The one that got away, or Why I love fishing...

[Christopher P. Cericola]

Tonight went out to my home lake and within minutes landed a whopper of a
1/4#...I figured he was small but it was signs of what was to come. Well,
it wasn't. I walked the entire lake and not even a hit..UNTIL...I was just
about to leave.

I was tossing a rat-l-trap and reeling it in until my reel was smoking..and
then BAM! My line seemed to be going backwards. In fact, it was..my drag
was coming out VERY quickly and I was watching my line in the water wave
back and forth..it was crazy, I couldn't react fast enough...reeling in did
nothing, pulling did nothing..all I could do is watch this guy steal what
little line I had left(I know, I should've respooled before I went
fishing)...and then it happened. He got away....at least he didn't get the
lure.

I have no idea what he was but I'm goign to assume a VERY large bass. There
are no stripers here and there's nothing else in the lake that would have
that kind of pull. I would've considered it being a turtle but this was a
fish..very different pull. I even though maybe I speared a catfish or a
carp but it wouldn't have felt like this...

The fight that I lost lasted no more than 15-seconds from start to finish.
During that time, my heart beat like no tomorrow and it felt like an
eternity. I may have lost him, but that memory is enough to keep me fishing
another ten years...

In lieu of having a real picture of the fish, my wife has done this "police
sketch" of what I expected it to be...

http://users.snip.net/~ccericola/images/20040809-Newton/TOTGA-Depiction.jpg

Christopher

[ROBMURR]

Must be fishing in Loche Ness...

[ROBMURR]

Must be fishing in Loche Ness...

[Chris Rennert]

Chris,

My first guess would have been a carp, just the way it took off instantly, I
just caught one recently that took off like a bat out of hell and ripped off
probably 50 yards of line before he finally gave up. If you snag one of
them in the tail, then it is on! :)

Chris
"Christopher P. Cericola" > wrote in message
roups.com...
> Tonight went out to my home lake and within minutes landed a whopper of a
> 1/4#...I figured he was small but it was signs of what was to come. Well,
> it wasn't. I walked the entire lake and not even a hit..UNTIL...I was
just
> about to leave.
>
> I was tossing a rat-l-trap and reeling it in until my reel was
smoking..and
> then BAM! My line seemed to be going backwards. In fact, it was..my drag
> was coming out VERY quickly and I was watching my line in the water wave
> back and forth..it was crazy, I couldn't react fast enough...reeling in
did
> nothing, pulling did nothing..all I could do is watch this guy steal what
> little line I had left(I know, I should've respooled before I went
> fishing)...and then it happened. He got away....at least he didn't get
the
> lure.
>
> I have no idea what he was but I'm goign to assume a VERY large bass.
There
> are no stripers here and there's nothing else in the lake that would have
> that kind of pull. I would've considered it being a turtle but this was a
> fish..very different pull. I even though maybe I speared a catfish or a
> carp but it wouldn't have felt like this...
>
> The fight that I lost lasted no more than 15-seconds from start to finish.
> During that time, my heart beat like no tomorrow and it felt like an
> eternity. I may have lost him, but that memory is enough to keep me
fishing
> another ten years...
>
> In lieu of having a real picture of the fish, my wife has done this
"police
> sketch" of what I expected it to be...
>
>
http://users.snip.net/~ccericola/images/20040809-Newton/TOTGA-Depiction.jpg
>
> Christopher
>
>

[Christopher P. Cericola]

"Chris Rennert" > wrote in message
. ..
< My first guess would have been a carp, just the way it took off instantly,
I just caught one recently that took off like a bat out of hell and ripped
off probably 50 yards of line before he finally gave up. If you snag one of
them in the tail, then it is on! :) >

I was thinking carp but I've never known them to really strike lures let
alone lures that are speeding through the lake like a bat out of hell. If
anything I think I might've hit the tail, like you said. I still hold to my
"police sketch".

Christopher

[Christopher P. Cericola]

"Chris Rennert" > wrote in message
. ..
< My first guess would have been a carp, just the way it took off instantly,
I just caught one recently that took off like a bat out of hell and ripped
off probably 50 yards of line before he finally gave up. If you snag one of
them in the tail, then it is on! :) >

I was thinking carp but I've never known them to really strike lures let
alone lures that are speeding through the lake like a bat out of hell. If
anything I think I might've hit the tail, like you said. I still hold to my
"police sketch".

Christopher

[Guy F. Anderson Sr.]

On Tue, 10 Aug 2004 19:04:00 -0400, "Christopher P. Cericola"
>I was thinking carp but I've never known them to really strike lures let
>alone lures that are speeding through the lake like a bat out of hell.

Carp will occasionally hit an artificial lure. AMOF, a couple of
years ago, I landed a 27# carp which slurped in a bass-sized popping
bug. What a fight on a 9 ft. fly rod with 6 lb. tippet! Happened on
Reelfoot Lake.

Many years ago, during a hatch of 13 year cicadas, carp in the Stones
River of Middle Tennessee were sucking them off the surface. I caught
them on popping bugs then too.