Best story I've heard yet!

LOL. I know. That's even better than the ol' "hell, the fish was soooo big, the pic weighed 7 lbs!"

'bout80

Lost one over 8 for sure at the boat by myself at lake Alvarado

same day I had one on that put that one to SHAME fighting... i guess 10+ but not way over... big enough to whip me with a heavy rod and 1 ounce jig...

One thing is certain, every big fish I've ever lost was much larger in my mind than in actuality.

over 300 lb Blue Marlin in the Sea of Cortez 5 years ago fish on for 45 minutes and pulled off 50 yards from the boat.

The far back of Birch when grass was still thick. Lost the biggest bass I have ever hooked. 4" senko, watermelon/red. Had 3 witnesses and she jumped 3 times only getting about 1/3 of her body out of the water. All 3 said she was at least 14 lbs. Still have the memories of her jumping and then the line going slack. I have caught 4 other DD fish and she was the largest I have seen on my line. My partner ask what happened and all I could say was "I didn't break off" repeating that about 4 times.

A shark that was over 100 pounds lol didn't really want to mess with it anyway

Ray Roberts. Indian creek. Squarebill stuck on a log in about a foot of water. I popped the line, shook the line, pulled in every direction but it wouldn't come lose so I took the boat over to it. (I hadn't wanted to spoil the spot) Got up to where I could see the SB just under the water, laid the rod on the deck, rolled up my sleeve and bent over to get it and it popped lose. In a split second two big ol' bug eyes and a giant mouth came out of nowhere, swallowed my squarebill and very slowly swam with it under my trolling motor. I've caught a 10 and she was well over that. I didn't know what to do. She was going under my boat towards main lake so if I set hook I would have had that to deal with. Plus I only had tip of rod next to me as I was laying on the deck. In the one or two seconds of thinking what to do my squarebill came floating back to the surface. Weirdest part about it is that she would even bite with a big boat and person hovering right over the lure. Almost like she knew.........

Which lake was that if you don't mind telling.

Mine was on Toho last February while on vacation. It was within the first 10 minutes of fishing in the pouring rain in the morning. I was shiner fishing and when I saw the bait go down I reeled the slack and set the hook hard. After a few seconds of reeling and the boat getting turned from the fish she finally surfaced and you could see the big football gut on her. She made one last ditch effort to change direction and that's when she came unhooked. The guide estimated her to be 12-13 easily. That wore on me all day fishing even though I caught a 10 along with some 6's. The next day or so the guide emails me a pic of a 13.5 one of his clients caught in the same area. Could of been the same one, who knows.

Were you with Dean Haller on Little Lake Toho? I've heard a similar story. Dean used to drive a black GMC Jimmy with a skin mount in each of the rear windows. Both were 15++. Not doubting you, Bruce. I feel as though I've lost a mid-hi teen or two at Fork, myself.

There are probably 1,000-1,500 bass guides in Florida with similar 'credentials'. Less than 10% are the real deal.

Over what period did the guide and his clients boat 38 over 15? What was the largest? Phosphate pits and other private waters or all public? Thx.

The biggest one I ever lost and saw was somewhere between 11-12 pounds probably and what hurts is it was during the McDonald's on lake fork... Was pulling a jig out of 25ft water and she must have followed it all the way to the top... I saw her hit the jig, hook herself, go around the boat, me scream net, and her come off right next to the boat.. I still feel sick about it to this day and that was 3 years ago. Nothing I could really do though. Biggest bass I ever seen on the other end of my line. I've caught many 8's and 9's and this bass was by far much larger and thicker.

It still has some monsters in it. A LOT of 5-7 pound class

I sure wish Flarin Tool would drop us a good story in this thread.