Originally Posted by biggw
I let them all jump at least once and then decide what to do. If she is 12, then it does not matter what I do for she is going to do whatever she wants. I have no clue how big they are when they hit, especially in December at Dale Hollow. For the pure enjoyment of the FIGHT, I would rather catch a 3-4 pounder in December than a 5 or 6. To me, the 3-4 is a better fight for they have more quicker runs and jumps than the bigger fish. I have only had 2 Smallies that jumped that I wish I could have landed and neither of them came off during the jump. One was a week ago Monday night at Dale and I only got a sillohette look at her in the Marina light and the other was in February 2005 with my buddy Chunknwind in the boat with me. We both saw the one in February for a long time during the fight and she was an EASY 7 per Chunk and probably more. Compared to the 2 over 6 that I have landed since at Dale in December, the fish in February was an EASY 7 and pushing 8 pretty easily for she was an absolute HORSE. I still have the FNF jig that she straightened the hook out to get off. I will go to my grave wondering how she straightened out the hook for I had fought her for several minutes and she had stripped drag several times. She came to the surface just out of net range and gave both of us a Clear view of her on all sides before a slow methodical return to the depths and out comes the jig, STRAIGHTENED.
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