How Many MONSTAHS Did It TAKE,,,,,,,,,,
 

or how many trophies didjya LOSE, before you
started landing them with sum degree of consistency???

would any of our wily veterans care to elaborate?
so far i'm 0 for 5, and have the numbness and nightmares
that go with them. also, is there a number LOST per year?

thanks in advance for yer thoughts, just trying to gauge my level
of ineptitude; somewhere between normal and "always a bridesmaid"
:grins: :wall: :wall: :grins:

Bassdawg,
Not sure what you consider a monster but I'm figuring over 35 or so. The one thing that increased my hook-up land ratio was using heavy tackle. There is a fine line between you having the bass and them having their way with you. When I first started casting I as using a 9 foot medium stick with 15 lb line on a penn 704. With that outfit I was praying when hooked up to something I really wanted to land - that oufit just didn't have the balls to take care of big fish in rocky conditions I fished around. I learned my lesson and went to a medium heavy 10 ft stick with 20 lb line on the 704 and increased my land ratio quite a bit. Now there are very few times I feel outgunned by larger bass. I'm very confident that I will be able to touch the cows that I hook-up - then let them swim away.

DZ

I second the heavier tackle. I lost a couple the first year or so i was seriously fishing. I juiced up all the tackle, and now when i lose em its more of an act of god. Pulled hook, bad luck on a rock, or like this fall on block, geting blind sided by a monster wave while fighting a fish and losing tension.

Use of single hook. Very rarely will you drop a big bass on a single J style hook ala, using live eels , rigged eels, bucktails , shads, rigged sluggo, and fin-s fish etc. Treble hooks on plugs are a nightmare. Ratio of landed big fish with these is not good. Heavier tackle also helps.

Second the heavier tackle. Don't forget to upgrade Hooks, Split rings, etc. Keep the hooks sharp. Rear hook - make a flag or use a siwash - Less likely a big girl will get leverage to pop the front hook.

I've been at this for a long time and 26lber is the best I have to show.
I've lost count of the 30+lbers I've lost,its been so many its sickening.
Most have unhooked themselves literally right at the waterline.

Someday I keep telling myself.

How do you know they are monsters getting away if you have never caught one and you never get to see the fish? I have had outings where I cach fish in the 40 lb. class only to think the next one is bigger because it fights harder. When it comes time to lip it, the harder fighting fish is mid 20's.
Patience is an important attribute when fighting large fish. Let the rod and reel work for you,don't try to horse it through the guides.

In my case I've seen many of the fish,some of which I was reaching down to actually grab.

Trust some of these fish were HUGE.

I am lucky...I went from dinks to cows right off the bat in the 90's...big girls were abundant to where I was taken and I stepped up as I was told and got heavy equipment....I can honestly say we landed almost every large we hooked, for years....it was sandy beaches, eels, sharp hooks and alot of time spent...it was easy.
For the past 5 years or so...things have taken a step backwards. I say due to lack of fish in those spots (seals), not fishing eels that often and not playing the fish right when hooked up in shallow rocky areas. I have had alot of heartbreakers the past few....

Basswipe, something is radically wrong if you are losing alot of big fish at that late stage of the fight. Be more specific. Also, I agree with Seadangles, unless you see the fish, you really never know how big they are. It seems like every season I'll catch a fish and think it's alot bigger until I get it close and land it. Believe me, I been "disappointed" with 38 pound fish that fought and felt like much, much bigger bass. The scale is THE true tell.

Radically wrong is an understatement.I've had reels explode,rods shatter,line snap.I've fallen on my ass or gone for an unintentional swim with fish on.I've had 6xVMCs straighten out.I'm no slouch on gear and maintenance.Everything gets checked on a regular basis.

And yet I've landed literally several dozen 18+ pound bluefish.In one particular instance several 20+(one was tipped the scale at just over 22) with no issues.I know the weights to be accurate as a majority of the 20+ fish were actually weighed.

Landing big bass just seem to elude me.

Boy basswipe, that's too bad. You have some rotten luck!

6xVMCs don't straighten out !
Anyone who uses them knows that.
The break or snap !

Something that might help like Dangles said is patience and keeping calm. Try not to get two worked up, relax and enjoy the fight. Recently I was aked to go fish for Steelhead. I was very fortunate to be shown this fishery by a few veteran steelheaders. It is different than striper fishing but landing the big fish is the same. The large fish that could be landed generally were going to be landed by those guys who were confident and knew how to fight them from experience. I lost the first five fish I hooked because I freaked out. I had so much adrenilne pumping I couldn't think. Each fish I hooked I fought longer than the next till I eventually landed one. Knowing your area is also a key. Knowing when to let the fish run and when to put pressure is a big part. Having knots and everything in top condition is a must. If there is any weak part in your system it will be found. No amount of "practice"beats the actual time hooked up with a large fish. There is no way to get a feel for them until you have spent enough time battling them. Loosing the battle only makes you more aware of your mistakes. Fix those mistakes in the next fight and you are closer to landing that fish. Repeat each mistake and you loose.

THANKS very much gentlemen!!

still no count from anyone,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

DZ, i am speaking of fish in the 50# and up range.
while it is true ya never know til they hit the scale,
it IS easy to tell the difference when the beast stays low and you can feel her shoulders as she peels line off as if she's not even hooked while she's trying to spool you, or hunkers down to break you off.

i seem to be doing well with the 30# to 38#+ class and have landed
several in that range in the past couple of years,,,,,,,so i have a pretty good read on how that feels. also, i've had a couple of BIGGUNS within sight, and two of them have jumped to reveal their approximate size.

i sharpen my hooks religiously, change leaders often, have learned some more about how to 'play the fish' amongst the rocks, got the strumming thing down when they hunker, and feel confident about setting the hook and having solid hook sets.

i guess for me it is the LAHHHGE ones that i remember the most,
every second, every nuance of the battle, and all my effff upps.

thanks again Chris, Dennis, and Steve. hoping for MUCH
better results in '09~~ God Willing and the Good Lord Providing.
:kewl: :kewl: :kewl:

!!
 

WOW, very well said Tynan!

and exactly where i am, thanks for the encouragement
aand for sharing yer progression. i do believe that '09 is THE year!!!

I might not be the best one to comment (as I don't catch a lot of monsters), but the biggest fish that I ever had on, I landed. Now, let it be said that this was on a boat, but it took me and my crew by surprise, and I caught it on a rod built for schoolies (on a 40 year old boat). The fish took 180 yards of line off a 965 on a 7 foot gloomis, and my buddies couldn't figure out how to pull the anchor or start the engine, so I was stuck.
Kept my wits about me, was patient, and didn't choke by tightening the drag when I was almost out of line.
Hard to say what I would have done on a rock at night (probably would have never believed that there was that much line out), but be patient, keep an eye out for what's going on around you, AND DON'T SCREW UP WHEN THE FISH IS IN CLOSE.
That's my best advice, but then again, it's been a while since I have had a big fish on, sooooo.

thanks emgred and Rick!!!
:kewl: :kewl: :kewl:

good stuff gents, patience seems to be
the operative word, and HEAVY GEAR!!!

i currently run 25#BCountry on the spool, to
(was thinking of stepping up to 30# spool line)

60# Ande pink mono snelled, to
a 6/0~8/0 Gammi, Octopus, dependent
on the size of snakes i'm slingin',,,,,,,,,,
:uhuh: :uhuh: :uhuh:

BassDawg This is what helped me the most Backoff your drag untill you can pull line off your reel between your pinky and your thumb and when a fish takes half a spool of line backoff the drag some more. YouDON,T want that big fish untill it has pulled off a couple hunderd yds.I think that will knock the fight out of her before she get stoshore rocks. hope this helps. DON,T GET STAGE FRIGHT AND TIGHTEN THE DRAG

As far as BIG bass go, (40+ in my opinion,) I landed one this season (43.5) and lost one this season that I estimate being a bit bigger... 50? I'd like to think so, but more likely a bass in the 40# class... Lost it along a rocky shoreline at low tide. This fish would not stop... just could not turn it... BUT I realised the second i lost it that it was mostly my fault. the line broke off on a rock, and yes, it was dead low boulders... but my error was that as soon as I hooked it and the fight just started, I was already moving away from the point/shelf i was on and started walking to where I planned on landing it WAY too early. so as it went out, and the further back I walked, the lower the line got to the rocks and I had no leverage... snap. I learned, believe me.

DRAG!
 

If you fish a light drag,you'll get the fish.

seems that people who never landed a big fish lose them while people who have landed big fish rarely lose them

I don't care how long you have been at this game and how good you think you are, you are still going to drop a few big fish each year. I do. Hooked wrong, over confident knick in the braid you didn't notice, snap came open.

Anyone who doesn't acknowledge stuff like that happening when you fish five out of 7 nights a week in season is full of poo. IMHO.

I think you hit the nail on the head. I haven't lost many real big ones because I don't fish enough to come across a lot of the 45 plus # fish. But there was one last year that if it had got off, I would have sworn I had a 50 + on. I fought the thing for literally 20 minutes taking it easy to tire her out because I was sure it was my new PB. Finally as I'm getting line in and getting her close to the boat, I see it was just foul hooked. I couldn't believe it took me 20 minutes to brign a 22lb fish to the boat.

Well I caught the first 2, so called monsters, I hate that word monster, I ever hooked on back to back nites. I really never gave it a premeditated thought as to how I would ever fight a fish like that and certainly didn't have time to think about while it was happening. I was a novice for sure at the time, still could be . I guess luck was on my side and has to have something to do with it. I did do a better job on the second nite as I kind of knew what to expect but still nerve wracking. A lot of things can go wrong and none did so I was lucky. I will say i lost a very large fish while trolling T&W about 5 years ago. I lost that due to not having enough patience for the fish to exhaust itself and just pulled too hard as I was sick of waiting. I will never do that again. Worse thing is I saw the bugger several times. Wish I hadn't. Nothing better than the adrenaline rush of knowing you have something good on the line that you may not be able to touch.

Had one straightened this year in the Canal. The fish felt like a truck tire. Long fight but no sight of the fish.

huh??

john, you studing rocket science over the winter??

and why you online anyway, get to work buildin!!

i heard montauk's out of your darters!

too many

Been at this 40 years and still lost a couple of monsters this year. One comes to mind in particular. Wire line, Montauk bunker spoon in the lower bay. Had the big girl on for 20 minutes got her to the boat twice. The second time I had her right in back of the motor. I estimated her at better than 60#. She swam away, wrapped me on a lobster pot line and that's all she wrote.

You just never know.....

Sh!te happens...
All you can do is pay attention,make adjustments,Make sure your gear is up to the task and pray.For me it is easier to land good fish from a jetty than from the beach.You don't have that strong undertow to deal with on the jetty's. I see so many try to horse good fish through the waves instead of using the water to their advantage.I also have noticed folks don't let the fish do their thing.You have to know when to hold em and know when to let em run.I seem to get in a trance when I get a good one on.Reveling in the moment..I like to enjoy the ride..
Then there are times there are not too many options.Where the fish wins.I always tip my hat to em knowing they may have won this battle while my skills put in the position to have the opportunity.My friend was hunting the other day said to me he had the bow drawn back for ten minutes on a huge buck.He never got the chance for the shot.Was he disappointed well somewhat but he did his homework and He got to at least come this close to the trophy of a lifetime..Thats all you can really ask for,a chance.
You can't push the issue.It's senseless really.
Good Karma helps..
Go help a old lady across the road.

I think a lot of the above advice is spot and technique specific. Letting a large (and that term is relative to the tackle you are using) fish take a lot of line may work well over sand or with a single hook, but with plugs in strong current or in a shallow boulder fields fighting a fish on a long line stacks the odds against you.

It may help to think of the fight as four stages. There is the take, roll, thrashing bit....where it is easy to get too rough and pull free. The run.......where how much pressure you can or need to risk depends on the strength of your attachment to the fish (i.e., hook/line strength) and what/where the obstructions you will need to deal with lie. The work back.........where keeping the fish coming with its head up while avoiding slack or prolonged pumping that opens hook holes is key. And the landing....... where the angle of pull and degree of tension on the fish changes quickly and some lightening of forces is usually necessary.

When I think about it, however, once you are past the ego stage of fishing where the size of what you catch and kill makes you feel good about yourself there are two main reasons to seek big fish,.......because they are a challenge to find and hook, and because once you hook them they can and often do beat you. So you smile, give them their due, and try again. Not a bad thing.

Good points Geo,I might add to the landing stage there is th last ditch effort.I have seen many fish lost when the fish makes his last run.Usually as they near the waters edge they realize this is not good and will try with all they have left.On a short line this can be bad.I sometimes will loosen the drag a click at this point and cup the spool lightly to keep just enough pressure on em.
I still think about the one over fifty I lost at my feet..As time goes on I think that it is not that important anymore.I don't NEED a 50 lb fish to justify the sport..I have gotten so much from it already...
Releasing one would be the ultimate in Poetic Justice.IMO
When I think about the evolution of my fishing life.I am a long ways away from the kid who threw his rod down in the sand to tackle his first keeper..:eek5:

Don't kid yourself....

Thanks I think..
My grey beard and creaky body might suggest otherwise.
I'll always be a child at heart..:hihi:

BD, at this point I've finally realized that your most important piece of equipment in landing large fish is between your ears.

Tackle failure happens, even to the most diligent. I've always believed that luck is for the ill-prepared but while it doesn't hurt, eventually luck alone will desert you at the worst time. While I say I'd rather be lucky than good, the guys I've fished with who are the most successful - beyond what they've acquired over years of time in the surf - are fully focused and relaxed - in other words, they put themselves in the zone.

How you get there is up to you. Like Cool Hand Luke, you gotta get your mind right after you've got the mechanical nuances down.

Besides, if you were banging big fish without fail every time you went out I think some of the magic would go out of it for me. It's the uncertainty that makes it what it is - if it was a guarantee every time, it would just end up being like having another job for me, personally.

Nothing truly worth having comes easy.

Amen

Tie your knots at home. Use good hooks, F sharpening a 40 cent hook,throw it away. I have listened too long to the referance of the quest for big fish as an ego trip. NOTHING in the hunt for Striped Bass compares to the adrenaline rush you get when fighting a fish you KNOW is a corker. Once you have done it, it will consume you. There is a certain amount of ego involved in all fishing, even the satisfaction the twins get from fooling fish with artificials has an allure. There is a time and place for everything, it's just that nobody knows where and when all the time. Some folks who have made the commitment to learning their waters may make advances one season only to have the following year serve you humble pie. This may be referred to as some as an ego check. Call it what you wish,anything that makes you happy can qualify as stroking your ego.

Fair enough. I should have said "...once you get past the reputation/fame need to catch and kill big fish.....". Personal satisfaction and ego gratification are always part of fishing and why we fish the way we do, whether we stalk fish with a flyrod on foot, or in a boat with electronics, bait, and lead......and whether we do it anonymously or publicly.

And, Chris, before you get too animated, I do not feel that catching and killing big fish for reputation purposes is anything other than a normal stage most fishermen go through.

George, we all have egos that need carressing at some point. I have many acquaintances that range from roofers to lawyers,even some doctors like yourself. Some of these doctors don't feel the need to announce their accomplishments or proffession by preceding their surname with Dr., as others choose to for no reason other than ego gratification. So please enjoy your cake today. Happy Holidays, Chris

Very true.....the fisherman's evolution in my mind is as follows....

1. Wide eyed newcomer.

2. Enthusiast/know it all.

3. Accomplished enthusiast.

4. Acclaimed/celebrated enthusiast.

5. Show off/egomaniac.

6. Accomplished pro who realizes he really doesn't know %$%$%$%$ and there really is a lot of luck/chance involved.

7. Humble veteran who would rather not be known at all and does it for fun.