I got my biggest of a lifetime in on a "spare" rod that had a herring tail chunk on 30 feet behind our old fifteen foot Starcraft (the Aqua Velvet).
I was sitting down to eat a sandwich and drink a beer. My boatmate's were a little "altered", as well. Got into the backing on a Penn 975 when I finally turned her. Let her go. My tape measure only went up to 36 inches at the time and I had no scale. It was big. I let her go.
I lost about a 40 last year due to a factory Sebile split ring. It was right at the boat and #^^^^&y was getting ready to grab her. I'm kind of glad she swam away.
I lost an easy 30# fish right at the boat this year. We were in a full on blitz and I let off a little on the rod pressure when I tried to grab the leader.
The moral of the story is I let all of these fish go, whether I wanted to or not. It's just too bad you didn't get to see her Mikey.
Love,
Rick
|