My buddy told me I should post this here, and I think it’s fitting for my first TFF post.

After fishing in the miserable cold on Sunday, I decided to get out on Monday to try and wash off the skunk. I went out to try under the bridge near the Little Elm Boat ramp on Lake Lewisville. I got down there with my tackle bag, my three rods, and my homemade catfish bait. For reference, I was using chicken breast marinated in bacon grease, cherry Koolaid powder and some garlic powder. It was my full intention to try and get on some catfish. All my buddies are crappie fishing, and I’m not particularly interested.

I was rigged up and ready to go when I got there. I made the fool decision to go cheap on my rod holders, and I regret that pretty fiercely. My first setup was an older Ambassadeur 5500 on a 7 ft MH UglyStik. I ran a Santee rig on 60lb braid. I felt ready to slay any beast. I cast it out and set it on my cheap rod holder.

I turned around and took a couple of steps to pick up my second rig. As I was turning around and unhooking my line from the second rod, I saw my first rod launch through the rod holder and swim away into the water. For a split second I thought I might go in after it, but I was too slow to even try. In a couple of seconds, my whole combo was gone. I attempted to drag a weighted treble hook across the bottom several times to see if I could snag it back in. No dice.

I’m not sure what hurt me more: the fact that I lost my combo in the blink of an eye due to poor planning, or being denied a chance to fight the fish on the other end of the line.

Bad deal all around ! The worst part is, you’ll never know what you missed, so just make up a lie ......

At least a 20+ pounder would be my story!

Don't sweat it. Happens to all of us. I have done it from the deck of a bass boat with a 10" worm hanging off the end barely under the surface. Huge fish came up and attacked it and took everything with it. Worst part is that I was in a tourney and lost by 3 pounds.

Welcome to the TFF forum

Sometimes the best lessons we learn in life come with a little sting.

I had a brand new Abu reel on a brand new Catfish Ugly Stick. Fishing below Guntersville Dam. I sat it down to grab something off the floor of the boat. Mr Big took my new toy to the bottom of the Tennessee River. Happens to the best of us.

Conditions like mention make BeeReady's seam a cheap investment. Never lay a rod down in a boat or on the bank.

I’m gonna look into those. Thanks!

Ouch, live and learn.

Several years ago on Buchanan I was fishing with a men's group. 3 boats. A friend in another boats about 25 yards away had the same thing happen to him. We laughed about it and tried to make him feel better but it is upsetting. In about 15 minutes I see something floating. No one else in the group had noticed but me and my fishing partner. It was a fish and we were in about 40' of water. I grabbed a rattle trap and cast over and hooked it and started reeling it in thinking I knew what I had hooked. The other boat noticed I was fighting a fish (wern't much of a fight). The guy that lost his rod said what ya got? and I said a bonus fish. By this time the lure had slid down the line to the rod and I was bringing it up. He said what is a bonus fish? about that time I reached down in the water and came up with his rod and reel and his eyes got pretty big. I said what do you want the rig or the Striper? He said how big is the fish?
Great story we bring up every once in a while. Those good times are what it is all about.

Me and my brother went to Whitney about a month ago. His birthday was a week earlier and his son gave him a new combo hes been wanting, this was his first time to use it. The intention was to get on some striper or sand bass and break it in right. We got out there and caught some on topwater and then some sand bass, had an okay day. He mentioned that he liked the combo. Anyways, back in the boat right before we left, i swear i set my bag on it good enough, turns out i didnt. 20 miles down the road theres a lady honking and flashing her lights at us from behind, turns out the wind caught his new rod and reel and launched it up and it got caught in the ladder on the back of my boat and i was dragging it down the road, destroyed the rod. I ended up buying him a new one.

I think a quote from my book, The Art of Fishing for Records, may apply here. In the section titled, The Dark Side, I state, “If you fish, there will be blood (often your), bad weather, fishless days, tangled lines, broken rods, rods and reels dropped over the side, broken boats, flat tires, sea-sickness, pain, injuries, and upset anglers. Do not let there circumstances destroy the pleasure of a fishing trip.”

However, I still hate losing equipment, especially when it is hooked to a fish.

Sorry about your rod and reel.

And

Truer words were never spoken Osborn! Anger, frustration, and disappointment are all emotions every angler faces and must learn to overcome. Every trip seems to have its ups and downs and it’s those highs and lows that make it so addictive. One minute your getting smoked and the next minute your on top of the world. Bluecatn can be a real azz kicking at times. The whippings we take are for a reason and we are meant to learn from our mistakes. Its the agony of defeat that makes the thrill of victory so sweet. When we fist start chasing them you battle your equipment more than you battle with fish. Lose stuff, break stuff, and waste half the day messing with equipment. When everything comes together like you planned it’s oh so sweet. If your a serious bluecatr then you’ve had your tail handed to you countless times over the years. Some days it’s the equipment you battle, some days it’s Mother Nature, and some days it’s you!