Being prepared for a large trout...

[Renneberg]

Last weekend I was fishing in Wisconsin when I lost one of the biggest trout I've ever had on. The reason I lost it was because of something I know was wrong with my reel.

Here's my story.

I came to a pool that normally doesn't hold many trout but I decided to fish
it just in case. While I was fishing the back end of the pool a moving white dot caught my eye near the front of the hole.
That white dot turned out to be a trout that I thought was in the low 20's. I checked my drag and knot, but noticed that the drag
sticked. I loosened the drag as loose as I could, but it still sticked. I thought about it and thought well the odds are good that that fish will never move for my lure.

Boy was I wrong!

On the first cast I seen the white dot start moving. It was following my rap.

It struck at the lure once and missed. It quickly turned around and got down stream of the lure and ready it's self for another attack. It came at the lure a second time.

By now it was within about 10 feet of
me and I know if it didn't bite the lure this time, it was going to see me and I'd never see it again, but this time the fish didn't miss the lure.

I set the hook as soon as I felt the fish. It flopped on top and while it did that I could see it's bright colors. It wasn't a brown but a Rainbow Trout and a huge one at that. Easily in the upper 20's.

When it stopped flopping it took off down stream like a rocket.

Right then the drag stuck and the line broke.

The next time I go trout fishing I'm going to make sure nothing is wrong with my equipment.

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"Study to be quiet"

[say_der]

what a heart breaker.

been there - done that - not with a trout, it was a northern, over 36" on a spin cast reel. I had no idea how to set the drag correctly at the time. When I finally figured that part out I had ruined the drag on the reel from leaving it set all the way for years.

Equipment failures suck.

[JP Z]

wardrobe malfunction!

I hate equipment failures. The worst are the ones you don't know about........well no the ones you knew were there were the bad ones. Because those are the ones you can prevent.

I'm guessing you'll be buying a few new reels huh Renne?

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Tight Lines,
JP Z

[LOWinEYEin]

Ren,

You can't say thats never happened to you before, you should have known better. I think its happened to alot of us. Me included. Do you use an openface? What I did last time that happened, I hit the switch for backreel and used my finger as a drag, boy was it raw. Only in emergency situations!

[Renneberg]

Yup, I'm lookin to buy a new reel now. The weird thing about it is that I used the same reel last weekend and didn't have any problems with it.

Ya, it is a open face reel and I did think about switching it to backreel, but the way that fish took off I think I'd have a few broken fingers!

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"Study to be quiet"

[LOWinEYEin]

Sometime you don't even have time to re-act. Its like they grab and run sometimes, and always upstream.

[Jim W]

Sounds like a simple excuse to me!lol

ANd here I thought I was the only one who missed large fish!!!

Jim W

[tie flyer]

That's a bummer, Renneberg.

I lost a pound-class brookie last summer. Technically, it was on shore but I would have liked the satisfaction of releasing her myself - after measuring her against my rod.

The stupid thing was, I knew there was a knot in my tippet. It was getting short, so I would have needed a new one and I figured I was only getting 14-inchers.

Well that girl took me out a few times. I brought her in and had her on the grassy bank. The alpine lake was flooded with meltwater, so it was over the bank when I gave an extra pull - and broke the tippet.

Those lessons are hard learned.