I've seen big fish lost in the first wave due to carelessness.Sometimes your on a rock and can't find a safe way to land that corker of a fish.There are some that,when wading will try to play a fish out when she's in too close and you get shaken off.There are all kinds of ways to lose fish, but I am talking about the kind of fish called a"picture takin' fish."You know what I mean she peels drag,makes your heart beat fast and you say to yourself"this is the one."
It happened to me this year, in front of a lot of good fishermen too!Some schools with a good class of fish had been discovered by some hard working friends at a certain tide stage.A group of us met for some early season action but it started quietly.An hour or more of nothing and then one by one rods started folding.I thought I was prepared with a stout stick and heavy braid.Many fish well into the 30# range had been battled with ease when suddenly I required more space.This fish could not be contained as easily as the others.Run after run as the crowd awaited proof of this battle.Then it was over.Gone,except for my slack line.A straightened out crap hook on an ill-conceived TSUNAMI shad with its TINY friggin' barb.Sleepless nights followed and now it is cold and my season is over.Do not over tighten your drag.Let the fish get tired.I like to think next time I'll get a picture with that fish and a lesson was learned.
Who else lost a big one this year?

S/D does it really matter ????????????????????/:laughs:

Same here a stupid lunker city jig head with a sluggo, the hook straightened right out

I still think of a fish I lost 10 years ago:nailem:

Although it wasnt this year...Happened to my son about 3 years ago on the Vineyard..We were chunking at night..Probally around 10:00..I had just went back to the truck area to relieve my self and turned to see his rod bend in the spike...Son saw at the same time...He grabbed it and set the hook..The fish was running...I stepped up next to my son. who was a little excited..lol..Tried to calm him down..The fish was a biggin..He fought it for about 15 minutes..Got it in to the wash and BAMM it was gone,,Straighten out the swivell..GONE...He was heart broken as was I..Even the guy a few hundred down came over to see the fish, but there was no fish to be seen..He knew it was a big one..I often think of that fish...:exp: I think it was a fish of a life time

It happened to me this year, in front of a lot of good fishermen too!Some schools with a good class of fish had been discovered by some hard working friends at a certain tide stage.A group of us met for some early season action but it started quietly.An hour or more of nothing and then one by one rods started folding.I thought I was prepared with a stout stick and heavy braid.Many fish well into the 30# range had been battled with ease when suddenly I required more space.This fish could not be contained as easily as the others.Run after run as the crowd awaited proof of this battle.Then it was over.Gone,except for my slack line.A straightened out crap hook on an ill-conceived TSUNAMI shad with its TINY friggin' barb.Sleepless nights followed and now it is cold and my season is over.Do not over tighten your drag.Let the fish get tired.I like to think next time I'll get a picture with that fish and a lesson was learned.
Who else lost a big one this year?

That'll teach you to taunt Tattoo, his overtightened drag, and "Bassmaster Pro Trail" fish fighting style. The curse of the angry man. Next year we'll all have the 9" Pastrami shad with the 11/0 shark hook, 80# braid, a 30W and tuna sticks in case those fish return. At least I will. The monkey will f' the football on a dark moon in late May for sure.

That said I've never lost as many unstoppable fish as I did this year, several due to foolish mistakes. :splat:

oh gawd yea and it didnt hit me til a few days later. Not a big fan of cut hooks anymore :poke: gawd it hurt... I hook up waaaaay out. This thing was in full command the whole time. Running.. and Im holding on ok dont mess this up... slows down.. ok pump it in slow... zzzzzzzziiiiiiit gone again ok runnin let er go... slows ok...pump it in... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzziiiiitttttt.. :shocked: slows ok pump it in... ha.. still slow pump it in... wait for it.. aha no run!! :lasso: pump it in... some 200yds later... Wow that was a big bulge in the water I think it just came to the surface...:shocked: *thinking to myself, I could put a saddle on this thing* ok remain calm.. pump it in... ok its close I know exactly where its being landed.. walk down.. Heres the fatal flaw.. didnt loosen the drag.... I take a wrap on the leader because I cant reach all the way down without someone holding my ankles...... wow :shocked: this is bigger than I thought.... ***POP**** cut hook opens :hihi: SPLASH :wall:

I'm on a roll. One a year for the last three years.

My M/O is losing decent fish.Its like a freakin curse with me.

i lost a lot of good fish this year, mostly because my hooks weren't
sharp. my most memorable lost fish experience occurred mid morning in late november. i was fishing the incoming on the beach next to a certain burned b-way when birds started going nuts right in the entrance to the channel. i walk over and theres small bunker flipping all over the place with monster blues attacking. i started out banging them on pencils but then switched to a blue/white tattoo darter to see if i could entice a bass. a few casts later i hooked into an absolute brute that combined with the current was almost impossible to stop. this "thing" had me down to my backing fairly quickly and then brought me into the pilings further in. i had the spool cupped the whole time and still couldn';t stop it. finally i was down to almost no line so i applied as much pressure as possible and finally popped the plug free. i know there was a seal hanging around there so that might be what i hooked into, but i think it was more typical of bass behavior to bring me into the pilings. might've been a tuna also as there was a ton of herring around. whatever it was, it was the heaviest fish i ever hooked into.

2 AM, full moon, dead low at Black Point and I am way out on the reef. Throwing one of my jointed swimmers, jet black with BIG red eyes.

So there's a swirl the size of a bathtub. I hook up and am never in control of the fish. VS 250 singing like the breeze. She goes down and I feel her rubbing against a rock. Then....nothing. I reel in and 3/0, 3x Strong treble straightened along with the metel lip bent in half. I'll never know how big but my biggest is 45# in the surf (years ago) and this fish pulled as hard as any fish I ever hooked. I saved the hook and the lip as a reminder.:bc:

A late night in June, Canalman and I were fishing eels on our favorite rock, I cast out my eel and let it sink to the bottom and WHAM! I'm on a fish that is ripping drag like I've never seen before, I realize I have to try to turn this beast, so I start palming my spool to try to get control.:musc: Well she jets to the right into a boulder field, I knew this wasn't gonna be good. I feel my line zig zagging thru the rocks..like she knew what she was doing...then SNAP!! She was gone..cut me off on the rocks.:crying:

We ended up getting 6 fish in the 30 + pound range that night and several others in the 20's.

I learned a huge lesson that night about handling big fish around rocks..Real tight drag and you have to get control immediately. Haven't lost another since. We still talk about that night.;)

Don't be upset, thats fishing.
If I counted all the "fish of a lifetime" I've hooked (and lost in the canal rocks/ledge) ...ahhhh

oh well...thats fishing.

Big Bass on Plugs-- with treble hooks-- presents unique difficulties, due to increased leverage of a Cow to demolish them! I'm convinced this is a big reason why so many outsized Bass are cought on eels/ bait/ busktails, vs. Plugs-- a Single hook just has a much better chance to stick-- & stay!-- strong in the maw of a real brute during the battle.

Piemma... as long as you've been around, I'm surprised you'd have ANY faith at all in Mustad 3/0 (or smaller) 3x trebles around big fish! I've only been "serious" Surfcasting now for 10 yrs. or so-- serious meaning I finally had the $ to afford top- notch tackle & gear!-- but I made the decision way back then as a Cow- hunter specifically, TO upgrade all plug trebles of mine-- yes, (almost) every plug I own!-- to 4x strong ones. Back then that meant Eagle Claw 4x's, sold & touted by Bill at the Surfcaster, so I bought heavily into them & made the switch on every plug!

That's all background to my #1 lost dream- Cow story! SO... Five Falls ago, on a late October mid- week afternoon at Montauk, the so- called infamous crowds were all home! Intermittent rain, building rough seas and strong ESE Winds (in face there) made conditions tough, & I've never seen crowds there on such days really! So, though I'm casting in a highly- known & productive area an easy walk from the Lot, I was totally alone!... & throwing & working a 2 & 3/8 Oz. Gibbs Pencil into the churned- up, but manageable surf : here, 4-8 foot- deep extremely rocky/ boulder- strewn "shelf," even at the end of a long cast (similiar to P.J. but craggier!). After 45 unproductive & uncomfortable minutes of throwing, I was wondering if everyone else stayed home with good reason?... IS the water too dirty from the rain & runoff?... WHEN:

The take was surprisingly subtle, esp. in the rough- ish water: more a sub- surface "slurp" & roll, than an explosive crash... but I knew immediately this was a really big Bass, as I did see half the fish above- water, and then a huge swirl/ displacement! Now I'm in a tug- of- war with a non- hard- running, but rather strong & stubborn fish-- probably because I'm fishing a tight drag as usual at sticky Montauk. Tight drag or not, I'm only using 20 lb. Mono on a VS250 & 10 Foot St. Croix rod, so I can only hold on while this bull zips left & right, headshakes, then starts wallowing 50- 60 yards out on the bottom. Still no big/ long drag- screaming run yet-- but the fish is just too strong to budge, & seems to not be at all alarmed that it's hooked! (Slow, sulking, thought- out movements... not fast/ panic-ed running!)

OK... 10- 12 minutes of toe- to- toe fight/ tug- of- war later, the fish is finally moving-- slowly!-- in towards the boulder I'm standing on, though even under my max. pressure I'm still hardly gaining anything! But she's finally allowing me to lead her in closer... closer... now, finally she's maybe 15 yards from me, but still determined & hugging bottom, and my rod & line are stretched to the limit... but slowly I'm coaxing her in still!...

Then-- suddenly-- NOTHING!! Slack line, and a whirlpool- sized swirl where my fish just was, but unfortunately no visual at all of her! Gone!! :eek: My primal scream could be heard for miles no doubt!... until then grief set in when I reeled in my "slack" line! The line was not slack at all: my Pencil was still there!-- my line never broke!! But one of the head 4x 4/0 E.C. treble hooks was straightened out almost completely, like a pin! This sorry sight hung from my dashboard the rest of that Fall as "punishment" to myself!... and a reminder! Then, that off- season I changed over every one of my plug trebles (hundreds!!) to VMC 4x's! :scream2:

No VMC failures yet... but admittedly, have not had a hook- up of that size since to test them yet! (That includes a boat- caught 49 lber. last Spring that was "easy" in comparison!). I'm now trying out/ changing over to VMC 6x's... if one of these open up, I'm out of ideas/ excuses!

went to the canal around october - I think... days have wizzed bby so fast since I bought my house I dont know which end of the rod to hold!!

had some fun tossing and drifting plugs. hearing, and seeing, the occasional rise of a large something out in the water.

I noticed some activity down stream on my side so I started letting them drift closer to the rocks.

reeling in I got a slam but I wasnt expecting it. I had the drag loose for no-good reason. I spun that handle and pulled hard on the pole. I could see some mighty commotion in the darkenss about 40 yards away. I could feel the line wiggling and hear that splashing. It was amazing. I was sure I would have some tasty striper in my belly for a few nights.
then I had my plug come flying towards me and the commotion stopped.

Two points of the trebble were pulled straight.
the belly trebble was firmly plunged into the side of the plug.

I didnt have any more hits after that.

Well, at least I had a hookup. It gave an OK ending to my skunked season.

i got spooled (8ft shakespear 2pc with a shimmano 400s 17#test with about 175yrd left on it) at the mouth of a big rolling current one night this fall..im on and what ever i got hooked is taking line like a boat..the drag got tweaked down a little more and was now set as tight as it could go.. and this thing keeps pulling me.. one looong and in the end shaky run. My spool is getting low and now im starting to panic and begin cupping it...the rod guides, reel and line start ticking...tick tick tick tick tick tick then the tell tale "snap" at first i thought it was a big bass but now i thinkn it may have been a seal or bluefin. The weekend after that night I got impulsive and splurged on a penn 7500 w/ my cc.

I was at one of my favorite spots,huge blitz goin on , mostly 26-28 inch bass and 8lb. blues. very rocky area, I was using my 10' and 704z w/30lb fireline . Catching tons of fish when I hook into one that is VERY different. I had controll to a point and then the reel was just screaming and it came unhooked. Ithink that was the only good one I lost this year and it felt to be about 40 inches.

Piemma... as long as you've been around, I'm surprised you'd have ANY faith at all in Mustad 3/0 (or smaller) 3x trebles around big fish! I've only been "serious" Surfcasting now for 10 yrs. or so-- serious meaning I finally had the $ to afford top- notch tackle & gear!-- but I made the decision way back then as a Cow- hunter specifically, TO upgrade all plug trebles of mine-- yes, (almost) every plug I own!-- to 4x strong ones. Back then that meant Eagle Claw 4x's, sold & touted by Bill at the Surfcaster, so I bought heavily into them & made the switch on every plug!

I agree! I was using 3/0s because of the size of the jointed swimmer. I am now making the jointed swimmers larger so as to accomidate a 4/0 Eagle Claw.
BTW, I have about 5 boxes of Mustad 3/0 3X. I will still use them up but on smaller plugs.

happens more than it should; but it happens to us all. then there are those days when you land the fish after what seems to be an agonizingly long fight, where you keep thinking any second the hook is going to pull free; but it doesn't. the next thing you know, there's a 46" national seashore striper on the beach, or 140# tarpon being revived boatside, and you are victorious. that is fishing... highs & lows. :kewl:

last season i only lost one good fish that haunted me. There was nothing that i could have done to stop it. The fish dashed right into a patch of jagged rock outcroppings, so i cupped my spool to at least stop it from going any further. The result was a straightened 4/0 VMC and a straightened 6/0 siwash. The season before i lost way too many fish due to user error.. I learned from my mistake and it payed in spades this year. later on in the fall it happened agian, but it was from a gator boo... who cares when you loose a bloo :hihi:

I'll share what i learned- always go armed for bear.. 6o lb braid, 50 lb or even 60 lb flouro leaders, and for chripes sakes, tripple check your knots. Change your leader every trip and trim back your main line about a foot or so every 3rd trip..... no problems mon :tm:

Change your leader every trip and trim back your main line about a foot or so every 3rd trip..... no problems mon :tm:
Trim 10ft EVERY trip
it wears farther back then you think!

i use a 15 foot shock leader.

heres another tip- if you borrow a leader from a friend, make sure you ask what pound test it is :bl: :usd:

heres another tip- if you borrow a leader from a friend, make sure you ask what pound test it is :bl: :usd:


I second that:hee: :hihi:

Anyone ever have a fish you can't turn and whack the rod butt with your palm to stop it?What about when a big fish beds down in the kelp and you KNOW your gonna break it off.Did you ever take the line off the roller to make the fish think it's free?

Done both.Freespool done a lot with fish in trouble. "Plinking or twanging" line also moves fish that are stuck sometime or to get them to change direction.

Anyone ever have a fish you can't turn and whack the rod butt with your palm to stop it?What about when a big fish beds down in the kelp and you KNOW your gonna break it off.Did you ever take the line off the roller to make the fish think it's free?

many times,I do that to get the fish from a round rocks and on a clear path.

heres another tip- if you borrow a leader from a friend, make sure you ask what pound test it is :bl: :usd:

I TOLD you it was 30 and to cut the teaser off and re rig but SOMEBODY was LAZY :D

I had forgotten about that... sorry again.. :D

I TOLD you it was 30 and to cut the teaser off and re rig but SOMEBODY was LAZY :D

I had forgotten about that... sorry again.. :D


that was the biggest fish of my lifetime :hihi::gf:

ps. got your message- i wont be there tonight. :(

So full of sh-t it's coming out your ears..
it was low 20's and you know it :D
OK; I'm not 100% either, too much stuff going on

nope that fish was pushin 80 lbs.

Keep it up and I'll be pushing 260 into the water in the spring :D