When I break off on hookset, I am mad at myself.  When they get off sometime after a hookset, I generally congratulate the fish.

1 hour ago, Zcoker said:

The bigguns hit so hard down my way that it practically swings my kayak completely around.

 

Yeah, they spin me too. Even the small ones do. My canoe is 15' 6" long and 32 lbs., which means it has little draft. Even a 16" bass can move my boat. 

I can relate! My first bite on a huge one was snapped off clean, due to poor drag control. I got into the heat of the moment and quite frankly never caught anything bigger than 2 pounds. That lesson taught me what I needed to do to catch my recent PB!

I am meticulous about drag, knots, nicks in the line. But it still occasionally happens. 

What really mystifies me , is that I caught my pb when I was 19 years old, and didnt know much then compared to now !

@N Florida MikeI just had one snap my line at the bank.  I almost fell in trying to grab her, but she got away.