The One That Got Away...
well i just watched a halibut well over 50 lbs swim away after some questionable gaff work by my buddy...the hook didnt even come out she broke the bottom hook right off the rig...anyways just wondering if you guys had any big fish that got away stories...just to make me feel better lol
Yes, multiple times, but one was about 80 lbs and the boat had 2 harpoons, yet we could only find one tip and one handle in the time it took to get it up and they didn't match. Those things make for better stories and laughs in the long run. The new plan is to have all the landing gear ready, pass my rod off and take responsibility for the gaff, harpoon, shark hook etc... Then when I knock it off the hook it will be all my fault.Originally Posted by lingbling
Funny how it usually only takes once and the next time you're more prepared, sorta like: Good judgment comes from experience and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.
Been there and done that
A few years ago fishing out in Nootka, buddy has a 30lb + spring on, I go to net it, the net catches on the downrigger pully, I get half the fish in the net because it got caught on the pulley in mid swipe and it bounced out breaking the leader line. Ouch!!Not another bite for 3 more hours, that nite we went and got 4 springs all over 20lbs in 40 minutes(buddy was happy again)
Couple years ago my buddy hooked a large halibut,after 20 mins of winding
he got it close enough to see it was well over 100 lbs.
With shaky hands I drove the harpoon in missing the gut sack
and hitting the bony area behind the head.
It didn't go through and the fish thrashed hard enough to bend the harpoon shaft
into a pretzel before it broke off.
Boy did i feel like an A-hole.
Last year Striper Sniper and I had just boated a 30 lb plus fish at bajo- I was fishing 3 lines in the boat and because of a real Snafu we had tangled lines and a fouled net and fish. Gave him a big pilchard spoon to get something in the water while we sorted stuff out. Just get sorted and the boat beside us yells-you got a fish on!! So we did-we laughed and he fought it Pretty good size-I started to net it but it just wouldn't behave-managed to flip-itself around and get the head out of the net-I couldn't understand why I had to keep reaching and pursuing this fish-I knew I was going to lose it and I would never hear the end of it. I made one last lunge and got the net closed over him and vertical by the boat. Looked around to get some slack line and SS was paying no attention. He was looking glum and I noticed there was the Pilchard spoon hanging limp. He couldn't believe it when I asked for a hand. Apparently the spoon had pulled just as I started to net the fish-I hadn't seen it go. That's why I had so much trouble controlling the head. We didn`t lose it -but we should have!!!
"So many fish-So little time"
grr...thanks for reminding me of my story! 3 years ago Beecher Bay with my 7 year old at the time in a tinny. Hit a big one right at the entrance to the bay (was too rough to get out) - after waving off one other boat, it was me and the fish, no seals, no boats, perfect setup. Battled for a good 40 minutes and my son wasn't able to crank up the downrigger and lift it in, so just had to stick with it down. Same deal - get it to the boat and its sideways as I knew my only shot was exhaust it...6'+ leader and no gaff did me in - son couldn't hold onto the rod, son didn't want to net and risk losing it, so on my own trying to get the guy in - 1/2 in 1/2 out and if twists just enough to get me tangled on the downrigger - spent 20 seconds trying to manhandle it in and it just rolls out and is gone...was a 30+ and would have been my biggest spring. Caught a 28.5 the day before (or week before, can't remember) so it didn't sting as much as it could have, but still - thats definitely my 'one that got away', and sadly only one young witness to it!
A long time ago in New Brunswick I was jigging Gasperaux on the French creek bridge-I was 10-had a Zebco spin-cast reel with 12 lb test. Got a gasperaux -put a large hook thru its back and released it into the Creek. That creek flows into Grand Lake and the StJohn river to the bay of Fundy. Sure enough hooked a very large Striped bass fresh from the Ocean-I ran down the creek and out along the Lake shore for a couple of miles. The inevitable happened-I was spooled-the reel was toast and even 55 years later I still wonder -how big that fish was!!
I had a nice fish pushin 30 on at Swale a couple years ago...my old man got too excited with the net and leaned way out rather than letting me guide it in. He managed to get the net under it, but was leaning so far out he couldn't lift it up without tipping himself over the gunnel...fish jumps right out of the net and swims away. Not sure how, but in his eyes somehow it was my fault!
Kenai River, mid-80's---I had a spring on for a good 45 minutes. It went upstream as soon as it felt the point; just swimming slow and steady like it had all day--- that for me was the clue I had a big buck. Most of the fight was untangling gear from boats coming downstream on top of me (7 knt current) . All the guides were totally cool--they knew I had a major fish on and they were instructing their clients to just cut the line so me and my fish could go on upstream on our merry way.
I was in a 12 foot Avon inflatable with a 15 Hp--very nimble craft---I was able to get my line back and eventually got in along side the fish. Got it up to the top of the water column so it was laying along side my raft ----it was seventy +, no doubt. The head was as big as a watermelon. And it was chrome--rare for that river when they got that big.
I'd scooped one or two 50+ Kenai fish up in the net we were using so I thought my partner would at least be able to get most of it in the bag. But when he saw the fish, he froze. Just like the wicked witch of the West laid a bad wand on him. He just stood there mumbling over and over ---"my God, that's the biggest fish I've ever seen in my life..." I was calmly suggesting that maybe he stop the audio clip and get a freaking net over the fish while we had the chance but he was just literally frozen at the switch, a useless thing to have in a boat under any circumstances
I finally grabbed the net out of his hands and handing him the rod, told him just to keep the slack out of the line. So what does he do? He reels in the slack and then lifts the rod up into the air with both hands, like he's trying to set the hook all over again--I see the Spin n Glow and the 5/0 hook pop out the the spring's mouth and the fish just gently drifted down under the boat and disappeared---it was basically spent and never twitched a fin after the hook pulled free.
It was a long quiet ride back to the ramp. My useless co-pilot offered me the 40 pounder he'd caught earlier that day (the one I netted for him)---I said thanks but no thanks...
Ever since that day I started using 6 ft rods in my boat, and now pretty much net all my own fish.
Last edited by sharphooks; 06-04-2012 at 11:29 AM.
Reply With Quote
