There are many of us who fish this spot and in one area we have all lost lures without ever seeing the fish that does it.  The strikes are so violent and quick it tears my lures right off my line.  I'm thinking its a large small mouth or a large pickerel thats doing it.  The only thing i can change is going to a steel leader and 12lb test or higher.  It happens right at day break in the same spot everytime.  Now i do see otters around this time too but i'm not sure if its them because it never comes up for air.  I think its a fish its too fast to be a snapping turtle too plus i never see the bubbles.

What do you think??  I'm going to hunt this thing all spring while its still colder at least till the bass bite is on.

The Loch Ness Monster!

:o

Pike

Its just me stealing you lures . Definitely a toothy critter.

sounds like something worth catching. Maybe a musky they are big and toothy. Might need to go with a good leader and some stronger line. Good luck!

i agree probebly a pike or pickarel, or muskie, use a steel leader and maybe some heavier line and catch that thing.  they are great fun!

Cliff

Let us know what it is when you catch it.

No doubt, it's one of the toothy critters. I would use the titanium leaders, they are expensive, however they don't kink and present the bait more natural. I'm going to use them for muskie fishing this season.

Falcon

Weird that noone has been able to land that thief! I'd suspect, like the other guys have said, it's a large pike or Musky. Go with the leader and stout line recommendations and even try a LARGE spinner bait/Bucktail and see what happens. I'd say 30 - 50 pound braided in case it is a Musky. I doubt that line less than that is even going to slow that critter down. Hope you also are using a medium heavy to heavy rod. Musky can DESTROY the average bass setups.

I've pulled out 30" Pickerel out of this place already but i never seen a strike so hard like this one.

I fished it from shore and one year watched a fish tearing up the lilly's for months every morning just out of reach. I watched it every day till it came within reach of my cast. This fish was like a torpedo in the water.  I finally nailed it and it was a 30 pickerel.  But this next fish is on the other side of the place away from that spot.

On summer nights I can hear the bass breaking topwater in the dark that sound like us doing body slams.  My largest bass so far there is 10lbs.  I had one big bass hooked in the weeds but lost it due to its size and the amount of line i had out.  I seen the strike topwater. It missed the first strike then turned and hit it again.

You can't beat the topwater action and seeing it unfold.

But again this one fish we never get to see its always a slacked line pulled up with no lure on it, its just ripped off so violently.  My cranks are running around 4' to 6' deep in this spot.

It sounds like what the Musky are always doing to me!

No I hate to say it but every one is wrong. I think the baitmonkey got some scuba gear and is hitting you pretty hard.

                      -searoach

On a serous note, are you tying good nots?

Yeah, definitely sounds like a big pike or musky. The area I fish on the Potomac has musky in it! When I'm fishing for smallies, I use braid. I've had muskies (and my partner MskSlyr has too) hit small bass crankbaits. We have both had luck landing them using braid (MskSlry has also landed a couple on mono). When I'm fishing for musky, I use a HEAVY fluro or mono leader. I have yet to loose a bait while using this set up. I agree also that if you're not outfitted properly, a big pike or musky will absolutely trash most bass gear (unfortunately, MskSlyr can attest to that as well).