Nah, I'm not quoting the Goo Goo Dolls. I lost a huge bass today. Either a very large spotted bass or largemouth - at least from what I could see when it leaped out of the water. I cast 3 times in the same spot. A place where cover grew up onto the stream, floating on the edge of the riffles. I just knew something was there. I cast a fourth time onto the weed bed and chugged it into the stream and WHAM!
That bass ran hard with that fly - my Flip-Flop Fly. The same fly I used yesterday catching all those bass . . . and the same line. I didn't put on new line . . . and lost the bass. I tried to wrangle the bass in and didn't put on a fresh leader or line. Two lessons learned. Arrggh. I have got to give some line and play bass. When I get a really big bass on the line, I end up breaking the line - 0X and 1X. Sheesh. Also, I probably need to learn to tie better knots. I lost a nice bass on a deer hair bug . . . I could tell that the knot became untied . . . which has happened several times too.
Though part of the fun is the hunt and the fight. For some reason, it is so disappointing not to land a large bass. Eh, I'll take the smaller ones today.
River
ReplyDeleteThe largest bass I ever landed on the fly was a 3 1/2 lb. spot last September on Smith. I was glad I was using my free spool reel because I had line all over the boat floor. I got the fish on the drag as quick as I could, by spining the reel face which help me pick up the fly in a flash, and kept me from having to play the fish without the help of the drag--after saying all this I think the key to landing a big fish is to get it on the dray as fast as possible. I know how you felt when you lost that bass, becasue we have all been there.
I hate when that happens. One thing I've learned over the last couple seasons is to be sure your tippet is fresh. Some of it is labeled with an expiration date that shouldn't be ignored. I've lost a couple good ones because of rotten old tippet.
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