I returned to my home, free. My stump. My pads. MY DOMAIN! (Author's Note: I went after that fish several more times, but never got to fight her again. I think she may have been larger than my personal best I would catch a year or so later. I hope she's well and continued to evade capture. She deserves it.) 10 1 Quote
Finessegenics Posted July 8, 2020 Posted July 8, 2020 23 minutes ago, Hook2Jaw said: My stump. My pads. My domain. A soft splash occurs above my massive head, the same one I've used to engulf bluegill for as long as time itself. A flick of my powerful tail pushes me through the depths, and my keen eyes investigate. It is long. A snake? An eel? It quivers. KILL! I pull the little dying thing toward my massive crushers as my thick jaws close around it, and something between those doorways registers. It matters not, the food is mine. Everything is mine. I rule here. Pain. Fear? No! FURY! The insignificant thing between my jaws has tightened, and the tiny creature has somehow slipped past my crushers. The little demon has slipped a spine into the apex of my jaws. Somehow, it pulls me. I pull back towards deeper water. I pull and thrash, baring the rough inner edges of my jaws as I fight. This weak thing has lied to me! It is strong. I cannot pull away. I rush for the surface, breaching it with barely half of my massive length and girth. I am thrashing now, my world of naught but red filling me with the energy of anger. It pulls me across the surface, my tail can push me no longer and my eyes gaze upon a tall thing of many colors with a stick in it's grasp. You lied. Neither small nor insignificant... I hate you, trickster. The tall thing reaches for my jaw, five tentacles seeking to wrap around it and do Poseidon knows what. I must fight to the bitter end. The thing reaches as I gather the last spark of power inside me, one ignited by my fury and indomitable will to live. A final thrash, and the spine of the trickster leaves my maw. I will never forget the insignificant thing emulating my prey. I will never forget the day I battled to evade the grasp of the trickster. I will never forget that haunting moment when I was not the queen of the water. I returned to my home, free. My stump. My pads. MY DOMAIN! (Author's Note: I went after that fish several more times, but never got to fight her again. I think she may have been larger than my personal best I would catch a year or so later. I hope she's well and continued to evade capture. She deserves it.) That was beautiful 1 Quote
Global Moderator TnRiver46 Posted July 8, 2020 Global Moderator Posted July 8, 2020 @Hook2Jaw, You might want to fish in areas with lower budgets for the "school" systems.... 3 Quote
Hook2Jaw Posted July 8, 2020 Posted July 8, 2020 11 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said: @Hook2Jaw, You might want to fish in areas with lower budgets for the "school" systems.... I been practicin' my letters, and I'm gettin' good. 1 Quote
Super User RoLo Posted July 8, 2020 Super User Posted July 8, 2020 About 40 years ago, I caught a huge bass on a plastic worm that looked to be around 12 pounds, which may have been a personal best. I was in my rowboat, and though I didn't have a fish scale, I did have a camera loaded with Ansco film. This was during the transition period between catch-&-keep and catch-&-release. After a brief internal struggle, I ended up photographing the elephant then released her back to the Withlacoochee Backwaters. Back then, I stashed my camera in an old coffee can with a watertight plastic lid, which laid on the boat floor. That day, about 3/4" of water collected on the boat floor, but that was common, and par for the course. What I didn't know, was that during the melee I didn't properly seat the waterproof lid and the coffee can was lying on its side. Well...the film got saturated, you guessed it, I ended up with No fish & No photos. There's no marketplace for a fisherman with a fish tale. If you don't have pictures, it never happened. All that's left are the memories. (BTW: I ended up losing the camera as well, but that was much less painful). Roger 6 Quote
Super User WRB Posted July 8, 2020 Super User Posted July 8, 2020 Repeating the story told before I have 2 bass that haunt me. The 1st was at Lower Otay in the early 70's. Arriving at the spot I wanted to fish another boat was anchored there fishing crawdads. I knew Ron Hugget worked at Dads Tackle and asked if it was OK to fish about 50 yards away, no problem was his reply. The point is long water so made a cast to the top of the point, little over run to pull out and noticed my line was moving away. Quickly reeled the slack line and set the hook. The bass was headed straight to Huggets anchor line and couldn't stop it. The bass wrapped my line in the rope and Ron immediately started to pull the rope in, there was a big splash and the line went slack. I applogized to Ron for my mistake and he waving his arms and very excited. Ron said that was the biggest bass he had ever seem, at least 30" long and massive. The 2nd and most haunting was at Castiac May 1993. I was fishing with a friend in his boat at Trout point. Making a long cast working along the point wall in about 25' of water when bass struck my jig. I have caught a lot of big bass and instantly knew what this was a giant bass. Everything was going good I fought the bass to within may 8' from the boat and could see it clearly, the biggest bass that I have ever seen. What happened next was we were drifting over the point. Gary was standing next to me watching the fight instead of keeping the boat away for point in deep water. The bass took advange bolting over the rocky point ridge diving down the opposite side breaking my line and heart. This bass will always haunt me. Tom 7 Quote
Super User scaleface Posted July 8, 2020 Super User Posted July 8, 2020 3 hours ago, Mobasser said: 6ft Berkeley Lightning rod, med/hvy action,my reel an ABU 4600C, spooled with fresh 14lb Stren mono. I have used that exact setup for years . I still have the rod but traded all my 4600Cs . Its eerily amazing how similar the equipment and lures you and I use were . 1 Quote
Super User Mobasser Posted July 8, 2020 Author Super User Posted July 8, 2020 1 minute ago, scaleface said: I have used that exact setup for years . I still have the rod but traded all my 4600Cs . Its eerily amazing how similar the equipment and lures you and I use were . Well, we're both Missourians. That probably accounts for some of it anyway. 1 Quote
Super User scaleface Posted July 8, 2020 Super User Posted July 8, 2020 My bass story using the 6'0" lightning rod , 4600 C and 14 lb stren . I was bank fishing this Mississippi river backwater slough that was protected by a levee . I have caught lots of big bass here . There was a log 15 to 20 foot out . I cast a black jig and pig [pork] over it and yo-yoed it a couple of times then it felt heavy . I set the hook on a big bass that I believe was well over 8 lbs and my personal best . The only way to get it in was to pull it over the log , so I put the pressure on hoping it would jump . It did just that and when it was airborne , I pulled it over the log and the hook came out . 4 Quote
Super User Mobasser Posted July 8, 2020 Author Super User Posted July 8, 2020 6 minutes ago, scaleface said: I have used that exact setup for years . I still have the rod but traded all my 4600Cs . Its eerily amazing how similar the equipment and lures you and I use were . The first fish that night came on a CC spinnerbait too. We used to take a # 11 pork frog, and slice the fat part of the body off to make it thinner, then use it as a trailer. It was and would still be a killer night bass bait. 1 Quote
Super User A-Jay Posted July 8, 2020 Super User Posted July 8, 2020 11 hours ago, Mobasser said: I checked my watch and noted the time. 11:45 pm. My partner and I had caught six bass on spinnerbaits, with pork chunk trailers, none over two pounds. We slowly trolled to reach our target area, a mossy shoreline that extended ten feet from the bank, and layed over a dropoff which created a shelf, and fell off into deeper water. My outfit that night was a 6ft Berkeley Lightning rod, med/hvy action,my reel an ABU 4600C, spooled with fresh 14lb Stren mono. The lure, a black skirted Harkins Lunker Lure buzzbait. I had sharpened the hook to a needle sharpness that afternoon. My first cast was off target, landing in the moss. D###m! I slowly reeled in the lure, layed it on the bottom of the Jon boat, flicked on my headlamp, and picked the moss off the bait. The next cast was on target, landing one ft from the moss edge. The buzzer went roughly three feet, when the bass hit. I felt like I got a good hookset. The huge bass thrashed on the surface for a few seconds, then, I got a glimpse of her white belly in the moonlight, before she dove into the weeds, and was gone. I've been haunted by this fish ever since. Over the course of our lifetimes as fisherman, we probably catch hundreds, and for some thousands of bass , that we forget about. Certain fish, for whatever reason, seem to stay with you, and, are hard to forget about. I daydream about this fish, and a couple of others that I've lost over the years, quite a bit. I'm sure I'm not the only one. Tell me about a big bass that haunts you. Ouch ~ I know that feeling. Always a gut punch. So I have a few fish losses over the years that still haunt me. Going back a few years, and on the Atlantic coast, while striped bass fishing off a long south New Jersey jetty on a cold, moonless November night, I had what I believe was a real Giant (never saw her) almost pull me off the rocks. She scooped up a big fat live eel with out stopping, screamed a ton of locked down drag (80 lb braid) off a Calcutta 400B and was gone. The power of that deal actually scared the bejeezus right out of me. More recently, like this past spring, I had a complete freak of a brown bass come in close to the boat and take a swipe at a jerkbait. This is a big fish spot, on a lake that has produced several trophies for me including my current PB. They always look big in the crystal clear waters I fish, but this fish honestly seemed 'next level'. Almost hate the fact that I actually got a good look at her - really makes the 'Haunting' worse. And to totally double down on it all, there was another one with her - wait for it . . . That was Bigger ! My personal haunting here was captured digitally for me to relive anytime I need to stoke my own trophy brown bass hunting fire . . . A-Jay 4 1 Quote
Super User scaleface Posted July 8, 2020 Super User Posted July 8, 2020 This wasnt a bass but I was fishing below the Lock and Dam 22 with a heavy jig and grub . Casting it out in the heavy current and letting it sink . I wasnt fishing for anything in particular just trying something out . I hooked into something big and made some headway before it turned and went the other direction . It stopped and I started reeling it back in then it made another turn and went the other way . This happens several more times before I figured out it was a barge rope or something loose in the current . 5 Quote
Super User Mobasser Posted July 8, 2020 Author Super User Posted July 8, 2020 13 minutes ago, A-Jay said: Ouch ~ I know that feeling. Always a gut punch. So I have a few fish losses over the years that still haunt me. Going back a few years, and on the Atlantic coast, while striped bass fishing off a long south New Jersey jetty on a cold, moonless November night, I had what I believe was a real Giant (never saw her) almost pull me off the rocks. She scooped up a big fat live eel with out stopping, screamed a ton of locked down drag (80 lb braid) off a Calcutta 400B and and was gone. The power of that deal actually scared the bejeezus right out of me. More recently, like this past spring, I had a complete freak of a brown bass come in close to the boat and take a swipe at a jerkbait. This is a big fish spot, on a lake that has produced several trophies for me including my current PB. They always look big in the crystal clear waters I fish, but this fish honestly seemed 'next level'. Almost hate the fact that I actually got a good look at her - really makes the 'Haunting' worse. And to totally double down on it all, there was another one with her - wait for it . . . That was Bigger ! My personal haunting here was captured digitally for me to relive anytime I need to stoke my own trophy brown bass hunting fire . . . A-Jay A-Jay, it can be especially hard when you get a good look at the fish, as you did. 2 Quote
Super User A-Jay Posted July 8, 2020 Super User Posted July 8, 2020 1 minute ago, Mobasser said: A-Jay, it can be especially hard when you get a good look at the fish, as you did. No Doubt ~ I don't lose a lot fish. Every now & then, but I've been super fortune to get some real brutes. But if you look closely at my face, and it's a little hard to see, but right after I said, "there's another one with it" . . I smiled - just a little. In my mind, that was me already weighing that fish and holding her up for the camera . . . Oh, how that didn't happen #gothumbled I hate it - and sort of love it at the same time. Definitely part of what keeps me going back. A-Jay 2 Quote
Global Moderator TnRiver46 Posted July 8, 2020 Global Moderator Posted July 8, 2020 2 hours ago, RoLo said: About 40 years ago, I caught a huge bass on a plastic worm that looked to be around 12 pounds, which may have been a personal best. I was in my rowboat, and though I didn't have a fish scale, I did have a camera loaded with Ansco film. This was during the transition period between catch-&-keep and catch-&-release. After a brief internal struggle, I ended up photographing the elephant then released her back to the Withlacoochee Backwaters. Back then, I stashed my camera in an old coffee can with a watertight plastic lid, which laid on the boat floor. That day, about 3/4" of water collected on the boat floor, but that was common, and par for the course. What I didn't know, was that during the melee I didn't properly seat the waterproof lid and the coffee can was lying on its side. Well...the film got saturated, you guessed it, I ended up with No fish & No photos. There's no marketplace for a fisherman with a fish tale. If you don't have pictures, it never happened. All that's left are the memories. (BTW: I ended up losing the camera as well, but that was much less painful). Roger My buddies give me crayons and tell me to draw a picture of my fish next time when they hear my film story 1 Quote
Super User Dwight Hottle Posted July 8, 2020 Super User Posted July 8, 2020 I have had two different Mexican bass take me for a painful ride exhibiting lots of power & strength before coming loose. I never saw either one but always knew either one could have been that one, my fish of a lifetime. Fishing for smallies I have also lost a few that were over powering in their fight to escape leaving me wondering how big were they. I'll never know. I hooked a pike several years ago fishing lake Athabasca in early June that broke my heart. The camp we were fishing out of used cradles instead of nets for landing any fish of trophy size. I had just snapped on a large wooden glide bait called a phantom with two big treble hooks. The guide insisted I remove one of the hooks for his safety while unhooking fish and for making the unhooking process go more quickly. I tried to persuade him to let me try it with both hooks on for the first fish to decide which hook to remove based on how the bait hooked up. He wasn't buying my argument so I decided to remove the tail hook leaving just a belly hook on the bait. I casted out & started working the bait when a fish grabbed it & took off in a straight line from the front of the boat to the rear behind the boat. At the time the fish bit I set the hook hard. I knew I has a big fish on based on the weight, the way the fish swam off on a straight line like a dog running off with a bone. I slowly worked the fish back towards the rear of the boat & yelled for the guide to get the cradle. He was rolling a cigarette at the time & taking his time. I yelled at him again & got his attention. He grabbed the cradle & placed it in the water boat side. As the pike was swimming towards the cradle the guide got a good look at her & got really excited. Just as she was coming close to the cradle she opened her massive mouth & out came my glide bait. I never stuck a hook into her. She must have engulfed the bait & clamped her teeth into the wood so when I set the hook I never moved the bait in her mouth hooking into any flesh. I was devastated & ticked off all at the same time. Our guide was heartbroken because he saw how big she was & knew we both just missed a fish of our lifetimes. I kept thinking that if I had left the rear treble on rather than the belly hook that fish would have been mine. A couple of years later I caught a 32lb pike which was a new PB but always wondered if that first fish might have been pushing 40lbs. 3 2 Quote
KYRANGERMAN Posted July 8, 2020 Posted July 8, 2020 Two bass that haunt me. #1: Fishing a spring tournament on Barren River Reservoir. Started out with a couple of small fish on a Stanley Wedge spinnerbait (Baby Bass). Culled the first two small fish. Ended up with a bag that had 2 - 2lb., 2 - 3lb. and 2 - 4lb. fish. Biggest sack of fish I ever weighed in at a tournament, 18.62 lbs. I only lost one fish that day that, if I had to guess, was a solid 3 lb. fish. Why does a 3 lb. fish haunt me? Because I finished 2nd by 6.4 oz. that day. #2: Fishing a husband wife tournament on Kentucky Lake. Sunday morning and I found a perfect spot. About 50 yards from the bank the water which had been steadily sloping to 11 feet, dropped quickly to 20 feet and there were stumps showing at the break line. Pulled out a Carolina Rig and threw up on top of the drop. Dragged it to the drop and one of the most solid hits I've ever felt. Immediately the fish started to run with it so I set the hook. Just about broke my arms. Reeled for a few seconds and realized that he had run me into one of the stumps. Oh well, get on the trolling motor and get above the stump and see if I can get it free. Got over the stump, gave it a good tug and 2 strong tugs back, so now we're in a tug of war. I kept trying to get it loose but ended up having to break off. Never saw the fish so I have no idea exactly how big it was, but over the years, through the retelling of the story he's at least a 7 or 8 lb. fish now. 1 Quote
Coldbasser Posted July 8, 2020 Posted July 8, 2020 Oh boy I read a great book long ago about a obsessed captain Ahab & his quest for Moby Dick, I in my own way am obsessed with fishing for giant fish. ? The quest is really simple and complex at the same time. The next bite always brings the possibility & makes me fell young at heart. Rick Quote
Super User BrianMDTX Posted July 9, 2020 Super User Posted July 9, 2020 Hook2Jaw, that was excellent. Bravo, sir! My haunted bass was just on June 21st. I put a weightless 7” purple worm on a 3/0 EWG hook and cast it out. I’d like to tell you the exact worm it was, but as it has been in my old (now-departed) Flambeau tackle box for 40-45 years, I don’t know who made it. As soon as it started to sink the line started running. I was using a Garcia Black Max with 12 lb YZH on a Fenwick HMX MF rod, and I reeled in the slack and set the hook. The bass started running and the rod bent. I knew it was big. I had just caught my PB in May that was between 6-7 lbs (over 22”) and it felt bigger than that. I got it in close to shore, and it jumped. I saw the bucketmouth and before I could say OMG, the line went slack and the bass, as well as my worm, was gone. Just getting back into the game, I decided that maybe a MF was not enough to drive home 3/0 and 4/0 hooks, so I went right out and bought a Daiwa Aird X MHF rod. The next two bass I hooked...stayed hooked. But not that big, though. I’ll be honest and say that (to me), it still pales in comparison to the 140-class 10 point I called up the ridge with a Bleat-N-Heat can to within 15 yards, and missed clean when the bowstring hit my coveralls while I shot from a kneeling position. Watching him slowly walk off will give me nightmares until I breathe my last breath. 2 1 Quote
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