How to lose two fish of a lifetime in one day.

Oh and my new motto is going to be "expect the unexpected", because I was not expecting that to happen! 

Jeff

jeff, I find a lot of rods have butts too long for the yak, they are made for fishing while standing, not fishing while sitting. I take a saw to them, cut some off the butt, put some quarters inside a chair leg protector to rebalance the rod, put it over the end of the rod instead of a chair leg, glue it on. an actual rod butt cap might work even better,  , anyway the rod works much better on the yak after that.

jonesz and compa are smart and experienced fishermen, if their advice is pointing the rod a bit more at the fish so it doesn't break, and palming the spool to add to the drag, then that's the way to go.

I sure hope I have to remember that someday! 

actually since I had to learn to fish with nobody teaching me, even little things like breaking off a snag without breaking your rod and reel took some thinking too. you can support the bail and hold the spool and point the rod at the snag and pull till it breaks, generally at the knot. I seen some people cut the line at the rod, which is not the best idea, since they leave a big mess of line out there.

We as "Green" Humans are taking this way too seriously.  If someone could only get hold of the "Tag End" of the line and attach a Tin Can, you could talk to the Fish and ask him what he thinks should be the next move.  My guess would be to meet me 300 yards downstream, remove this "(&&^%&**^%% ing) Hook and we can depart as friends (hopefully to never meet again).

jeff, I find a lot of rods have butts too long for the yak, they are made for fishing while standing, not fishing while sitting. I take a saw to them, cut some off the butt, put some quarters inside a chair leg protector to rebalance the rod, put it over the end of the rod instead of a chair leg, glue it on. an actual rod butt cap might work even better,  , anyway the rod works much better on the yak after that.

jonesz and compa are smart and experienced fishermen, if their advice is pointing the rod a bit more at the fish so it doesn't break, and palming the spool to add to the drag, then that's the way to go.

I sure hope I have to remember that someday! 

actually since I had to learn to fish with nobody teaching me, even little things like breaking off a snag without breaking your rod and reel took some thinking too. you can support the bail and hold the spool and point the rod at the snag and pull till it breaks, generally at the knot. I seen some people cut the line at the rod, which is not the best idea, since they leave a big mess of line out there.

I do the same with breaking the line off at the hook when I get snagged, but it's the last thought that would come through my head when fighting a fish, instinct is to fight it to the very end, right? I am sure it will be something that will pop into mine next time this happens. Whats the worst that can happen, snap the line at the bait? Or rip the fishes lip? (ouch)

Jeff

Or rip the fishes lip? (ouch)

I hear you. But tearing some tissue off the fish's lip is much better than having it swim away with 300 yards of braid in it's mouth. Chances of a fish to survive with a tear is way better. Let's just say it's the lesser of 2 evils. I know most bass fishermen like to horse the fish out from structure. But this is the type of problems that come with the territorry. I never have to encounter with the problem of breaking off cause I only use 10# test. Yea, that fish would have gone away with my lure, but it would not have the line hanging from it's mouth.

Throwing large swimbaits with 10# test is just not an option.  With all the rip-rap, tules and submurged "whatnot", many go with braid on the delta.  This scenario could have happened to anyone throwing a spook or lipless crank and winding up with a surprise lunker striper.

Throwing large swimbaits with 10# test is just not an option.

You are right. I don't throw swimbaits. I use baits suited for the lighter line.

But thinking about jeff's scenario, he could have had a heck of a sled ride and may be a big smile in his face after a couple of hours of holding on! 

I guess there is a grey line here, and I got the short end of the stick and am disliked for my tackle combinations (I am over exaggerating here). It could have happened to anyone anywhere such as someone fishing for rock fish and hook into some ginormous sea creature (you can tell I am a freshwater fisherman, lol). So just believe me that I am not careless and don't hate me! We are all family here!

Jeff

I guess there is a grey line here, and I got the short end of the stick and am disliked for my tackle combinations (I am over exaggerating here). It could have happened to anyone anywhere such as someone fishing for rock fish and hook into some ginormous sea creature (you can tell I am a freshwater fisherman, lol). So just believe me that I am not careless and don't hate me! We are all family here!

Jeff

I just want to say this to all in here. We all go through a learning curve and no one is borned with built in knowledge. Every one of us have and will make mistakes at one point or another. But we all should learn from Jeff's experience. We don't hate you Jeff. Just trying to help a little, even those that sounded a bit harsh.

I know, I like a little constructive criticism, but when everyone talk like I am killing the entire delta river system it goes a little to far. lol. It won't be a mistake I will ever make again, I think I am to scared to throw I bait that big again. It was like playing with a loaded gun just tossing it around not expecting it to go off. I guess that was a good example. Wow I am tired, long day, I am probably making no sense at all.

Jeff

We as "Green" Humans are taking this way too seriously.  If someone could only get hold of the "Tag End" of the line and attach a Tin Can, you could talk to the Fish and ask him what he thinks should be the next move.  My guess would be to meet me 300 yards downstream, remove this "(&&^%&**^%% ing) Hook and we can depart as friends (hopefully to never meet again).

No kidding!  People are taking it too serious.  Nobody intentionally attached some 50 lb braided line to a fish to let it die.  If everyone wants to get excited about some line breaking off, use some of that energy on the a##holes that throw garbage all over the delta levees. 

Even if the big striper dies, what happens?  Some smaller creature that nobody thinks about gets to eat, only to later get eaten by something bigger.  There are worse things happening out there, like losing two monsters in one day! 

Keep up the awesome reports Jeff.
Ben

To be honest, breaks yer heart to hear someone learn the tough lessons... When I post a helpfull tip, I know it goes out to the yak family, not just the reciever. Hopefully others benefit from it also. I know I've picked up my share of tips around here. Just like to contribute something back... Keep castin!!! 

I know, I like a little constructive criticism, but when everyone talk like I am killing the entire delta river system it goes a little to far. lol. It won't be a mistake I will ever make again, I think I am to scared to throw I bait that big again. It was like playing with a loaded gun just tossing it around not expecting it to go off. I guess that was a good example. Wow I am tired, long day, I am probably making no sense at all.

Jeff

No, that does make a lot of sense.

Remember that if somebody disagrees with a choice or action, that doesn't mean they dislike the person. people confuse that one sometimes.

Likewise, a person does not have to agree with all the choices or actions they made themselves.

I lost a halibut last year after gaffing it because I didn't take the time to empty my stringer of fish so that I could gaff it, then string it. halibut probably died since I put a huge tear in it with the gaff. Tough lesson, but I'm sure I'm not the first to learn that one, and not the last either.

Also if you get out and do enough, sombody won't like what you do,  . just the way the world works, but can't stay home all scared and afraid to talk about things you did.

Anyways, like you said, you will probably do something different next time and I am looking forward to reading and viewing more of your fishing adventures!

John

I guess there is a grey line here, and I got the short end of the stick and am disliked for my tackle combinations (I am over exaggerating here). It could have happened to anyone anywhere such as someone fishing for rock fish and hook into some ginormous sea creature (you can tell I am a freshwater fisherman, lol). So just believe me that I am not careless and don't hate me! We are all family here!

Jeff

Right off the bat, I certainly don't hate you. My intent was simply to get you to either think about your gear or think about technique, when you are tossing those big baits. And no, I don't equate what you were doing to fooling around with a loaded gun, either. In fact, by bringing this up, I now find myself thinking about some of my gear, and the possibilities of being spooled.

I will have a heavy rod set up (again) for Halibut in AK this year. With "being spooled" being talked about more and more recently, I'm starting to realize that it is possible that a very big fish could do that. So I'm going to prepare a plan of action. It's going to be tough breaking off 50 lb braid and leader from a kayak though. I've only been seriously snagged with heavy braid twice. The first time, I literally hauled up the rock I was snagged on. The second time I was able to pull the lure free, by wrapping the braid around the handle of my gaff, and letting the swell and flotation of my kayak do the actual pulling. Both of these were essentially very static in nature - the line wasn't coming off my reel at a high rate of speed. So it's time to think about just how I'd handle a fish that could conceivably clean a spool of four hundred yards of 50-65 lb braid...

Best regards,
Scott

P.S. I have a Berkley Lightning rod that went with me to AK last year. It's meant for Muskie sized baits, easily subdued a 50 lb plus Ling, and was handling what felt like a decent sized Halibut before the fish came off. It needs a new tip, but I believe is otherwise ok. I'll continue to use its two twins, but this one is yours for the asking.

It's going to be tough breaking off 50 lb braid and leader from a kayak though.

Indeed, this is the kind of stuff that scares me, with floating logs on the delta, riping currents in the bay and the occasional sleeper wave on the ocean. I'm more concerned with being able to get free from a potentially dangerous snag, but it works out because I usually plan for a weak link leader and because of that the side benefit is that I can break off a potential spooling fish. Not that I have hooked into a potential spooling fish but.....

Jeffrm20 you are on fire!

Jeff