The fish that should have got away

First off, a big thanks to the folks who attended the clinic at Next Adventure last night.  I hope you all learned at least a few tips to help you get fish on your boat. 

Now on to the fishing report. 

Before last night’s clinic Rawkfish, Wobbler and I decided to head to the Hawthorn bridge for a bit of fishing.  We met at the dock at about 3 and ran into Seahawken7 glassing the water and saw Rummy fishing.  Right about that time a power boater hooked up so it looked like there are fish in the area.  Over the next 3 hours, Rawkfish, Wobbler and Rummy all got takedowns but nothing seemed to stick. 

At 6 o’clock, we all start heading in.  We were not alone in this plan as several high school crew teams were also packing up.  On my last pass Wobbler peddles up to me and says he just got 3 takedowns with this scent on his herring, he tosses me the bottle and I put some on my herring.  With the new scent and a packed dock we decide to do another lap.  No luck, time to troll home.  Oh but wait, is there a fish nibbling on my bait, sure is.  My rod doubles over and I set the hook.  The fish swims up to my boat to see what he got himself into before deciding if he wants to fight.  He wants a fight and bee lines it right at Wobbler.  The fish is on the surface and moving fast, Wobbler is cranking as hard as he can to get his line out of the water, but the fish is smart and gets tangled in it.  Now things are about to get really fun.  With the sudden tension from Wobbler’s rod the fish flips on the surface, but doesn’t break free.  The fish is back to running and next thing I know Wobbler and I are pegged together with the fish wrapped around his drive and rudder.  Things are not looking good, all I can feel is the other kayak on my line.  Up goes Wobbler’s drive and rudder, I reel in the slack and to my surprise the fish is still there, but now Wobbler’s line is wrapped around my drive.  He puts his reel in freespool, as I pull my drive and pop his line free.  This fish does not want to quit and takes off again.  Even in free spool I can still feel Wobbler’s line rubbing on mine.  After a few more hair raising minutes he is finally getting tired and in the net he goes.  I untangle Wobblers gear and I realize how lucky I am; Wobbler’s braid was wrapped around my leader, but didn’t cut it, the fish was hooked with both hooks, the tail hook in its lip and the other opposing it in its gill plate.  I think it got hooked in its gill plate when it got flipped from the tension of Wobblers rod. 

I quickly bleed on my way to shore, and show it to the crew team that got a close up view of the cluster fuck and ensuing cursing.  When Rummy sees the fish he just shakes his head and congratulates me, Rawkfish calls me an ass.  Both were expected.  I stuck it on my kill bag, pack up my gear and make it to Next Adventure with 10 minutes to spare. 
Wobbler thanks for the scent and doing everything you could keep me from landing the fish. Sorry everything you could do to make sure I did not lose the fish.  It was definitely one of my trickiest fish and one I will remember. 

WoW!  Great story.  Glad it had a happy ending.

  Nate---- that's got to be one of the best stories on here for quite a while.

  Good job.   

Ok, ok. Congrats!    That is a well-deserved fish! We must have been getting off the water right as another push of fish was coming through. I knew I shouldn't have tried to be so quick to head back to the dock but the fishing had just become sooooo dead. That'll teach me!

Great story. ..please tell me there's a video.
What is it with these springers coming to the boat so quickly?

OK, now I understand the "ass" comment from the other thread.  Way to go Nate!!!

awesome!!!  Way more fun than just reeling it in and netting it.

So good.  Wish I had seen that!

That's a good story for the books.

That was well deserved!

-Mark-

I think the fish knew he was dealing with a Pro and had to up his game!

Congrats Nate!

OK, let set the story straight! Nate had his fish on the surface, My line was hanging in the water not very deep. Leader flasher and weight hanging down in the water. I was 30 ft away from Nate coming in to take a picture. The fish rocketed away from Nate straight at me. Within a second or two covering the distance and wrapping up  my line. From that moment on things went down hill fast just as Nate described.

Last but not least, I had my knife out and offered to cut my line at the start. Which Nate declined. I think he wanted the challenge of overcoming the long odds of the moment.  It was comical I have to admit. Dangling lines, bumping kayaks and gymnastics moves that should not be performed by anyone on any kayak all leading to a good finish.

My hat is off to Nate, I am not sure that I could of pulled it off.

Wobbler

P.S. For all of you gentlemen paying me to keep Nate fish free. Your money is being returned from the Swiss account you deposited it in.

Great job guy! Wish I could've seen this in action. LMAO just reading it.

Nate you're the Chaotic Catching Master!  That's an awesome story, congrats again on the nice fish!

Thanks, guys.  It was a fun and hectic fight.
Now I just need another one, and another one...