Losing a fish

After catching a multitude of small stripers in the teens and twenty's at some of of my local spots from shore over the past couple of weeks, I finally hooked into what felt like a really nice fish well into the thirty inch range. We were fishing at one of my new favorite shore spots in the Beverly/Salem MA area, but this time throwing top water lures there by boat. Not much going on til, BAM! The fish took off, bending my rod right over and pulling line off the reel even after tightening down the drag. I worked him in a little then decided I would rather try to get him in the boat from the stern. So while keeping the rod tip up and trying to keep pressure on him, I walked back to the stern. Well, that amount of slack was just enough to allow that smart fish to wrap my line around a nearby mooring chain and get away......Fuck :cussing:

What I should have done was wait till I got the fish much closer to the boat before heading back. That way there would have been no where for him to go. I think I was just too caught up in the moment and wasn't thinking. Oh well lesson learned (hopefully )

I live in salem, born in Bev. wont be back till octobah. just in time for the good bowling ball stripers to come rolling into salem/bev. If you are out and about in salem go to the back of salem harbor and start yelling to the people drinking on the big float, with a dock off the end of it, about some asshole skier freind of thiers. then demand the jaccuzzi be heated up and the island oasis machine activated is said skiers honor. ask for DAN or Jay or Bob. Pm me if you want to go fish in a real cool spot off beverly.

Don't sweat it, man... Happens to the best of us... My fishing buddy hooked a sweet 4-5 lb largemouth last week with a spinner just off a lilly bog and fought it 10 feet from the shore where we could clearly see it- and then his line broke. The fish just sauntered off slowly, with the spinner bait lazily reflecting as it spun- watching that spinner chug along was as hilarious as it was heartbreaking, but hey that part of it.

Redemption! Back to the same spot last night. This time from shore. Same lure. Brought in a nice legal 28". I even brought my camera....which I left a ways back with my bag. Did not keep him, not really doing the population any favors by keeping a 28".