Another Big 'Un Gets Away

How many times do we all have to make such an admission? The unfortunate reality is that it happens a lot more often than any of us like to acknowledge. The worst part of all is that it never gets any easier. And, too, we usually have no one to blame but ourselves.

The frustration being displayed by the angler in this photo represents what you might expect to be a typical response from anyone after losing a nice fish. However, that wasn't the case with a couple of fellas I read about online recently.

Their story started while they were having a so-so day on the water. Suddenly, though, the wind picked up and the tide turned...and so did their fortunes. They subsequently went to a point that now had both the wind and current pushing on it from across a weedy flat.

The front-seater tied on a fresh swimbait and made a long cast toward a grass patch on the point and almost immediately had a strong hit. He set the hook hard, and a behemoth, ticked-off largemouth went screaming past the boat into deeper water.

"It easily was the biggest fish I'd ever hooked to date," said the angler, who yelled to his partner to get ready. After a brief tussle, he guided the fish alongside the boat, where his partner waited on his knees, with his big hands poised to snatch her from the water.

"She's way over 10, 11--maybe even 13," said the partner, as he grabbed her jaw and leaned back, with the "pig" in his hand.

At this point, both anglers were screaming at the top of their lungs, but then the fish started shaking her tail really hard, which caused the partner to begin losing control. Moments later, he fell overboard, still holding the fish. He surfaced in a few seconds and grabbed the gunwale with one hand, while spitting water and yelling for his buddy to "come get this gosh darn fish!"

The buddy got to him just in time to get a loose grip on the line between his hands and feel the fish shake her tail a couple of times before the line went limp. His 20-lb. fluoro had been tested to its limits without his ever having a chance to touch the big fish. Neither did he get to take a picture or weigh her.

As the partner finally climbed back aboard the boat, both men started laughing hysterically. "But why was this situation so funny?" you're probably asking.

The angler who never got a chance to touch his prized catch explained it this way: "Here were two dumb fishermen who got outsmarted by a big green fish with only a pea-sized brain--pretty funny, I'd say. On the other hand, if we had gotten the fish in the boat, high-fived, weighed it, and taken photos, all we would have had was just another big-fish story."