Losing The “Big One”

I’ve talked a bit about losing what possibly was my PB and MAYBE a six pounder which I’ve never caught. Here’s the video in case anyone wanted to watch and maybe console me a little.

But I want to know what you guys do when you lose a big fish or a fish that costs you money in a tournament? Cuss? Throw your gear? Bury it deep down like a normal person? I couldn’t get a word out to even swear when this one popped off. Probably a good thing because I can’t afford to break my gear…….At least the fishing was good this day also.

was fishing with a couple buddies on rainy a few years back…crowded..bumper boats and the bite was good….although my buddy who the story is about was definately getting outfished that day. In fact IDO was filming near by and we religiously watched to see if the incident was caught on film.

Anyway buddy sets into something…he swears it was the biggest eye in the river but more likely was just a snag. Anyway it breaks and he proceeds to LOSE it..whipping the water with his rod, swearing, yelling and ultimately snaps his rod over his knee.

The stares he got from other boats was awesome. To this day we give him crap and say at least nobody w/in a 100 yd radius would have ever dared to mess with us.

At the end of the day he looked like a complete fool and felt horrible about it…he’ll never live it down. I guess the moral of my story is it sucks to lose a PB or monster fish–dont add to the misery by losing your dignity and self respect as well lol.

Great story! I’ve seen that a couple times on the water. I don’t usually get too upset about lost fish but this one was the biggest bass I’d ever seen on the end of my line. Luckily, I was so stunned I sat there…..

You do realize you just opened the floodgates for Viking jokes.

It’s usually yelling something I wouldn’t say in front of my mother, or stunned silence

I was wondering when you were going to post this. Big bummer on the lost fish. Your reaction was more restrained than I thought lol.

Those cloudy overcast days have been very rare this season. I usually try to target those days and do much better than in the searing hot bright sun.

Playing with that drag cost you the big one.
That hurts watching. 😢
I know the pain. I typically bark out a few swear words, but never break my stuff. I lost a huge walleye on the river the other day that I know was over 30, I wanted to just fall out of the boat. I tried netting it alone and jabbed him with my net which let him pop the hook. I felt sick, but no one to blame but me

Good video. You Pop that Niko rig much more aggressively than I do. I tend to just lift it and shake it and drop it back to the bottom. I’ll have to try that aggressive pop the next time I’m out. I did notice on you video that at the time the fish broke you off you were adjusting the Drag. Were you adjusting it looser or tightening it? Did the break come at the knot to hook connection or someplace else? My buddy and I are always reminding each other to check the line and knot. I could not tell you the # of time I could not feel a knick in the line that when I gave the hook a little pull the line broke. With some of the lakes we fish with Zebs the knot at the hook take a beating.

As far as how I deal with lost BIG fish. I normally have a few not choice words. Sit down and compose myself for a few minutes and then get back to fishing. Nothing helps ease the pain of a lost big fish better than hooking and landing another one. Even if its not as big as the one bigger one you lost prior.

hope you get another shot at a personal best yet this year and the stars line up and you are able to get it into the boat – Keep plugging away !!!

The best part of loosing a fish like that, is knowing he is swimming for another day another neko,
What color were u using. Sorry if you explained in the video. I skipped to watch the hot stuff.

Looked to me you were loosening the drag, hard to tell. But you had perfect pull coming from a hog. Sorry for your loss brother. It happens to all of us.

Bearcat and Fishthumper, I was loosening the drag. Just not fast enough apparently.

The break was just above the knot as I did not have the typical curly que at the end when the knot fails. The fluoro was split at the end so there was likely a nick in it from previous fish being caught. Its one of my worst habits I have, not retying. I rarely do it. Cost me that day.

I have found the tantrums seem more prevalent when somebody else is in the boat or others near by. Single fisherman mostly just sit and shake their head.

Show me a guy who says he has never lost a fish and i’ll show you a guy who doesn’t fish.

mahtofire14 wrote:

Bearcat and Fishthumper, I was loosening the drag. Just not fast enough apparently.

The break was just above the knot as I did not have the typical curly que at the end when the knot fails. The fluoro was split at the end so there was likely a nick in it from previous fish being caught. Its one of my worst habits I have, not retying. I rarely do it. Cost me that day.

That is how I learned to check mine more often – the hard way. Also lost a big fish after not checking it after catching a few nice ones. Helps when you have a partner who can keep reminding you. Nothing worse than loosing a fish to a break off shortly after he says. Have you checked you knot lately. They tend to not let you forget that mistake. I tend to set my drag slightly less than it should be. I’d rather have to turn it up than down. A little slippage on the hookset is not to big of a deal. With the sharpness of today’s hooks and use of braided line a monster hookset isn’t needed as much as it use to be.

Mahtofire – What lb. test are you using as leader material. I recently switched from 10lb. Fluro to Seaguar gold in 15lb test. Not much difference in diam. But seems much stronger.

Dutchboy wrote:

I have found the tantrums seem more prevalent when somebody else is in the boat or others near by. Single fisherman mostly just sit and shake their head.

Show me a guy who says he has never lost a fish and i’ll show you a guy who doesn’t fish.

I think you might be on to something there Dutch.

fishthumper wrote:

Mahtofire – What lb. test are you using as leader material. I recently switched from 10lb. Fluro to Seaguar gold in 15lb test. Not much difference in diam. But seems much stronger.

I use 12 lb Seaguar Red for that particular leader. I also typically have my drag a little looser but had tightened up after hooking into a tiger muskie just before that bass. Forgot to loosen it until I felt the first few big pulls.

Dutchboy wrote:

I have found the tantrums seem more prevalent when somebody else is in the boat or others near by. Single fisherman mostly just sit and shake their head.

Show me a guy who says he has never lost a fish and i’ll show you a guy who doesn’t fish.

Nailed it! Or they look around to see who is watching them so they can put on a show. That ginger on H2H lost a couple fish on ML and since the camera was on him, he had to throw a toddler tantrum. Pretty embarrassing.

FWIW –
I crank the drag down pretty tight and back reel as much as possible.

Just wondering if your line broke just above the knot or if the end of the line was curly cue? I always check and if it broke above then I know I didn’t check for a nick…. but if it’s curly then I didn’t tie the knot right. Doesn’t take the pain away but helps you prep for the next bite.

I agree, it’s been a strange year in the metro. I’ve had 3-4 excellent days but 3-4 that have absolutely sucked worse than any I can remember in years. I attribute it to the heightened angling pressure since Covid as well as the sudden heat wave/drought. Certainly couldn’t be us

FryDog62 wrote:

Just wondering if your line broke just above the knot or if the end of the line was curly cue? I always check and if it broke above then I know I didn’t check for a nick…. but if it’s curly then I didn’t tie the knot right. Doesn’t take the pain away but helps you prep for the next bite.

I agree, it’s been a strange year in the metro. I’ve had 3-4 excellent days but 3-4 that have absolutely sucked worse than any I can remember in years. I attribute it to the heightened angling pressure since Covid as well as the sudden heat wave/drought. Certainly couldn’t be us

I mentioned above that my fluoro was split where it broke so I think the fluoro failed from an abrasion from a previous fish. No curly cue.

Eelpoutguy wrote:

FWIW –
I crank the drag down pretty tight and back reel as much as possible.

I can’t picture back reeling while bass fishing. Let the drag fo its work. I would feel like like I was the cause of loosing fish

Bearcat89 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Eelpoutguy wrote:</div>
FWIW –
I crank the drag down pretty tight and back reel as much as possible.

I can’t picture back reeling while <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>bass fishing. Let the drag fo its work. I would feel like like I was the cause of loosing fish

Yeah I’m with you on that one. Don’t think I could keep up. I can understand it when walleye fishing because they fight like a, well, they don’t fight at all….

I actually learned this technique when I was a kid fishing carp below the Ford Dam.

and

I can’t see myself Bass fishing

Eelpoutguy wrote:

I actually learned this technique when I was a kid fishing carp below the Ford Dam.

and

I can’t see myself <em class=”ido-tag-em”>Bass fishing

Come to the dark side, you won’t regret it. You don’t even have to tell your friends

Eelpoutguy wrote:

I actually learned this technique when I was a kid fishing carp below the Ford Dam.

and

I can’t see myself <em class=”ido-tag-em”>Bass fishing

The dark side is awful fun……

mahtofire14 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Eelpoutguy wrote:</div>
I actually learned this technique when I was a kid fishing carp below the Ford Dam.

and

I can’t see myself <em class=”ido-tag-em”>Bass fishing

The dark side is awful fun……

Ball Parks were 2 packs for $4 at the store today. Do you use a whole one or just half and is a Snoopy bobber good enough or should I break out the red and white ones?

The most expensive fish I have lost was on a tournament on Erie. On day 1, I had a 5-6# smallie slam a rapala bait as well was lifting it out of the water. Rear treb broke off a brand new bait and fish was gone. Unfortunately I never had another opportunity on that day to cull a 2# out of the live well. On the final day 3, I ended up 6th place and a check for around 4500. I was 11 ounces short of first place. That 3 to 4 pound upgrade was the difference of over $50,000 package.

So I got a $45,000 lesson on why not to trust cheap azz alloy hooks.

That has to be a terrible feeling Randy!

Yikes Randy. That’s a tough one.

That’s bad luck Randy.

How about losing the “Little One”. 1989 Bassmasters Classic.

The fall of 1984 Bryan Kerchal came up to fish the Don Shelby Bass Tournament on Minnetonka. I was his observer for one of the days. 23 years old, great personality. Just a kid. He was jumping waves going from spot to spot.
He said he would sit in his parents basement and flip a jig into coffee mugs he had all around the room. Sadly he died in a small plane crash the next summer.

Mahto, just curious what your entire neko rig set up is.

PS, there was an absolute monster on a bed slightly to the left of that same exact dock this spring, but I could never get it to bite. Wonder if it was the same fish.

fishingdakotacountymn wrote:

Mahto, just curious what your entire neko rig set up is.

PS, there was an absolute monster on a bed slightly to the left of that same exact dock this spring, but I could never get it to bite. Wonder if it was the same fish.

I use a 7 ft M Shimano SLX with a Daiwa Fuego LT 3000. 12 lb hi viz PP braid, 10 lb Seaguar InvizX leader about 5-6 ft long.

#2 VMC Neko hook, 1/16th oz tungsten nail weight (also VMC), and typically either a Yum Dinger, Genie, or Daiwa Neko Fat for plastic.

I can’t bring myself to say it was a 6 lber and I’m not confident it was, but that’s what my mind was telling me when I was fighting it. Certainly the biggest bass I’ve ever seen on the end of my line. My PB is low 5’s, and it looked bigger than that fish did. But who knows, it’s tough to tell until it actually hits the scale.