YOUR STORY>>>The one that got away

[KCLOST]

Re: YOUR STORY>>>The one that got away

When I was around 12 years old me and my dad were fishing on the White River not far below the Bull Shoals Lake Damn. Dad had rented a boat from one of the Float trip business' down there. They were letting out a lot of water that day so the river was up and the current was strong so our choice for lures was count-down rapalas. We casted and casted and casted for several hours with not even a hit. I finally got bored and started messing around in the boat, I don't even remember what I was doing probably playing with my tackle box or something. After a few minutes my dad turns around and says "Come-on Layton, we've rented this boat, drove all the way down here to go fishing, so cast!" <br /><br />With a smirk on my face I reluctantly picked up the pole rigged with a Zebco 33 and 6 lb test and threw it out there. I think I made anywhere from 3-5 casts and the next think I know is I've hooked something that is taking all the line off the reel. Finally it jumps way out there, jumps again and again. Dads starts up the motor and heads for the fish to close the gap. The fish then turns up river and my dad says "now he's fighting the current" I fought that fish for well over 20 minutes. My Dad never helped me with the pole, I had fished quite a bit as a kid and actually was doing a great job up to this point. Close to the end of the fight and as the fish is tiring down my dad says "there's no net!" The guide service didn't put one in the boat!!! Just a few seconds later I have the fish dead tired right beside the boat. It was a huge Rainbow estimated around 10 pounds...<br />I remember this part better than anything, I thought to myself "a big rainbow has teeth". And as the fish is just laying on his side not even hardly moving what did I decide to do? I decide to pull this fish up with the line. 6lb test I might add. As you might expect, the line snaps as I get the fish about 3/4 of the way out of the water. She's gone.<br />I turned and looked at my dad and he says "why did you do that!" All I could do was shrug and say "I don't know, I was afraid of the teeth". It was all my fault as I never gave my dad a chance to come up and help or even let us work together. Both of us had never dealt with a trout that big, and neither one of us have caught one that big since.<br />God bless my father for that day and many other fishing trips.<br />100% true story...

 

[fishdog4449]

Re: YOUR STORY>>>The one that got away

Re: YOUR STORY>>>The one that got away

This happened five years ago, I was 13. My friend Greg had just bought his first boat in his name, a quite beatup 15' swan point center console with a 28 evinrude. His parents had a house near Lewisetta on the potomac and we used to fish the oyster beds near the mouth and up to Coles point. One day, I was sitting (or napping rather) on the bow lazily holding my 20$ pole I'd had since I was little. All of a sudden, a monster of a fish near the stern bit my rig and took off with frightening speed. Now, Of course I had my feet braced so I held fast and looked back at Greg as the fish spun the little center console around over 180 degrees and pulled us away quite fast. The line snapped quickly, but later we caught a variety of very nice bluefish up to 15 inches. I like to think I had hooked a massively beautiful blue!

 

[luv2b0at]

Re: YOUR STORY>>>The one that got away

Re: YOUR STORY>>>The one that got away

When I was stationed in Bellevue, NE, I went with a buddy in my squadron, Wilkie (rodney Wilkerson), to his dad's place in nearby Iowa. His dad raised cattle and had a few ponds in different areas. I was really into bass then and could feel the rod pullin' in my hands the whole way out there. We got there late the first evening and as we were eating dinner, I asked about the fisinng in the ponds. He asked wife about a cousin of Wilkie's and the last time anyone fished the pond. It had been 5 years since anyone fished it and it had bass in it.

The next morning after helping mend a few fences, Wilkie and his dad dropped me off at the pond while they went to do some other chores. I brought a heavy fly rod and some bass flies and a spinning outfit with other plastic lures. It didn't matter what I threw in there. All it took was a few cranks or a couple pulls on the fly line and I had one on. Many were 2 pounders, some were a bit bigger, but I landed 3 or 4 five pounders. I was in heaven.

Now for the one that got away---I cast in a carolina rigged white plastic curley tail grub about half way across the pond and let it sink. On the 2nd or third bounce along the bottom, I had a small 1 pounder on. As I played him, the line got MUCH heavier. Then it turned and started heading away from me. I tightened up the drag as far as it would go. I couldn't stop it. It pulled for a long time, not much of a fight, just a hard pull. It suddenly came loose. I reeled in the original 1 pound bass and it was pinched down to 1/4 inch right in the middle from top to bottom and I could see the bristle marks from what must have been either a really big bass or possible a big ol' whisker face. Wish I could have at least seen it.

 

[Dunaruna]

Re: YOUR STORY>>>The one that got away

Re: YOUR STORY>>>The one that got away

This happened a few weeks ago. I had just finished repairing my motor and decided to take the boat to the lake for a test run. I had no fishing gear onboard (or so i thought). A friend came with me so that he could practice cast with his new flyrod (complete novice). The motor ran great, just on dusk we stopped in a windless cove and he began his practice casting. I was bored so started to rummage through the storage lockers and found a 'suitcase' style fishing kit that my son gave me a bizzilion years ago for Christmas. I assembled the rod and attached a small lure (supplied in the kit!) and moved to the bow of the boat to get away from the out of control flyrod hook that was being flicked in every direction.

My first cast, a moment of retrieval, BANG! The rod bent in half, the reel began to scream. I was not prepared, I fumbled for the drag setting but could not find it, this rod/reel was unfamiliar to me. The tip of the rod was now 2 feet underwater, rod still bent in half, line still disappearing from the reel. it's all over, it's going to break any second now. Just as that thought crossed my mind, he took a breather and stopped. I found the drag, tightened it slightly, started to retrieve. My little toy rod had some fight in it.

He ran and stopped 3 more times, each time a little closer to the boat.

COLOR, I saw color, damn it's big. He saw me and found more energy to run again but not for long. I got him to the boat, in fact, I got him touching the boat. Where's the net? Home. Where's the gaff? home. Where's the camera? home. Not even a mobile phone that has a camera. All i have is a toy rod and a cityslicker with a flyrod.

I slip a hand under his belly and begin to lift, TO HEAVY. I'm bent over the gunwale with both hands under the monster and I CANNOT LIFT IT! The only solution that i could think of at the time was to pass a ski rope through his gills and tie him off, drag him back to the ramp. That would, without doubt, kill him.

He is beginning to catch his breathe again and I'm starting to feel a little guilty. This fish is probably older than me and his last day on earth will be at the hands of an idiot with a ski rope.

I took a long hard look at him, and he at me. I gently slipped the treble hook from his lower lip, and he gracefully swam off. No splashing, no urgent need to flee, just swam off.

It was a local, and rare, native Australia fish called 'Murray Cod'. Rarely are they seen over one metre, this monster was easily one and a half. I don't know how heavy it was and my best guestimation of weight would be around 80 pounds.

This is the third time I have told this story and the reaction is usually "yeah, right". Nobody believes me except my wife. She says that I had a smile on my face for 3 days, only a monster fish can do that!

A waterproof camera now lives permanently in the glovebox of the boat.