It's funny, every non-fisherman always give us fisherman a hard time about all the "one that got away" stories.

 

But it's TRUE.

 

Friday night I lost I'm about positive my PB.

 

It was getting later in the evening and throwing my favorite swim jig. Not dark dark, but getting dark.

 

Hooked up and right away knew it was a good one. Fought it for a good 15 seconds and next thing you know my rod is about bent in half and I'm trying to keep it from going into the water.

 

I see a brief glimpse of her swimming away from my kayak and the next thing I know my line BREAKS.

 

I'm sitting there with a lifeless rod in my hand and my jaw touching the bottom of my kayak. Just speechless and in disbelief.

 

I was using a MH rod with 20 pound, little less than 1 year old braid on it.

 

This rod has NEVER bent like it bent Friday night. I'm almost positive it would have been my PB.

 

So that's my "The one that got away" story, just a few days old.

 

What's YOUR story?

 

I know everyone has one. 

 

 

Great topic!

 

I've got several of those types of stories but there is one that haunts me.

 

In college I fished a lake that had lowered water levels due to some interstate construction cutting off the inflow temporarily. So the lake water level was down like 15 feet and all that was left was just the deepest holes.

 

So I was fishing this one perfectly round deep hole with no cover at all. I cast a rubber worm to the shore, like if I was standing at 12 o'clock position, I would cast to the 3 and 9 o'clock shore and bump the worm into the lake.

 

The bass were starving. Absolutely no cover. No where to hide. So I catch this small bass about 14 inches in size, and I am reeling it to me pulling it away from shore over deeper water. That bass swam as hard as it could right back to shore. So I pulled it out over deeper water towards me a second time. It swam right back as fast and as hard as it could back to shore. On the 3rd time pulling it out over deeper water a huge bass came up from the middle bottom of that hole and ate my bass instantly- just gone.

 

I watched my line go straight down to the center of that hole where that bass took his dinner back to his home. I was a kid really. I had cheap junk tackle. 10lb frayed old mono line. I could not even budge that fish. I tried everything until my line snapped. That fish did not even seem to know I was there.

 

All I can do is guess at the size of that one. But how big does a bass have to be to eat a 14 inch bass?

 

I also think that would have been my PB as well. I am sure it was well over 10 pounds.

 

That was a lesson in learning to be prepared for the next big one. That big bass schooled me on that day some 40 years ago.

I've dropped a few fish over the years.

Some more memorable than others.

Can't say with any certainty that one of them might have been a personal best.

The ones that haunt me the most are the ones that pull like a freight train,

but I dump before I ever see them. 

A few years back on what turned out to be one of the last casts

of a week long trip on Lake Baccarac in Mexico, 

 I hooked a LMB on a swimbait that just about ripped the rod out of my hand on the strike.

She then proceeded to totally school me by running hard over a deep rock ledge 

completely shedding 25 lb FC in what seemed like an a 8 second ride on the back of Bodacious.

Never saw her, she was gone before I knew it, and managed to scare the ba-Jesus right out of me. 

Haven't had a bass pull like that ever !

On the local fishing front, and one I got a very good visual on in this clear water,

there's this beast of brown bass that slurped a jerkbait close to the boat.

Looking back at it, probably Not my best hookset.

But I get to relive it in 1080P and hopefully learn something.

A-Jay

 

I don't know if this particular fish was meant to be caught due to the circumstances.

Was fishing for Bluegill at the discharge 2 years ago of this small 30 acre crystal clear lake.

Hooked a large bluegill on an ultralight and during the fight I thought the fish got hung.

Next thing I know this gigantic bass is tail dancing at the boat attempting to spit the bluegill which it eventually did.

Had I had a net in my hand I could have netted this fish that we estimated 10lb.

3 hours ago, A-Jay said:

The ones that haunt me the most are the ones that pull like a freight train,

but I dump before I ever see them. 

Exact same way here. You can only wonder on those. Every time I loose a fish like that I’m convinced I lost my PB for a few minutes. 
 

Last year I hooked a snake northern pike probably around 16”. As I reeled it up to my kayak a watched a giant bass dart out at the pike before it me and swam away. One of the reasons I’ve been collecting some big swimbaits.
Lost a fish about 100 yards from that spot a couple months later on a deep crank. Buckled my rod in half under the boat and shook my bait. I wonder if it was the same one. 

The first fish I hooked opener morning of 2025 was easily 5+lbs and had a possibly for 5.5+ but I dumped it at the side of the boat. Not sure if I was trying to boat flip it or what but I had 6 months of rust built up from the winter. 
 

Im curious to hear if @WRB-2.0 has any potential world records that came off. 

Edited June 30, 2025Jun 30 by 10,000 lakes Bassin

Two years ago in October, I was fishing a swim jig in very windy conditions, but the water was clear.  I was retrieving the bait along some rip rap and it is maybe 10 feet away from me, I was almost ready to lift it out of the water.

 

A big very big largemouth comes in behind the jig and inhales it.  A split second later it spits the jig back out, never even closing its mouth.  Then the bass took off like the devil was after it.

 

Two things dawned on me.  The first was that this bass knew what was in its mouth, and the second was that if I hadn't seen it bite the swim jig, I would have thought I clipped a piece of vegetation.

50 minutes ago, 10,000 lakes Bassin said:

Im curious to hear if @WRB-2.0 has any potential world records that came off.

 

Tom thinks he had the world record hooked. His partner didn't have his six.

 

There's no one bass that has me wondering. I've lost many big bass in bogs and a few in open water. I've also landed many big bass in bogs and a few in open water. If any haunt me, it's the ones that strip drag and suddenly unbutton. There are a few. 

Sorry for your heartbreak………

 

20 lb braid is fairly thin for my liking on baitcaster, I’ve had it break on sharp ledges somewhat easily. For swim jig I go with 40+ 

10 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Sorry for your heartbreak………

 

20 lb braid is fairly thin for my liking on baitcaster, I’ve had it break on sharp ledges somewhat easily. For swim jig I go with 40+ 

Thanks.

 

Even though it’s less than a year old, I’m looking to replace it.

 

Was thinking 30-40 lb.

3 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

Tom thinks he had the world record hooked. His partner didn't have his six.

I’ve read that story here more than once.

 

Personally, I don’t have any good bass stories of the ONE that got away. Maybe I’ve never hooked a giant bass in 20+ years.

 

I have, however, lost a couple of very large muskies in recent years. They jump, shake their head, and the hooks come flying out.  Those images are tattooed on my brain forever.

6 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

 

Tom thinks he had the world record hooked. His partner didn't have his six.

 

There's no one bass that has me wondering. I've lost many big bass in bogs and a few in open water. I've also landed many big bass in bogs and a few in open water. If any haunt me, it's the ones that strip drag and suddenly unbutton. There are a few. 

Yes I lost maybe 2 LMB 20+ lbs one I got a good look at the other another trophy angler got a good look at. I have been blessed to catch the giants I did put in the boat. The ones that got away tend to keep you up at night and hard to forget.

Tom

@HawkeyeSmallie  Thanks for this topic.  I have been itching to tell this story but without photographic proof it's just a story but here goes.

This spring I was fishing a squarebill and hooked a good one.  As I fought it I was thinking, "this is a REAL good one!"  Got the bass in the net and it was the biggest bass I had ever seen.  I have a lip clip (like you would attach to a fish in a livewell) on a rope tied to my boat.  If I'm gonna take a pic I put the fish on the clip and get the phone set up for a photo and my scale out.  I'm holding the bass and I'm thinking this is an "8", maybe bigger!!!!  Could be a "9"......!!!!  Big, beautiful bass with a huge mouth and huge belly!

I clipped her on the lip and eased her down into the water.  Now this is ironic, I thought "I think this clip will hold her?".  She made one lunge and was gone! 

No photo, no weight.

When I lifted her out of the net I was shaking.  Maybe I didn't get the clip closed all the way, maybe she was just too big to hold....I don't know.  I don't have to prove anything to anybody but I would sure have loved to share a photo with all my Bass Resource friends.

2 hours ago, Lottabass said:

@HawkeyeSmallie  Thanks for this topic.  I have been itching to tell this story but without photographic proof it's just a story but here goes.

This spring I was fishing a squarebill and hooked a good one.  As I fought it I was thinking, "this is a REAL good one!"  Got the bass in the net and it was the biggest bass I had ever seen.  I have a lip clip (like you would attach to a fish in a livewell) on a rope tied to my boat.  If I'm gonna take a pic I put the fish on the clip and get the phone set up for a photo and my scale out.  I'm holding the bass and I'm thinking this is an "8", maybe bigger!!!!  Could be a "9"......!!!!  Big, beautiful bass with a huge mouth and huge belly!

I clipped her on the lip and eased her down into the water.  Now this is ironic, I thought "I think this clip will hold her?".  She made one lunge and was gone! 

No photo, no weight.

When I lifted her out of the net I was shaking.  Maybe I didn't get the clip closed all the way, maybe she was just too big to hold....I don't know.  I don't have to prove anything to anybody but I would sure have loved to share a photo with all my Bass Resource friends.

Ouch that hurts. I do the same thing with big ones to let them spend more time in the water. I have one of those really heavy duty clips though that lock on a metal ratchet. If a fish ever breaks free from that I think I just have to tip my hat. 

 

I've been fortunate to not dump many big ones over the years. The major breakoffs I've had were on Pike lakes so I can at least talk myself into what those were for my own peace of mind. The only one I know for sure was a bass that haunts me a bit was a 9" MS Slammer that I was just deadsticking off the end of a laydown. Very subtle bite it just slurped it down but it had been a while since it landed so I just lost focus. Set the hook too late so I'm fairly sure I just hooked the side of it's face. It took off for some deeper weeds and I didn't have the angle to keep it away. Once the line wrapped around the weeds it had the leverage to pull free and came off. No idea how big but it pulled freaking hard and this is with an 8' Heavy rod.