Almost spooled ended in heartache.
 

Loaded Northbar bottle darter in plastic, 70-80 yard cast on abu 7000 with 50lb pp. Backed with mystery line that i haven't seen in ages. The fish took the plug and peeled line for about 5 seconds. I turned her for about a minutes and regained some line. Then she took off for P-town scorching line out at a ridiculous rate. I tightened the drag a bit more, saw the backing and thumbed the spool to prevent hitting the backing. Pop, i reeled in the plug, broke the wolverine that i put on 3 weeks ago. :fury: A few weeks ago i got a backlash and snapped off a plug and apparently it took more line than i thought. It didnt occur to me that i needed to re-spool.:smash: I had 250 yards of line on top of the backing. I figure i may have lost 30 yards a few weeks ago. Im re-spooling today with fresh backing and 300 yards of 50 pp again, this is not going to happen again...

Did you feel a second bump? Maybe a BFT or a shark decided to munch on the bass you originally hooked ;)

.....or seal?

I wouldn't say it was a second bump, but it was definitely a second shot of energy that i have never felt before.

:( sorry for your loss

I hope it doesn't haunt you too long

I am not a fan of wolverine rings too much.

there are some real slobs around

Big bluefish? I had one hit hard on Thursday and run line off the spool then pop out came the hook. Took a mac.

Why don't you like Wolverine split rings?

Things like this re light the fire.
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I don't think the wire is strong enough or stiff enough

I didnt have my split ring pliers with me so i used my nail to get another wolverine off of another plug. I tried to get the hook off of a tattoo 3.5 oz darter and that ring would not budge.

Pinniped MO

Tough one Rob. :(

awesome!

one thing that I noticed about wolverines... they may wrap around 3 times, but the last thing you need is split ring pliers to get a hook on there... the things are soft for sure..

I totally agree with this,,, It seems like the second they get out of round or a fish gets leverage on them they open....

If a plug has Wolverines, I replace them right away with equivalent sized Rosco HD rings.

I also change the hooks to 6x strong VMCs.

M&Ds stopped carrying the 6x, but the Edge still has them.

Rob,
Not sure if this will make you feel better or worse. Different reel, similar story, but happy ending.

Years ago I was using a Penn 704 which I think had the capacity of 220 yards of 20 pound mono. I had about 50 yards of backing and 170 yards of running line. Had a take at the end of a very long cast with a needlefish plug. With the aid of a heavy sweep this hookup took all my running line and well into my backing before I could turn it. Everything held including the blood knot connecting running line to backing. Some very anxious moments as I chased this hookup 100 yards or so. 15 minutes later I had the largest bass of my life lying in the cobble at my feet. 5 minutes later she was swimming again.
Large bass can in fact spool (or almost spool) you in certain conditions as described.
I feel for you. Better luck next time.
DZ

The three wraps also works to improve the fish' leverage as it tends to stuff (fill) the eyes, reducing movement and swing.

I loathe those wolverines... You know my feelings on 'em. Sorry Rob.

I'll use the rosco 5H's, but I've pretty much switched over to the Owner splits by now. Expensive, but they last forever and I haven't had one budge yet. I lost at least a half dozen real nice fish this spring to wolverine/rosco split failure.

awesome story

I use rosco 5.5H Only lost one so far, on a big musso swimmer with a 6/0 siwash tailhook and two decent bluefish. They had a lot of leverage with that hook.

I go with a 6H, or even a 6.5H if I can find them, on plugs 3 oz and up.

5.5H on the medium plugs.

4H on small plastic swimmers.

6x hooks whenever possible.

sorry for the heartache, Rob!!!

and THAT is the stuff Striper Dreams are made of,
i name my Lost COWS,,,,the last one is Eliza and

SHE WILL BE MINE, OH YES, SHE WILL BE MINE!!!

either her or her BIGGER sister, same moon same tide same SPOT!!
each lesson brings YOU that much closer to the Striper of a Lifetime,,,,,,

What did you load your NB's with? How much did you put in? I tried loading mine but it killed the action. I'm assuming that I put too much water in it:confused:

10CC of either water or olive oil. There is no reason to use olive oil, i just thought it would be fun in a couple plugs. It doesn't effect the action much at all and helps with the casting. I think it steadies it more than anything else during flight.

The only way I am getting spooled this year is if I start casting at boats or semi's on 95,,,, I can catch crap..........:smash::smash::smash::smash:

I seem to remember that when loading the NB's you have to drill the hole in a specific spot so the water/oil fills a certain chamber, can anyone confirm this?

I've got a few I'd like to load, give 'em a shot.