Almost lost my combo

[zelmo]

I was out recently and got into some really nice smallmouth stacked up.  I was catching them on jigs and tubes.  Although the area had rock I wasn't getting hung up much at all.

 

On one cast I did snag and it wasn't coming off.  As I was trying to shake it loose a big momma hit it so hard it almost took the rod out of my hand.  It only measured 18" but it felt like a citation fish.

 

This rig was a Steez CT SV on a NRX+.  If it had gone in the water I would have been tempted to go after it since I was anchored in 3' even though the water temp was 51.  Key wording is tempted,  I really don't think I would have.

 

Has anyone had success going after a combo that went in the water?  I accidently kicked one off the deck once and it floated enough for me to grab it, but an angry smallmouth on the line would have made things very different.

[Bird]

Knock on wood but luckily have not ever kicked a reel into the water or had a fish take off with one.

Did however upset a Coleman Crawdad years ago and lost everything.

 

 

[gim]

My brother lost a combo years ago in a small river during July because the jon boat he and my Father were floating in flipped when they hit a submerged log.  Don't ask me how you capsize a jon boat...I wasn't there.  Apparently the flow was way too high for them to be fishing.

 

They each only had one rod n reel, a small tackle box, 2 paddles, and PFDs.  The rod n reels went in the river and the paddles floated away lol.  They got the floating tackle box back too which had their car keys.

 

2 weeks later I was in that same spot and the water was much lower, back to normal levels for July.  I saw his combo on the bottom of the river and grabbed it.  The rod was a St Croix Avid BC and it was fine other than being a little faded in color.  The reel was a Curado and I took it in to Wayzata Bait & Tackle for a complete disassembly and rebuild.  Worked like new after that.  Thing was completely submerged in a river for 2 weeks and they even polished the outside of it for him too.

[zelmo]

33 minutes ago, gimruis said:

2 weeks later I was in that same spot and the water was much lower, back to normal levels for July.  I saw his combo on the bottom of the river and grabbed it.  

I was reading an article once that mentioned a guy who lost a watch on the river.  Two years latter he was in the same spot when the water was low and clear when he saw a flash.  Amazingly it was his watch.  I guess the moral of these stories is don't put yourself at risk.  Go back when conditions are more conducive to searching.

 

Funny thing is that I wasn't getting hit on reaction baits.  I had one follower with a shad rap and jerkbaits didn't produce a strike.  I guess my snag was right in front of this fish and I annoyed it into the bite.

[Skunkmaster-k]

My wife laid her rod down to net my fish and her rod took off like John Candy on The Great Outdoors when he went water skiing. That was apparently my fault. 

[zelmo]

33 minutes ago, Skunkmaster-k said:

That was apparently my fault. 

Of course it was!

[TOXIC]

I won’t even mention the cost of the rods and reels that went overboard  running across Okeechobee in rough water and the rod strap broke that was holding them on the back deck.   The ones that got saved got tangled up with a rattletrap I had tied on in the group and they got drug until I noticed they were gone. 

[Bluebasser86]

I tossed my anchor out of my 2 man when I was a teenager, not realizing the rope had tangled around the handles of both my reels. Of course they untangled once overboard. It was summer time but the water was really murky. Took me about an hour of diving around in 5-7' of water before I recovered both of them. 

[BassNJake]

I've used a deep diving crankbait to save a rod 

I've also used a metal stringer with all the hooks open and dragged that along the bottom as well

(by some miracle I watched someone find their keys like this at the boat ramp)

Although, I've lost a couple metal stringers that way cuz when they get hung, they are gonzo

[N Florida Mike]

I took my middle son camping and fishing once and I was ready to get on the water at daybreak. He didn’t want to get up yet so I went out anyway . As I pulled into a little cove , a nice fish blew up over by some cypress trees. I killed the motor and reached for my rod. But my son’s combo was tangled up in mine and I basically threw it overboard. It was still cold water being early april and I had forgotten an anchor that trip.  I tried to keep the boat on the spot with a paddle while deciding what to do. I took off my flannel shirt , and went overboard , hanging onto the boat. I could just barely touch bottom .  I said a prayer and started walking around . In about 5 minutes I stepped on the combo. I had to go underwater but I got it!

We preceded to catch 12 bass that day!

[Musky.Chaser]

12 hours ago, zelmo said:

Has anyone had success going after a combo that went in the water?

Unfortunately, yes. I remember that day like it was yesterday lol. I was fishing a friend of my mom's pond. This pond has some monster carp (reaching 30#) and so I decided yup I wanna catch one. I chummed the area real nice with the ol classic, corn, and casted a rod out. Eventually, my 12 year old self got bored of waiting for the big bite and decided I'd go fiddle around with the bass and big gills that were up in the shallows. I'd been bass fishing for like 10 minutes when all I hear is the sound of water so I whip around and watch this catfish spinning setup ski 10 feet across the top of this pond until it submerged. Typing this out made me realize that one of my missions for this year may have to be landing a big ol freshwater bonefish...

 

More recently, I watched my buddy go to cast his casting setup and throw the rod into the air and barely catch it before it went into the drink?

Not so recently, I watched that same friend go neck deep to get a rod back after a musky had grabbed his deadbait and ripped the rod in and he then proceeded to catch the fish

[Junk Fisherman]

Here's my story- Once, I broke off and didn't up all reel up all the line.  I picked up another rod and when I turned on the trolling motor it instantly flipped my combo that I had just used into the lake.  Some of the line I didn't reel up got wrapped around the prop and when I turned on the motor it pulled my rod in by the line.  As the combo sank, I was able to plunge my rod I had in my hand into the water and I was just able to pull up the rod tip.  I was able to drop to stomach and grab the top of the rod and get it back in the boat.  It was a GLX and a Chronarch Superfree (remember those gold ones?).  So it was a $500+ combo nearly 20 years ago.

 

I lost a nice combo fishing a reef on Green Bay.  I laid my rod down during a retrieve to net my partner's fish and when I came back for my rod, it was gone.  The boat was on spot-lock so it wasn't moving.  Something had to of taken my lure and pulled it in the lake.  Thankfully, it was my least valuable combo and would have been replaced soon.  

[zelmo]

I just remembered another incident that I had.  
 

A few years ago I was fishing for big largemouth in the Everglades with a guide.  I was tossing a jig with an extra heavy rod.  Most of my fishing is chasing smallmouth with light gear, so I wasn’t ready for what happened next.  
 

The guide had told me to set the hook if I felt anything.  One one retrieve I felt some resistance so I did a big swing hookset.  The problem was that the jig was in a log and not a fish.  The XH rod didn’t give an inch while my arms kept moving.   The result was a combo in the water.  
 

A fast reaction by the guide got it back in the boat, but I sure felt like an idiot.  

[zelmo]

Mods - feel free to move this thread if you are inclined.  I started it here thinking it would be a discussion of aggressive smallmouth.   It hasn’t played out that way.   

[T-Billy]

On 3/30/2022 at 10:09 AM, Skunkmaster-k said:

My wife laid her rod down to net my fish and her rod took off like John Candy on The Great Outdoors when he went water skiing. That was apparently my fault. 

In every relationship there's one person who's always right. The other one's the man. ?

[Bankbeater]

Back when I was about 17 or 18 my dad and I were casting from the bank on a local urban pond.  He was using a two piece rod and it came apart as he was casting.  The top of the rod went out into the lake maybe 20 feet or so.  The rod piece was floating like a bobber with the end sticking up out of the water.  After a couple of minutes of trying to snag it, my dad looks at me and said "go get it".  I thought he was joking, but he wasn't.  I came out of that water smelling like a sewer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ironbjorn]

I think for that amount of money, I'm going in at 3 feet. Always have spare clothes with you, especially during cold water times, especially especially for the kayakers.

[Alex from GA]

While albacore fishing many years ago my buddy's dad laid his rod down with a feather dangling in the water while we gaffed a fish.  I watched that rod take off over the stern super fast never to be seen again.

[Choporoz]

Blade baits work well if they don't get hung up first.   Fish from a kayak long enough and you'll get practice

[Clumsy fisherman]

On 3/30/2022 at 8:48 AM, Bird said:

Knock on wood but luckily have not ever kicked a reel into the water or had a fish take off with one.

Did however upset a Coleman Crawdad years ago and lost everything.

 

 

In September my cellphone popped of my belt into the lake. Does that count?

[Darth-Baiter]

3 feet?  I would at least try to pick it up with my toes. The water is barely washing up against my junk at that depth. 

[Captain Phil]

On 3/30/2022 at 10:53 AM, TOXIC said:

I won’t even mention the cost of the rods and reels that went overboard  running across Okeechobee in rough water and the rod strap broke that was holding them on the back deck.   

 

Been there, done that.  I was once fishing in Pelican Bay when I laid my rod down to pee off the end of the boat.  The line was still out with a plastic worm tied on it.   As I was taking care of business, a bass pulled my rod and reel into the water.  A big thunderstorm was coming which can be nasty on Okeechobee.  I anchored the boat and waited out the storm, then proceeded to drag the bottom with a crankbait attempting to snag my tackle.  After about 30 minutes, I was able to catch the line and retrieve my rig and the three pound bass that had pulled it over.

 

I have lost a number of combos running across big lakes here in Florida when the deck strap came undone or I failed to secure them properly. I once had a guide trip where a customer cast one of my combos in the water.  I charged the guy $100, which was only about half what it cost me. ?

[TOXIC]

Before that incident, in my 40 years of fishing, I had lost a grand total of 2 combos off of a boat and that includes 20 years of going to lake St Clair and running some real rough stuff.  I have modified my tie down procedure now.  

[Tennessee Boy]

Mark the spot as soon as the rod goes overboard.  Tie on a big treble hook with a 3/4 oz weight above it.  Drag the bottom till you snag the rod.  I’ve used this technique to save three rods. It usually doesn’t take long.  I lost one a night in 20ft of water and retrieved it on the first try.  The longest took about 30 minutes to snag.