so i'm having an epic day at an udl a few days back. LOTS of large fish left and right. i'm out in the fast current on a shoal about 2' of water. land a low 30's and she was hooked with the crushed barbed hook twisted in around the jaw bone. keeping the fish the the water the release requires both hands to get the hook out. in the meantime i lean my rod between my neck and shoulder. after a good 5 minutes the fish the fish wrestles and twists from my grip .WHERE'S MY ROD ^%$%$#$%%%- I DON'T SEE IT!!! instant panic attack- heart racing flush feeling. wait.. what's that 10' downstream ready to go in the abyss- my rod butt! with old guy lightning ninja speed i got to it -with the fish still attached. seems while i was preoccupied trying to release the fish the rod slipped off my shoulder and in the drink....the 2nd release attempt was uneventful :). lesson- ALWAYS know where your rod is, i almost lost it. i guess there's a first time for everything.

Been there but it was my fault.Back in my 20s bait fishing with friends and drinking beers.Got up to take a leak and right out of the spike goes the rod and gone forever.

Glad you got it back AH. :btu:
Stepped in a deep hole in the surf last year up to my neck and lost
a nice Lami.:( My friend helped me drag for it but no luck. :(
One time or another it's bound to happen.

lost a great stick and a vs a while back to a rogue wave...I electrical taped a Finsport Pigtail Retractor to the lower handle of my rod and now it gets clipped to a D-ring whenever I'm in the water or the surfs up, doesn't get in the way and still provides plenty of mobility...cost about 8 bucks for the added security

I think Back Beach Jake saved a rod for me about 10 years ago at RP when I used to bait fish the old fashioned way. (That doesn't work anymore unless you are kayasting) Thanks Fred.:buds:

Early one Fall AM two or three years ago, I set up a brand new (cheap, but literally never before used) rod and reel combo in a spike on a small beach in Rockport. It was close to the H2O, but the tide had turned, and the surface was very calm. I then turned to hoof it down the beach a way to set up another, when I suddenly heard a noise behind me. Turning quickly to look, I discovered that the whole bloody setup had vanished! I sprinted back the few yards to where the tackle had been, only to find the empty spike few feet offshore, on the bottom, pointing straight out to sea.

Like a jerk, I'd never adjusted the drag when I set the rig up, only to find out the hard way that it was apparently on tight. A local guide whom I talked to about it told me that a bass as small as 10 lbs. could manage that trick. I hope so; I'd hate to think that it was that first 25 pounder that I'm still looking for!

...painful, painful drag-setting lesson learned.

My friend and I showed up before sunset at a nice rocky outcropping along a beach. We were there for the night with permits to take our 4 wheelers on to the sand. So waiting for dark we plugged a little and my friend snagged a menhaden on a popper trebble hook. He was going to toss the bait fish back in but I said hey , I'll take that.

I tied on a big hook and cast the whole live fish out to swim around and spiked the rod into a sand spike tube.. I turned , walked about 15 feet , saw the rod bend , chased it down as it went skidding across the sand and just nabbed it at the waterline.

Reeled in a 37 pounder. :) Another 20 seconds of inattention and I'd have lost that rod and reel.

Sometimes luck is against you, sometimes stupidity rules instead.

Sauerkraut likes to troll Lake O in the early spring solo for big brown trout. When he hooks a fish clearing lines can be an issue. So he had the brilliant idea of clipping a marker buoy to his other rods and throwing them over the side to get them out of his way. One sweet custom UL rod and Diawa SS reel later he now does it differently. :rotf2:

I chased a rod down Gloucester blvd, by the fisherman statue one night! Got it back though....bought a bait runner the next day! Now as soon as the bait is in the water, I flip that switch and no worries!!

Yeah heavy-duty rod spikes are your friend! I had a fish take the rod right out of its holder on the kayak once, luckily it was leashed!

If I swim out or even deep wade in my wetsuit I always leash my rod with a gadget gear lanyard from Princeton tec, can't risk losing a zee/custom century set up.

If the surf is big I leash it too.

Can't be too careful.

Glad you saved your set up Don.
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