Missed Fish - The Basis Of Every "fish Story" Ever Told.

[bfishn]

I had a 40+ striper take a Woodchopper prop bait (heart attack material of itself), and then take my 12 jon for quite a ride once. Lost him on the second swipe of the net, the hook tangled, then he was gone

[Quillback]

Speaking of boats being towed...

30 years ago when I lived in Massachusetts, I used to do a lot of night fishing for bass. I usually fished a black jitterbug. I had this one man fiberglass canoe that weighed 40 lbs. or so and I could cart around in the back of my S-10. One night I was fishing a lake near my house and having a great time, bass fishing wasn't as popular then as it is now, and I think those fish in that lake had never seen a jitterbug at night. I caught several in the 5-7 lb. range. But the "one that got away" occurred as I was running the jitterbug down the side of a dock, huge bass erupted on it, I hooked it and held on as the monster pulled me and my canoe towards a small sailboat that was docked near the shore, I just couldn't get any leverage to turn it or get a really good hook set and it swam under the sailboat and got off. 10 lbs. maybe? I'll never know.

[Mitch f]

[countryred]

I can think of a couple. Once on Mark Twain, we were working small crankbaits along a rip rap bank catching a few bass along with a bunch of big drum. I hooked a fish and it slowly swam away from the bank,staying down the whole time. My buddy and I were both thinking,.."yep, another drum..." . It stayed down until it got right at the boat and then rolled up on its side. It was a huge largemouth,Those ones that have eyes bigger than quarters. I reached down to grab it and it took off and before I could turn it , it pulled off. I don't know what it would have weighed but guessing it was a 9 or 10.

Another day on Thomas Hill we were a Poes 300 around an old bridge and had a good hit. I yelled for my buddy to get the net,thinking it was a 6 plus bass. A few seconds later I told him never mind. It wasn't a bass. It swam slowly towards the main lake with me following on the trolling motor. I would pull really hard to get it up with no luck. After about 25 minutes I felt it catch the line on a stump and it broke off. I have caught several flatheads in the 15-20 pound range , but this one was way different.

[Kayser]

It's amazing how losing a big fish can bring a bigger smile to my face than catching a handful of average ones. The fish I've missed are what keep me going back.

I'll never forget having a pair of 23-24" trout rocket out from behind a pair of boulders to fight over my cicada dry, only to have a 12" steal it while they're slashing at each other. Or the 26" (I'm guessing, it looked bigger than my 25) that crushed the dropper while I was fighting a 10 on the point fly, then pulled it free and I "traded up." Net wasn't big enough, line broke on a failed attempt. I had to sit down for a while after that one.

Wrapped on logs, rubbed on boulders, thrown on jumps, or just ran harder than my drag could handle. Missed slashes, missed hooksets, or inspected for an eternity before rejecting it. I guess the heartbreak is just a part of the love.

[powerdive]

I was longline trolling the top of the thermocline on the flat edges at K Dock a few years ago, when I had a violent hit. The fish took off on a sizzling run out over the channel, and never stopped. Light drag, thumb pressure, I couldn't turn it. Spooled me and gone, line and all. No idea what it was. Big striper or gar, maybe?

And of course, we had phenomenal walleye fishing near Diamond City this past June and July. The first time I tried using Slow Death rigs, the big guys were snapping them. We had solid limits of 20-25 inch fish, but that day I lost 6 larger walleyes--they kept straightening the hook on me. I wasn't very quick on the uptake that day, and it wasn't until later that I realized I was using my trolling rods/reels filled with braid, and the drags (as always) were set to allow fish to be retrieved without stopping the boat. Because the Slow Death hooks are light wire bent Aberdeens, I needed to stop blaming the hooks and loosen the drag. Next time out, I used lighter gear, mono line and a looser drag--did well on the 3-4 pounders, but the big fish window had evidently closed.