8 hours ago, Columbia Craw said:

I love how bass fight.  But the most memorable tug of wars came from sturgeon and ling cod.  

 

I once hooked a relatively small sturgeon (48 inches) in the tail water of a dam. I'd been fishing for crappie and walleye, so I had four-pound test. There was an observation platform and people cheered for me. Then they all left as the Sun set. Then it was dark. I finally landed it and my arm was so spent I could barely pull start my outboard to go home.

I don't anticipate ever hooking into one, but yes, there's no reason I wouldn't be able to land such a fish.

22 minutes ago, Glaucus said:

there's no reason I wouldn't be able to land such a fish.

 

Three reasons: weeds, wood, and their wile. 

4 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

 

Three reasons: weeds, wood, and their wile. 

Right, but I read this as asking about capability. I'm certainly capable. 

With finesse gear it would be a challenge especially around cover where the fish likes to wrap.

I caught a 3lb spotted Bass this spring that took me from submerged tree to tree that I simply had to wait out until it freed itself.

In open water it would be no issue.

This blue cat took 10 minutes to net but was in open water, just time consuming.

Virginia considers the blue cat an invasive species.  I hope you took it home or to the landfill.

LMB is a different fish and as noted tends to live around cover and/or structure, they usually don’t run over 100’ before turning to dive deeper or come and jump to free the hook. If they come up we can win, if the dive into cover we can lose! Caught a lot of these giant bass, each was different and on mono line between 10 to 12 lb test. 
The skill needed is keeping a big fish in front of you, follow the fish!

Back in 1983 caught a line class world record 14 lb Pacific Yellow tail fishing a tournament using 4 lb test Maxima UG, the fish was weighed and verified due to the tournament. This record fish lasted a few months topped by a Pacific Yellow Tail caught in New Zealand.

I was using my bass tackle at the time and had the advantage of fishing in a tournament Marlin/Tuna boat with skilled anglers and no kelp for the fish to get into.

Comparing other big fish to big bass is like comparing apples to oranges.

The ultimate big game fish are bill fish, they run nearly 40 mph and jump over 20’ high and caught a lot Marlin weight 2X my weight using 30# tackle. It’s a team effort.

Tom 

 

36 minutes ago, OldManLure said:

Virginia considers the blue cat an invasive species.  I hope you took it home or to the landfill.

Didn't know that 😳.

This same lake I've caught 2 snakehead, ate both.

4 minutes ago, Bird said:

Didn't know that 😳.

This same lake I've caught 2 snakehead, ate both.

Lake Frederick?

40 minutes ago, OldManLure said:

Lake Frederick?

Culpeper lake.

9 hours ago, WRB-2.0 said:

Comparing other big fish to big bass is like comparing apples to oranges.

 

Yep. I have caught 19-pound pike and musky, but I don't believe for a second that these catches equip me to catch a 19-pound lmb like Tom caught...or a 15-pounder. Now, if I were standing in a bass boat and had a fishing partner to operate the trolling motor and net the bass and if the fish ran to open water, then maybe, but if I'm going to stack that many if's, I might as well add that if I were a magical, flying unicorn who could talk to bass, then yeah, I could land a 15-pounder.

 

#threepoundersabusemeinmycanoeandintheirweedsandwood