Got spooled... Anyone else?

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DirtyD64
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Got spooled... Anyone else?

Post by DirtyD64 » Sat May 21, 2022 6:53 pm

Today I went to fish a local pond at Lyon College campus. It is a decent sized pond, but have never caught anything other than literally pan sized fish there. I have caught crappie, bluegill & bream, bass, all the classics. Well today I arrived and caught a few, took my 6'3"UL Proflex 2/Zillion SVTW Ray's DIY BFS spool, took my 6'Light TFO rod with a Stradic Ci4+FA, and took the SV105 with a light Medium for heavier stuff.

Then it happened, third fish hit and it hit VERY hard. I know there are carp but this didn't feel like a snag, I was letting a 2" Keitech Easy Shiner sink with a 3.5g Decoy jighead and something just crushed it. I was really airing this lure out, an UL will cast 3.5g pretty far, especially using 8lb Sufix 832. I had mentioned a few days ago in a post that the braid had dug into itself and I removed about 30m or so... I was wrong. I probably had a max of 40m or so total line, maybe even less. The behemoth of a fish took off and I could do nothing to stop it. I keep my drag loose intentionally, running a regular reel with full drag would surely break a tiny rod like this, could even deform the spool with enough tension. I gave the drag a few clicks but it was too little too late. The fish took back the very short distance I had gained and really started pulling then. I pumped the handle and still no good, nothing. At this point I had some serious pressure on the little Tsurinoya rod, anyone who has owned one of these knows they are a very thin and fragile tipped rod. By the time I considered adjusting drag again I looked down and it was to the last 10ft or so of fluorocarbon backing I use to attach mainline. Next I could hear and see that fluorocarbon stretching like crazy and then the arbor knot popped and that was it.

I was so bummed, I have never had my line break in a fight with a fish. I technically still haven't, the backing and 832 held up fine I just ran out of them. I fished for a while longer, caught some bass in the 1.5lb range, but nothing big. My father called and said it could have been a catfish. I doubted it, but later on in the morning I did catch a fair sized 2lb or so catfish. I know it wasn't a flathead, just a greyish blue pond catfish (assuming a channel or blue, I don't know much about them). So maybe he was right, maybe it was a big catfish? I was surprised enough to catch one on the 2" Easy Shiner.

I will always remember this fishing experience/story, even thought it is a negative one. I just want to know what is out there so bad, will have to fish it even harder coming up. I would have probably not cared as much if I knew a big catfish spooled me, I ALWAYS get horned every time I touch a catfish it seems. Now had it been a monster pond bass, even a 4-6lber would have been awesome for this little pond, I would have been really mad. I always try to buy decent gear and maintain it where this exact scenario doesn't happen and I wasn't watching line and underestimated what lived in this pond.

Would like to hear if anyone else has been spooled and what happened too, I know now it's not a good feeling.

toddmc
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Re: Got spooled... Anyone else?

Post by toddmc » Fri May 27, 2022 1:30 pm

I've been fishing more shallow spools lately, and I still have yet to have this happen over thousands of days of fishing. I've caught a ton of huge carp and catfish on finesse bass gear without ever getting spooled. Many of those catches were on ultra light spinning tackle. I had a lake record 22.5 catfish take about 80 yards of 6 lb. mono when it held about 90. That fish also did whatever it wanted for most of the fight.
You would have seen your fish If it was a bass. I have had to chase a few of my double digit bass down in deep water with the trolling motor when I was fishing light line, but they always jump somewhere along the way. Your chances of catching a big fish on light line really go up when they swim to deep water. You will never stop a double digit bass in shallow water on ultralight tackle. They do what they want.
Saltwater has left me spooled and pissed more than a few times. It is an even bigger mystery in the salt as to what the heck it may have been that took all of my line! :D I fish a lot of 6 lb. for spotted bay bass. I've hooked plenty of crazy stuff. Octopus, sea lions, sharks, legal halibut, and who knows what else has spooled me. I watched a friend get spooled when we were fishing a dock in Newport Harbor. The fish just took off and he got this big smile on his face because he knew that he would never know what it was. After the fish took all of his line, he looked over at me, smiled, and lit up a cigarette as he took off his hat and scratched his head. He then said "I think that I might have brought a knife to a gunfight."

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Re: Got spooled... Anyone else?

Post by Bronzeye » Sat May 28, 2022 2:06 am

I agree that you probably had a catfish on; your scented Easy Shiner was a tempting snack.

The only time I have worried about getting spooled in the last 20 years happened when I was fishing with a Crappie Magnet three feet under a small float next to a drainage tower in nine feet of water. When I set the hook, it was immediately evident I had no crappie; I hoped it would be a big bass as the 4 lb. test line peeled off toward mid-lake. I thought it unlikely that a catfish would suspend that high off the bottom. When no jump occurred despite having hooked the fish near the surface, I began to doubt the bass conjecture. The hook pulled out when I applied more drag pressure, and the slime on the last several feet of line confirmed that it had been a catfish.

DirtyD64
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Re: Got spooled... Anyone else?

Post by DirtyD64 » Sat May 28, 2022 3:08 am

toddmc wrote:
Fri May 27, 2022 1:30 pm
I've been fishing more shallow spools lately, and I still have yet to have this happen over thousands of days of fishing. I've caught a ton of huge carp and catfish on finesse bass gear without ever getting spooled. Many of those catches were on ultra light spinning tackle. I had a lake record 22.5 catfish take about 80 yards of 6 lb. mono when it held about 90. That fish also did whatever it wanted for most of the fight.
You would have seen your fish If it was a bass. I have had to chase a few of my double digit bass down in deep water with the trolling motor when I was fishing light line, but they always jump somewhere along the way. Your chances of catching a big fish on light line really go up when they swim to deep water. You will never stop a double digit bass in shallow water on ultralight tackle. They do what they want.
Saltwater has left me spooled and pissed more than a few times. It is an even bigger mystery in the salt as to what the heck it may have been that took all of my line! :D I fish a lot of 6 lb. for spotted bay bass. I've hooked plenty of crazy stuff. Octopus, sea lions, sharks, legal halibut, and who knows what else has spooled me. I watched a friend get spooled when we were fishing a dock in Newport Harbor. The fish just took off and he got this big smile on his face because he knew that he would never know what it was. After the fish took all of his line, he looked over at me, smiled, and lit up a cigarette as he took off his hat and scratched his head. He then said "I think that I might have brought a knife to a gunfight."
I should have replaced my line after cutting a good bit off, after the long cast (again, 3.5g flies a WAYS on a UL rod), I only had maybe 15-20yards left. I still like to think I have never been broken off in a straight fight, been spooled now and broken the line flipping a small/medium smallmouth into the boat but that is it. I know what you mean by never knowing, the pond I fished only ever produced tiny panfish until this happened. Since I have been fishing it though, the wife and I both have caught a few stocker channel catfish.
Bronzeye wrote:
Sat May 28, 2022 2:06 am
I agree that you probably had a catfish on; your scented Easy Shiner was a tempting snack.

The only time I have worried about getting spooled in the last 20 years happened when I was fishing with a Crappie Magnet three feet under a small float next to a drainage tower in nine feet of water. When I set the hook, it was immediately evident I had no crappie; I hoped it would be a big bass as the 4 lb. test line peeled off toward mid-lake. I thought it unlikely that a catfish would suspend that high off the bottom. When no jump occurred despite having hooked the fish near the surface, I began to doubt the bass conjecture. The hook pulled out when I applied more drag pressure, and the slime on the last several feet of line confirmed that it had been a catfish.
I reiterate that I have never been snapped off by a fish (aside of running out of line), but I for sure have had what you mentioned happen, bent out hooks. Wife lost some kind of a behemoth below our dam, fighting a fish with an exposed hook tube. I buy local tube heads and they are light wire for great hook sets but caused us to lose some kind of monster one day. I was really wanting to try some 4-5lb FC for my BFS setup but now it will be hard to not continue using braid with a 7lb leader.

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Re: Got spooled... Anyone else?

Post by Redfish » Thu Jul 21, 2022 9:35 am

I have only had it happen in saltwater. Once on a tarpon on a 2500 spinning reel, and once on a bull red on a zillion coastal. I may have cried a bit on that tarpon.
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Re: Got spooled... Anyone else?

Post by hoohoorjoo » Thu Jul 21, 2022 10:50 am

Redfish wrote:
Thu Jul 21, 2022 9:35 am
I have only had it happen in saltwater. Once on a tarpon on a 2500 spinning reel, and once on a bull red on a zillion coastal. I may have cried a bit on that tarpon.
Same here. A BIG tarpon spooled me about 12 years ago, and in the surf, no less. I had a 6' leader of 30# p-line cxx and about 180 yds of 30# braid on a 4000 size Shimano Sahara. I was fishing a big paddletail on a 1/2 oz 3x jighead. I stuck the fish and it took off like a freight train. I knew the reel couldn't exert enough drag pressure to break me off or to straighten out that hook, so I cinched the drag down tight. That got the fish to surface 3 times in a row, but never slowed it down. I watched all the braid evacuate the spool, then the mono backing down to the knot and POP! it was gone. That spool was quite warm at the end of the fight.
Try not to let your mind wander. It is much too small to be outside unsupervised.

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