I have 15lb test mono with an Abu Garcia Veritas pole and Revo baitcast. I was bank fishing with a 2 inch 10-15ft crank and about 10 ft out it drops off after thick weeds. I slow down my reel there to let the crank float so it doesn't get stuck in the weeds. As it floated up it got a strike so I reeled fast and got the fish through the weeds. Then it was in 1-2ft of shallow water and I could see it very clearly and I can tell you it was in the 5-7lb range as I weigh all my fish and have a good gauge. It was coming in with a lot of strength but just as I thought it was coming towards me, it rerouted and went full throttle back to the pond and broke my line about 3ft from the lure.

 

The crank appeared to snag him on only one treble in the side mouth, but it all happened so fast it's hard to say. What are the chances it can shake that? I stayed around for a while and never saw it float. Also, should I have loosened my drag in that instantaneous moment or is that just chalked up to bad luck? Also a side note, I'm somewhat new to baitcast and I find the tension movements on the drag on a baitcast difficult. 

 

That was probably the biggest fish I've seen in my pond, I later caught a 3.25 and 3.75 and I can confirm this other fish seemed it was close to twice the size, and it's probably the biggest I've ever seen there. I don't care so much about not hauling it in, it would just stink to have accidentally killed it. Thanks for any responses.

With only one treble in it, it's probably already shaken it. I wouldn't worry too much. I've caught bass with old, rusted hooks in their throats. The most egregious case was a smallmouth who not only had a hook in its throat, but like 2-3 feet of line sticking out of its mouth. The line look ancient and the hook was in bad shape. It had been there awhile, but the fish was still feeding and aggressive. Maybe the hook had shifted after so much time, but I easily got it out (I'm talking no effort at all). That made me pretty mad with how easy it was to remove. Even if at one point it was buried in there worse, there's still no excuse for someone having left that much line hanging out of the fishes mouth. 

Fish are very good at dislodging hooks when they have something to leverage against, like a lure.  It's likely freed from it already, especially with line trailing behind it. 

 

I'm always ready to release the spool and thumb the spool in case of that last minute surge if the drag is tightened down, but a crankbait reel shouldn't be tightened down so tight that a fish can't pull line. 

On 6/11/2019 at 11:00 PM, Bluebasser86 said:

Fish are very good at dislodging hooks when they have something to leverage against, like a lure.  It's likely freed from it already, especially with line trailing behind it. 

 

I'm always ready to release the spool and thumb the spool in case of that last minute surge if the drag is tightened down, but a crankbait reel shouldn't be tightened down so tight that a fish can't pull line. 

That's reely (see what I did there?) good advice. I don't know if I can remember that next time in the moment though. I guess I'll loosen the drag for starters anyway. Another question is when do you know the drag is too tight? I didn't feel like it was until the fish just took off the other direction. Perhaps when I saw how big it was I should have anticipated this, but it really is a skill to make these assumptions in the moment.