What lies beneath...

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

Took the morning off to go fishing. We were drifting along the deep edge of a shoreline break that went from about 3 feet to about 9 feet deep. I thought I had a snag, but ended up doing battle with a monster!

I fought it for close to 10 min until it straighten out the hook on my twister tail jig spinner rig. Bummer! We never got a look, but it swirled the water twice, went under the boat three times and peeled a lot of line off my reel. I had all I could to hold on to the rod!

I haven't had a fight like this since I caught a nice salmon off the pier in Lake Michigan. I'm assuming it was a BIG northern. If it was a bass, it would have been a real trophy!

[Nick Kuhn]

Northerns tend to stay deep and make long straight runs. I will tell you they don't need to be much over 5 lbs to straighten out hooks or challenge lighter tackle.

[Fishin Dan]

You gotta hate when that happens! Those always haunt me for a long time! O what might have been...

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

Caught a 6 pounder on Tonka and it didn't fight anything like this one did. I'm calling it my "released trophy"

[timberghost]

Sounds fun , wish I could hook a real fighter. Nothing over 5lbs all year.

[wishing for walleyes]

Could also have been a big catfish.They are like trying to pull a brick off the bottom.

[Fever]

We may be missing the obvious here... There are a ton of HUGE carp out there. Last year I was casting a DT10 on a deep weed edge for bass. Hooked a 18.9 lb carp in the dorsal fin. That fight lasted about 10 min on med heavy tackle, bait caster, and 40 lb power pro. There are a lot of carp that get hooked and not seen. As far as a pike straightening out a hook... far more likely to bite off line as opposed to brute strength, deep long runs of a carp... they will straighten a hook.

[Coach1310]

I'll second the carp theory

[Powerstroke]

ON a mister twister jib, I'm definitely thinking nort. I've had many of them bend and straighten hooks on smaller jigs. I will say close to half of my northerns have been on small jigs that were hooked in the corners or on the front lip.

[Nick Kuhn]

If it's Minnetonka then it could also have been a muskie. I know they'll straighten out the hooks of your average jig like it were a wet noodle. I've had both pike and ski's shear smaller hooks right off, straightening one out would be a much easier task. I do know carp and catfish are both great fighters, so it's possible. I generally fish a region where neither are present so I didn't give it much thought.

[andrew chadwick]

Id say carp, muskie, or possibly a flathead. Although rare, they are in the lake.

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

Anybody know what the usual range of a fish is? If it was a large pike, or bass, would it still hang around the same general area?

[fishinmajishin]

hey I had one on 2 weeks ago...absolutely huge...got off never saw it. 16-20 fow. I'm going back this weekend to see if he's a homebody. Actually fish roam alot, some species more than others I'm sure. Maybe even more in river systems?

[Iambjm]

Dogfish?

[Nick Kuhn]

A 3 to 9 foot break is prime territory for all fish as the water cools. Muskie and bass will hang out there all year, big pike tend to be deeper in the cooler water, I've seen carp everywhere.

[Sifty]

I would guess a pike.

Sifty

[GRAND DAD]

I say Dogfish too pound for pound the best fighting fish out there and they have very hard mouths to flaten hooks. I awlays know right away when I have one of the on the line.

[glenn57]

LOCH NESS MONSTER?

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

I would guess a pike.

That's what I'm sticking with.

Of course it has been a couple of days, so the fight gets longer and the details more grandiose with each telling of the event

[Andrew Erickson]

i say muskie

[Gary Crichton]

Since he didn't see the fish, it can be any species you wish it to be. Just pick one. What is your favorite.

G.C.

[PTocko]

Since he didn't see the fish, it can be any species you wish it to be. Just pick one. What is your favorite.

G.C.

Giant Sunny or Crappie - that would be the most impressive. PT

[Gordie]

monster catfish