The One That Got Away Stories 2025
coryn h. fishowl reply :
We all have them, some true, some slightly exaggerated (now I now it is a hard idea to accept that anglers could lie, but I have slowly come to expect that we fisherman sometimes, albeit rarely, blow stories out of proportions.) So post any you've had or heard, be they true or lies. Mine occured when I had started fishing for crappie and baby bass. A small bass bit and as I was reeling him in, I could see him flare, and what I figured to be a log, suddenly darted and my rod bent double. The spines on the baby had caught in his throat I suppose. Just as I lifted him out of the water, I forgot that I was using 4 pound test, and I heard the most sickening sound an angler can hear. TWANG! She fell back to her world, never to be caught be me again. Sigh.
bigbill reply :
I lost a few big bass, probably new state records.
My buddy made a long cast over the weeds and hooked into a large bass. It went down into the deep weeds and fishing from shore it was all over. He tried to horse the bass out of the weeds and the new rod I just gave him broke and the line snapped.
Now fast forward a year in the same area I hooked into a big fish also. She was up out of the water when she smacked my topwater popper silly. Then she did a 180 degree turn and hit it. The same darn thing again happened. Before I could pull back to keep her head up she dove into the weeds faster than any "U" boat. She was gone with my topnocker.
Fish #2,
It's was snowing lightly in November, flurries. I went out with a 6" YUM Money minnow.
All of a sudden she smacked it. My rod bent in half like it never did before. I fought her for about 15 minutes that felt like an hour. Even a car stopped to see what I had on the line. I fought and played her the best I could keeping the pressure on her. But she spit the hook. I think I didn't set the hook hard enough.
Fish #3
I'm in the same body of water as #2. But fishing farther down the road and man made dam and drop off. I'm a little above the waters edge fishing from the road. I had my polarized glasses on and was just trying to put on a new BPS 7 1/4" stik o worm I just purchased. I didn't know these were a larger diameter over the normal sized senkos. I was upset I didn't look in the package before I left. I put on a 3/0 hook but it's a tad too small but I went with it anyway. I have a small cleared channel I cleared the weeds out so I have walls of weeds on both sides of this narrow channel I made. I casted it into this channel on my 1/8oz brass weighted carolina rig. I worked it slowing to about 6' near the shore but still on the slope of the drop off. I see this monster of a bass swim up and my monster sized stik o worm was in its mouth. I could see the end of the slightly sticking out of its mouth. I stood there in shock at the size of this bass just sitting there on my line. I asked myself over and over do I set the hook or not. The seconds felt like minutes, the minutes felt like an hour. I went to set the hook and she spit it and gave me her rear view as she swam away.
After catching my PB of 10# the thoughts of breaking the state record of 12# 14oz. Would be within my grasp. I just realized I had a lot to learn yet. I need to keep my ego in check and I found out I was not on top of my game equipment wise. The losing of these three big bass has haunted me for years now. I been so close yet so far away from landing them.
During my illness this past year I had more time to think about what I'm doing wrong.
Was I asleep at the controls? I'm I too soft on the hook set? How can I improve.
This is why my quest for a fishing rod with more backbone and more hook setting power began this summer. I found three Finor rods, two 7' Finor lite med/hvy new spinning rods I had in the rack are more like salmon rods very stiff with lots of backbone and power. One is a 6'6" med action Finor rod. I set these up all three. Then I purchased the lews spinning rods too. The 7'hvy, 6'6"med/hvy, 6'hvy, 5'6" lt action for smaller stuff.
I then wanted to get into using the bait casting reels more too. So I upgraded in that area. From the softer action rods to the lews XHVY,XP 7' rod, a med/hvy action rod etc. I purchased 5 better casting rods. I think I took care of the weak link in my chain. Now it's up to me to go out and just fish and have fun. If the big gal strikes I'll be ready now.
In the beginning of my bass fishing I found out that cheap line and cheap reels worked great for trout but I was losing bass due to the line breaking. Then the reels didn't hold up to the fight of the bass. I upgraded my line to Excalibur silver thread. At the sametime I purchased some quantum spinning reels at Wal-Mart. I didn't upgrade my rods till now. One of my older discontinued rods says medium action. One of my new rods says
medium action yet it's stiffer. They feel like two different action rods. Now it's up to me to do my part. Bigbill
I can't change the past but I can be a lot smarter in the future. Somethings just don't come easy. We have to earn them, nothing is a given in life as well as fishing.
AK-Jax86 reply :
Man I have a bunch but the one I actually saw I will never get out of my head! It made me mad that I live in FL and I didn't catch it somewhere else where there aren't any alligators because I would have went in the water to get her!
Everytime I think about it I get in a bad mood
GeorgiaBassBros reply :
Only one that really sticks out wasnt even me that it happened to. My family had gone down to a state park on a mountain (that will remain unnamed) but when we drove by the lake the first time we saw a big thing in the water right on the bank and assumed it was a log. When we went down to fish we saw quickly that it wasnt a log but a 10+ bass. My dad tossed to her and she immediately ate it. He set the hook and the fight was. He was using 10 lb braid and an 8 pound flouro leader which proved to be his down fall. She took a run towards an actual log and he tightened his drag and that was the end of it. We got to see her jump once and knew that hed just lost the biggest bass wed ever seen in person. She gave another jump and slung the hook right out after the line broke. He did get redemption a few weeks ago by upping his Pb to a right at 8lb slob
rippin-lips reply :
Luckily my last Pb and newest Pb were landed. I've lost some good fish but none bigger then those 2 so I'm not extremely upset about it.
tomustang reply :
Everyone has the "I lost the state record" story. Why can't they be more creative and say "I had the world record" 
roadwarrior reply :
http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/68635-huge-disappointment/
Brian6428 reply :
Thankfully my worst "the one that got away story" can now be laughed at. My brother and I were new to fishing, and looking for more challenge than bluegill, turned our efforts to bass. We watched every video and read every article we could. We bought an inflatable boat on Walmart.com to get off the dock we had access to. After paddling across the lake and back, we were fishing from the dock when my brother caught our first ever bass on a crank bait. I was 50 ft away on the boat, so he decided to just let the fish sit in the water (on the lure) while I paddled back. We both got a good look at the fish, and it was a solid 2lber (or so i know now). Obviously the fish immediately got off with a slack line and plenty of room to swim. My brother and I, having only seen bass on youtube videos, thought the fish had to be somewhere between 6 and 8 lbs (in our defense, the fish was chunky). A week later we both landed our first bass (each around 1 lb) when we realized the fish that got off was no where near 6 lbs, and that it was really not an ounce over 2 lbs. Good memories.
Brian
DrGadget reply :
My relatives live on a private lake and the fishing is phenominal! I had not fished in 55 years so this looked like a great place to start again. I borrowed a spinning rod from my brother-in-law and cast next to a weed bed across from the deck on the water's edge. The lure hit the water and immediately a bass struck it and leaped around a foot up in the air (I am not even sure the lure hit the water). That was a fantastic experience for the first time in 55 years and to make it perfect as I set the hook the reel fell apart. I didn't check to see that who ever had used the reel before me had not tightened down the screw when they switched from left to right handed. I went out and bought a baitcaster, a spinning reel, a fly rod and reel, and a ZEBCO Omega PRO3. You can see my first attempt after 55 years didn't discourage me. The rest of the trip was great many 3, 4 and even a 6 pound Big and Small Mouth Bass. 
coryn h. fishowl reply :
On 11/9/2013 at 5:24 AM, DrGadget said:My relatives live on a private lake and the fishing is phenominal! I had not fished in 55 years so this looked like a great place to start again. I borrowed a spinning rod from my brother-in-law and cast next to a weed bed across from the deck on the water's edge. The lure hit the water and immediately a bass struck it and leaped around a foot up in the air (I am not even sure the lure hit the water). That was a fantastic experience for the first time in 55 years and to make it perfect as I set the hook the reel fell apart. I didn't check to see that who ever had used the reel before me had not tightened down the screw when they switched from left to right handed. I went out and bought a baitcaster, a spinning reel, a fly rod and reel, and a ZEBCO Omega PRO3. You can see my first attempt after 55 years didn't discourage me. The rest of the trip was great many 3, 4 and even a 6 pound Big and Small Mouth Bass.
I need to move to Arizona...and start stalking you...until I find that pond. 
DrGadget reply :
Not in AZ! Have to stalk me in summer!
flyfisher reply :
Never had one in the bass world but i did in the realm of brown trout. I was fishing a spring creek that is a trophy reg stream here in VA and i was throwing big streamers like i always do and this big girl cam out and took a swipe and i missed her. I never got her to strike again that day or the next 10 or so as i was now obsessed with catching her. I finally did catch her on a freezing cold january morning where the thermometer never got above 20 but i caught her so i am good 
Funny thing is i don't remember how long she was but i would have to look at the picture but i know she met the size reg for being able to be kept which was 22".
BassinLou reply :
The one that got away for me was a special day for sure. That day has never been duplicated since. My buddy and I were fishing in the Everglades, this one time, and all we were catching were nice bass. My buddy caught a beautiful 8lbr, and shortly after, I was fishing with a spinnerbait, that I rarely use, and my lure got it hard. As the fight ensued I see this giant bass that dwarfed my buddies 8lbr leap beautifully into the air and throw the hook on a massive head shake. As the spinnerbait flew one direction and the bass the other, I stood there frozen, not believing what I saw. The cool thing though however, I still caught my PB, that day. She went for 7lbs 4oz.
CPBassFishing reply :
I was throwing my 18", 20oz rubber trout on my 9'6" XXXXH rod with a 600 size reel and 50lb mono and I hooked one easily 35lbs with a head the size of a bowling ball but I hadn't rigged my bait with a treble hook and swivel, just the jig hook. She headshook at the boat and got away. 
woulda had the record. 
ww2farmer reply :
I am not the "one that got away" guy. You win some, you lose some. I cherish the big ones that have made it in the boat, and don't lose any sleep about the ones that don't. Call it arrogant, over confidence, or what ever you want. I have landed big ones before, and I will again. I don't care about the "one that got away", it's part of the game.
flyfisher reply :
The funniest thing about these stories is how many people know the weight of the fish without ever feeling it in their hand. I mean look at how many people can't even estimate the weight correctly when they do land let alone the one that got away.
I believe it is speed on here who has in his sig....the scale never lies but your's may be broken and then there is the other classic of i used to catch 5lbers then i got a scale and I couldn't catch anything over 4
Creekcrappie reply :
Well I was fishing my neiborhood pond this spring and I was using a shaky head with 8 pound mono. I saw a swirl and tossed my trick worm over to the swirl, thinking it was a bedding bass. It chomped on, and I set the hook very hard. I then felt something feel like about 4 pounds bigger that my pb of 6 pounds. I didn't have my drag set right, so now I was standing in disbelief at my bass. About 20 seconds later, I saw a behemoth largemouth splash/jump on the surface. It looked like a whale surfacing.
Bankbeater reply :
Years ago I was taking a break from bass fishing and going after cat with some cut up bait. I had one take the bait and start to swim off back into the deep water. That fish spooled my reel, but it never ran, or fought like it was hooked. I'm not even sure that the fish knew that it was hooked.
coryn h. fishowl reply :
On 11/11/2013 at 7:10 AM, CPBassFishing said:I was throwing my 18", 20oz rubber trout on my 9'6" XXXXH rod with a 600 size reel and 50lb mono and I hooked one easily 35lbs with a head the size of a bowling ball but I hadn't rigged my bait with a treble hook and swivel, just the jig hook. She headshook at the boat and got away.
woulda had the record.
See, this is just the kind of honest-to-god story I hoped to see, the rest of you need to stop exaggerating so much.
flyfisher reply :
On 11/11/2013 at 7:51 PM, Bankbeater said:Years ago I was taking a break from bass fishing and going after cat with some cut up bait. I had one take the bait and start to swim off back into the deep water. That fish spooled my reel, but it never ran, or fought like it was hooked. I'm not even sure that the fish knew that it was hooked.
That is awesome.....It always makes you wonder what was strong enough to do that and makes the experience that much better.
coryn h. fishowl reply :
On 11/11/2013 at 7:10 AM, CPBassFishing said:I was throwing my 18", 20oz rubber trout on my 9'6" XXXXH rod with a 600 size reel and 50lb mono and I hooked one easily 35lbs with a head the size of a bowling ball but I hadn't rigged my bait with a treble hook and swivel, just the jig hook. She headshook at the boat and got away.
And did you know i shot this buck last year
The shot was roughly 1000 yards, downhill, around a corner, beneath a tree, in a cave, during blizzard, lightning storm hurricane force wind gusts, with a snub nosed .22 derringer shooting snake shot. Did I mention I did it blindfolded after spinning around in a circle for two solid minutes in the parking lot of a PETA center because they wanted to be rid of this "nuisance deer?"
coryn h. fishowl reply :
Now i know more of you have some stories, we all fish or hunt here, so lying comes pretty easily
retiredbosn reply :
While at FLETC I was fishing for sharks off of Kings Bay, GA, me and some buddies rented a little 17 foot center console, thankfully it was a gorgeous day and dead calm. We were having a ball a school of hammerheads was in the area and they were biting. I was hoping to catch a huge shark that day, 7 footer, we were hammering the 2-3 footers but the big boys were being elusive. I set up and put out my bait, all of a sudden the drag was singing, so I tightened down the drag and set the hook. I could do nothing with the shark, it was running and I just could not turn it. I tightened the drag more and soon the shark was pulling us through the water, my buddies and I were very excited, we couldn't wait to see the shark, after a half hour of being dragged around it finally started up toward the surface. We all were leaning over the side waiting for our first sight of this huge shark.............. 
obviously I had to cut the line
coryn h. fishowl reply :
On 11/16/2013 at 12:33 AM, retiredbosn said:While at FLETC I was fishing for sharks off of Kings Bay, GA, me and some buddies rented a little 17 foot center console, thankfully it was a gorgeous day and dead calm. We were having a ball a school of hammerheads was in the area and they were biting. I was hoping to catch a huge shark that day, 7 footer, we were hammering the 2-3 footers but the big boys were being elusive. I set up and put out my bait, all of a sudden the drag was singing, so I tightened down the drag and set the hook. I could do nothing with the shark, it was running and I just could not turn it. I tightened the drag more and soon the shark was pulling us through the water, my buddies and I were very excited, we couldn't wait to see the shark, after a half hour of being dragged around it finally started up toward the surface. We all were leaning over the side waiting for our first sight of this huge shark.............. obviously I had to cut the line
Oh my
retiredbosn reply :
On 11/16/2013 at 2:00 AM, coryn h. fishowl said:Oh my
I can lie!
stratoliner92 reply :
Fishing a fluke along a stump row. Clarity about 3' deep made a couple of jerks then paused it and saw what looked like a five gallon bucket come from below my bait and put a shark attack on my fluke. Fish dove back down and snap went the line around the stump. All i did was yell Noooooo! will never forget that fish.
Brayberry reply :
True Story, and it drives me nuts every time I think about it. About 4 years ago, a buddy of mine asks me to go with him to a local reservoir, we launch and head back in a winding cove. After fishing for about 45 minutes, we hadn't gotten a bite and decided to move down the lake. My buddy tries to start the outboard but it won't start. After playing with it, he asks me to pull the cord on the outboard, I grab the cord and give it a yank, but when I did, the back of my hand slammed into the seat in the back of the boat. It stung like crazy, and that hand just felt week. I could hardly close my hand to make a fist, and it seemed as the muscles there were much much weaker for one reason or another. Anyways we finally get the motor started and head back to a cove we've had success in before. I flip a senko into a sunken tree, and slowly it sinks down into the depths. Suddenly I see the line taking off across the lake. I set the hook with everything I had, but with the hand injury from earlier, the rod flew out of my hand, and I fumble it around for a few seconds. As I'm trying to get control of the rod, this fish comes straight to the surface and clears the water by about a foot trying to shake the hook free. I quickly gain control of the rod, and try to horse the fish in, knowing the hookset was terrible. As soon as the fish felt me pulling back, he shot into the tree, and snagged me up. My PB is a little over 9 lbs, and this fish was I'd say between 10 and 10 and a half pounds. Biggest bass I ever saw. Still makes me sick to think about it
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