The night that almost was....

Well, this is a humbling post and one that I hate to write.

I went fishing yesterday and had a miserable outing. I lost every sizeable fish that bite. I mean it was so pathetic. I landed fish up to 2lbs maybe 2.5lbs but everything bigger then that ALL came unbuttoned. I am ashamed.

I started off around 3pm or so. I immediately caught a smaller fish on a Royal Red XCalibur bait. I use speed clips on my line so that I can switch lures quickly. Well, something must have happened with this one as when I unhooked the fish and let it go I was holding the lure in my left hand. I just dropped the lure assuming it was on the end of my line. Apparently it was not and it plopped right into the water next to me. I was stunned. That is how the day started.

I put a Gold one on and caught a nicer 2lber on it. Went to another area and hooked a nice 4lber? I watched it jump clean out of the water and also watched as my line went slack. I was bummed as I lost that fish. But up to that point it was the first one.....

Few moments later I hook another decent fish and land it. It was probably 2lb-2.5lbs. Few casts later I hook a toad. I am fighting this fish and I am close to another boat and the fish breaks water but never jumps and again the lure comes out. I wanted to scream but didn't because of the other boat. I just bite my lip hard. I look at my hooks they are needle sharp. This lure comes with very sharp hooks. The hook size is #4 in front and #6 in back. So I decide to change them out to bigger hooks. I put a #2 hook in front and the #4 hook goes to the back. Several casts later maybe 30 minutes later I hook another fish and it jumps and yep throws my lure. I am in disbelief at this point.

I fish with braid on my rods and while I lose a fish here and there on lipless, as that sort of comes with the territory, I don't lose every fish almost. So I tried it on a medium action rod that is 7 foot. Very soft rod. This is the rod that I lost the 4lber that I saw and the bigger fish I didn't see. I switched back to my medium heavy rod that is what I normally use and lost one on that too. :cussin:

Well, it is getting dark so I switch to my Hildebrandt spinnerbait. I get a hook up and am fighting the fish in and notice it is a FREAKING Pickerel and yep, cuts my braid like it is a wet noodle. I HATE PICKERELS!!!!! So there goes that nice bait. I have another one luckily and move to the flats that I caught that big one last weekend. It is dark now and I fish for a while with no bites. Around 9pm the action heats up. I caught a dink and then the big fish showed up. I hook a monster on the spinnerbait and it was way out there on a long cast. I am fighting this fish and it jumps and yep THROWS my spinnerbait. I can't believe this. The spinnerbait even has a trailer hook on it. I am in shock. :dunno: Well, moments later I hook what seemed like even a bigger fish and it also throws my spinnerbait. WTH!!!!

I switch to my homemade mullet bait with 3 #2 treble hooks. I have never lost a single fish on this lure yet. I have caught 10 bass on this lure including a 6.2lber. I am working this bait right on the surface making it bulge the water. I get a ferocious strike that was awesome. I set the hook and am fighting this fish and it is huge. Very nice fish. I am excited until yep, this fish breaks the surface and throws my lure. I said I quit. This is rediculous.

I managed to catch another fish on a big Bass Assassin twitch shad like a fluke. I also caught another fish on a spinnerbait but the arm broke while I was unhooking the fish. I caught probably 8 fish and lost at least 8 more. So I lost 3 lures last night and probably 4 fish that where all over 4lbs. with some in the 6lb+ range. Based on how hard they where pulling before I lost them.

I lost fish on 3 different lures. Lipless, spinnerbait and a large jerkbait. Now we did have heavy strong East winds all day last night it was kinda chilly with temps getting into the low 60's. Could these fish just be nipping baits? In hinds site I wish I had thrown a soft plastic fluke like I did later when those big fish where in the area. I hooked 3 big fish in this same area and lost all three. If I had hooked them on a worm hook I might have landed them all? Other then that what should I have done?

I am pretty bummed by this. It is like I forgot how to fish or something. Geez.