I’m guessing we’ve all lost a big fish or two over the years. Some you lose on the jump, or maybe near the boat, just out of reach. But others, you set into, the fish doesn’t move - maybe just a hard long run or a couple big head shakes, then she’s gone. But you didn’t see her, so she was probably a big bass, but maybe not.
 

So the question…when you lose a big fish, do you prefer to at least see it and know exactly what you just lost, and how big? Or would you rather not see it at all, and maybe live with the thought that perhaps it wasn’t actually a big bass? Maybe you briefly snagged a big catfish or drum, striper, etc., so you don’t feel quite as bad, ‘cause you’ll never know?

 

I’ve had my share of both, and think I lean slightly toward the latter - rather not knowing.

3 minutes ago, Team9nine said:

So the question…when you lose a big fish, do you prefer to at least see it and know exactly what you just lost, and how big?

 

It's a great question. I have hooked half a dozen bass in the last year that simply took line and then peeled free. I have also lost bass that jumped beside my canoe, inches from me, or were millimeters from the net. It's the ones I never saw that haunt me. 

I wanna see it

If I see em it’s not to bad If I don’t that hurts . Because you never know 

Interesting question. I've only lost one "fish" that has tormented my dreams for a long time. It wasn't a bass for sure. I had gotten permission to fish a co-worker's pond that was stocked with bluegill and catfish. The pond was no more than a puddle, but I caught a few bluegills and then had "the bite". I felt the bite, felt the fish sink down into the mud, and then nothing. I couldn't reel in. I assumed I was snagged and asked her if there was anything at the bottom of the pond like limbs or even a discarded bicycle. She said nope and just laughed. After 10 minutes of struggling, I just had to bust the line. If it was her famous catfish, it would have been a personal best by many many pounds. Could have been a huge turtle? No idea. Not knowing what it was irks me big time. I've never been able to go back to that puddle and fish again, either. 

I just tell myself it was probably just a 3lber.

Its more painful when you get a glimpse and its even more painful when you get a good look at it for confirmation.  Its fairly easy for me to forget about it if I don't get to visually see it.

 

This occurred to me last weekend.  I was smallmouth fishing and my Father and I were on a short window of bigger sized brownies when I tied into one that went THUD.  I didn't get a great hook set on it but it got close enough so that when it turned sideways and got off, I knew it was huge.  Very likely a new PB.  I've thought about that fish all week.

 

I am going back there this weekend.  I marked her address on my GPS.

Doesn’t matter to me. I’m going to add weight  the same either way.

I’d like to see it.  Yeah it may sting a little more but at least I’ll have a visual confirmation that what I’m doing is working.

I like to see ‘em, it hurts more but it’s better than not knowing . 

I want to see it 

I’ve felt worse knowing what I had, but at 

least I know I did something right hooking up in the first place. 
 

 

 

 

Mike

I’ve had both happen this month and I’m still undecided - lol.

 

First was a 5-6 lb. bass. Been fishing Ned on a stump flat, occasionally hanging up and having to go unsnag. Bait stopped and line tightened right by a stump, so I hesitated instead of swinging. Bass took off and immediately went skyward, throwing the bait in the process. Just lost the one good bite I came for 😮‍💨

 

Then earlier this week, a big fish follows my bait to the bottom (FFS). Line immediately tightens, I swing. Heavy pressure for a couple seconds, then nothing - the bait just popped out. Was it a bass? Lots of fish had followed the bait like that already and never bit. Also lots of catfish and carp in this lake. Did I just briefly snag one of those curious bystanders?

 

I actually felt better about not knowing on the latter, vs. knowing I blew it on the former 

If you don't see them they will continue to grow each time you relate to them.

1 minute ago, Team9nine said:

Been fishing Ned

 

Is this the same one you set a record with?  That thing has to be a mangled piece of elaztech by now.

I'd rather see them.  It's more information I can use to improve my fishing. 

 

How close I got or what I lost doesn't matter to me.  Either way, it's a lost fish.  And it's much easier for me to swallow the loss, if I can learn something from it. 

Good post. I think I would rather not see the big fish.

99% of the advantage in bass fishing is knowing where big fish are and what they bite and the only thing you've got to tell you anything true is your eyes.

 

I'd much rather know I broke off a 9+ lber seeing it jump by the drain than just feel a thump and a few head shakes and then nothing.  That tells me the location of at least one 9+ lber when conditions are a certain way etc.

 

I've had multiple instances where a missed fish was caught a day or two later when conditions improved.

 

People claim that fish that 'get a hook in them won't bite anymore'

 

This has not been my experience at all.

If it really is a bass I'd like to see it... but to be honest, it was probably a pike.

4 minutes ago, MIbassyaker said:

but to be honest, it was probably a pike.

 

Oh dear god, please no

I want to see it. The “One that got away” in my mind isn’t going far and probably has friends of similar size that frequent the area being creatures of habit. In a lot of ways that’s why anglers fish the same water/bank, drop waypoints or use the same baits they’ve caught a big fish with. And I’d also like to know what I need to correct so I can get a future photo opportunity if everything thing goes well.

I'm most often fishing with a stout MHF or a HF and straight braid, so even if I don't see a lost fish, I can feel whether or not it was heavy. Once they're past 5 1/2lbs, there's a unique strain I feel from the back of my wrist to my elbow that tells the tale. The stiffer rods and no-stretch line don't absorb much, so the load gets transferred quickly to muscles. Conversely, with a M spinning rod, light line, and light drag, it's much harder to tell what I have until I see it as the entire system absorbs so much. Seems to hold true for the pros too who almost always proclaim a biggun before they see it with spinning gear even if it's a 2lber.

 

That aside, and as haunting as it is, I'm good with seeing a lost fish as it reassures me that they're still in there to be caught another day.

If I don't see the fish, I have no clue how big the fish was......it's not even a question in my mind.     Could have been a big, but just as easily could have been a smaller one that was foul hooked, or just pulled more than its weight class.   A 3lb fish hooked in the back will pull like a monster.   

 

The only fish that hurt are the ones you actually see.

 

I can't tell you how many times I've heard pros say "giant", then the fish jumps and they say "naw just good one".    I'm the same way, and so is every other angler.  

Man, this is a loaded question @Team9nine and you know it ! 

Certainly, when we've fished long enough, we've all had something that resembles 

both of these scenarios. 

Locally, the most of the waters I fish offer good visibility, sometimes it's too good. 

So in my case, I've lost my fair share of big fish that I did see

and some that I didn't; but imagine that they were pretty decent.  

That includes a few different species; musky, pike, trout, walleye and of course brown & green bass. 

However, I do not believe that I've ever lost a fish that I did manage to see that was Bigger

than anything I've actually landed; except One.

I hooked a Freak of a Musky a few springs ago that sure looked like it dwarfed anything I've manage to land.  Swallowed a 1.5 square bill boat side and bit me off. 

I'd have never landed it by myself anyway as I don't keep the right gear needed in the Lund.

Just as well.  But it was big. 

However on the other end on the spectrum, while fishing south of the border a few years back, I hooked into 'something' that just about ripped the rod right out of my hands and scare the Ba-Jeezzus right out of me. It was the last hour of fishing on the last day.  We were throwing big jigs along this deep water ledge.  She grabbed the bait and sounded right off into the abyss.  I had No Time to do anything and she shredded my 25 lb Tatsu on the rocks like it was sewing thread.  

That experience still plays through my mind and wakes me up in a cold sweat a couple of times a year.

This is why, I'd much prefer to see what I've stumbled upon,

at least I'll sleep a little better.

A-Jay

I want see the fish but it’s a double edge sword. Seeing a giant that you somehow manage to loose near the boat burns that image permanently into your memory.

I constantly relive that fish and it doesn’t get any better with time.

Tom

I like to see them so I know exactly what I lost. I want to know if it was actually a fish and not a log or something and if it was a bass and how big. I don't like the mystery of it. Too many unanswered questions that lead to assumptions.