I try very hard not to be stupid or lazy, but failures occur. This is one of them.

I had a nasty backlash on my beloved Carbonlite reel. Couldn't get it out, so I was forced to snip some of the loops. Got the backlash out plus some more line for good measure. I was in a hurry and didn't want to fool with a respool, so I examined the line and found it good to go.

Hooked a huge bass at the end of a marina dock earlier this month. I had the drag too loose, but thumbed down the spool and got her swung around toward open water, where she made a run and peeled off about 20' of line as I howled redneck exclamations. Right when I told my old lady to get the net, the rod suddenly went straight and I saw the tag end of the line whip through the guides. It was a fraction of a second that seemed like eternity.

I dropped the rod and almost dove in the water trying to grab that tag end, to no avail. My other half looked on, momentarily puzzled. "Where'd yer fish go?" It was awful.

Apparently I missed one of the snipped loops and was fishing with about 40' of line before fish freedom beckoned.

I think it was the biggest bass I've hooked in over 5 years, and it was the only bite I got the whole day.

Now I'm sitting here respooling that reel proper-like, about to hit the lake, and found another snip in the line!

All that trouble, anticipation, and preparation to be ready to rock, and this was the result. What a maroon! It's kinda funny now, but I sure wasn't laughing then. Never will that angler failure recur with me. There are plenty other failures for me to engage, I'm quite sure.

I feel your loss but as the years go by the bass will get larger. 10 years from now you can tell everyone it was a state record.

karma

Nah. Had karma, according to your likely-incomplete understanding of the concept, been a factor, I'd have lander her and a dozen more. I've given much, much more than I've taken and have never, in my adult life, mistreated anyone.

It's my position that superstitions, be they Eastern or Western, had nothing to do with it and my unfavorable outcome was simply a result of stupidity and laziness.

"The stars aren't aligned
Or the gods are malign
Blame is better to give than receive"

Rush - Freewill, 1980

Sorry about the lost fish-if you fish long enough you probably have a story about the big one that got away. And that fish
is gonna "grow" in your mind.

What did you hook her on?

What marina? Maybe I can try to get your bait back.

Laziness got me recently too. Had tussled with a big carp hooked on a ned rig. Beat the carp, called it a day. Knew I should have retied my fluoro leader, but was tired and told myself I'd do it next time out.

Next time out, completely forgot about needing to retie and didn't check leader. Sure enough, big bass hit, I whacked him with a good hookset, and got the Ping! of my leader breaking. It happens.

Boat flipped a big one in a tournament a couple of weeks ago....it hit the side of the boat and came unbuttoned. That fish cost me 1st place and also would have been big bass of the tournament.

Tell your self it was probably a drum. You will feel better. That's what I do.

Oh man that stinks. I've done some pretty bone-headed stuff like that too.

Well at least it was a good story.

Anyone who quotes Neil's lyrics is all right in my book! One thing I carry with me is extra reels. If I have a backlash like that and I do from time to time. I just swap out reels and move along. Sorry you lost her. I bet that tag end going out seemed like it lasted 2 full minutes...