This past weekend I went down to Galveston with my parents and was able to fish off the underwater lights behind the house we stayed at... this was my very first speckled trout! And more importantly, first one on artificial. It was slightly undersized so we let him swim away to grow bigger.
There was also a much larger trout I hooked up on with an ultralight freshwater setup....... it was pulling drag like crazy and felt like a MONSTER. I made a rookie mistake, being impatient and excited to have hooked into a bigger trout, I reached down to grab my leader and just hoist the fish onto the deck, and his final head shake snapped my line at the lure it definitely frustrated me for the rest of the trip, but you can be sure that I’ll be extra aware of what sorta line I’m using and how much energy the fish still has left in the future...
Congratulations on your trout. I wish I could tell you your big fish lose is the only one you will ever have, but it is part of fishing. Those events make the amazing catches you will have even better. If you just keep at it and learn along the way.