BFS = Big Fight Scheduled. I’m bummed.

[Big Hands]

My first DD was caught on a 6' M/F rod and a Shimano TX Aero ULS-A reel. They made a TX Aero 2-6 model reel for 2 to 6 lb line, but this reel was made for smaller line. The reel was filled with 6 lb Ande monofilament line. I was by myself and had never caught a bass over 5 lbs.

 

The red arrow is where I hooked her, except the water level was about 65' higher. Once I could feel how large and powerful she was, I slowly eased the boat away from the bank so we could battle out in the deeper water. It took more than a couple of minutes to land her, but you kind of loose track of time in moments like this. This was my first time experiencing 'the double digit shakes'. It's real.

 

 

I had no scale and no camera. The patrol boat had already informed me that the lake was closing soon. I put the fish in the livewell, and hauled butt to the ramp where they had a scale. 10 lbs, 6 ounces. I asked the lifeguards if I could go and put her back where I caught her. They reluctantly agreed. The boat I had at the time would do over 70 mph, so it took about two minutes to get there, a minute to release her, and a couple minutes to get back. 

 

To catch a fish that way, there is a certain amount of good fortune involved. Add to that, the preparation, knowledge, and skill required to have the best chance for a good outcome and sometimes we win. Sometimes the fish wins, which is as it should be IMHO.

 

Darth-Baiter, when you described the condition of the hook, it occurred to me that one possibility is that the point of the hook happened to hit on one of the hard surfaces inside the mouth of the bass, and the hook simply didn't penetrate. It happens. I believe that when a hook breaks or bends, that this is often the case. 

 

If the hook penetrates down past the barb all the way to the bend, it is MUCH more difficult to bend or break the hook than if when you're pulling against the point of the hook. Even light line will bend or even break some hooks when that happens. If that is what happened, there's a good chance that you would have lost her eventually anyway. . . . maybe, maybe not.

 

We could play the 'maybe game' until we're blue in the face. Maybe, if you would have used a heavier hook, it wouldn't have bent. . . . or maybe the extra weight of the hook would have made the bait not enticing enough for it to bite. Same thing with heavier line. It goes on forever, kinda like this post, LOL, so I will try to bring this all together and wrap it up.

 

You could swear off the hooks and never use them again. Or, you could go out to the garage and tie one onto the same size line you were using. Find a piece of very hard wood, or even drill just a little bit into a piece of metal and put the hook into it with just the point into the material and pull on it. See what happens. Then put a washer in a vice so you can put the hook into it and pull against the bend and see what happens. If you pull against that washer, my money is on the hook bending outward (if it bends at all before the line breaks) and the best chance it would have to bend, especially sideways, is if the hook has barely penetrated, not to mention whatever the heck else is going on inside the mouth of a lunker that has clamped down on a meal.