Biggest Fish You've Hooked? 2024

hookingem reply :

I still often think about that BIG one that got away. It was late fall of 2007, and I was fishing a rattle trap when I hooked a giant that was every bit of 10lbs. When I first felt the weight to be honest she didn't really fight all that hard. Then when she was about 20 yards from the bank she came up and tried to jump, but really could only get her head out of the water. When she shook her head those dang trebble hooks came right back at me. The head on this bass was HUGE, Iv'e weighed in a few 10's and this thing put them to shame. I can only speculate on weight but she was deff. a DD. My honest guess is more like 12lbs. Let's hear some stories of the monsters I'm sure some of you have lost.

Fat-G reply :

Eh, P-Line Floroclear let me down.

No doubt a DD. Wacky Senko. Snapped the line, drag was set right and everything.

BASSclary reply :

Mid-day. 10-12 lb Largemouth. Probably only 9-10. Pop-R. 6 feet of water. Casting along standing timber. Cast. Splash. Pop pop. pop pop pooooop blurp. BULOGKALASSHHHHHH. Yeah, he exploded on it. But I was using some junky line just for "Trying it out" 's sake. I think it was 10 # Trilene 100%. Yuck. But anyways he wrapped me around a tree, and I did get him off of it. But when I got him within 10 feet she gave me a good jump and snapped my line. Abrasion from tree is my guess.

TerryR reply :

Not a DD, but the biggest bass I ever seen in PA. I was on a dam wall about 5 ft above the water. Using a propbait, evening time. That bass exploded on it. Actually had it all the way in, it shook it's head and got off as I was trying to get it up the wall. I would guess 8-9 lb, not too exciting for southern guys, but that is an absolute beast here.

Fat-G reply :

On 7/10/2011 at 12:12 PM, TerryR said:

Not a DD, but the biggest bass I ever seen in PA. I was on a dam wall about 5 ft above the water. Using a propbait, evening time. That bass exploded on it. Actually had it all the way in, it shook it's head and got off as I was trying to get it up the wall. I would guess 8-9 lb, not too exciting for southern guys, but that is an absolute beast here.

I would take an 8 pounder any day. My PB is an ounce away from 9, RIGHT after the spawn. It was either 25 or 26 inches, can't remember for sure. I know she probably would have been pushing 9 1/2 a few weeks earlier, but man an 8 is a tank. It will make you appreciate why we fish. I've caught a 10 but it was on a live gill, therefore I don't count it as my PB.

Now.....you wanna talk about NADENE...

Fat-G reply :

On 7/10/2011 at 10:51 AM, BASSclary said:

Mid-day. 10-12 lb Largemouth. Probably only 9-10. Pop-R. 6 feet of water. Casting along standing timber. Cast. Splash. Pop pop. pop pop pooooop blurp. BULOGKALASSHHHHHH. Yeah, he exploded on it. But I was using some junky line just for "Trying it out" 's sake. I think it was 10 # Trilene 100%. Yuck. But anyways he wrapped me around a tree, and I did get him off of it. But when I got him within 10 feet she gave me a good jump and snapped my line. Abrasion from tree is my guess.

Flouro for topwater?

Geez... Northern Va....

Bluebasser86 reply :

Fishing a small electric motor only lake in Northeat Missouri with a friend for the first time. We were fishing out of his 16ft jonboat on the edge of a deep treeline. I was flipping a beaver bait on a 5/0 Mustad ultra bite hook and 25lb floro when she hit. There's muskie in the lake and I'd already had one chase my bait to the boat. Felt the thump and set into an extremely solid fish. I got her moving up from about 20 feet of water when she really dug in and started to spin the boat towards deeper water. I really thought it was a muskie until I saw the biggest bass I've ever hooked appear and continue to try to bulldog into the trees. She made a hard dive and I had to duck to dodge my bait as it flew back at me. She had straightened my hook and left me shaking my head. I've never felt a bass that powerful. My PB that I caught in Mexico was 10lb 2oz and this fish was at least a couple pounds bigger than that. I'd guess at least 12 and maybe bigger. The lake has a reputation for producing large fish because of the right combination of low pressure, the right water, plenty of food, and a moderate population of fish. That fish still haunts me but it also is part of what keeps bringing me back for more!

BASSclary reply :

On 7/10/2011 at 2:32 PM, Fat-G said:

Flouro for topwater?

Geez... Northern Va....

Love it ♥ ....

.... but nobody else does, guess they're to scared to try a little bit of a different action

I don't classify myself as Northern Virginian, but North Carolinian and Californian.

Fat-G reply :

Word man I was kidding haha.

Basswhippa reply :

In the mid 80's a distant cousin of mine was fishing a central Florida orange grove farm private lake. As he was moving along in his boat, he felt the familiar "tap" on his plastic worm. He set the hook, fought the bass up to the side of the boat, and realized it was not only the larget bass he had ever hooked, but the largest bass he had ever seen. He estimated the fish to be 16 to 18 pounds. Somehow, the fish came unhooked on a final surge. My cousin sat there shaking, and just calmly held his favorite rod and reel over the edge of the boat, opened his hand, and donated the rig to the bottom of the lake.

Personally, I've caught one between 8 and 9. However at Joe Wheeler reservoir I lost one that hit right at the boat on a 1 ounce spinnerbait that was likely 9-10 pounds. I was using one o fthose old 5500 with the delay in the anti reverse, he hit 10' from the boat and I just lifted up instead of setting the hook and she rolled onto her side, opened her mouth (she had clamped down on the head) and spit the lure right back out at me.

hookingem reply :

All these stories are good! Keep em' coming!

K_Mac reply :

I lost a true monster night fishing on Bull Shoals Lake many years ago. Now I will admit that I did not see the fish, but based on the fight, and commotion created as she spit my jig I guessed her to be about 10 lbs. Over the years as my experience, wisdom, and clarity of thinking has increased I have re-evaluated this episode many times. I now believe this fish weighed between 15 and 22 lbs.

clayton86 reply :

Iv landed my biggest bass ever hooked it was my 8.8lber last year and that's huge for new york. Now iv hooked into a monster pike iv never landed he's gotta be pushing 20+ if I had to guess this thing was striping drag on my revo cranked all the way down she ran up and down the creek 4 times me running right behind it trying not to get spooled. She ended up streightning out my hook on a booyah spinner! But as for bass iv landed my biggest hooked but there's been a lot of 6 and 7s iv had come unbuttoned right at the bank or edge of the canoe and when that happens I sound like a trucker and a sailer having a swearing contest lol.

RoLo reply :

I’ve boated a number of mako sharks estimated between 100 & 200 lbs,

but my largest fish was a bluefin tuna that weighed about 250 lbs.

Every fall during the tuna season, merchants from Japan would wait on the docks of New Jersey for the boats to return

Sushi merchants on the Manasquan River and Shark River, offered up to $10 per pound for giant bluefin tuna (Do the math )

Roger

Sam reply :

No idea. Never landed it.

Growing up in south Louisiana we fished the Biloxi Marsh and Mississippi Sound/Gulf of Mexico.

Caught a 40 pound redfish.

On many occassions we just held on and the fish took us for a ride in the 16-foot skiffs we were using until the line broke. My uncle had a 46-foot yacht and we towed two 16-foot skiffs wtih a live well in the middle to hold the live shrimp and baby croakers.

Could have been a shark, jackfish, tarpon, big redfish stingray, mackrel, cobia or whatever.

Freshwater I have had some big ones get away, like the beautiful four to five pounder in Lake Chesdin last month when she broke off at the boat.

It is a part of fishing to lose a big one now and then.

SirSnookalot reply :

Most of my larger fish are estimated not weighed. I have caught and weighed a 100# amberjack, nothing I ever caught fought harder. A few weeks back I caught a black tip shark, we estimated about 200#. I caught a 61lb cobia on fresh water spinning gear, at the time I didn't know there was a difference in gear, there is! At 30 years old I could have pulled Moby Dick in with a cane pole, but at 65 things are different.....lol. Going offshore about 2 times a week, yeh I've caught some really big ones. The only larger fish I've weighed is on charters, fishing with my buddies it's difficult to boat and weigh fish over 100#. Most of the those larger fish are run down with the boat, I don't take credit for catching marlin, sure they have been big, but captain finds the fish, selects the baits, runs the fish down and all I supplied was the muscle for a 2 hour battle.

Inshore the fish run smaller, I catch a lot of tarpon, not the 200 pounders, but in the 20-80# range.

NBR reply :

Mine was more likely 1956. My Dad, a friend of mine, and I were fishing; taking turns to row the boat-no TM's in those days. I got hung up and tightened up the line to show Dad where to row us in so I could get free. Just as I pulled the line tight and out of the water the hang up shook a few times and headed up the shore line towards a big tree down in the water. As the fish neared the tree I had both thumbs on the spool(no drags on bait casters then)and figured I either had to turn the fish or it would foul me up in the tree.

Pop went the line.

We were fishing for northerns and had caught them up to 15# in this location. I always wished I had seen this fish. It had to be considerably over 15 or on steroids.

00 mod reply :

I've lost a few bass that I thought were over my PB (8lb9oz). Ive also lost a great big sharl, never saw it so dont know the type. And last month I lost the biggest fish after an over 4 hr battle..

SirSnookalot reply :

00 mod.........that was one great marlin............without doubt you are the man of the year.

evrgladesbasser reply :

On 7/10/2011 at 8:20 PM, Basswhippa said:

In the mid 80's a distant cousin of mine was fishing a central Florida orange grove farm private lake. As he was moving along in his boat, he felt the familiar "tap" on his plastic worm. He set the hook, fought the bass up to the side of the boat, and realized it was not only the larget bass he had ever hooked, but the largest bass he had ever seen. He estimated the fish to be 16 to 18 pounds. Somehow, the fish came unhooked on a final surge. My cousin sat there shaking, and just calmly held his favorite rod and reel over the edge of the boat, opened his hand, and donated the rig to the bottom of the lake.

Personally, I've caught one between 8 and 9. However at Joe Wheeler reservoir I lost one that hit right at the boat on a 1 ounce spinnerbait that was likely 9-10 pounds. I was using one o fthose old 5500 with the delay in the anti reverse, he hit 10' from the boat and I just lifted up instead of setting the hook and she rolled onto her side, opened her mouth (she had clamped down on the head) and spit the lure right back out at me.

I feel that way when I lose a five pounder... can't even imagine losing a 15+

Midnight Splash2 reply :

My big loss was when I was in Kona a couple of years ago Marlin fishing with the old man. We had two full days booked and the first day we caught 5 marlin which is an outstanding day for even Kona standards. They were all males and around 150lbs. We had a blast and were hoping for a big one on the second day to top off the trip. That was are whole goal of the trip. We had caught the small ones the previous year and decided to come back to go after a big one.

An ameatur photograher heard about our excellent numbers day and decided to tag along the next day. We were pumped up to start the second day and we were happy we didn't have to rely on our point and shoot cameras. The second day started off with my Dad getting a 225lb right off the bat. The bite slowed after that fish and that feeling that one would hit any second had diminished. Around 2 that afternoon I was laying down on the sofa taking a nap. I was awoken by a screaming reel and three guys yelling FISH ON!!! I went from sound asleep to wide awake in about 2 seconds. I got strapped in the chair and was ready to battle it out. The fish kept taking line and about 75-100 yards out she decided to come up and show herself. When she made that first jump it looked like she made a whole in the ocean. It was a site to see. Everyone was pumped after seeing what we had hooked into. She made a 2nd and a 3rd jump and wowed us all again. Then she came up to the top and danced across the water with her tail for what seemed to be about 5-6 seconds before laying herself back down into the water. A few seconds later I don't feel anything so I start cranking as fast as I can hoping she is just running back towards us. I crank and crank and crank until finally the deck hand says she got off. The fish we came for was only bill rapped and once she turned herself in the right direction she was free. I was sick to my stomach for the rest of the trip and think about it all the time to this day. The captain estimated her to be around 500lbs. A 500lb fish in Kona is common but it would of been a very special catch to me. Here is a picture of her dancing on top of the water seconds before getting away.

00 mod reply :

Nice story and awesome picture! Don't give up! You will catch an even bigger one I'm sure!

Jeff

Midnight Splash2 reply :

Thanks. I love that picture man. I have a poster size in my garage and in my office. Kona is a beautiful place to fish and the water is protected by mountains. The water gets much calmer then what shows in that picture. It will become glass at times and is a sight to see. If you ever make it out there go on the Sea Genie. The captain of that boat wins the "Top Tag & Release Captain for Blue Marlin in the Pacific" from The BIllfish Foundation almost every year.

J Francho reply :

Most of the "big bass" that got away, were probably some other species, like northern pike, musky, even carp or drum. I have no idea, since I didn't see them.

Now, a truly HUGE fish that got away was a brown trout, last fall. I had already caught a 34" by 21.25" steelhead, about 16 lbs. that day. My biggest brown trout ever is 22 lbs. After that 'bow, I hooked into a brown that dwarfed my steelhead, bigger than my PB. Might have been 25 lbs. - who knows? I choked. When I saw that it was that big fish on, rolling at the surface, my knees buckled, my hands locked onto the centrepin spool, and just like that it snapped my 8 lb. leader with a flick of it's tail.

00 mod reply :

Oh man, how I'd love to hook into a brown that big!!

Jeff

J Francho reply :

Here's the big 'bow I caught that morning:

About 1.25" above the handle is the 21" 'hero mark" on the rod. 21" is "keeper size for rainbows here. That should tell you something about the fishery here, LOL. The net is huge. The brown I epically failed with made this fish look average.

00 mod reply :

OK, so when do I get the invite to come catch some of those biguns....??

J Francho reply :

I have an open seat from November through March. You just gotta get here.

00 mod reply :

November and Decmeber are a no go for me (work), and next years fishing trips are booked ( feb for big browns on the White river and end of April first of May to Mexico for DD) so maybe the following year I could get up there! Sounds like a blast!

Jeff

bass or bass ? reply :

I caught a 25 pound flathead catfish while bass fishing 3 years ago. Was using a medium action Quantum baitcast combo with 12 pound test line. Took 20 minutes to boat that sucker!

CWB reply :

Blue Marlin in Guatemala estimated at 500-550 lbs before release at boatside.

Best fight was a Tarpon estimated at 170-180 lbs that took 2.5 hours to land on 20 lb. test in 100 ft of water in Costa Rica. That was the first and last fish of that day. I could not lift my arms.

Vinny Chase reply :

It actually happened this spring. I was throwing a swim jig in the back of a cove and literally the second it hit the water a bass annihilated it. I set the hook and my rod doubled over and as soon as he was on, he was off...I have never felt a fish that powerful and this one put the 6lber I had caught earlier to shame. This Muskie was one of the bigger fish I had hooked and landed.

Saltwater, I had a manta ray on that I fought for a good 45 minutes until it snapped my steel line...

Fish Chris reply :

Well, first off, are we talking bass ? Or fish, in general ?

For bass, sure, I've lost a handful of fish in the 15 to 18 lb range. But what's funny, is I can actually say with quite a bit of certainty, that "I have landed the biggest bass, I have ever hooked"

Here's why I say this....

Their was this one, VERY big bass at one of our trophy ponds, that two of my buddies hooked, and landed. She weight 17.3 lbs for one of my friends, then several months later, when my other buddy caught her (in the prespawn) she weighed 18.1 lbs. Well, we all knew where she hung out, and guess what, I hooked her too.... but she came unbuttoned

But in retrospect, that was okay with me, because when I hooked my PB of 18.4, I landed that one

So, my biggest bass, didn't get away ....until I released her, anyway

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now, biggest fish ? I hooked a Sturgeon once, on heavy gear (80 lb braid, and light salt water tackle), which pulled the back end of my boat all the way around against the tide, then proceeded to drag my anchor (attached to the bow of the boat) up river ! It drug me around for 30 minutes, and never once did I start to gain any control over it. Finally, after all that, it simply came unbuttoned

The next week, I landed a 300+ lb'er, my "all species PB". The one I lost might have been another 300 lb'er.... or it might have been 500+, but I'll never know.

Oh well. That's fishing, right ?

Peace,

Fish

PS, Vinny ! That Musky is freaking awesome ! I am SOOO freaking envious, you don't even know !

dhami013 reply :

I once hooked a 100 lb large mouth. I know, hard to believe. But it happened.

Goose52 reply :

I only fish my neighborhood lakes close to home, and there's no stripers, sturgeon, etc. BUT, we do have some bass, catfish, and grass carp. So, the biggest fish I've hooked and landed here is a 37.1 lb grass carp. (A few months ago I caught and brought back to the bank a similar size grass carp but didn't pull it from the water for a weight.) Biggest catfish was a 33" channel cat (weight about 16-20 lbs?). Biggest bass here is my PB at 9.06 (story here: 9.06 LMB)

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