Zcoker

Ain’t so bad asking yourself those questions. Helps you change your tune. Helps you become proficient. Even if I had a good day, I still reflect to see if there was something that I could’ve done differently. Nothing wrong with your thoughts. In the grand scheme of things, one could’ve done anything differently add infinitum. Living the moments no matter the outcome is fundamentally living your life the best you can. 

They're very effective on calm, dark nights. If using one, then the mentality should be BIG fish. Not always will this happen but when it does, it's like a smashing like no other, a very angry hit. Brasher "tuned" his jitterbugs. He reshaped the aluminum cup to make different sounds. He also relocated the rear treble hook to the very end of the lure, probably for better hookup ratios. Seems to me that most of these big guns who fish at night for DD fish always end up "tuning" their lures. Same with Pat Cullen, he "tuned" his buzzbaits. Nothing stock seemed to work for them. So they all resorted to making their own modifications, which obviously worked! 

That's how most loose a big fish, they panic else fight it like a baby. It appears in your situation that you panicked, horsed it onto shore rather green, which broke the line, and the fish pounced around and then slipped back into the water. Seems like that fish had all the advantages. Have to put things in your court, give yourself the best advantage without overdoing things, would be my best advice. Try to look at situations like this as a teachable moment to make yourself a better fisherman.