I had 2 fish on the rocks already.....a 22 pound and a 12 pound for the table and chowder pot when I hooked my new PB!!! After a 10 minute battle I thought I might never win I brought the fish to hand knowing I had to let her go! Approx. 36-38 pounds. I cradled her in the water and held her tail and let her slip through my fingers! It felt great! No pics unfortunately......had no cameras prepared and wanted to get her back in the water to swim again!:jump:

Pencil is now a wall hanger after countless fish the past 2 seasons! She deserves a rest!

Nice fish Larry, congrats!!

Thanks Matt! The fish in the pic are the 2 I kept.:uhuh:

WTG Larry.... feels good don't it..:uhuh:

Very Nice Wish I took more fish on top water

Nothing wrong with that Larry, thats allot of fillet to deal with if kept. Nice fish. Hope you had a nice big visual crash on top with that popper.

The fish hit it hard! Was spooling me and I thought it was gonna go the distance and break me off but I got her turned......did not think I would ever gain any line back between the fish and the current! Yeah Joe I could get addicted to letting the big girls go! I liked it!!:uhuh:

Congrats!

Congrats Larry, you work hard for all your fish so deserve to move the bar higher with this PB!

Thanks guys and thanks very much Phil! They do not come easy for me so yeah it was nice! Glad I could send her on her way though! I had my meat!

great story and great fish- and even better that it went back into the water

you have reason to be proud

Congrats!
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Nice Larry ! Glad you got a PB . Its a good feeling

Congrats on a new P B, and its cool that she was able to swim another day. I have only kept two fish all season so far....I like to see the go.

congrats larry!

Got to catch the fleeting moment. Happy for u larry especially after many of the nites endured on the back beaches in the good old days
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Great fish and great story. Pictures or no, you know how big she was. Keep it up.

Bill

Thanks guys! One bright and shining moment in an otherwise dismal saltwater season for me.....have not been much as it has been pretty poor this season! All the more reason to let the big girls go. :uhuh:

PBs are what dreams are made of. Enjoy

Good job as always Larry. Congrats

Congrats Larry!
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Larry,

You have the edge over most of us, especially at 61 as I'm now the incredible shrinking man, you have a lot of leverage at that height:).......congrats. Dropping a large before you can lip, hold and admire her is disappointing but exciting.

Nice going Larry !
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Congrats

If I am misunderstanding your reply Bob my bad........I did catch this fish. Unhooked plug, picked up fish, admired her for a moment and then slid her back in the water and she swam from my hand.......it was great! I have experienced the moment I think you are speaking of Bob....to get it just so close only to lose it! Heartbreaking for sure!

Congrats Larry!!!!
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I guess the real question is..... if hadn't kept the other 2 fish earlier, would you have let this fish go?


(not bustin' your b@lls, just a hypothetical question.......)

I am pretty sure I would have....before the season started I set my own limits. All fish over 38 inches going back! I kept those first 2 as they were perfect size for eating a chowder and some filets! Tough as it might have been it was going back! I will also add that it felt so good I will never think twice about doing it again....all large will be going back!:uhuh:

Nice fish Larry
congrats on your PB

Nice job larry, more good karma coming you're way.

Well done Larry.

At least you got to see her. the other day I put to much pressure on a screamer and broke it off. Damn thing just kept going and going.

congrats larry

Well done Larry!! Nice to get a face full of water as she kicks away!