The One(s) that got away....

[elnutsmalljaws]

Looking to hear about that ONE fish or THOSE fish that got away that you still remember everything about and wish you could have landed. I have 2, and as much as I fish by myself, I had someone in the boat with me on both of these.

First - First week of November 2004, my dad and I was fishing Cumberland for Stripers. I was fishing the Webb boat light at the Jamestown Marina just before daylight with a Super Zara Spook. I had caught 2 stripers, both over 16lbs plus a couple of really good largemouths within a 30 minute span so needless to say I was ON POINT. A MONSTER Striper hit my Spook within 10 yards of the boat and came out of the water about a foot and a half. Scared me to death and I set the hook on impact, and pulled the spook right away from her before she had a chance, completely my fault. She had the biggest head and shoulders of any Striper that I had ever seen. I have caught a 29 pounder before and got a full view of this fish and she was easy bigger than 29 and I think she was a 40 pounder if she was an ounce. My dad has not seen too many huge stripers and could not believe the size of this fish. He made a comment that he was afraid to cast for he had no clue what to do if that monster decided to eat his lure. I laughed and told him if he hooked him and got scared, I would happily take the rod from him and fight him for all I was worth, sometimes a man has to do what a man has to do.

Second - February 2005, by buddy Cliff (Name changed to NETBOY, when he is in my boat) and I was fishing Dale Hollow on Trooper Island, I still know the EXACT spot where this fish hit and can cast to within inches if needed. Hight blue skies up in the afternoon and the fish were not co-operating very well this day. Fishing the FNF with a 1/16 oz white, blue craft hair Punisher about 11 feet deep. I made a cast next to the bluff and down the bobber went to the depths as I set the hook. I got a really good hookset and she came to the top way out from the boat. We both knew she was huge. I fought her for several minutes getting her close several times but each time she seen the boat back to the depths with her bulldog run. The last time she came to the top, she rolled over on her side so we could both get a full, top and bottom view of her right on top of the water within 10-15 feet. We both saw her clearly before she made that slow methodical bottom dive and pop, out comes the jig. Cliff says she is an easy 7 but I don't necessarily agree but know she is at least 6. I sat back in my seat and just about cried. There was a man anchored about 30 yards away Crappie fishing that saw the whole thing. He even made a groan. Cliff sits back down in the back of the boat and we discussed what the hell happened. I reach down to straighten out the hair and see that my hook is straightened out almost to a perfect straight line. After catching 2 over 6 last winter and seeing how big these actually are, my buddy was right, she was an easy 7 and most likely over 8 but we will never know but I will never forget. I still have this jig in my tackle box to this day. I can still close my eyes and see the EXACT image of that fish when she came to the top the last time and rolled on her side for us to both get a full view before going to the depths.

Tell me some truths or at least some really GOOD lies please.

[justterry]

Those were good ones. Especially the smallie from Dale....cant imagine that pain. Let me preface this story by saying I havent bassfished much in my life, especially for largemouth. Well, one day back in the early 80's I was crappie fishing with a buddy in Deer Creek. It's off the Ohio around Tell City and back then it was big for bass tourneys but also good for crappie. Lots of flooded timber with a channel weaving through it. We had ultra light rigs popping tube jigs under a clip-on bobber and doing pretty well on crappie. Well, a storm was blowing in, wind really kicking up but we kept on casting a few more quick times. I had a decent crappie on and was bringing him to the boat. When I got him close there was a sudden swirl with some noise right by my fish. Scared me so, I stopped reeling and just looked into the water. Then I saw this huge largemouth, probably in the 8 lb range and he turned on a dime and made a mad dash at my crappie. Really caught me off=guard. He/she inhaled my crappie and was off with it. I let it run for awhile and tried to wrestle it but it was pointless. Took my crappie for a snack and left me with just this story. One of the biggest largemouths I have ever seen.

[justterry]

>Looking to hear about that ONE fish or THOSE fish that got
>away that you still remember everything about and wish you
>could have landed. I have 2, and as much as I fish by myself,
>I had someone in the boat with me on both of these.
>
>First - First week of November 2004, my dad and I was fishing
>Cumberland for Stripers. I was fishing the Webb boat light at
>the Jamestown Marina just before daylight with a Super Zara
>Spook. I had caught 2 stripers, both over 16lbs plus a couple
>of really good largemouths within a 30 minute span so needless
>to say I was ON POINT. A MONSTER Striper hit my Spook within
>10 yards of the boat and came out of the water about a foot
>and a half. Scared me to death and I set the hook on impact,
>and pulled the spook right away from her before she had a
>chance, completely my fault. She had the biggest head and
>shoulders of any Striper that I had ever seen. I have caught
>a 29 pounder before and got a full view of this fish and she
>was easy bigger than 29 and I think she was a 40 pounder if
>she was an ounce. My dad has not seen too many huge stripers
>and could not believe the size of this fish. He made a
>comment that he was afraid to cast for he had no clue what to
>do if that monster decided to eat his lure. I laughed and
>told him if he hooked him and got scared, I would happily take
>the rod from him and fight him for all I was worth, sometimes
>a man has to do what a man has to do.
>
>Second - February 2005, by buddy Cliff (Name changed to
>NETBOY, when he is in my boat) and I was fishing Dale Hollow
>on Trooper Island, I still know the EXACT spot where this fish
>hit and can cast to within inches if needed. Hight blue skies
>up in the afternoon and the fish were not co-operating very
>well this day. Fishing the FNF with a 1/16 oz white, blue
>craft hair Punisher about 11 feet deep. I made a cast next to
>the bluff and down the bobber went to the depths as I set the
>hook. I got a really good hookset and she came to the top way
>out from the boat. We both knew she was huge. I fought her
>for several minutes getting her close several times but each
>time she seen the boat back to the depths with her bulldog
>run. The last time she came to the top, she rolled over on
>her side so we could both get a full, top and bottom view of
>her right on top of the water within 10-15 feet. We both saw
>her clearly before she made that slow methodical bottom dive
>and pop, out comes the jig. Cliff says she is an easy 7 but I
>don't necessarily agree but know she is at least 6. I sat
>back in my seat and just about cried. There was a man
>anchored about 30 yards away Crappie fishing that saw the
>whole thing. He even made a groan. Cliff sits back down in
>the back of the boat and we discussed what the hell happened.
>I reach down to straighten out the hair and see that my hook
>is straightened out almost to a perfect straight line. After
>catching 2 over 6 last winter and seeing how big these
>actually are, my buddy was right, she was an easy 7 and most
>likely over 8 but we will never know but I will never forget.
>I still have this jig in my tackle box to this day. I can
>still close my eyes and see the EXACT image of that fish when
>she came to the top the last time and rolled on her side for
>us to both get a full view before going to the depths.
>
>Tell me some truths or at least some really GOOD lies please.
>

[MsgMills]

Well now, Here I am up at Lake John Hay in Washington County Indiana fishing, or should I say just starting. A buddy of mine was in the back of the boat and we just start to fish. I stand up on my casting deck and have ties on one of those super 20+ deep crank baits. First cast of the evening, I let it land and then, down on one knee and rod shoved down into the water about a foot or so from the reel. After about 10 or so turns of the reel, I feel something heavy on my line, I stand up and set the hook for all I can. My rod is double and I tell my pal that I've got a biggun on. He stops reeling in his line and goes for the net. After what seemed like an eternity I get the fish to the boat. We both look at the size of it, must weigh 8 pounds or better...he drops the net into the water and the fish makes the slightest tic of it's head and the crank bait pops out of his mouth. My pal didn't even have time to scoupe him up and he's gone back down into 18 foot of water. I'm standing there in disbelief about what had just happened...Next thing I know my pal starts yelling and screaming like I AIN'T NEVER HEARD AT THE FISH.... He's making more out of losing the fish than I am and he can't understand why I'm not doing the same... I realize it just wasn't meant to be and say so...and then I make another cast and we fish the rest of the night away.... I guess the fish is still in the Lake cause we have yet to hear about any fish bigger than 7.6 pounds being caught and reported, to this date....

[striperfishin]

I was fishing in Lake St. Clair, Canada, this year with a friend and we were trolling some crankbaits for Walleye. We were hooking several smallmouth and we had a pulldown on a rod. My partner was reeling in his smallie (about 15 inches) and he got the fish all the way to the boat. I turned my head and he yells, "oh my god".... and his line is zipping off his reel. A 43 inch muskie - and yes, we got him in the boat - engulfed the 15 inch smallie along with the crankbait. After a good ten minute fight, the fish lost the battle and we had one hell of an adrenaline rush... maybe the story would be better if we never got the muskie in the boat. i could tell u it was a 60 inch monster.

[Basswipe]

June 2004 on Green.

Hot summer day, typical tough day on Green in a tournament. VERY slow bite. Within sight of the dam, I was pitching a salty crawling grub into rocks that went deep. Would start it on the bank and work down to deeper water.

The lure got into 10-12 feet of water and I felt something pick it up. I set the hook and everything went solid, there was no give. The fish started to go deep. I tried to turn it to get it to come shallow, no luck. This fish was intent on heading deep and taking drag. I jerked the rod very hard to try and turn it again, no luck. I figured I must have a really big cat fish on the line. I tightened up the drag a little and jerked the rod a third time, and the fish turned. The fish made a bee line for the surface. It looked like a polaris missile coming out of the water. 6 pound+ smallmouth. I'd bet that fish came at least 2 1/2 feet out of the water.

I distinctly remember saying "Oh my God". It put up a hellacious fight, and I survived two more spectacular jumps. I was being patient with it and trying to do all the right things. I finally got the fish up next to the boat and it seemed to give up. Just as my buddy was putting the net in the water, the fish simply rolled over on its side, and the hook slipped out.

I think I spent the next 5 minutes curled up in the fetal position on the back deck. I'll never forget that fish.

[smljaw]

Early fall about 10 years ago I was surf fishing in South Carolina for red fish. We were throwing live mullet beyond the breakers and had already caught a few small reds. One very light tap and I set the hook. This fish was big. Not sure at first and I didn't see this fish for a good 5 minutes. When she finally surfaced I would guess she went 40". Huge! The fight lasted about 12-15 minutes and she was wearing out. One last surge and she swam into the mouth of an inlet. Once this happened it was all she wrote. The fight was all over as I just felt dead weight. The fish swam into an oyster bed, hunkered down and sawed me off. The loose tag end of the broken line was trashed about 10 feet up. The oyster bed cut the line up pretty bad.

[jcb]

Since this wasn't MY one that got away, it's an easier story to tell.

When I was a sprout I was in the middle of my dad's john boat on Lake Reba in Richmond. Dad was in the front, my oldest brother in the back. Supposedly I was also fishing, but I spent more time putting bluegill on the stringer than I did casting. We never seemed to have three boat cushions, either, and guess who got to sit on the hard aluminum.

Dad was sculling (anybody do that anymore?) down a steep bank where there was this huge logjam with one tree trunk sticking about 5 feet out of the water. As was his custom, he was right on top of whatever he was fishing.

He was throwing a big frog-colored Hula Popper with a white skirt, and I watched that big topwater plug land next to the bank. Dad began working it back to the boat, which was only about 20 feet or so because we were so close to the cover and the bank.

When that Hula Popper got right next to that logjam, and only about 5 feet away from my nose, Dad twitched it and let it sit. He said you always needed to let the ripples die down before you twitched it again.

As his popper sat there, a huge toad bass came up from the depths like a torpedo. I never will forget the sight of those red gills flaring as she approached the surface and began to inhale water like a vacuum cleaner.

I bet my Dad never forgot it either, because the moment I saw that fish coming up I jumped to my feet, pointed and screamed AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! at the top of my lungs.

At that moment, he set the hook like he was getting ready to wrestle a blue marlin. Which was great, except for the minor detail that the bass was still a good 3-4 inches away from his Hula Popper.

The Hula Popper went flying 1000 miles per hour past my ear and behind us, the monster bass went airborne about three feet and fell back in the water, with way too much splash to get a decent score.

Even though I felt bad about making Dad miss that huge fish, the day was not a total loss. I added about six new words to my vocabulary.

[Moose1am]

Where should I start? I can remember fishing KY lake the first time and hooking into a nice 4lb bass when I was only 8 or 9 years old. It was June and the water was up and the flats on Shannon Creek were covered with about 5 ft of water. There were three small trees growing on the flat that were on slightly higher land. Call them very tiny islands of only 3 square feet each. That big bass threw the bait as soon as I hooked into him. My first big fish hookup that I missed. Something that I will never ever forget. Every time we went back to KY lake we headed to Shannon Creek to fish those trees. They eventually died and disappeared. But I caught two 4lb bass along the creek ledge near a big old stump. Caught them both on topwater jiggerbugs. Maybe it was a relative of the big bass that I lost. lol

There's been a lot more fish that got off my lines but the one above was the only one that really got to me. After that one the rest were just part of the fishing game. LOL

Lost one nice bass out on the main lake where the TN river and Panther creek runs into the river. I was trolling with a Buck Perry spoon plug and hooked into a real nice bass. Another 4 lb bass that raced to the surface and three the spoon plug. I hooked into that fish after trolling only for about 5 minutes. Lake was calm that day and I proved that Buck Perry knew what he was talking about at least to myself.

Missed another nice bass while on my last fishing trip at Barkley lake. Hooked that one near the bank where the creek channel swung close to the bank. Another nice big bass of around 4lbs or so. He got off my plastic worm that day as soon as he jumped.

I normally loose the big bass on the first jump. If I can hang on for the next two jumps then I normally can land them.

I have learned to set the hook hard these days. So if they are going to get off it when I set the hook hard the second time and after that they usually say on the bait.

When you are young you don't always keep the right amount of pressure on the fish to prevent the bait from flying off when the fish jumps. Too much pressure can be bad also. After you get a bit older you learn to fool with the drag settings as you play the fish. I lean to a loose drag vs a tight drag. Especially when the fish nears the boat and sees the boat and or the landing net. You just learn to know that the fish will make a mad last dash or two when it gets closer to the boat. Also keeping the rod tip down low helps prevent the fish from jumping too much. It won't stop them from jumping but it does limit the jumps.

I learned over the years Patience when playing a big fish and enjoying the fight. But the heart still goes still when the big one's get off. Anyone that has ever fished for bass knows that sinking feeling.

[the_donger]

The one I remember is from when I was about 8 years old. I was fishing from the bank on Herrington Lake below the dam on the Dix River with the old guy next door using an old cane pole, fishing with worms and a bobber when the bobber just disappeared. No nibbles, not a good bite, just gone. Well I set the hook and it felt like I was pulling on a tree. I looked at the old guy and told him I was snagged and he laughed and walked over to help me get it unsnagged. Well, at the moment he leans over, the water just starts to boil and a huge carp rolls over and splashes us both, soaking us to the bone. The fish just shook its head and my hook straightned out and the fish was gone. The old guy just stood there and said something like, "I have lived on this river for 50 years and that is the biggest fish I have ever seen". He was about 6'6" and he was convinced that that fish was bigger than he was. I do not know if it was or not, but I do remember that the scails on that fish were the size of silver dollars, if not bigger that that.

[mhall]

In April of this year I was out in the no-wake area right in front of Grider Hill on the big C. I seen what I thought was some stripers swirling after shad, so I layed my crankbait down and picked up a rod that had a half ounce white hair jig with a four inch Kalin grub on it. It's my throw a mile at the striper rod when I see them. Second cast and it's long one I'm reeling in at a pretty high rate of speed and I feel the slightest little tap. I'm thinking there he is,as stripers will sometimes do this running towards you. I rare back and set the hook with all my might and this fish is coming at me like a missle. I crank up slack like a wild man and set the hook again, with this,e feels the hook and comes out of the water at least three feet, no kidding. It's a monster brown bass, AT LEAST 7LB., and I don't think that will do it justice. During this time span I was on some good smallmouth, trip prior to this one I had almost 20lb. in five brownies, and the anchor fish was a 5.6lb. This fish was considerably bigger than that fish that was 22-1/2 inches long and was a real fatty. This fish made that one look sick. I sit down on the front deck and reflect or should I sat almost cried like a school girl. I will never forget that fish as it cleared the water and came unbuttoned, it totally broke my heart. :(

[MASBASS]

I know exactly which two it would be.

First one would be the keeper that threw a rattle trap back at me Saturday morning at Barkley that would have put us in 6th or 7th place

The second is a the keeper that came off a spinnerbait about half way back to the boat Saturday afternoon that would have put us in 4th or 5th.