It's the WORST feeling.....

[wooduck26]

....when you hook a fish, a BIG fish, one you can't control only lose him right under the boat.....not a line break, but the hook just pops out.....its an even worse feeling when it was most likely going to be your PB!

[harvey lee]

Thats true and the more one fishes, it will more than likely happen.

Thats also what keeps a guy out there looking for another.

I took a young lad out last year and he hooked into a rather lARGE FLAT. hE FOUGHT IT FOR QUITE SOME TIME AND THEN IT CAME UNBUTTONED RIGH CLOSE TO THE SIDE OF THE BOAT.

MAN WAS HE BUMMED BUT i WILL GET HIM OUT SOMEMORE AND WITH A LITTLE LUCK ONE WILL HIT AGAIN.

[Esox_Magnum]

Things that will always haunt a guy. I know the feeling, late November 07, last day out for muskies, sunset make a bomb cast ahead of the boat, second twitch BOOM fish hits, BIG FISH. She had me from the start, hit and ran at the boat, I could'nt keep up with her, she turned pulled the bow of my 175 Trophy around while screeming drag and was gone. Whole thing took 4-5 seconds but seemed like minutes. I still wake up in the middle of the night with that image in my head.

Last Sept casting cowgirls, fish follows in breaks off dives under and behinde the boat, figure gone fish half heartedly figure 8 and look at my partner to ask why then he starts yelling there she is set the hook. She hit me while I wasn't looking jumped clear of the water 10' away from the boat, MY FIRST 50" SWEET, she dove pulled drag came up to jump a 2nd time, I do a dumb move and try keeping her down and gave her slack when I dropped the rod tip in the water, she made the 2nd jump and was gone.

Theres many many more, maybe I should keep notes and write a book on the heartbreaks of the big fish someday.

[phishnerd]

Happened to me last year too. I was fishing for flats alone last year on pool 2. Hooked into what I thought was an average fish. It just kinda came towards to boat with no head movement at all. She was apparently playing possumm cuz as soon as she got within 15 feet of the boat...BOOM! Down she went straight to the bottom and stayed there right under the boat for what seemed an eternity. My 8 foot glass rod was double over with the tip hitting the water. After some patient, constant pressure I got her to come up. As soon as I saw her (she was pushing 50!) I knew this would be a PB for me by far. The week before my buddy lost my big Beckman net and replaced it with a smaller frabill. Needless to say it was not sufficient. After trying to net this beast by my self for 10 minutes, she came unbuttoned. I must have hit her in the head half a dozen times with the net as I tried to subdue her. I can still remember the power of that fish as she would run straight back down to the bottom. Unbelievable!! They really know how to use that huge head to their advantage in the current. Even though I lost that fish, I was rewarded with a 38 pounder about an hour later. I know that fish is still swimming around and I keep hoping that the next click, click, click will be her knocking on my rod!

[cutter08]

don't feel too bad man. I had a bad night to. Lost 5 fish and one felt pretty good. also broke a muskie rod in the proses. spendy night.

[bronzeback]

The regret you feel from making one dumb move during a fight with a huge fish haunts you for years. I did the same thing as Esox above, brought down the tip and gave this muskie slack and pop, off she went. I was upset enough that I didnt' fish for the next 15 minutes, and ended up going back to the landing and fishing a different section of the river.

later that night I caught my PB 49 1/2 inch muskie, probably a good 8-9 inches bigger than the fish i was so upset about losing earlier in the day.

I lost quite a few big fish last year, live and learn though.

[OIF_Veteran_21B]

sometimes that's fishing, suck it up and cast again

[SteveD]

....when you hook a fish, a BIG fish, one you can't control only lose him right under the boat.....not a line break, but the hook just pops out.....its an even worse feeling when it was most likely going to be your PB!

At the risk of sounding like a Monday morning quarterback I'm going to put this reply out there for consideration. I've been there and done that and have learned a lot from the experience. In my humble opinion (IMHO), the need to control a fish depends on the situation and in most cases, control means letting the fish take drag and expend his energy. I've learned from experience that it is best to back off on the drag and be patient with a big fish. When I hear tales of a fish becoming unbuttoned near or under the boat I'm willing to bet the hooks were pulled loose by the Fisherman. Sometimes we are are own worst enemy.

Unless the fish is going to haul you into some serious logjam or debris and you need to stop him right now and turn him there is no need to put that kind of stress on your hookup with the fish. Maintain an even steady pressure that is well within the limits of the line and the rod and set your drag to give line on any surge by the fish near or under the boat. Those close in surges by a big fish are what break lines or worse pull hooks completely out of the fish. When you have a trophy sized cat (40 lb+) take your time, what is the hurry, take away his steam by letting him fight it out so that you can manage him near the boat and into the net.

Think about it - 65 to 80 lb test superlines with little to no stretch, rods nearly doubled over with enough pressure to pull a water skier. There is no need to put that kind of pressure on a fish - you are going to pull the hooks right out of his mouth and normally that is what happens. I really see this a lot when sturgeon fishing.

Needless to say - those kind of battles are what bring us back night after night and make us weak in the knees when we lose a big fish. And the experience is not a bad thing, it makes us better trained for the next battle. Believe me, Woodduck26 - next time he is all yours, take your time, fight him on your terms and not his. Good Luck.

[wildcatcreek]

It is definetely enough to make a full grown man cry like a baby.

[wooduck26]

That was my situation right there.....we were tied up to a BIG tree, he saw that and went straight for it.....I had to put the muscle to him and lost the hook.....either do that or he would have tied me up FOR SURE!....

[HossFisher]

Yeah I hooked into a real nice cat last night and my intent was to let the fish stay in control and just let him come in when he was ready so the hook wouldn't pop out. Sadly he got me into a snag near shore and he was never to be heard from again... ... The worst part is when you never even get a look at em' to see how big they really are!

[Surreal Deal]

I haven't had it happen with a cat yet but a few years back I did leave behind a rather large northern pike in the Rum with a spinnerbait in his mouth.

Same thing, he was headed into the wood and I horsed him.

[UdeLakeTom]

Ya right Woodsie!!! The infamous "you should have seen the one that got away."

[itchmesir]

Man i totally hear you.. and that's how my last couple days have been.. Saturday afternoon i had a huge bass on my line.. easily in the 4-5lb range.. and half way to me he leaped and threw the lure.. and then sunday i had a pike on my line.. drag just squealing after i set the hook.. only for my line to go limp a few moments later.. thought he bit my lure off.. no.. he snapped the hook off the spinner

[Here-Kitty-Kitty]

Yep so last night I was out on the minnesota had a fish just start screaming line off, and I mean screaming. It had to be the fastest I have ever seen a fish run. It started to slow down so I tightened and an set the sh*t out of that hook. FISH ON and she felt huge. I was only about ten feet off shore in the slack water and bait jumping. This d*mn fish had my heavy action rod in a horse shoe. Needless to say I get this fish about 15 feet from me and god I can still see my line go slack. I could've murdered someone last night let me tell ya. I'm sure anyone that was in a ten mile radius heard some words that would curly your mothers hair.

[Scott K]

Those lost fish are the reason to get you back on the water!

[harvey lee]

They are true memories.

[Here-Kitty-Kitty]

All so very true.

[MinnesnowtaWild]

I lost the fish of the year tonight...stupid mono leader!

Almost beat my PB twice in one night, but I can still be happy with one.