The One That Got Away

[bart]

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.