The fish that got away stories.....

[Syfer420]

I was just fishing at my favorite little pond getting nibbles no takers though, when all of a sudden a very heavy feeling bass struck my bait. My pole bent almost completly in half ( keep in kind it was a cheapo pole wich i'll pay for later) I hear a cracking from  my pole and reel. After a little bit of fighting my reel finally gives out but he close enough to shore to pull the line by hand. As i reach down looking at a real nice bass he gives a kick of his tail and snaps my line like mint dental floss. After all that nonsense i realized i still had alot of fun and figured i'd share it with the folks on br forums and have other stories told....so and good fish that got away stories?

[Captain Cali]

December 2005...wind was very strong. Dead sticked a swimbait for about 5 minutes. Started reeling in the bait and it felt heavy...like a bunch of grass or something got stuck on the bait. When I got the "clump of grass" up to the surface I saw the biggest largemouth of my life up to that point. Probably 7 to 9 pounds. I just saw a wide open mouth. She shook her head 2 or 3 times right when she hit the surface and the bait went flying. I swear...it happened in slow motion and I did not react at all. Just froze up. I was bummed but there was probably no way I would have landed her even if she was hooked good since I was on a fishing pier, 10 feet up off the water with no net!

Lesson learned: SET THE HOOK!

Oh yeah...welcome to the forum.

[paparock]

Nice story! thanks for sharing it.

[Syfer420]

Yes awsome story cali

[fishingJ]

Great story

[Bassassasin12]

I got one, I was fishing on the docks by my locla lake one time without a boat just right from the docks. i was just skipping a senko as far under as I could get it and just let if fall to the ground. I had caught a couple two pounders the day before doign this and that is why I was back again this day. I dropped the bait under, let it sink to the bottom, then went to reel up my slack. As I did this, I felt a huge tug and my rod was amlost ripped out of my hands and right now my pole is almost underneath the dock. I had to quikcly un lock down my drag and loosen it up. The fish took line all the way to the other side and I had to try to pull him back onto my side. I got him back on to my side of the dock and he then tryed to jump(too big and fat to do so) and I saw the biggest mouth I have ever seen on a largie. I immediatly went into panic mode and just really screwd up and tryed to muscle the fish in. As I did this he quickly pulled awy from me when I wasnt expecting it and snapped my line right off. I just collapsed to the ground and layed there while my fishing buddie tryed to console me. It was tough... but the next day I went there I landed a 7.3, my PB of the year. Who knos how big that fish was?

[SBM-RL]

I was fishing my favorite lake back in michigan me and my friend were having a good day already had 2 3lbers an many 1-2lbers theres this tree thats really weird look and has a fork and it hovers about two feet above the water so we get to it and i say to my friend bet theres a good one right under that fork then i make the greatest cast ive ever made perfectly inbetween and soft as my friend compliments the cast bam i set the hook and she starts running then the monster shows her tial and back turns the other way takes off and snap  > i had the drag to tight! i was so mad i know how big fish are and carry a digital scale and so does my partner and we agreed she was every bit of 9 in MI! but weve caught many 5-6lbers in this lake i know they get huge there so i plan on being the first person in MI to catch a DD in a long time

[KYbass1276]

One of mine actually happend today.  While it wasn't a big fish such as some in previous stories he did weigh I would say 4 pounds.   I was fishing with a Lipless crank and as usual rod loaded up so I apply pressure to the rod a little more and proceed to reel him in get him closer to the bank and  he manages to get into some vegitation and bury himself in it.  I manage to get him out of the vegitation and up to where I can grab him.  My hand was about a foot away from the fish when after all the fighting to get away it had done and not spit the hooks it manages to do so with just a little shake of its head and my bait flys back toward me.  While I dodge the flying bait it manages to get away from me.   No big deal atleast I got him that far.   The other day I had one while C rigging throw the bait after it jumped the second time.  It was a good one I normally don't get uspset about losing a fish but after that I just didn't want to fish the rest of the day I'm sure it would have been my PB for this year

[sirmo]

Many have gotten away.  And all storys are too painfull to re-live.  :'(

lol

Better luck next time guys!

[CrazedL.IFisherman]

my daily trip to maine for a week, it was a cool june night during 2005, my partner and started the evening fishing and the sunset was beautiful it was perfect, we were ready for one hell of a night of fishing with amazing conditions, the water was calm all night, there wasn't a mosquito around, turns out my partner and i couldn't buy a bite, for over 2 hours we fished every area possible, speaking for myself i was frustrated but was not giving up, sure enough out of near where, with no bites in hours my dying flutter propeller lure gets anniliated if thats spelt correctly, it was like a scene directly out of jaws, i straight reeling in and nothings left but the end of the line, an added fact is that there are huge and i mean huge pike in this maine lake, either way it was a beast whether largie or pike, man was my adreneline pumping after that, to this day that was the best hit on any lure i have receieved and ill never know what it was or more importantly how big

[fishinyank]

A smallie story here ... one that'll never forget.

I was fishing the Susky river up here in NY this summer, mid to late july. It was a good three weeks or so after the ridiculous flood we had in June, and the water was still high by normal standards. The first part of the evening I spent fishing by myself from shore/wading, but was keeping in contact with a guy I met the day before, who was fishing aways downstream. With less than an hour of solid daylight left, we decide to meet up and go to a spot Ive never been to before. So we drive down the highway a few miles, and pull into a rest stop right on the river. We make our way down to the shore and the water is crazy..Rock bottom, lots of ripples, and the current is fast, I mean cooking.

I tie on a craw colored Storm Deep Wart and start casting up current and grinding it into the rocks. Then, on the second or third cast it happens....

I was at the end of my retrieve, the crank was about 10 to 12 feet away from me, down stream now because the current was so fast, and I get hung up. So I let the crank float out of the snag, then sweep my rod toward me, cranking once or twice, and it stops dead, about three feet directly in front of me, in what was probably about 2-3 ft of water. Instantly my rod loads, and I mean LOADS. I look down to see the biggest smallie Iv'e ever seen come erupting out of the water. It came up about as high as my waist, curled sideways showing me its entire flank, followed by its tail fin, which was easily the size of a ping-pong paddle. AS it crashed back into the water right at my feet I hollered "oh $H#T". I was just dumbfounded. My rod loaded again, like an Ugly Sick in the advertisment, and I came back to my senses: "losen the drag you idiot," I thought to myself. So I start fumbling for the star and....she came unbuttoned. The sheer force was too much for the hookset I had on her and my Deep Wart came flying back at my face. This all happened in about two seconds. My buddy missed it, but he heard it, it sounded like a bowling ball being thrown into the water.

So how big was she? I can tell you this. My biggest weighed smallie was just under 4.5 pounds, but I have caught bigger fish when I didn't have a scale handy, probably about 5 to 5.5 pounds....Any of these fish could have easily hid BEHIND this fish and you would have never seen them. 7 pounds? 8? Who knows. Needless to say I didn't sleep very well that night and to this day I have the memory of that giant tail fin waving bye-bye to me burned into my brain. If I only got to that drag star on time..or even just dropped the rod and caught her with my bare hands mid jump, I would know the answer to that.

PS sorry for the long post, but I REALLY had to get that one off my chest.....

[Guest avid]

Well, I have too many to remember so I'll just tell about the most recent.

TONIGHT!!

I decided to go after bigguns or nothin.  so all I fished was big baits.  I have a musky sized black jitterbug that has two sets of trebles sticking out the side up towards the front, and the usual tail ender.  Thats nine hooks.   I got 5 hits on that sucker and couldn't hook a thing.  I think they were swatting at it, because only once did I ever feel any weight on the lure after the splash (hit) but all I could think was how big  must a bass be to tangle with this monster.  Of course that's not true, we have all seen six inch bass hit six inch baits, but I sure would like to have hooked one just to see for sure.

PS, I also had a hit on a 6" mission fish right at the boat.  It was barely a three pounder but he saw me and dropped the bait before I could set the hook.

I did manage a couple "keepers" but nothing serious.

Some days you eat the bear, some days the bear eat you.  

[Bankbeater]

These are some great stories.