lost bait/rod&reel set up that hurt the most

I had a fish cat deluxe that I did not have rod holders on. I would fish finess on a light spinning setup and a Corrado 300 on a Fenwick inshore rod for frogging. I would just stuff the rod I wasn't fishing behind the backrest with the tip up. I must have made over a thousand casts and never had an issue. So I am fishing this pond in the hills and I was just killing it with a senko bite when I saw a group of toolies moving that was just about as far as I could cast away. I'm sure you can figure out the rest... Watching my rod sink out of view literally 3 feet from me is something I will never forget. Even went back with snorkel and fins but could only see about a foot under water. Thanks for bringing back memories. I loved that setup and caught my biggest lmb ever with it.

 

Many years ago I was fishing on the 3/4 day Phoenix out of Islandia Sportfishing. It was in the fall and we were fishing about 2 miles west of north Coronado island hammering the 15-20 YFT on a wide open bait bite. We were fishing 5-6" sardines. During the bite I boated a fish and they were boiling everywhere around the boat. In a hurry to get back in the water I got a dine on and flipped it over the side for a instant bite. My hands were fully slimed up from handling the bait and in a hurry to get bit I didn't wipe the slime off my hands. The fish made a run and my hands were so slimy that my rig shot out in my hands and into the drink. There goes my 665 Sabre with a Penn 100 on it that I had spent some bucks on with Newell conversion parts(Newell posts and spool). Didn't have a lot of dough to throw at fishing gear back in those days so the loss was significant. Really felt like a DA......tight lines

 

District attorney?

 

Flipped my kayak last September and lost two custom made rods from Performance Tackle... basically BFS set ups before they were a thing. Drop shot rods converted to casting rods... Chronarchs attached to both. I haven't been in my kayak since. Been pounding the shore ever since. I bought some outriggers to attach to my kayak to help prevent that from ever happening again - but I'll never get over losing those two special rods. Lots of memories tied to those two.

 

Years ago, I was fishing with a friend from work once and bass were busting pretty good at Murray. It was exciting as we were pulling them in pretty consistently. I always had a few rods on the deck of my boat rigged with different reaction baits. Anyway...dumb me put down my rod with a Sammy on it and went to grab a different rod as bass were busting near us. As I lifted that rod pretty quickly, another rod went into the water...and I jumped down to my knees trying to grab it and it sunk too fast. Meanwhile, my friend was landing a bass, so I netted it for him and never told him what happened. I tried for a bit with a spoon to hopefully connect with the rod overboard and failed. Catching more bass that morning did not erase me replaying the rod going over the side of my boat. I came out the next day and dragged all types of set-ups and just kept pulling up clumps of grass from the bottom. That rod was a 7' Fenwick rod with a Shimano Stradic on it and had used it for several years catching bass on finesse baits like reapers, flukes, small Roboworms, etc., with it.
I tried on a few other occasions and even told a few locals I know who used to fish there often, I would pay them a reward if they found it. Oh well....sometimes things happen and you just have to move on.

 

Brings back crazy memories.......I know it's a bass forum, but........

Many years ago, I was into rod wrapping big time. A friend invited me for yellowtail fishing, heck yah, I'm in. Sea's kicked up a bit, but still manageable. Saw fish on the surface breaking on bait, went to the bow and bombs away.

Only problem, lost my footing and new rod & reel went over the bow too. Bummed! Grabbed another rod, shrimp fly's and treble hook on a 18 oz sinker, dropped it a couple times hoping to catch the line off my "cast away" rod, to no avail. Funny thing, consecutive drops on my snagging rod produced 3 nice size reds, twice. Lost a rod, but went home with a bunch of tasty reds!

Sometimes it pays off to be "sorta lucky".....

Mel - Kahuna bass

 

A few years ago I had a Shimano Chronarch 50 reel and a Phenix Maxim medium light graphite rod slide off of my float tube at Bayside park in shallow water (probably about 5-6' deep at the time). I had just finished unhooking a fish and laid the rod down alongside myself on the tube. Seemed like it slid off in slow motion but it was gone before I could react. Tried to snag it but couldn't see it, mostly hidden in the eel grass. Waited for low tide and was searching in the area, got glimpse of it but wasn't prepared with a rig to snag it and got pushed off the spot and couldn't find it again. Rented a wetsuit at a diver shop and had snorkel and fins already, searched all over but never found it. Would have been easy to find if it wasn't for the eel grass. Continued to look for it the next 4 or 5 times I was in the area fishing but no luck. Now I either have the lure in hand, the rod in hand or the rod in a holder at all times.

Have snagged 2 junky spinning outfits, one near the Coronado Bridge and one at Barrett. Yet to get an outfit anywhere as nice as the one I lost.

 

Yup, it sucks when you see it "s-l-o-w-l-y" sink into the abyss. It just means more fishing toys.....

Mel - Kahuna bass

 

Not me, but I did watch a guy get his heavy flat fall combo ripped out of his hands on a night bite big bluefin. Penn visx and a seeker 2x4...ouch.

Guy was inconsolable

 

A couple years ago I was a regular on The 3/4 day boat the Victory out of Long Beach Sportsfishing. I cooked, cleaned and repaired the boat often during Jan-March when the rock fishing is closed. I had never wanted to invest in a very fancy rod and reel set up (I am very hard on fishing gear and have been known to break or damage things). The time had finally come for me to get a fancy rod and reel set up. Saved up some money and went to a Dan Hernandez swat meet. Found a nice Daiwa 2 Speed Reel paired with a very nice Phoenix rod. I could not get this set to the boat fast enough. The day finally came and the sculpin bite was ensane with about 70 paid customers pulling up those pesky fire breathers. I was asked by my buddy deck hand to help people take off their sculpins and place them in their gunny sacks. Well you can guess what happened. A customer swung their sculpin at me to have it removed and the sculpin hit me directly on three on my knuckles on my right hand. I had been hit many times before but this time was different. One of my knuckles swelled up to 6x its normal size. All you can do is suck it up and keep on fishing. Now on to what hurt way more than what that sculpin did to me. A wide open barracuda bit jumped off about 2 hours later. You know I had to run and grab that new and fancy rod set up I had just bought. This thing was calling my named! I tie on my favorite barracuda jig, get to the rail, look over my right should preparing to make an awesome cast on my new toy when I feel something hook onto my right shoulder. I did not have to see it to know what it was. The guy next to my right snagged me with the treble hook on his barracuda jig. Everything happened so fast. I am in the process of having my arms fully extended on what hoped would be the world's best cast. Natural instincts had me take my left hand off the rod to grab my right shoulder. Well that fire breather sculpin culprit reared its ugly head and I had no strength in my right hand and knuckles to hold onto my new toy! As my new toy sunk slowly down to the abyss all I could do is look at the guy on my right and just shake my head back and forth adking myself "Why. Why, Why"! After crying my tears away with a 12 pack of Modelo"s in the fallen I should have remembered how hard I am on fishing gear and a fancy rod and reel just isn't meant to be for guy like me.

I hope you enjoyed the reading!

 

Damn

 

Bought a gizzard shad swimbait for $100. First cast to see how it swims and there it went, no longer attached to the line on my reel. Went home and ordered another one out of spite. Water level has gone down since then and I’ve gone back a couple times to see if I can find it with no luck.
Not all bad though, I’ve found multiple Hudds, a prototype Rago glide and a Deps 250. She giveth and taketh away. Cost of doing business.

 

Forgot to strap a Powell spinning rod/Stratic combo down on the deck at Otay. Did not see it fly out while buzzing down the lake I think it fell out when bouncing on the cross chop....I know it flew out cause I was just using it before I pulled up the trolling moter up and fired up the boat moter.

 

sounds more like a fly rod than a spinner........

 

It was a very nice spinning rod that flew so yes it became a fly rod

 

It was only a Senko but I remember when fishing Loveland one time right when I let my thumb off the spool while making a cast I heard like a jet plane sound swooping right above my head and suddenly see this Osprey snatch my bait in mid air and take off with the bait flying away.I did not want to lock my spool because I did not want to set the hook into this beautiful bird so I just stood there in disbelief while it spooled a fresh roll of Seagar.....Crazy stuff it would have made The Bill Dance comedy video for sure.First cast to and the next only rod I brought that day ending my fishing day.