After fishing some neighborhood ponds over the weekend without success, I finally hooked up yesterday!  The thing is, it happened when I least expected it.  I picked up a new Lucky Craft Pointer 78 yesterday and decided to give it a try.  I had not changed line since last year which I soon found out was a mistake...or was it?  I make a cast into a corner of one of the ponds and I get a backlash.   While trying to pick the backlash out, I realize my line broke on the spool during the backlash.  I start hand pulling in the pointer and wadding up the line in my hand.  When my jerkbait was about 5 feet from shore I feel resistance and then shaking!  I immediately start laughing.  I pulled the fish in by hand.  Even though it was just a little over a pound and I didn't actually get to reel it in, it still felt good.  I also learned that maybe I should be fishing a little slower than I was.  Nothing like that has ever happened to me before.  It sort of reminded me of the fish Ike caught when his line broke and he jumped in the water to grab the line and hand reel the fish in.  My story wasn't as dramatic, but it still made me laugh.

Good story.  Glad you didn't lose that LC!

Eddie